Misunderstanding

Misunderstanding

She looked down, and there, it was a squirrel and not a snake as she had thought, it bushy tail twitching as it scampered past her.

In an instant, she was overcome with fear, her heart racing as she imagined the squirrel was a deadly predator, she actually didn't grab the realization that it was just a squirrel. This was ramazon and anything here can be terrifying, even if it was a fly.

She stumbled back, and her knees buckled beneath her. Her friends watched in amusement as she struggled to regain her footing.

Jerry couldn't help but made a mockery at of it, it was actually funny. The way she fidgeted was so dumpy and hilarious. His laughter rang through the forest as he couldn't help it.

"Lily, you're such a drama queen!" Jerry said, a smile plying on his face.

"It was just a harmless little squirrel! Gal, lily, you're such a scaredy-cat! I bet you'd run and hide if you saw a caterpillar!" Jerry teased her, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

"I'd like to see you stay calm if a giant spider crawled up your leg!" Lily shot back, her tone half-serious, half-mocking, refusing to be his object of ridicule.

"I wouldn't even blink," Jerry said, chuckling, feigning nonchalance in his words. "In fact, I'd probably pet it and give it a name."

Honestly, Jerry isn't that guy that admit any trials, always one to be the right one in everything. Serinal's laughter joined the chorus as she couldn't hold it too.

"Ooh, hold on now," Zilia said, stepping in between Jerry and Lily, of course, she was here to defend her sister.

"My sister may be a bit jumpy, but that's no reason to tease her. And also, I don't think you're as tough as you're making yourself out to be. In fact, I bet you're a scaredy-cat, too!"

Jerry scoffed, putting his palms on his hips in surprised. He couldn't belived zilia called him scaredy-cat!

"Me? A scaredy-cat? I think you've got it all wrong. I'm as cool as a cucumber, even in the face of danger."

"Oh please," Zilia scoffed, swinging her hands. "I've seen you jump at the tiniest things. Remember that time we were in the library, and a book fell off the shelf? You nearly jumped out of your skin!"

"That was one time!" Jerry protested. "And it was a surprise! I wasn't expecting a book to fall on my head. Anybody would have been startled!"

"Right, sure," Zilia said, giving him a look of mock sympathy. "If you say so, Mr. Cool-as-a-Cucumber."

"Don't you start, too!" Jerry said, narrowing his eyes at her, obviously getting pissed off. "I'm warning you, I've got a whole arsenal of comebacks, and I'm not afraid to use them!"

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my boots!" Zilia replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure your 'arsenal of comebacks' is just as fearsome as Spike the Spiny Hedgehog."

"Hey, don't make fun of Spike!" Jerry said, a hint of mock offense in his voice.

Spike is actually Jerry's pet– raccoon, since he came back from school, that had been his favourite, to the extent of carrying it along for the journey.

That alone could tell how he was obsessed with it, even Jonas couldn't understand why he insisted on taking the racoon.

"I am cool as a cucumber!" Jerry continue, his voice rising in defense. "I'm just not cool about unexpected things falling on my head! And besides, I'm not the one who freaked out over a spider the size of a dime last week!"

Zilia's eyes widened in alarm, she couldn't recall such moment of freaking over a spider as Jerry had claimed. It wasn't a spider as far as she could remembered, it was a glove that fell on her.

"You did not just bring that up!" she exclaimed, her face turning pink at once. "It was a glove, plus it was dark, and I couldn't see it clearly! I thought it was a tarantula!"

Mike and Lily exchanged amused glances at the scene before them, lily who had problem with Jerry was now substituted for her sister to take over.

While Serinal shook her head, a grin tugging at her lips, she just have to admit it that she was practically enjoying the show.

Jonas on the other hand was biting his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud, he was just surprised as he still sees his son and cousin behaving like kids–because, they where literally speaking like ones.

Even the baby raccoon in Jerry's arms seemed to be enjoying the banter, its eyes blinking sleepily.

"What are you all looking at?" Zilia asked, her cheeks still pink. "It's not funny!"

"Oh, come on," Mike said, his eyes sparkling with mirth as he find it fun to join the conversation. "It's a little bit funny. I mean, a spider the size of a dime? I think you need to get your eyes checked!"

"Hey, guys!" Jonas said, his voice cutting through the banter, perhaps, he had finally swallowed his upcoming laughter, now he can settle this.

"I know this is all in good fun, but can we focus on the task at hand? We came here to explore the Ramazon jungle, not to quibble over spiders and cucumbers."

The team fell silent, looking a little sheepish, as Jonas remarked.

"Sorry, Jonas," Mike said, giving him a grin. "We actually got a little carried away."

"It's no problem," Jonas said, his tone sounding gentle now. "Just try to keep your minds on the task, okay?"

"I'm not the one who started it!" Zilia said, her eyes still fixed on Jerry. "It was all Jerry's fault!"

Actually, zilla shifting the blame now, honestly made her look or sound more childish than she was already sounding.

"Hey, now!" Jerry, of course protested, his hands held up in a gesture of innocence. "I was only defending myself! Zilia's the one who started throwing around insults!"

"But you were the one who mentioned the spider in the first place! You lied!" Zilia shot back. "This is all your fault!"

"Enough!" Jonas said, his voice sounding firm but not really unkind. "The point is, we all got carried away. Right?.....let just focus please!"

"Listen, guys, Jonas continue, his tone softening as he wore back his backpack that he had earlier dropped on the floor.

"We're not here to argue with each other okay! We're here to work together as a team, and explore this incredible place. So let's leave the bickering behind, and focus on the task at hand. Okay?"

They all nodded, their faces turning serious, as their leader just oriented their minds, reminding them of the mission at hand.

"Okay," Mike said, clapping his hands together. "No more fighting. Let's get down to business."

"And remember," Jonas added, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "no teasing about spiders!"

They all gathered their composure and prepared to resume their task, but just before that, a deep, rumbling roar echoed through the trees, making the hair on the back of their necks stand on end.

Their eyes got widened at the hearing of that, and they all froze in one place, listening intently for any sign of the source of the sound again.

"What was that?" Zilia whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she turned around scanning the forest to see, if she can trace where the sound came from.

"I don't know," Jonas replied, his own voice falling in volume. "But we should be careful, because this is the jungle."

The roar echoed again as they tried to regain their posture, it sounds like it was actually coming from a distance, but they couldn't trace the stevened of the predator that was roaring.

"Everyone, be on alert now! We don't know what might be coming next!" Jonas warned, his faint voice laced with apprehension.