Surviving the Jungle

Avion POV

Pain. Extreme Pain.

That was the only emotion that I could feel. All the joints in my body ached as they cried with soreness. I was in pain.

Grunting, I opened my eyes to find myself in…

A forest. Yes, I was in a forest. A dense green canopy overhead prevented the sunlight from intruding upon the aesthetics of the large trees that surrounded me. Flicking my head sideways I tried to assess my location. But to my misfortune, I determined I was completely lost in the middle of a Jungle.

I pushed myself to stand up. But my body retorted as all my limbs felt as if they would fall off the next moment. Knowing better, I knew that if I did not move now then I will simply be served as some trotting animal's next meal.

Standing up, I tried to do some basic stretches. After that my legs felt much better. Though there was some soreness in the arms, I deemed it manageable. Checking out my body once again, I started moving in a direction.

The jungle felt too congested. The trees and weeds grew out from almost all the available inch of the earth there was. The forest had definitely never been traversed before. There was no clear land nearby.

My best bet was to pick a direction and move. But the lack of sunlight made my decision even harder to take. I tried to scout out the place by climbing up a tree but that only left me with bruises and scratches on my knees and palms.

The only thing that did not let me go senile in that desolate place was the constant chirping of birds and the creaking crickets. The green lives that surrounded me never made me feel alone, rather I felt livelier than I had ever before.

The herbal scents of the shrubs and the wet soil's unique fragrance perfumed every particle of air that I breathe in. It was going all too smoothly. Too smoothly.

A hiss came from above me. My eyes immediately darted up to find the large open maw of a green trunk-thick and infinitely long python trying to take a bite out of my head.

!!!

"SHIT!"

My feet dashed away at a speed I thought was never possible to reach in this wretched terrain but I was too caught up in the moment to even care about such petty things. I scrunched up my nose as I persisted the pain that came as I stepped on the occasional sharp pebbles or twigs.

I ran with my life. But my glorious sprint soon came to an abrupt end. A thin tendril that had intertwined with the roots of a large tree decided to give my feet a loving hug. And down came my head kissing ground in a matter of seconds.

The first thing I did was look behind me. My instincts ignored everything that had happened and looked behind to check if I was safe. Hopefully I was lucky enough to be spared. There was no one behind.

Relief washed all over my body. But soon enough the relief soon turned into agony. Pure and simple agony. My already aching body had now taken several more hits and bruises. I could not feel that agony now.

No.

In Spite of all that physical pain, when half inside in the jaws of death. I realised that I was still alive. Though, I had made up my mind to die. When I had come face-to-face with it, I had chosen to run away. I was nothing but a coward.

The pain that clenched my heart had come back. Wheezing. I gasped for breath as I felt my heart grow heavier. Tears started streaming down my scratched cheeks. I had now once again been reminded. Reminded of all the sorrow that had drowned me totally. The most tragic lightning that struck and shattered my perfect life. My mother's death.

"Ma~ma~..."

A weak call for my first love interrupted the continuous tears that continued to fall. I was crying alone. Sitting beneath a tree with my head down my knees. I called for my mum.

"I-I am totally worthless without you Mama. Please come back. Come back. I am not strong enough to live alone. To fight this unfair battle of life. Please…"

'It isn't the moment when all that your sweat and hard work goes in vain is when you lose, it is the moment when you accept the fact that YOU HAVE LOST is when you lose.'

Strong words of my mother resounded inside my head. These words by a mother that had always challenged the stereotypes of this obsolete world and reared me single-handedly. I was in the care of such a great woman who had sacrificed all for her child.

And yet here I was sitting here crying my eyes out like a pussy. Was this what she had sacrificed everything for.

"No."

I wiped away my tears and stood up again. That day when I stood up, I made a vow to myself that whenever life knocks me down, I will get up. I will get up again. Again. Again and Again. Until I never fall back again.

As if the Goddess rewarded my valour, my ears soon registered a soft sound.

SPLASH

The burbling of the splashing water was so welcome that it felt akin to music. I determined the direction of the waterfall and started making my way towards it. My heart raced with excitement as the intensity of the sound increased with each passing second.

Separating the last two giant leaves that stood between me and the waterfall, I peeked and looked at the sight of pure wonder and beauty.

The waterfall wasn't very high. Crystal clear water continuously splashed against a large black rock from a height of about twenty feet. The little reservoir that lay beneath the falling stream of water was so clear that I could see its bottom even through the ripples caused by the stream.

Without putting a hint of thought for the clothes that I wore I ran and dived into the pure blue abyss.

***

"Achoo~~"

I sneezed the hundredth time.

"Should have just kept the clothes outside. I am such an idi-achoo~"

I was sitting inside a cave that I had found in the near vicinity of the waterfall.

Had it not been night time. I might have tried my luck at finding some dry twigs and branches to start a fire. But it was too much of a risk to go outside at this time of the day.

Though the water had satiated my thirst, I was now faced with another issue. Hunger. I was starving. It felt as if I hadn't eaten anything for the past week. My rumbling stomach was the first to agree to that statement.

I gulped down the water to reduce the agonising pain in my stomach. I had made a makeshift water bottle using a giant leaf. But the hunger did not strike alone.

Cold. As soon as the dark veil of the night fell the warm weather of the forest also began to change. The darkness brought along with it the cold. My clothes were already soaking wet so I had the option to either stay naked or use some make-do leaf attire. Obviously I chose the latter.

But still the unprofessionally made clothes had some large openings that left me wide open for any cold assault. My head started to feel a bit funny and little by little I started drifting into my sweet dreams.

***

My dreams were crushed by the squeak of a rodent. I tried to ignore it but the squeaking continued on and on. It had become unbearable. The lack of food doubled with the disparity of sleep took its toll on me.

TO BE CONTINUED