‘How was it?’ Floriano had resorted to sitting on a grass verge in the shade. I could see a pile of cigarette butts next to him.

‘I learnt a lot,’ I said, as he stood up and unlocked the car.

‘Good,’ he said as we both climbed inside and he started the engine. He didn’t question me further as we drove back towards Ipanema, perhaps sensing that I needed some time to come back into the present from the past. I was silent for the rest of the journey, mulling over the story I’d been told. When we arrived on the forecourt of my hotel, Floriano turned to me. ‘I’m sure you feel exhausted and need some time alone. You know where I’ll be if you want some food and company later. And I promise it’ll be me, not my daughter, who’s the chef tonight,’ he assured me with a wink.

‘Thank you,’ I said, climbing out of the car. ‘For everything,’ I added as he nodded at me and reversed out onto the street. As I walked into the hotel, I didn’t understand why my legs felt as though they were two deeply rooted tree trunks that I had to drag out of the earth every time I asked them to take a step forward. I crossed the lobby slowly, took the lift upstairs and walked almost drunkenly to my suite. Expending my last burst of energy on unlocking my door, I entered the room, staggered to the bed and slept where I lay.

I awoke two hours later, feeling as though I was experiencing a giant hangover, and took an ibuprofen and a large slug of water for my aching head. Lying on my bed, I could hear the approaching storm rumbling ominously overhead in the grey-blue sky, and watched the clouds gathering in preparation. Too exhausted to move, I slept again and awoke an hour later to see it beginning in earnest. Jagged bolts of lightning split the dusky sky above the now frantic waves, and claps of thunder – the likes of which I’d never heard – boomed in my ears.

As the first pattering of raindrops began to land on the narrow windowsill outside, I looked at my watch and saw it was almost seven in the evening. I pulled up a chair right in front of the window and sat down in wonder to watch the storm take hold. The slanting rain was so heavy it bounced off every solid surface at right angles, the roads and pavements becoming streams of boiling, bubbling water below me. Sliding the window open, I stuck my head out and felt the cool, clear drops pelting on to my hair and drenching my shoulders.

I laughed out loud suddenly, almost euphoric at the magnificence of the sheer force of nature on display. In that moment, I felt as if I too were part of the maelstrom, intrinsically attached to both the heavens and the earth, unable to comprehend the miracle that created it, just exhilarated knowing I belonged to it.