Thursday, September 4, 2014

The Queen With The Frozen Heart 20


A huge boa glided through the water and slid to its place under the the boulder guarding the river.


The yellow dapples in its skin shone in the sun and attracted the eyes of the children playing on the rock.



- Pretty snake, a girl called and giggled.



- A snake, a snake, the boys shouted together, it's a boa, a giant boa!





- There are no boas here, an older boy sneered them, calm down and let everyone in peace!



- Snakes, a scream pierced the air, there are snakes everywhere!



Women looked around themselves with wariness.



Sisa gasped and backed away at the sight of heaps of boas slithering on the warm sand next to the river.



The trees around the water were filled with their colorful sinuous forms.





She could see the reds and yellows gleaming in the sun while the snakes lowered themselves to the ground.



- They are back, she whispered, but what happened to Amarun?



- Where are our husbands, a voice wailed, where are our fathers and sons? What has happened to them? Why have you abandoned them?




A flock of butterflies bursted in the air and only the wind and the sound of the water answered to the anguished question.



- I will hunt them down, a boy bolstered and threatened the boas with his spear, I will kill them all for abandoning my father and brothers.



The sky darkened and a strong wind lifted, the air filled with the hammering sound of tropical rain and the sky was pierced by a sudden lightening.




- Don't anger them, a woman's voice complained, they will call the thunder on us and kill us all!



- But what about my father, a little boy asked with tears in his eyes.



- Yaya, a girl cried, father! I want my Yaya, bring me my father!



The air around Sisa filled with sorrow while people run to their huts to protect themselves from the storm.




She could feel her magic hiding itself under her clothes like a little scared lizard.



Her thoughts were heavy and her feet even heavier while she followed her mother to their fireside.



The rain pounded the earth harder and harder and drooped the leaves and the tree tops, it raised a mist from the river and it was impossible to see around.




She peeled maniocs with her experienced hands while her mind wandered away and filled a pot with them.



It was time to put the plantains on the grill that was waiting over the fire.



An armadillo waited next to her, wrapped in banana leaves.



Its meat was still tender and tasty after waiting overnight for them to finish eating it.




What had really happened, she wondered.



Where was Amarun?



Where were all the men from the village?



Why hadn't they returned together with the snakes?

To be continued ...



This is the twentieth part of the story.


If you want to read the first part of the story, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 1  

To read the second part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 2 

To read the third part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 3

To read the fourth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 4

To read the fifth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 5.

To read the sixth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 6

To read the seventh part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 7

 To read the eight part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 8

To read the ninth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 9

To read the tenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 10

To read the eleventh part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 11

To read the twelth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 12

To read the thirteenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 13

To read the fourteenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 14

To read the fifteenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 15

To read the sixteenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 16

To read the seventeenth part, go to the The Queen With The Frozen Heart 17

If you want to read the eighteenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 18

If you want to read the nineteenth part, go to The Queen With The Frozen Heart 19

86 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos as always. Lovely to see how the children explore around the river

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  2. Love the photos and the fact that they go with the story ;)

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  3. Thank you so much for another chapter in this beautiful story! The photos are lovely, as always!

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  4. The photos are so beautiful! I love reading your posts, they are so lovely!

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  5. Wonderful! And your pictures are so beautiful.

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  6. Wow you are at 20! You so need to turn this into a real book, love the images too!

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  7. nooo.... i want to know what happens next!!! do they come back from the snakes?!?!?! i love the pictures they look amazing

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  8. You should think about turning this into a book!

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  9. Amazing photos & such an excellent read! I can't believe i've barely been out of Canada.

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  10. Lovely photos to go with your story, as always!

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  11. Great part of the story! I would love to try armadillo, wrapped in banana leaves. Sounds tasty!

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  12. Sounds like a nice meal. I've always wanted to try plantains. Having them grilled sounds really good.

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  13. The Photo's are amazing. My first time seeing a blog story. Very cool.

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  14. I love reading and seeing pictures of a culture I am not familiar with! Thank you for sharing this with us! <3

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  15. Intriguing. I have to go back one, I don't know how I missed last Thursday. Headed over now.

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  16. Great chapter! This one I'm sharing with my husband - where we live, armadillos are everywhere, but I never thought of cooking one. They usually end up as roadkill. :(

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  17. What a great story and the pictures are wonderful. I can't wait to catch up on the rest of the story.

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  18. Yeah, where are the men!! Lol I'm a little mad about the cliffhanger this week!

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    Replies
    1. I will get back to the men in the next episode this week, I promise!

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  19. The photos are very lovely! I try to keep up to date with this story.

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  20. Awesome photos! I love the story too!

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  21. I would be right outta there at the sight of the first snake!

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  22. stunningly beautiful photos. seems like a fun adventure out there

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  23. Amazing photos again, I love the butterfly photo.

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  24. I loved this one as much as all the others and of course, your photos are awesome as always.

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  25. Those are beautiful photos. Keep me reminded of my past province life. The story is getting more exciting.

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  26. The story is getting more and more interesting by the day! I completely enjoyed this chapter

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  27. Very nice way of telling a story, but I am a little confused with the abrupt change from the river bed to the home, where cooking is going on. Makes it seem like a dream sequence or something??

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  28. I love that you have so much nature around you always and spend so much time outdoors! Those rocks were so beautiful and looks like the boys were having a great day!

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  29. The story is awesome and for photos i have no words ...

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  30. These pictures are absolutely beautiful. Lovely family you have there.

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  31. The photos do so much for this story. Not that your words aren't powerful enough, but the pictures really do enhance the visual image that I already have in my head.

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  32. The butterfly photo at the end was my favorite. You write so beautifully !

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  33. I am deathly afraid of snakes.. i would have either ran or panicked. Always love your photos that you post to go along with your story!

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  34. I just read this part- I will have to go back and start from the beginning! Thanks for sharing!

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  35. I love your writing and this rich, colorful story! Well done...

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  36. As always a rich and textured story.

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  37. This chapter of the story is exciting, what happened to the men? Intriguing but I like seeing the photo of the children playing.

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  38. What a great story. I have to go back and read the rest! Those photos are really beautiful too!

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  39. You're a great writer - I love reading all of these!

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  40. It is another world that I experience through your stories. I love the way you render the emotions of people and the suspense that is created in the end of every story, leaving the reader eager to learn more and see what eventually happens. Such a lovely story!

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  41. I was so excited to see the next installation of the story. It's so moving! :)

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  42. I would freak about the snakes! I can't wait for the next entry!

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  43. Beautiful photos! We had a swimming hole like that in Hawaii. It was only known to locals and it was such an amazing place to go.

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  44. Great photos. I've never seen a swimming hole in person.

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  45. Stunning photos for vacation! Enjoying to the maximum!

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  46. I love when I see a new segment posted, this has been my nightly reading, now I'm all caught up :)

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  47. Another mystery from the Queen with the Frozen Heart. One day I'm going to come to your site and just sit and read these from beginning to end. I really enjoy this story line.

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  48. I just love your photo stories! Please don't stop them, even when this one is done :)

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  49. I like your writing style. Simple and concise. The photos are well taken too, but some doesn't seem to fit very well with the prose?

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    1. It is because I don't usually take pictures specifically for the story. So I need to choose the ones that go with it. It's not always a perfect match but I try my best :)

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  50. What happened to Amarun, and I think, the queen captured them all together with males.

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    1. Amarun was made to sleep forever by the queen's magic. The men are waiting in the cave :)

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  51. This looks like a very interesting series. I will have to check it out sometime soon.

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  52. Beautiful writing! The mental image of all of those snakes was terrifying.

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  53. So beautiful! Thanks for sharing it!

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  54. Nice photos.. Where are the snakes now!.

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  55. Oh my goodness! What a story this is. Ahhh.. I am scared of snakes. Thank you for sharing again. As usual, I love all the photos that go with the story you tell. How interesting!

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  56. Pretty snake! :) I love that and the giggles. The innocence of this little girl and then the contrast with the killer butterflies (well, at least that is how they sound with the thunder). The pictures are amazing!

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  57. Nice pics. I def got to go back and read the rest of the story.

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  58. Now I'm wondering where everyone has gone off to as well!

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  59. Hmm... the men are missing and snakes are everywhere. Doesn't sound good.

    I'd freak out if I saw that many snakes. Not a fan of those creatures.

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  60. What fun pictures. Snakes scare me! Fun story to read along.

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  61. I like those little cultural details about food -- maniocs, plantain and armadillo. I didn't know you eat armadillo. What is manioc?

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    1. I always say that Ecuadorians eat anything and everything that moves. It's not exactly correct but it comes close, lol
      Manioc, or cassave, is the root which the tapioca is made from.

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  62. An intriguing tale filled with mystery... I hope the men come home...

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  63. Stunning photos! And as always an amazing story!

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  64. I wonder what happened to all the men in the village? Were they all wiped out? It might be an interesting story of just women surviving then..

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  65. Part 20. It's nice how you've been able to maintain the story this long. I wonder too what happened to the men of the village.

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  66. Interesting story! And yes, I agree with everyone that your photos are great :)

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  67. Lovely photos :) Love Nature ;) Like your post very much

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  68. Love the photos. They managed to capture the beauty of the mother nature. =)

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  69. what pretty photography - captures the moments so well! xx, b

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  70. Yes to these photos.I enjoy each part

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  71. As always your pictures and words are lovely!

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  72. Ah! Snakes! I look forward to your next installment!

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  73. Great how you keep the Queen stories up for your readers! I think the images really brings everything to life.

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