Lost In The Jungle

Lost in the Jungle

The afternoon sun shone brightly into Amelia Sands's baby blue eyes. It took some time to adjust her vision to see clearly. She felt herself swaying from side to side, which almost caused her to feel nauseous. When she sat up, she realized she was sitting in a canoe in the middle of a swampy lake. Amelia glanced around in confusion wondering where she is and how she ended up there. She did not recognize anything beside the tall trees. There were more of them than she remembered. There were so many sounds she did not recognize. It was at this moment she realized she was far from home, which scared her very much. She did not like being alone, especially when she did not recognize anything at all. ‘Where am I?’ she wondered to herself.

Amelia remembered when she went to summer camp last year and what the camp facilitator said to her, “If you find yourself alone and unfamiliar, don’t panic; otherwise your mind can become too clouded to think. This can make things worse for yourself. Just take a deep breath and study your surroundings. Only then you could clear yourself out of a bad situation and find your way back home safely.”

‘Okay, don’t panic. Think!” She whispered quietly to herself.

There were all kinds of sounds coming from all directions and they frightened her. Amelia was not going to let fear overwhelm her though, no matter what. She searched the boat for the oars, so she can get herself to the shoreline. She found the oars beneath one of the seats and began rowing until she reached the shore with no trouble at all. Once there she looked for something to tie the canoe with, so it would not drift away.

Just then, Amelia heard rustling in the trees above and took a glimpse. Way up high she saw chimpanzees swinging from vine to vine. She watched in amazement, and thought, ‘Gee, I wish I could swing like that. They seem to be having a lot of fun.’ She admired them for a moment then resumed her search for something to tie the canoe with. Two feet away she noticed a rope tied to a large oak tree. She picked it up and was thankful it was long enough to reach the boat. She attached it to the boat and tied the tightest knot she could manage. This was also something else she remembered at camp. How to tie different types of knots. She learned how to tie a Bowline, Clove Hitch, Figure Eight and more. ‘There, that should stay in place.’ She gave the knot a once-over and was proud of her Bowknot. It was secure and she knew it would keep the boat in place.

She sat against the large oak tree for a moment of rest to figure out what to do next. She felt her tummy growl, and she felt a chill pass through her. She was hungry and cold. Glancing up at the sky, she can see the sun setting across the lake.

Time was slipping away, and the night was coming fast. She knew she had to do something but did not know what. She was too hungry and cold to think. Just then, Amelia heard a hissing sound above her. She glanced up to see what could be making that annoying sound. Amelia suddenly rushed to her feet when she came almost face to face with a large snake hanging from a thick branch. It was green with black spots all over, from head to tail, and it coiled its thick long slithering body around the branch with ease. It was big enough to squeeze the life out of her. It even appeared to be grinning at her. It caught her off guard when it spoke. She was too stunned to move.

“Hel-lo, little girl, S-S-S-S-S-S,” said the snake.

Amelia was too scared to even take the slightest step. She wanted to run, but could not. Her heart was racing as she froze to the spot.

“I s-s-s-see you are loss-s-s-s-t. Am I right? Don’t you know what happens to little girl-s-s-s in the jungle?”

Amelia’s eyes widened with fear as she saw the snake slithering down the tree to the ground. It slithered its way toward her, then stopped. It was now 2 feet away from where she was standing. Still, she could not move.

“Please don’t hurt me! Please!” She cried out. It was all she could manage to say.

“There’s-s-s-s no use crying little girl. No, us-s-s-e in begging either. No use at all. I am rather hungry you s-s-s-see.”

It was then Amelia built up the courage to run. She ran as fast as her little legs could take her. She was just about to fall into a very large hole; just then she was lifted off the ground. She glanced up to see a huge bird with a large bounty beak and sharp claws. She remembered seeing one of these on television once. It was a show named, 'History of Dinosaurs.' Amelia could not believe her eyes. She was being carried off by a Pterodactyl, hanging from its talons. Its claws were digging into her shoulders as it tightened its grip; causing her intense pain. It carried her across the lake as it soared through the sky. It was not long before Amelia felt herself falling once again. The large creature dropped her into a nest with three large eggs. The Pterodactyl sat at the edge of the nest. It was waiting for her eggs to hatch. Amelia then heard a loud squawk now piercing her ears. It appeared to be encouraging her hatchlings to hatch as if her babies could hear her through the shells.

“I’ve got to get out of here, and soon,” Amelia whispered to herself.

Amelia watched the bird-like creature carefully stood, trying to steady her feet in the uneven nest. She glanced at her side peering down from the nest. It was a long way down. Too high to jump. Amelia always had a fear of heights as far back as she could remember. ‘How am I going to get down from here? I need to find another way.’ She thought to herself.

Amelia searched around the nest for something to climb down with. There was nothing to grab onto. She glanced around, and back at the creature and her eggs. Lucky for her, the eggs were still hatching. Glancing around again, she noticed a vine hanging from a tree about inches away. Maybe, I can jump and grab it. Then I can climb down. It doesn’t look too far to jump. I think I can do it.’ She looked over at the creature and the eggs again. The last egg was almost done hatching. She looked back at the vine and prepared herself for the jump.

“Whatever are you doing, dear? You know there is no way out, so you might as well give up. You can’t escape me. I have been keeping my eyes on you, and whether you like it or not, you will be supper for my hatchlings.” Said the big scary bird.

“Not if I can help it.” Replied Amelia with sudden confidence

She turned back toward the tree and said to herself. ‘Okay, if I am going to do this, it would have to be now.’ She closed her eyes, took a deep breath for courage, and jumped as far as she could and caught the vine. Just then, the bird swooped down to grab her before she could get a good grip on the vine. Instead, the bird missed and bumped into the tree; almost knocking itself out. Amelia made it to the vine and held on with all her might. She looked back at the creature and saw it was about to try again, but then it heard the chicks crying out, so it flew back to the nest to tend to her hatchlings.

Amelia began to lose her grip on the vine and could not hold on much longer. She felt herself falling backwards as she screamed all the way down. Her fall was then broken by something soft and hairy beneath her. Then she heard a loud screech.

“OW! That hurts.”

She rolled off onto the grass to see what it was she fell on. There lying on the ground was a very upset and injured chimpanzee. It was what saved her fall.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall on you. I didn’t expect to land on anyone. You see, I was only trying to escape from being supper to Pterodactyl chicks. Anyway, are you okay?”

“Well, of course, I’m not ok, silly child. Just don’t sit there, help me up. We need to get somewhere safe. It’s getting quite dark, and it’s dangerous out here at night. Help me up, please.”

“But you’re badly hurt. I don’t know if I can hold your weight for long.”

“My friend is a doctor. All you can do is help me get to him. He would know what to do. We wouldn’t last long out here on by ourselves, especially when I’m injured. Come on, help me up and let’s get moving.” Said the chimp as it grimaced in pain.

“Okay! As Amelia stooped down to help the chimp to its feet, she then asked. “Do you think this doctor friend can help me get home?”

It rested its arm around Amelia’s shoulder; almost weighing her down, Amelia was not sure how long she could hold the chimp’s weight and hoped this friend was not too far.

“Well, we might as well get acquainted. I like to know who shoulders I am resting my arm on. What is your name child?” Asked the chimp.

“Amelia?”

“Well Amelia, my name is Daisy.” Said the chimp as she tried to fight the pain. At least that is what my friend calls me. He rescued me once before. From Akon.” She added.

“Akon?”

Anyway, since then Akon had taken his vengeance on all humans. And it was unfortunate for the other creatures who got in his way. Then he became more dangerous, he started attacking the other animals whenever he got a chance to.

Daisy then looked down in sadness. “I got too close today. I was just busy searching for food with my sister. We were swinging side by side and over the lake we went, but she got too close to the water. Just then Akon got to her. It all happened so fast. I couldn’t do anything. I got onto the other side of the lake and stood in fright. She tried to fight him off, but she was still too young to defend herself. Afterward, he almost got me, and I fought until he let go. I should have known better to cross the lake with my little sister.” Daisy looked down with tears now streaming down her eyes, then continued. “It was my fault.”

‘Amelia felt sad for Daisy and her loss. She wished there was something she could say to comfort Daisy,

but didn’t know what. Daisy had just been through a horrible experience. ‘What can I say?’ She thought to herself.

She remembered when she lost her grandfather two years ago. It was difficult to lose him. She was close to her grandfather. He was like another dad. He took her everywhere. To the zoo, the circus, and was always there to comfort her when she was sad about something when mom and dad were out for the night. It took her a long time to get past the loss of her grandfather.

She also remembered her mom saying, “Only thing you can do now, is to remember him as he was and all the good memories you had together. Just keep that close to your heart.” Amelia thought her mom was one of the smartest people she knew; besides her Dad, of course. She smiled at the thought and hoped to be with her family again, and soon.

Neither spoke. Each in their own thoughts. They both walked in silence before a thought came to Amelia’s mind. She wondered if they were on the right path to where they were heading.

“How far is this friend?” Asked Amelia, now whispering for only Daisy to hear, so she doesn’t attract anything or anyone who poses threat to them.

Daisy stopped for a moment and looked around. Then she pointed through the trees to her right. She was losing a lot of blood, and fast. Amelia led Daisy through the trees and found another path up ahead. Daisy’s weight was beginning to press down on her even more now. Amelia was not sure how much longer she could carry Daisy’s weight, but she was going to try anyway to get themselves to safety.

It was not long before Amelia noticed a light up ahead. As she got closer, she saw a man sitting near a bonfire. He appeared to be cooking. Whatever he was cooking, it smelled good but dismissed it for the moment. She had to get the help Daisy needed first. The chimp was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. She called out for help and saw the man raise his head to see where the voice was coming from. She raised her hand and called out again, and once he saw them, he came running.

“Please help us.” Cried Amelia

Amelia could see the man was tall with dark hair and brown eyes. He had a full beard with white specks on it. He seemed familiar to her but couldn’t place where she had seen him before. She watched as he picked Daisy up with ease and headed toward a red tent. Amelia followed close behind.

“Is she going to be alright?”

“I can’t say just yet. I need to see how deep the injury is first.

Amelia observed as the man diagnosed the wound and wrapped Daisy’s leg in bandages. He then gave Daisy some tablets with a glass of water.

“Try to rest now, Daisy.”

“Thank you, Dr. Jake.” Said Daisy with a weak voice, before she fell sound asleep.

“Well, it’s a deep bite. Not too deep though; which is very good for her. I just cleaned it and treated it with antibiotics. She will need surgery first thing in the morning. When there is light. For now, she will be alright till then. I gave her something for the pain. Although she had lost a lot of blood, she is very lucky. If it wasn’t for you, she wouldn’t have made it through the night. Anyway, Dr. Jake is the name. What’s your name young lady, and how did you get here? It’s can be very dangerous out here, especially for a young girl such as yourself.

“My name is Amelia, and I don’t know how I got here. All I know is that I woke up in a boat.’

“I see. Well is you family nearby?”

“I don’t know. I need your help to find them. Can you help me? I need to get back home.”

“I will see what I can do to help. In the meantime, are you hungry?”

“Yes!

“Okay, I’ve got some roast pork. I will go get some for you. You can wait here. You can keep an eye on Daisy.”

Amelia waited in the large tent with Daisy. It was nice and warm inside the large tent. In moments, Dr. Jake was back with a paper plate. He rested it onto the small round table she was sitting at. She rested her eyes on the roast pork, and salad. Her mouth began to water. She picked up the fork to eat. Just then, they heard a rustling in the trees nearby.

“Okay Amelia, I need you to stay here. I will be back.”

Amelia watched as the man grabbed a large knife, a rope and headed out the tent.

“You’re leaving us here alone?”

“I won’t be long. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” He said with a kind smile.

Amelia smiled back. She felt comforted by Dr. Jake and knew that was a good thing. Already she felt safe and she continued eating. Once done, she walked over to Daisy’s side and sat with her. She saw that Daisy’s breathing was slow but steady. She was so exhausted she couldn’t stay awake any longer. She rested her head at the side of Daisy’s cot and fell asleep.

Amelia was awakened by footsteps coming toward the tent and looked up. She was relieved when she saw the doctor. She watched as the doctor rested his knife on the table and turned to speak to her.

“Akon, would not be bothering anyone again.” He said. “I took care of him.”

Amelia sensed from the tone of the doctor’s voice that Akon was dead. She felt sad for Akon, but it sounded like he was a danger to everyone; more so, since his family were no longer around. It wasn’t Akon’s fault he became more dangerous. After all his family was taken from him. She could tell that Dr. Jake did not want to do what he had to.

“I’m sorry! He became too much of a threat. It had to be done.” He added.

Although, Akon became such a danger, Amelia wished there was another way to deal with Akon. Meanwhile, Dr. Jake walked over to Daisy to check up on her. He then set up another cot in the corner of the tent.

“Well, you must be tired Amelia from everything you might have been through. You can tell me all about it tomorrow. For now, you get some rest. You can sleep on this cot.”

“Thank you, Dr. Jake. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!”

The next morning, when Amelia woke up, she saw Dr. Jake moving around the tent. He was preparing for the surgery.

“Oh good, you’re awake. I made some breakfast. It’s on the table ready for you. We can start the surgery once you’re finished. I would need your assistance during the surgery. Do you think you can help?”

“I can try.”

“Good!” Dr. Jake said with a warm smile.

Amelia rose out of the cot and walked over to the table. There, laid out for her was a plate with two eggs, toast, a couple strips of chicken bacon, and a glass of orange juice. Everything looked delicious, and it was. Once done she picked up her plate, dumped it in fire pit outside and walked back to the tent.

Dr. Jake put a mask on and gave Amelia one too with a pair of gloves. He laid out the tools on the same small table, and prepped Daisy for surgery. The surgery only took one hour, but it felt like hours to Amelia. Once it was done, they left Daisy to rest. Dr. Jake led Amelia to the chairs around the fire pit and both sat for a chat. Amelia told him everything that happened yesterday.

“Well, I am glad you made it through the day. You were lucky to have met Daisy when you did. Anyway, I need to gather some wood for the firepit for tonight. You stay here with Daisy. When I get back, I will work on a plan to get you home.”

Amelia walked over to Daisy’s side and found a book nearby to read while Dr. Jake disappeared into the forest in search of wood. It was not long she heard a distant voice calling out to her. It sounded like her dad’s voice. He sounded quite concerned. She then felt herself drifting away. She did not know what was happening to her. The voice came again. It sounded closer this time.

“Amelia wake up honey. Please, wake up.” The voice said.

Amelia opened her eyes. She was right. It was dad, Mom, her little big brother Jason, and her dog Sundance was all surrounding her bed. Even Dr. Jake was there.

“Do you remember anything Dear?” Asked Mom

“No! All I remember was being inside a canoe in the middle of the lake, a snake that wanted me for his dinner, a Pterodactyl wanting to feed me to her chicks and falling on Daisy. She was the chimpanzee I needed to help save.” Amelia then looked up at the doctor. “You were there too. You healed Daisy.”

“It was just a dream Amelia.” Said Mom

Then Dr. Jake spoke.

“Who is this Daisy, I helped?” Asked Dr. Jake

“She was the injured chimpanzee.”

“Well, young lady, it seemed like you had quite a dream.”

“It felt so real!” Cried Amelia.

“Some dreams can seem that way hon.” Said Mom.

“We found you lying by the lake, unconscious. If it wasn’t for Sundance here, we would have never found you. He saved your life.” Said Dad.

“Yes, you are a very lucky young lady. It seemed you have been sleepwalking, and you walked right into the lake. I believe Sundance pulled you out just in time. You will be okay though. You just need some rest now.” Dr. Jake added.

Just then Sundance jumped on the bed, gave Amelia one big wet kiss on the cheek, and laid down beside her.

“Thanks Sundance, I love you.” Amelia said in a soft voice as she rested her hand on Sundance's.

Even though, it was all a dream she still wondered if Daisy was okay, and hoped when she falls back to sleep, she would see Daisy up and about. All healed up and safe. If not, maybe one day she would see Daisy again, and with that thought, she drifted off to sleep with Sundance still at her side.