Chapter 1: Where am I?

The city block was busy as normal. The street vendors didn't even need to yell out their wares as all the tourists flocked to the stands. New York was busy any day of the week, but the summer months were especially busy, the student tours adding to the chaos. I have traveled to many places, but home was always the best place. The noise, the smog, the museums, everything! New York was the best place in the world.

I turned around to yell at my bestie as well as our group of friends. We decided to eat lunch off campus. New York University was, in my opinion, the best private university to attend. I will be graduating this Fall semester with my Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies as my minor and Childhood Psychology as my major. I was doing an extra course for the summer to keep my goals pace, otherwise I would be graduating in the spring instead. Instead all I had left was my internship, everything else was done.

I saw the streets, the crowded sidewalks, heard the blaring of horns and the yells of the kids from a nearby tour...then in the blink of an eye the towering buildings, bustling noise of the city, and my friends were gone. I turned in a circle looking at the lush greenery and hearing the cicadas buzz their wings. How in the hell did I go from New York City to this jungle safari, and where in the hell are my friends... "Hello! Anyone out there?!" The cicada's noise ceased with my yelling which caused the hair on my neck to rise. This place was unnerving as it was, but without any noise now it's just plain terrifying!

Though I had traveled often with my parents, often overseas, I had never gone to any kind of jungle or rainforest. In fact, the places I did travel to all had tour guides and overpriced menus. My family was not rich, but my parents would save up all year long to afford the best vacations.

I sat down where I stood. It didn't matter anyways, I don't know where I am. My heart was pounding and the stuffy air was hard to breathe in. Gradually the cicadas began their search for a mate once again and my fear gradually lessened. "Ok, I need a reality check" I whispered to myself-which caused me to jump from the noise.

How in the hell is it possible to scare the shit out of myself! Get a hold of yourself. I never did any hallucinogenic drugs before, but I could imagine this is what it would feel like, an out of body experience in a jungle, light breeze, bugs, and nothing but green everywhere, my heart was beating a loud staccato and my stomach was tingling in apprehension.

I am a huge weeb. I grew up watching Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, and love reading manga of all genres. But even this experience was so far outside of my comfort zone that I couldn't hang. My new reality was more like a dream, and I could not be the main character in his unreal setting.

The bugs got louder but my heartbeat calmed. Time for me to evaluate this situation. Last night I smoked some cannabis with my friends, ate some edibles with my lunch, I had a great buzz going on, but nothing worrisome. My normal routine-and since I got my marijuana from the local store, it wasn't rigged with anything like on the streets. I still had some flowers and gummies in my purse, which was causing so much temptation, especially since I had zero knowledge on what to do at this point. But, it was not enough of an attraction since I didn't have anything to drink. Even if I did have a prescription, that shit still caused a person's mouth to dry out!

Back on track, where am I and how did I get here? Think Madison, think. My cell phone! I dug in my purse, resisted the temptation to smoke once again, and grabbed the cellphone from the pocket of my purse.

The screen showed that it was 4 PM and that I had a full battery, but zero service and zero wifi. I expected that to be honest. I wouldn't even know what tower my cell phone would be able to use out in this jungle. When I was back in NY, it was only 12, we had just finished eating lunch, however, the time difference of 4 hours says that I don't have a clue where I am. The humidity made my t-shirt stick to my back and my shorts feel wet. The thirst that I was pretending wasn't there began to screech in my mind, not only did I eat edibles before coming here, but now I had cottonmouth, I needed something to drink.

As I stood up, I patted my bottom to get any debris off. I decided to look for a river, hopefully I found that instead of a lake, I didn't want to drink lake water, the running water seemed safer to drink. If only I participated in girl scouts or some kind of survival club in high school, but the only outdoor activity I had experience with was Central Park in the daytime! In college I never sought out any clubs, I just wanted my bachelors in counseling and move out of my parents apartment, to finally be an adult! I'm not hating, and I have the best parents in the universe, but I was ready to spread my wings and learn how to navigate adulthood already.

I had been walking for a while before I realized that all the bug noise had stopped, but maybe that was because of the roaring of a river I heard nearby. I started walking a lot faster to get to the running water that I could hear, and even taste at this point. Being stoned in the jungle without water is not an experience I want to repeat, ever. Besides that, my euphoric high was gradually leaving me-and in its place was a heightened sense of fear and loathing. I tried to moisten my mouth. The dryness was too strong. I finally saw the river, thank gawd! I ran the last few steps and practically dunked my entire head under water. The flavor was full of minerals that made my taste buds scream out in joy. This was the cleanest water I had ever drank!

I gorged myself on the clear water and only stopped when my belly felt like a water balloon.

When I finally felt full and refreshed I sat up and looked around the area. I guess I needed to find some kind of shelter around here because realistically speaking, I had no clue what was going on, but I could smell the ozone scent-a storm was coming. As I stood up and turned around a jaguar jumped down from the tree it had been sitting on. It stared at me with a look of hunger in its eyes.

I started to back away and remembered the river behind me. I am a good swimmer, at the local pool. I couldn't imagine swimming in water that has unknown fish and snakes in it. Just imagining all the slimy creatures made the sloshing water in my gut roil. I felt fear from the river and nauseous from over drinking.

Add that to the jaguar that made me feel like my heart was going to burst from my ribcage and dance on the green fauna around me was too much.

I couldn't get enough air in my lungs. I tried to calm down, focusing on the ground beneath my feet, trying desperately to pretend that the jaguar was a product of the grape edible from earlier.