The beautiful evening announced the end of another day, and a young tribal man contemplated the landscape, thinking deeply distressed in the incident that occurred the other day. The unexpected visit of Q'oya-Y'uraka'i, the Monkey Goddess of Amazonia left him, and many people of the tribe, greatly confused. The celebration of the hunting season that was taking place ended abruptly, and nobody dared to question the true intentions of the Goddess. The meaning behind her appearance. All the people had resumed their normal lives without saying a word. Only a few stopped to think about this. This young man remained sitting outside of his hut... thinking...
Absorbed in thought, the man didn't notice the presence of the tribe's leader, who approached him and sat next to him. The young man turned to see him with a worried look. The leader spoke:
"What is it that bothers you, brother? I've seen you sit here for several days in a row at this time of the sunset."
"N-no! It's nothing, chief. I'm just... meditating. That's all...", the man answered.
"Brother, your face does not denote peace nor harmony. On the contrary, I could notice your fear and worry from afar. Come on, you have nothing to worry about. You can talk with me. You know that, right?", the chief said after putting his hand on the man's shoulder. The young man remained in silence for a few seconds.
"...Alright. But not here. My children and my wife are inside. They could hear us and I don't want them to be more scared than they already are", the man said as he stood up. The chief did the same and started walking together, away from the hut. Being at a considerable distance, both continued their conversation.
"Chief, what happened that day? What was all that chaos? Was that creature really Q'oya-Y'uraka'i? the man desperately asked.
"...I'll be completely honest with you, brother... I'm not sure. I had never seen anything like this before. As you well know, the will of the Gods is beyond our comprehension. The Gods manifest in different forms. Its impossible to be certain...", the chief confessed.
"Yes, I know. The mysterious ways of the Gods... but why take such a strange incarnation? A white-skinned girl... very similar to that of the outsiders that often traverse our lands. Judging by her appearance, she didn't seem to be more than 20 years old!", the man said in crossed arms.
"It's true, she even looked younger than my own daughter," the chief added. "And she was carrying a little monkey on her back. It seemed like she was just trying to protect him. She must be some sort of guardian for them."
"And what about the other things!? What about the disappearance of some of our people!? Since that cursed day, many women and children have gone missing! And not only in our village, but in many others as well. Rumors spread quickly chief, and more and more people talk about having seen shadows of bizarre creatures lurking in the vicinity of the settlements... something like this had never happened before! What in God's name is happening!?", the young man said with a gesture of anguish in his face. The chief remained in silence.
"Until that day, I thought the tales of the Tupí-Guaraní were mere hoaxes. They always spend time inventing legends and horror stories just to scare and keep the other tribes subdued... but I feel that, this time is different. Something terrible is really happening...", said the young man, noticeably scared.
"I understand you, brother, but when I came face to face with the Goddess, I could feel an energy emanating from her. I don't know how to describe it... it was as if I were in the presence of a true miracle!", the chief said with a tone of hope in his voice.
"A miracle? Chief, no offense, but that supposed 'Goddess' almost scared to death my two kids!" With just seeing her face, I felt her fury... the girl seemed more like an animal than a deity. A wildling! It seemed like she was just looking for something to kill and eat it." said the man, still anguished. "Now my children and my wife are terrified... they ask me questions, and I don't know what to say to them... I just want them to be safe, chief!", the man said as he turned to see his home.
"She is here to protect the jungle, to protect us all. The old prophecies say it! We have to believe in it and pray for her divine blessing, brother.", the chief responded, trying to calm down the concerned young man.
"Is that so? Really? Will she truly protect us?", the man asked in disbelief. "Will she protect us from 'everything'?"
The chief looked at his eyes and answered:
"...Yes. I'm sure of it..."
