Flash Fiction #189 --Escaping Somewhere Else, Part 24: Jungle

(Previous)

I felt the ground move beneath my feet  and I went to my knees -- and then  to my feet and backing away as quickly as I could.  Through the debris of leaves and twigs, I saw the undulations of the largest snake I had ever seen.

I don't mind snakes.  They're fine animals. But when you land on one in the middle of the jungle and he's as wide as both your legs, you have a moment of existential understanding about your place in the universe.  Or in the jungle.  And that place might well be 'dinner' right now.

Edmond simply shrieked and climbed up the tree to the first branch, about ten feet above me.  I didn't want to tell him that I doubted that would help.  This guy could pull down the tree if he wanted to.

Apparently we weren't interesting enough.  I stood very still and watched this titan of snakes disappear into the underbrush.  I didn't move.  I barely breathed.  I stood there a long time, and then with a force of will, I turned my head and looked upward.

"You might as well come back down," I said.

"There is no way I am ever setting foot on that ground," Edmond replied.  He sat with his ears back, his tail twitching, and gave a little jump when something made a loud squawk not far away.

"I'll carry you," I said.  "Besides, these snakes can climb trees pretty easily --"

He leapt down and landed on my shoulder, digging all his claws in before he tumbled off onto the ground.  I yelped and nearly fell, but we managed not to go down.

"Stay close to trees.  If you go down, I want a quick escape."

"And what about me?"

"I'll yell a lot and hope something can help."

That sounded like the best plan at this point.  I took a step forward, slowly testing the ground.  It gave way a little but nothing actually moved.  A few steps away from the tree and the ground felt solid.  Things moved, but they were small and quiet down here.  There was far more noise in the trees above us now.

We were intruders, Edmond and I.  We said little, both of us listening for trouble.  It would be coming.  This was a dangerous place.  The creatures that leapt through the trees or flapped across the open spaces were many and loud -- I didn't worry so much about those as the ones we couldn't see, like giant snakes hidden in the shadows.  I did keep closer to trees for Edmond's sake and hoped that I'd have a chance to climb as well.

Sometimes I looked up and tried to see the bridge.  I was doing my best to head in the same direction, but we had to detour around a swampy area -- snakes again, but not as big as the one we'd first seen, and maybe even crocodiles.  Or were they alligators?  Caymen?  Did it matter at this point?  I saw eyes looking out of the muck and mud and simply hurried past.  Edmond who had been complaining about the bugs, said nothing at all.

One of them moved through the muck, keeping pace with us.  I didn't run.  I thought very hard about magic, though, trying to figure out what I could do.  I needed protection.

The area was clear over the swamp, though.  I looked up and thought I saw the distant bridge.  I tried to keep that in mind as I circled around this large area and headed back into the jungle again.

"We'll need to rest soon," Edmond said.  He sounded far less exuberant than usual.  I felt badly, knowing he had leapt off the bridge to stay with me.  How do you thank that kind of loyalty?  I'd start by not letting him be dinner for some snake.

"I don't think there's any place safe here, Edmond," I said. 

"No, there isn't," he agreed.  "But walking around until you're too tired to keep to your feet won't help either of us."

"I want to see a destination," I said.  "I want to know we're getting somewhere."

"Maybe we'll see something later," Edmond said.  He sounded worried and I wasn't certain why.  You need rest before you head off in the wrong direction.  Tired humans do odd things.  Let's just sit down for a while."

He did have a point.  And this area had a little cover but also open spots that let me see if anything was coming our way.  I found a boulder that I climbed up on -- Edmond even left my shoulder when he saw nothing sat atop it.  It was uneven and uncomfortable, but a slight dip towards the top gave me a place to sit.  I brushed the layer of water out and settled in.  I was not comfortable, but I was still.  Edmond came and settled in my lap.

"We'll get out of this," he said.  "We've gotten out of a lot of stuff already."

"You jumped off the bridge to join me.  That was crazy, Edmond."

"It was," he agreed.  "But I couldn't let you go off alone."

I scratched his neck and back.  He purred.

The light never changed, but a slight breeze blew through the area.  The insects were more interested in the swamp than in us at the moment, and as we rested, so did most of the creatures around us, no longer protesting our movements through their world.  It was not really quiet --

A huge head appeared around the base of a tree across from us.  The largest damned snake I had ever seen.  It blinked.

"Oh, hello," he said, his voice rumbling and deep.

Then he took a step forward.  Yes a step forward.  The long neck rose higher than me.  The huge legs crushed the ground beneath him.

Yup. 

I'd found the dinosaurs.

To Be Continued. . . .

984 Words

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Flash Fiction #188 --Escaping Somewhere Else, Part 23: Fall

 

(Previous)

I tried to grab at the edges of the bridge as we went over.  My fingers clawed at one long root, but I lost my old and I have a shout that was more frustration then fear as we tumbled downward.  I felt badly about Edmond.  Odd idea, but I couldn't accept my own near death.  I just flailed like I could  catch hold of the air and fly.

I had done so many stupid things.  I couldn't even grab hold of Edmond now and try to protect him in some way.  I tried to call up magic.  My brain couldn't get around it and the green, wild trees were closer.  No time.

And we slowed.

After a moment, I realized I felt the tingle of magic and it was not my own.  I craned my neck around and looked upward.  Maggie was hanging over the edge of the bridge, her hands moving, her voice a distant whisper. 

I started to lift, slowly, slowly -- but I could feel the strain of her magic and I knew it wasn't going to hold.  She would never get us to the bridge.

"Down!" I shouted.  I hoped she could hear.  There was a growing racket of birds below me now.  "Down!  Take care of them!  Get everyone to safety!"

Davis was standing beside her, a hand on her shoulder.  Even with his added power we were still jerking up and down.  She tried to get us back to safety.  I tried to find my magic as well -- but in the end we suddenly just fell.

It was not far, at least.  The canopy of the jungle below was even covered with dense, green leaves.  Animals danced away in shock as Edmond and I hit.  Slowed again.  Kept going.

I had sense enough to grab hold of vines, mostly because I feared they were going to wrap around my neck and strangle me.  My hands slid along the first one, the vine burning and cutting my palms.  The next was better and I came to a stop dangling in a mess of vines that looked far too much like a giant spider web around us. 

"It's a long ways down still," Edmond said.  He had attached himself to my leg, claws dug in.  I didn't complain.

"Tree -- to the right," I gasped.  Holding on was difficult. "I'll swing that way.  Can you grab it?"

"Yes, if we get close enough," he sounded calmer than I expected.  Maybe it was a kind of shock because I felt the same way.  "But what about you?"

"Branch.  Lower.  Drop down to it -- but dangerous for you on my leg."

"Let's do it before you fall."

"Yes."

I started moving my way along the vine, getting closer to the big tree trunk.  Things were moving around us but I refused to look.  I had one thing to worry about now and that was getting Edmond to the tree trunk and relative safety.

My hands were not going to hold out much longer.  I could feel blood making them slick.  We were close though. So I tried swinging that way -- and lost one hand hold.  I grabbed again with a gasp of fear and pain.

"Swing again.  I'll jump," Edmond said.

"Too far --"

"No. I can do it.  Swing."

I did.  He launched off of my leg leaving scratches through the jeans.  I tried to twist and see.  I heard him hit, then a frantic scratching sound --

"Edmond!"

"Got it.  Holding on.  Now you get down to somewhere safer.  It's not far to the branch there.  It's wide and can hold you."

I looked down, hoped I had the angle right, and dropped.  It was only about ten feet, and I didn't hit too hard, but it bruised my knees and I fell forward, wrapping my arms around the branch.  I might never move again.  I just laid there with my head head on the wood and listened to what was doubtless a thousand dangerous things around me -- because everything was dangerous -- and really couldn't manage to care at all.

"Mark." 

I lifted my head and gave Edmond a weary smile.  "Yeah, alive.  This is a mess, Edmond.  What do we do now?"

"Something I hope humans are better at than cats," he said, glancing over the edge of the branch.

"Which is?"

"Climbing out of trees."

Okay, that amused me and it helped.  I maneuvered around and sat up, glancing at the ground.  Maybe three hundred more feet down and I didn't see any handy Tarzan (or more likely George of the Jungle) vines dropping all the way to the ground. 

The tree trunk, though, presented some better options.  It had ridges and branches every few feet and the sight of it actually gave me hope.  I wanted down on solid ground, though I knew better than to think that would be safe.  I only rested for a few more minutes, though.  I tried not to think about how we had no supplies and no weapons.  No clue where to go.  I looked up and found that the canopy had seemed to snap back into place and I couldn't even see the bridge from here.  I could hear no sounds of others above us and we might as well have been a thousand miles away or in yet another reality.  I couldn't tell.

I just climbed down, Edmond to my right side.  I wasn't alone.  I'd always remember how he leapt out to join me when I was falling.  He couldn't have known we would survive.

Down and down and finally my feet touched a softer surface than another tree branch.  I looked down in shock to find I was standing on the debris at the bottom of the tree.  Ground, more or less -- it was a bit spongy here, though I thought it looked more solid a few steps away.

"Made it," I said.

And something moved under my feet.

To Be continued. . . .

997 Words

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