# A night from hell in paradise
I looked out of the tiny window, where, through the low hanging clouds, I could finally see a few of the 300+ Fijian islands dotted around the ocean below me. I was excited to start the first relaxing holiday I've had in years. No early rises, no long drives where we would squeeze in as much of the country as we could. No, not this time. This time was all about doing nothing.
Moving countries and our hectic work schedules had finally taken its toll, so Ash and I decided to recharge our batteries in Fiji. There's no better place to relax than a paradise-like country where the weather is hot, the people friendly, the water luke warm and where everything is run on 'Fiji time'.
We were warmly welcomed by a band …show more content…
As we approached the small island, we were treated to a welcome song by the staff dressed in traditional attire followed by a big 'BULA!'. Our appointed villa was all the way at the back of the island, with its own plunge pool, outdoor relax bed and stunning views of the beach and ocean. "How blissfully peaceful", I thought, blissfully unaware that this seemingly postcard perfect island would turn into a place straight from hell as soon as the sun went …show more content…
"The wind perhaps?" I asked Ash. "Maybe", he said, and we didn't give it a second thought until it became louder, and multiplied in decibels. "Sounds like a wolf", I mumbled, confused about the sounds we were hearing. We jumped out of the bed and walked out onto the patio. The sounds stopped. It was eerily quiet.
We stood there for a while, bewildered, until the sounds suddenly started again, this time from behind us. My heart started racing as I turned around. Ash was checking the side of the villa while I tried to locate the noise around the back of the villa. The sounds stopped as soon as we started moving around. Unable to find the source of the noise, we went back inside and tried to forget about it. As soon as we turned off the lights outside, the sounds were back. This time louder, and more eery. Something dawned on me. "It's the birds", I realised.
Earlier that day, staff had mentioned a local bird currently nesting on the island. "Don't worry if you hear a baby crying, it's actually the call of the Matamanoa bird", she told us casually, so casually that we had completely forgotten about it. Her description was quite tame in hindsight. It started out as the sound of the wind, followed by howling wolves. As soon as it was pitch black outside, it turned into a full concert of crying demon babies, all around
I looked out of the tiny window, where, through the low hanging clouds, I could finally see a few of the 300+ Fijian islands dotted around the ocean below me. I was excited to start the first relaxing holiday I've had in years. No early rises, no long drives where we would squeeze in as much of the country as we could. No, not this time. This time was all about doing nothing.
Moving countries and our hectic work schedules had finally taken its toll, so Ash and I decided to recharge our batteries in Fiji. There's no better place to relax than a paradise-like country where the weather is hot, the people friendly, the water luke warm and where everything is run on 'Fiji time'.
We were warmly welcomed by a band …show more content…
As we approached the small island, we were treated to a welcome song by the staff dressed in traditional attire followed by a big 'BULA!'. Our appointed villa was all the way at the back of the island, with its own plunge pool, outdoor relax bed and stunning views of the beach and ocean. "How blissfully peaceful", I thought, blissfully unaware that this seemingly postcard perfect island would turn into a place straight from hell as soon as the sun went …show more content…
"The wind perhaps?" I asked Ash. "Maybe", he said, and we didn't give it a second thought until it became louder, and multiplied in decibels. "Sounds like a wolf", I mumbled, confused about the sounds we were hearing. We jumped out of the bed and walked out onto the patio. The sounds stopped. It was eerily quiet.
We stood there for a while, bewildered, until the sounds suddenly started again, this time from behind us. My heart started racing as I turned around. Ash was checking the side of the villa while I tried to locate the noise around the back of the villa. The sounds stopped as soon as we started moving around. Unable to find the source of the noise, we went back inside and tried to forget about it. As soon as we turned off the lights outside, the sounds were back. This time louder, and more eery. Something dawned on me. "It's the birds", I realised.
Earlier that day, staff had mentioned a local bird currently nesting on the island. "Don't worry if you hear a baby crying, it's actually the call of the Matamanoa bird", she told us casually, so casually that we had completely forgotten about it. Her description was quite tame in hindsight. It started out as the sound of the wind, followed by howling wolves. As soon as it was pitch black outside, it turned into a full concert of crying demon babies, all around