Waiting for Gordo

Miranda arrives in an ocean paradise with husband Jim and most of the usual group for their annual dive holiday. Their daughter is grown up and living on the other side of the world. She and Jim have no special ties after a lifetime of travel. As she observes her companions she reflects on how the island is shaped to accommodate the tourist trade that is the region's life's blood. This year's Bathroom Cockroach seems particularly watchful; the low bushes rustle oddly as though they too are watching; and burgers on the breakfast buffet (beef ... out here?). She senses something incongruous from the moment she sets foot on the soft white sand.