My heart pounding to the sound of the foreign animals murmured by the abundance of the rich green jungle, also foreign to me; pounding harder and more persistent as each minute drew on. Now a captive of the wildlife I was engulfed in, my nightmare was far from over. Alone, I wondered aimlessly to find the familiars I started out with on this suppose to be harmless task. I began to continuously snap my head in any direction noise would appear from trying to distinguish reality from the commotion going on in my head. Telling myself to continuously wake up; hopeful that this was all just a figment of my imagination waiting to be left behind the minute my eyes opened. Standing still, head down, and eyes shut; there was nothing but blackness and the sensation that everything was caving in on me. The second before my breaking point my eyes sprung open.
The blackness was now replaced with an absorbed amount of green. I was still standing in the middle of some jungle in Hawaii. My hope faded away to reality. All I could do is sit there and listen as the voices in my head rant.
“Why did I have to be the one that had to go hiking through the jungle to find the lava oozing its way down the volcano? I just wanted to do something unique in Hawaii other than sit there on another beautiful beach, and now what do I get? I’m going to die as if I’m that stupid girl everyone yells at to stay on the path at the beginning of every typical horror movie.”
Interrupted by the sounds of sticks snapping, I didn’t even realize that my body had instinctively begun to roam and make an attempt at saving myself. I now kicked into gear and had one goal in mind, escaping. Seeing Hawaiian jungles from afar seem so serene and beautiful, but being in them, a completely different story. I start to swat at bugs that are so unfamiliar and probably know that I am more scared of it than it of me. Foliage dances on the, what I assume to be, dirt floor preventing me from freaking out over what, yet again, I can assume that is stalking my feet below. Then there are leaves draped above you, some larger than cars, which make you question if they are real, but don’t let the waxy emerald pigment fool you. Hardly being able to see the sky masked in my cage, I couldn’t even use the sun as a rough estimate of time. One thing was definite though, the sun was surely about to set. A whole new fear came over me. Being lost in the jungle during broad daylight is one thing, but at night, where the wild things are, is a fear on a whole new level.
The animals from before seemed to be morphing into hostile beasts with every sliver of darkness that falls. My heart is now thrashing to get out of my chest. I let panic overtake my tired, worn body and give in to the intimidation of the jungle. I fall to my knees and the reality of jungle accepting my surrender is growing fainter. Reflected from the tears glistening down my checks, barely catches a soft orange glow. I immediately glance up to see the last ray of light descending also sealing my fate. As my eyes reach the shadows hovering above me, they are met with darkness. The sun was already down, now curious I rapidly look for the source making sure I didn’t miss what may have been my only chance out of this hell. My eyes finally rest on the small glowing segments through the jungle trying to hold me back. My body now taking off in a sprint as if the gap in the wildlife is closing with every step I take, outreach my quivering hands and feel the welcoming warm breeze unblocked from any vegetation.
The biggest sigh of relief came over me. Human like shadows now appear dangerously close to the lava I dreamt of seeing earlier that day, and the same lava that may have just saved me. I calmly pull myself together and sneak up behind my family as if I was there the whole time. They glance over their shoulders, I played it off like I knew exactly what I was doing and where I was going, and was successful at taking brilliant pictures of the jungle I will never look at the same again. Sweat, blood and tears that were behind the beautiful pictures that now hang as a reminder on my walls of how fast nature can turn. Then in small letters beneath the collage of pictures lays the phrase “Welcome to the Jungle”.