Stalin opened a door that was hidden by his body, and revealed a chamber of great volume. A window 11 meters in front of us that uncloaked the mossy river. The wall to the left was covered in ancient books titled, Como Traduzir Inglês para Português, and, Como Mapear Estrelas Portuguesas. The right wall was cludded with many strange tools, and a giant telescope poked from the outside so you could examine stars probably millions of kilometers away from earth.
I was rudely left my hanging, but that was far from my mind at this point. I wandered around the room
“You can visit this sala at any point during this expedition-in fact, I request it.” I stuttered, “I-I don’t know what to say. This is amazing!” Stalin looked at me with a warming look, and proclaimed, “What do you mean? You are member of the Voyaging Society now. We don’t want you to feel like a dog being dragged by a proprietário médio.” he chuckled, “No, we want you to have a 5 star experience while you are on the Barco do Capitão Stalin.”
I quickly turned back to Stalin. “Thank you.”
Stalin responded, “Come back to the dinner table when your done examining the room.” Stalin walked back into the hallway, leaving the door adjacent.

…

I came back to the dining room with two thick books in my hand. It looked like they had started dinner without me, though I barely noticed with my nose in A Catalog of Brazilian Plants by Grail líquido vermelho. It was only until the main course I started paying attention to the meal in front of me.
I could definitely tell red was the color theme for dinner. There was red Jello, red fruit salad, red tomato soup, and even fascinating red leaves*.
For the next hour, we all spent time introducing ourselves, and, to my surprise, many of the members didn’t know a lot about one another. They all seemed okay to express personal information, except their age. The members’ names were all very intriguing, even though they said their names were best not translated. Some names I remember were Senhor o Carneiro, and o Amo Amante do foguista. Many stories were told that night, probably enough to make another whole book on**.Their were tales of superior conquering, tales of sorrowful loss, and tales of hope for a bright, “bounty-full future,” as put in the members’ words.
I was very wary by the time I was sent to the guest sleeping chamber, and feel quite fast asleep in no time.
Much of the next morning was spent reading, accomplishing half-way through the plant catalog. A little before high noon, the Barco do Capitão Stalin finally left the bay.
A little after a speedy lunch, we discussed what exactly The Voyaging Society would be doing on the trip.
The table was cleared, and replaced with a ginormous map of the amazon and its surroundings. Stalin placed a tiny, identical figurine of the Barco do Capitão Stalin near towards the Santa Rosa bay.
“This is our ship,” shouted Stalin, “slowly heading towards Paru Island.” he placed a green flag on a thin island near a small tributary titled Paru River. Paru is about 150 miles away. We will arrive by lunch tomorrow. After we dock, we will hike a short ways to Paru Village, home to many what you may call satisfying features.” At this, some of the members glanced at each other with slight grins.
Stalin turned his head to me then exclaimed, “On our way to the village, Mr. Lockhart here will use the room on the west wing to study creatures and such on the banks of the amazon to add to our catalog.” I internally blushed at the mention of my name.
“Now,” continued Stalin, “Wander back to your stations, and let us begin our little expedition.”


*It was so intriguing, infact, that I kept some for myself to study in the Sala de Pesquisa Acolhedora.
**Watch out for an upcoming book titled A Vampire’s Valorous Tale, VwV’s amazing sequel!