Tale of the Jungle Part 4

I regained consciousness with a throbbing headache, blurry vision and the smell of wood smoke in my nostrils. I found myself laying down on some sort of bed and facing the ceiling of what appears to be a hut.
Slowly and groggily, I sat up straight. I raised both hands to my head and cradled it, in attempt to soothe the pounding headache. I blinked hard several times until my vision cleared.
My heart sank as I recognised my surroundings; I was in my personal room inside my foster parents hut. The only furniture that occupied my room was a bed (which I was now on), a small bedside table with a lit candle and a chair. The room was roughly square shaped, with a crudely crafted door on one side and a square shaped hole the size of a humans’ head representing a window adorning the wall opposite.
I sniffed and frowned with puzzlement.

‘Wood smoke?” I thought, ‘The only time we have that is when we’re about to eat, and that’s around….early evening!”

I suddenly got up, almost regretting the sudden movement as I swayed and staggered towards the chair. I picked up the chair, placed it to the wall where the window is, stood on the chair and looked outside.
The sight that greeted me was the huge wooden stakes that formed the ‘walls’ that surrounded and protected the village. Above them was the branches and leaves of the trees, which added a bit of colour to an otherwise predominantly brown view of the outside world. Right now, the sky was turning dark blue and an orange glow had formed on the leaves.

‘I must’ve been out for quite a while.’ I thought.

Then the situation dawned me like a thundercloud. I was practically a prisoner in the village; at the mercy of Beryl and my foster parents with no one from the village to help me. Plus they would keep me under guard so I couldn’t escape into the jungle and worst of all, I’ll never see Kari again.
My heart suddenly ached as I thought about her and the fact I was going to be with a self-centred and needy brat rather than with the only girl who truly cared about me. I scrunched my eyes shut in an attempt to hold back tears.

“Kari…” I said in a broken voice.

“And WHO is Kari?!” came a voice behind me.

I nearly fell off the chair with fright. I turned around and saw a young woman with black hair, a pointed nose and cold blue eyes. She was someone that I both knew too well and hated with all my guts.

“Beryl.” I growled through gritted teeth.

Beryl tapped her foot impatiently.

“Are you deaf or something?” she barked, “I said who is Kari?!”

I opened my mouth to retort, but then stopped myself from first-hand experience that Beryl was the clingy and easily jealous type of girl.

“No one.” I sighed, “Just…no one.”

Beryl eyed at me suspiciously and folded her arms.

“Okay then.” she said, “I suggest that you get some rest. It’s gonna be a big day tomorrow, not only for you and me, but for the whole village, so you better have your head clear of whatever ‘jungle fantasies’ and other such nonsense.”

“What do you mean ‘a big day tomorrow’?” I asked, my brow furrowed with both puzzlement and annoyance.

The door opened and my foster parents stepped into my room. Both of them had thinly-veiled smug smiles on their faces and a glint in their eyes which can be found within avaricious people.

“Everything shall be ready in a couple of hours.” said my foster mother, “Our plan is finally back on track.”

“Good.” said Beryl.

“What’s going on?” I asked, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up on end.

“We’re preparing for your new life and status in the village.” explained my foster father.

“Meaning?” I inquired, my blood started to run cold with dread.

“It means you’re getting married with me!” chimed Beryl smugly.

I almost lost my breath as the words struck me like a hammer.

“What?!” I exclaimed, “You can’t be serious?!”

“We are VERY serious,” said my foster father firmly, “and we’ll be happy if you can show appreciation for this momentous occasion.”

I was sorely tempted to vent my anger with rather colourful language, but in my current predicament I wisely held back my tongue.

“But, why me exactly?” I asked, “Why not some other guy in the village to hook up with?”

Beryl rolled her eyes as she answered, “Like we said before, you’re the only person here who’s both single and old enough to marry.”

I continued my protest, “But surely you can wait a few ye-”

“Now that’s enough Marcus!” snapped my foster father, “You’re getting married to Beryl and that’s final!”

I said nothing, my fists clenched so tight the knuckles were white. Beryl adopted a rather infuriating smirk on her face.

“Oh, do lighten up Marcus.” she cooed, “We’re only thinking of what’s best for you, and a young stud like you deserves the best; in other words, me!”

As she pointed at herself, she looked over my shoulder and then announced, “Oh! It’s nearly night time! You know what they say; it’s unlucky to see the groom on the night before the marriage. Well, I’m off to see the last preparations! Soon I-WE’LL be the envy of everyone in the village. See you in the morning and do try to crack a smile.”

Beryl left the room, leaving me alone to face the music with my foster parents.
At this point my blood was boiling with everything just happened; my foster parents being so single-minded, Beryl being obscenely smug and the indignity and audacity I had to endure was just unspeakable.

“Well Marcus,” said my foster mother, “care to explain your actions from yesterday and why you’re against marrying Beryl?”

“I don’t regret anything from yesterday,” I said through gritted teeth. “plus you know very well WHY I don’t want to marry Beryl.”

“But what you said was downright insulting!” snapped my foster father, “She’s the daughter of the leader of our village and she is not accustomed to be referred by what you’ve said!”

“Oh so I’m in trouble with for being honest and expressing my opinion?!” I said.

“You’re throwing away a golden opportunity Marcus!” my foster father countered, “Think of the prestige and respect that it offers! Would you want to spend the rest of your life scurrying around in some jungle on your own like an animal?”

“I rather live a life like that then become some trophy for Beryl to flaunt and brag about in everyone’s faces!” I said defiantly.

“You naive, ungrateful, selfish idiot!” raged my foster father, “We’ve brought you up for this moment and this is how you repay us?!”

“SELFISH?!” I roared, “I’ve helped make the lives of the less fortunate ones easier in this village and how did you react to my act of kindness? You’ve scorned my actions and barred me from the people I’ve helped and now you have the gall to call ME selfish?!”

My foster father face was almost completely red with outrage. Even my foster mother was starting to shake with barely contained fury.

“Because it’s not your rightful place in the village!” he shouted, spittle appearing from a corner of his mouth, “And if you think we’re going to let three years of planning for this go to waste thanks to you and your stupid arrogance, you’ve got another thing coming! You’re giving you that your parents couldn’t; a real status in life and a chance to be someone!”

As soon as I heard the words ‘your parents’, something inside me snapped.

‘I think it’s time I find out what happened to them.” I thought, narrowing my eyes at them.

“Speaking of which,” I announced, “it’s high time that you tell me what happened.”

My foster parents looked slightly taken aback by this. My foster fathers’ face had returned to its normal colour and my foster mother looked somewhat nervous.

“W-what do you mean by that?” she asked.

“You know exactly what I mean.” I said.

“What are you babbling on about?” my foster father inquired.

“My real parents!” I snapped, “What happened to them?”

For the first time for a long time my foster parents looked very uneasy, as if they knew something about them and didn’t want me to find out.

“Marcus,” my foster father managed, “this isn’t the time. Just think about your bright future tomorrow and-”

“TELL ME!!” I thundered, my patience finally snapped.

My foster parents jolted with fright from my outburst. They soon regained their composure and stared at me with a look of resignation.

“You really want to know?” said my foster mother flatly, “Okay, we’ll tell you, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

My foster father sighed and explained, “Remember when your parents went away with a group of people on an expedition and left us in charge of you and a few days later we had an injured man arrive at the village? Well, he told us that two-thirds away from their destination there was an accident. Your mum and dad were also involved in the accident and they did not survive.”

My blood froze with horrified disbelief and I felt my heart in my mouth.

‘Mum? Dad? Dead?’ I thought, struggling to comprehend with what I was hearing, ‘No! No no no no no! It can’t be! I can’t be….’

My anger suddenly ebbed away and was replaced by an immense hollow feeling inside of me.

“This man who came here,” I managed, my voice shaking with grief, “where is he?”

“He died of his injuries later that day,” said my foster mother, “and ever since we’ve dedicated ourselves to preparing you for place in the village.”

I opened my mouth to say something, only to find that I couldn’t utter a single word, as if this news had stolen my voice. I hung my head in dejection and helplessness.

“We were friends with your mum and dad Marcus.” my foster father continued, “We know how you feel. But thanks to us, you’re given a new sense of purpose which will be fulfilled by tomorrow.”

My foster father’s words brought out of my reverie and I felt the anger burn inside me again.

‘They’re still bringing that up again?!’ I thought, ‘Are they really THAT selfish or are they really determined to see this through?!’

“Answer me this,” I said eventually, my voice laden with bubbling anger, “if you knew my parents were dead, why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“To keep you in line.” said my foster father firmly, “If we’d told you earlier, you’d have ‘ideas’ that’ll be unacceptable, not only to yourself but also to our plans.”

“Is that all you really care about?!” I exploded, “Some half-baked idea to see me off with an insecure spoiled brat while you live the high life?! I’ve told you, I don’t want any part of it and I never will!”

“How dare you!” roared my foster father, “We only want what’s best for you and right now it’s with Beryl! Besides, we have something your parents didn’t; ambition, the dare to think and dream big. Though you might not think of it, but we’ve been living on the margins for far too long. The only way out of it is to take the next step upwards and by tomorrow, your future and ours will be secure and well!”

I was about to retort when I suddenly realised the futility of it all. My foster parents were now beyond reason, blinded by some sugar-coated promise of wealth and prestige. I was practically wasting time, effort and breath in trying to get through to them. With an exasperated sigh of resignation, I hung my head and clenched my fists in defeat.

“I trust there’ll be no more objections?” said my foster father.

Due to being physically exhausted and emotionally drained, I didn’t answer.

“Good.” my foster father said smugly, “At last we’ve reached a satisfying conclusion after the stress you’ve caused with your shenanigans.”

“I recommend you get some rest,” said my foster mother, “you’ve got a date with destiny in the morning.”

She exited through the door and my foster father followed after her. He paused in the doorway, turned to face me, said, “Good night Marcus. This time, we’ll see you in the morning.” and shut the door behind him.


Sometime later, I laid down sideways on my bed and stared at the candle, bereaved beyond of any tears of lamentation for my real parents. I never felt so hollow in my life and my heart felt like a solid lump of lead that was weighing me down. After everything that happened today, what I went through and for three years of my life being used for some grand scheme, I came to the conclusion that there’s absolutely nothing left for me in the village. Before I could sink even deeper into depression, I suddenly heard a noise.

“Pssst.”

My ears perked up and eyes darted from side to side. I remained where I was, trying to assess the sound and where it came from.

“Pssst!” came the noise, a bit louder this time.

This was enough to get my attention. I levered myself upright and looked around. When I found nothing, my heart raced a bit with unease.

“Pssst! Marc! Over here!” said a voice that came from my left.

I turned to the direction of the voice and my heart leaped with joy; outside the hut and her whole face framed in the window was someone who I thought I never see again.

“Kari!” I gasped.

I immediately got up and stood on the chair. If the window was big and wide enough, I would’ve give Kari the biggest hug in the world, but unfortunately I can only look and talk to her. I can also see the minor frustration on Kari’s face as well as she experienced the same problem.

“Oh, I’m ssso glad to sssee you Marc!” she hissed, “Are you alright?”

“Apart from being knocked out and dragged back here, I’m fine.” I replied, “How did you find me?”

“Sssometime after you told me to hide, I’ve followed your ssscent which lead me here.” said Kari, “Though when I heard the ‘bang’, I feared the worssst.”

“The ‘bang’ you’ve heard was a rifle being fired.” I explained, “But it wasn’t me who they were shooting; it was Arro they were shooting at.”

Kari gasped inaudibly with shock.

“Where isss he now?” she asked hesitantly.

“Dead.” I answered, “They’ve killed him. He was injured when the branch landed on him and they shot him in cold blood. I tried to stop them, but….I couldn’t….I…I.”

My voice trailed off. I glanced up and saw the look of horror on Kari’s face.

“Kari, I’m sorry.” I managed, “Was he...a ‘friend’ who’ve gone bad?”

Kari shook her head as she answered, “No, he wasss pretty much a jerk with delusssionsss of grandeur and a huge inferiority complex.”

“I see.” I muttered, deciding to end the discussion.      

“Could you sneak off and open the door to let me in?” asked the lamia.

I immediately squashed the idea. “I can’t. The place is guarded and they’re armed. They’ll kill you if they see you.”

“I’ll jussst ussse my hypnosssisss on them.” Kari countered.

“No!” I hissed, “The others will notice that something’s up!”

Kari wisely did not to push her luck despite looking somewhat deflated by this.  

I continued, “I’m sorry Kari. I’ve already lost people who mattered to me,” I paused for a moment and stared into Kari’s blue eyes, “I can’t risk losing another.”

The lamia’s eyes widen with surprise. For a brief moment I saw the look of joy on her face and it was soon replaced with concern.

“What do you mean you’ve ‘lossst people who mattered to you’?” she asked.

“I’ve found out about my real parents;” I said, my voice steeped in sadness, “they’ve died in an accident three years ago. My foster parents knew back then and never told me. Instead they focussed their efforts on ‘bringing me up’ for their grand plan.”

I cast my eyes downwards when I finished, trying hard not to let my anger get the best of me.

“Marc, I’m ssso sssorry for your losss.” Kari said sympathetically.

I looked up at her and smiled thinly.

“What are we going to do now?” inquired Kari.

“I don’t know Kari,” I sighed, “I just don’t know.”

“You can’t marry that girl!” said Kari, “You’ve got to get out of here!”

“I know that,” I said bluntly, “but if I run away again, they’ll just find me, bring me back here and keep me firmly under lock and key so I can’t escape. Plus if they see you with me, they’ll kill you.”

“There’sss got to be a way out of thisss!” Kari hissed in frustration, “It’sss jussst unfair that our relationssship isss going to end like thisss!”

I nodded in agreement, my mind working feverously to come up with something.

“No argument from me.” I commented, “I rather be dead than be some....” I trailed off, and then an idea came to me in a flash. I snapped my fingers and announced, “Ah-ha! That’s it!”

Kari raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

“What isss it?” she asked.

I turned to her, my eyes alight with inspiration.

“I’m gonna have to fake my own death.” I said.

The lamia’s puzzled frown deepened at this.

“Err...how exactly isss that going to work and for you to pull off?” she queried.

I was grinning from ear to ear as I explained,
“If you can find some local predators, use your powers of ‘persuasion’ to stage an ‘attack’ on me by the small pond near the village. Then they’ll drag me off into the jungle and deposit me at a place that you and I can meet up and we’ll be together again. Put it this way, the villagers will see me being ‘killed’ by a native animal of the jungle or claimed by one of Mother Nature’s agents. It’s the perfect way for me to escape from the wedding and to be with you.”

I waited anxiously for Kari’s response when I’ve finished. For a while she had her gaze on the floor and lips pursed in thought. Finally she looked up and smiled at me.

“I think I know jussst the creaturesss for the job!” she said.

If there hasn’t been a need to be quiet, I would’ve whooped with joy.

“But, how are we going to make the attack look legit in front of people?” she asked.

I rubbed my chin in thought, realising that Kari had a good point. Then I remembered something that’ll help solve the problem.
After excusing Kari I jumped off the chair, fumbled around behind the bedside table and produced an empty plastic bottle. Clasping it with glee I made my way to the window and passed the bottle to Kari.

“What’sss that for?” asked Kari.

“A few huts upwards there’s a pen where we keep the livestock.” I explained, “When we ‘require’ one of them for meat, we keep the blood in a bucket for disposal. There should be enough of it to fill this bottle.”

“But why would you need a bottle of...” Kari began and then the penny dropped. “You’re not thinking of putting the blood on yourself when you get ‘attacked’?!”

When I nodded, the lamia grimaced with disgust.

“Eurgh, grossss!” she groaned, “Ssstill, if it makesss the whole thing that more convincing, then ssso be it. I’ll be right back!”

“Be careful!” I said as she slithered off into the darkness.

I got off the chair and paced around the room, my body tingling with a mix of excitement and apprehension. I waited for roughly five minutes before saw Kari’s face again at the window.
She passed the bottle through the window and I took it from her. It was nearly filled to the brim with the unmistakable dark red liquid that I knew too well as blood. Placing it on the bedside table for later, I stood on the chair and faced Kari again.

“How was it?” I asked.

“A bit disssgusssting,” said Kari, “but a lot easssier than I thought. But promissse me thisss; after thisss isss all sssaid and done that you wasssh yourssself immediately. I don’t want to get covered in blood when I hug you.”

“Fair enough.” I shrugged, “So, we know what we have to do?”

Kari nodded in acknowledgement. A determined smile formed on my face. Then a thought crossed my mind and somehow managed to turn into words that escaped from my mouth.

“Uh Kari? Was it true with what you said to Arro earlier? That you...”

“Yesss, it’sss true.” replied Kari, “I love you Marc.”

My heart fluttered as soon I heard those three words being uttered.

“You sssee,” the lamia continued, her eyes diverted to the floor, “I’ve ssseen you quite a few timesss in the jungle in the lassst few monthsss. You could sssay I wasss sssmitten at firssst sssight. But every time I got clossse to sssay ‘hello’, you wandered off, either back to the village or off to the ruinsss.
That night when you climbed up my tree wasss the biggessst ssstroke of luck I’ve ever had and when you ran away from me thisss morning, I wasss afraid that I’ve lossst you and never sssee you again.
I’ve ssspent mossst of my life in the jungle alone and avoiding male lamiasss that want me for my body and looksss more than anything. Believe me, that’sss not living. Right now, I don’t think I can live being alone and in fear anymore.”

When she finished, I was rendered speechless. I realised that me and Kari (despite being two different species) complete each other. Finally surrendering to my feelings, I smiled warmly and announced,

“Kari, you don’t have to live alone and in fear anymore; you have me.”

Kari looked up at me, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Doesss that mean you...?” she asked, almost incredulously.

“Yes Kari,” I said, “I accept and return your love.”

The lamia gasped from this and I could’ve sworn that I saw tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh Marc,” said Kari, “you have no idea what that meansss to me!”

“I can imagine.” I replied, “Apologies for being abrupt, but right now is not the time for intimacy. I’ve got my death to fake in the morning and I’ll need the rest I can get.”

Kari nodded understandably.

“Okay!” she whispered, “I’ll do what I have to do and if all goesss well, we’ll meet by the sssmall deep pond near the ruinsss. Good luck Marc!”

“You too Kari!” I called as she slithered off into the darkness of the jungle. As soon as she vanished, I got off the chair and blew out the candle. My room was immediately shrouded in darkness.
With my heart pounding with newfound hope and purpose, I flung myself onto the bed, pulled covers over me and slept.