The day after was hot and sunny when I left my apartment. The meeting point with the rest of the crew was in front of the bar just before the gate E25, where we had to take next flight. After my landing, I was getting closer to the gate when I saw some people waving at me and calling me by name. Once I got there, it was like a rain of handshakes and warm words of welcoming.

"So you'll be our new reporter?" said Mike, the rock expert.

"Sit with us" said John the doctor.

"We already took you something to drink" added Ashley, the photographer.

Feeling like a child on Christmas day, I accepted the hot drink and told my story shortly. After that, everyone gave me a quick glimpse about who they were and their lives.

They wanted to know everything about me and they started asking questions like children. I replied kind, but I felt like they were investigating something specific. It was like they were trying to find to right answers or they were expecting precise information. Anyway they were all kind and I was comfortable with their curiosity.

First was John, a tall black man all shaved and in a perfect physical form. I read that he had been trained in the army and he was very compassionate and easygoing, except when he was doing his job where he could have become cold hearted and hard as a rock. His hairy arms and his posture made him similar to a bear.

Second was Luke the biologist. He was thin, not so tall and he was obsessed with finding new idea to experiment on life and to get rid of the problem we have all in common: death. He was very impatient and narcissistic, not much of a team worker but more similar to a lone wolf.

Third was Mike. He was all books and formulas. He wore glasses and he was a little overweight. He wasn't much of a company and he devoted his life studying the ground and his proprieties. He was very similar to a mole.

Fourth in the group was Ashley the only woman. She was tall and the waves of her clothes would attract every man. She was very smart, emancipate, friendly and generous. If she would have been an animal, she would have been a fox.

In my case, I was told then that, for my kindness and my role in guiding the group with my reportage, I must have been some animal who knows the woods. What could have fitted more than a stag?

The team was molding into something similar to an hand where everyone was a finger with a special and only duty.

Everyone had different personalities and qualities that were needed for the group to be strong and united. It was necessary everybody played his part in a coordinate way so that the mission would be accomplished.

The moment we were all laughing and cheering, we heard a metallic voice saying that our flight was due to depart. All of a sudden, the expressions on everybody s faces became serious. We grabbed our luggage and ran towards the gate.

Once seated on the plane, Luke the biologist asked me:

"Why did you accept this job?"

"I was waiting for a chance that might change my situation and I like adventure and having a new story to tell I guess. What about you?" I replied.

"Money what else? In the company where we work, the more you discover useful life forms, the more you get paid." answered Luke.

"Don't worry Scott" said Mike, who was seated on the left side.

"There are people like me or Ashley who enjoy what they are doing"

"What about the doctor Mike? Why is he so silent? If i may ask" I added.

"Nobody really knows about him. He lost someone special during his childhood and now he devoted his life to save others. Tricky ehin? He has never spoken about this, so that's just a theory" replied the geologist.

While he was finishing talking, I stretched my neck to see where Ashley and John ended up and I saw her putting the bag in the opposite place over their heads. She turned back, smiled at me and sat next to John.

"I warn you kid" said Luke.

"She's a difficult girl. Her life is all about photos and crazy butterflies spinning around. You may get hurt."

"Me?" I answered not prepared.

"Nahhh, I just met her, I don't even know her, you're a making a mistake"

"I'm never wrong" he replied.

"Anyway we have a long travel ahead maybe it's better we have a little nap now"

Mike nodded and I slowly fell in a dreamless sleep between the clouds that were running fast outside the oval window.

We landed in a place far away during night so it was hard to distinguish exactly where we were.

Ashley took some photos from the bus that was taking us to the last place we would have had facilities and comfort. When we got to the giant hut that would host us, we got our room keys and went in different directions to leave the luggage and take a bath.

One hour later we were together again, sipping hot tea the around a small chimney. Staring at the flames, Mike took a map and showed to us.

"Let's plan for tomorrow. I know Scott you've not been told everything" He said looking towards me.

"What do you mean by that Mike?" I replied curiously.

"There is something that we didn't tell you on purpose and we tested during all the travel to here" said Ashley.

"We needed to know if we could trust you and if you were the right one for this expedition. Finally we totally agreed that it is fine for you to be with us. I decided personally and I had the last word about you, because there is no better judge than a heart of a woman"

"That's the meaning of the rendez-vous at the airport" I added surprised.

"That's why all that talking and questions. You could have told me before!"

"Be ready. What I am about to tell you may change your point of view. Why do you think you have been summoned?" asked Mike.

"Easy" I replied. "You need somebody to describe whatever you find, your chronicler was not available so you chose someone else. Isn't that right?"

"I'll tell you why" said John "We chose you over our man because we need a non scientific way of describing things. We need you to create a map. This is your real task"

"What?" I answered back. "I have no qualification to create a map! How can I possibly do it? You picked the wrong man!"

"Let me explain this to you" said Luke the biologist. "We are looking for something very important and valuable. If our research is successful, we need to keep our tracks covered because what we are looking for may be dangerous in the wrong hands"

"I can't draw and you want me to create a map, after that, I should clear the map I just drew?"

I was like a fish out of water completely lost and grasping for air. I felt shocked and betrayed, but I knew that there was something more about it. It couldn't be that easy so the curiosity mixed with determination made me stay and desire to know more and more.

"It's easy to understand your confusion" replied Mike.

"Let me take you back in time when the description of things was not based on numbers and measurement.

Once, mostly during war, places and castles were illustrated with long descriptions because there wasn't the knowledge of math applied. During these times, all was written like a boring story of endless, talking about walls, constructions, cannon balls and the slope of everything. In the present time everything would be described with coordinates and precise numbers. This way moved the description from physical to an amount of data.

What we want to do now is to move backwards and illustrate things in an old way, so old that nobody could ever comprehend. You can use your codes and special phrases you could use in poetry. In this way the location would be safe and nobody could decipher the written text. Is it a little clearer? All you need to do is write about the location visited with metaphors and blaze a trail that only us could rerun"

Everything seemed to be shaped now, but I was still missing something.

"What are we looking for, exactly?"

Ashley took something out of her pocket and showed to me.

"These photos may give you an idea" she said. I reached for them leaving the cup almost empty on the table.

The images showed a person, drawings of a frog many times in different positions and the last ones were some strange circles with smoke coming out of it. I didn't have the slightest idea of what all this could possibly mean, so I decided to give the photos back to Ashley, but while I was stretching my arm, one of them fell on the floor. I collected and looked at it, it showed a drawing of young woman coming out the waters but all around her there were crabs, white crabs.

Suddenly I said:

"Are you looking for frogs? Why do these photos are all about drawings?"

"We don't know exactly what we will find" answered Luke the biologist.

"The man in the pictures was missing and after some time, was found back again here in this very place. When he was found again, he could not remember his name and he was just wandering talking to himself. Once he was recognized, he was brought to an hospital to do some analysis. His body was in perfect condition, but it showed signs it just recovered from some broken bones. All this story was weird, so it caught the attention of many people in few days. He seemed he was cured by something if not he would have died. A man with a broken arm in the woods can't really survive. We reconstructed the story and we found he needed to pay a lot of debts. Probably someone wanted to harm him and he was brought near the forest. There was the sign of a bullet next to the fracture of his arm. He had two bullets in his chest too. Maybe he ran away, but then? What happened? Nobody knows"

"All we know" added John.

"Something strange happen, a kind of miracle. He was cured and then he got insane.

After that, he decided to jump off the window of the hospital because he said he wanted to go back. All that he left were drawings and words without any sense; noises and sounds like he was singing"

"We know about your works of poetry you have done in your early career, Scott. Your role in this research is fundamental" said Mike.

"Now that you know the truth about everything, would you write for us?" he asked with a smile.

"If we could work together " added Ashley "Your writing with my photos as a support will create a unique path, but once our work would be divided, no one could ever guess the road we took. What do you say?"

I was a little surprised but I felt important knowing that everybody needed me more than ever. Lots of information were still hidden and I needed time to understand the whole story, but it was okay for me because the enthusiasm and curiosity won my heart and all was left in my mouth was these words.

"If a poet is what you want...you chose the right person! I will be the poet you need. I'm ready"

After saying that, everybody smiled and clapped their hands.

"That' s great!" said Ashley kissing me on the cheek .

"Way to go!" said Mike the geologist.

"Sorry for keeping this secret from you, but we needed to make sure that leaving so fast and not knowing your task completely covered the real thing what you were about to do"

I stood my hand and lean my head to reply that was not problem because I understood the situation.

We chose what to bring the following day and in which direction we would have proceed. Everybody agreed and we moved to our chambers to rest before the sunlight would have come to wake us up.