Chapter 3.
I awoke slowly. My back was killing me and I was starving hungry. Slowly I opened my eyes. Something furry was sitting on a tree branch in front of me. It was only a couple of metres away and nibbling at a piece of fruit. I moved slightly. It yelped with fright at the sight of me moving and jumped to the next branch. I t was a baby monkey! It stared at me and I stared back at it. Slowly it climbed down the branch and came over to investigate this strange creature that I must be. I held out my hand and it warily came closer. All of a sudden it yelped in fright and disappeared into the trees. I turned around and found myself staring into the eyes of a scaly creature. An Anaconda! I jumped out of the way just in time. The long snake stuck out its tongue and tried to get me again. It missed and hit a tree. The snake glared at me before slithering up the tree and disappearing. I looked around cautiously, make sure there were no other wild animals trying to kill me. None were so I started a search for food.
After an our of searching I came across a little flower on a tree. It was a bright red on the outside and a very light red on the inside, were there was what looked like a grape. I wondered wether to eat it or not but decided against it. After sketching it in my diary I resumed my search for food.
It was becoming a hot day and I was sweating uncontrollably. I sat down to rest for a while. After about five minutes I was cool enough to look around. Earlier I had crossed the flooded river to another island. I was about to close my eyes when something moved on the ground near me. I looked at it and jumped up. In front of me was a 12 inch spider carrying a bird in its mouth. I recognised it as a Bird eating spider. Instantly I jumped and kicked away. The great spider fell against a tree and dropped its prey. It reminded me of a face-hugger from Aliens. I moved away from it slowly and bumped into a tree. The spider saw its chance and leapt at me, its maw open and dripping with saliva. I yelped as it landed on my arm and sank its fangs in. Instantly it jumped off and disappeared into the jungle. I rubbed the wound and studied it. It hurt me terribly but it wasn't swelling up. I covered my arm and got up. It was not raining but it looked like it was about to.
I trudged through the shallow water to a tree that looked like it might be climbable. I tried to climb it but found I wasn't even well enough to pull myself out of the water. My vision hazed and I tried fruitlessly to climb the tree again. I couldn't. I felt the first drops of rain and tried once again the climb the tree. Again, I failed but this time the result was worse. I slipped and fell into the water and instantly the current grabbed me and I was pulled down stream. My vision hazed even more and I couldn't make anything out. I struggled in the water but the current had pulled me into the centre of a wide stream and I found I couldn't even touch bottom. The rain pelted my face and I was forced to shut my eyes. I drifted....
When I awoke I found it was pitch black and there were no stars. I could feel the water rushing past on all sides and wondered if I was dead. My arm was sore and when I tried to move it I found I was caught on a branch. I coughed and spluttered before painfully and slowly pulling myself out of the water. After a few minutes my mind cleared and I found that I was in a mangrove swamp. For as far as I could see there was nothing but moss covered branched sticking out from the flood water. At first I thought this was great. I found it easy to climb on the branches and it was not long before I was jumping around and trying fruitlessly to catch the tiny fish that swam around. I became absorbed by the fish and didn't give a second thought for my safety. That's why I didn't see the dark cloud coming towards me until the last minute.
I cried out as the dark cloud of flies engulfed me and I nearly fell. I shut my eyes and mouth and put my hand over my nose. The flies crawled over me and I tried to somehow get away from them but with my eyes closed it made movement almost impossible. The flies started biting me and I cried out before make a last dash to get away from the flies. My foot slipped and I fell backwards. My head hit a branch and I cringed with pain. I struggled for a hand hold but the combination of blindness, pain and wet moss made it impossible to stop myself from falling into the water. As soon as I went under the water the flies started biting ferociously and I made a gurgled attempt to cry out before I came back up to the surface. More flies attached themselves to me and I dived underwater, trying to brush as many of the flies off as possible. I stayed underwater for as long as I could before rising to the surface for air. A few flies made an attempt to bite me but these I swiftly swatted away. I coughed as I tried to get out and fell back in. Once again I tried to get out and I managed to get one arm over a branch. I clenched my teeth and pulled with all my remaining strength. I hadn't expected what came next.
The branch I was holding broke and came back to hit me in the face. To make matters worse I caught my leg on another branch and fell upside down in the water. My head hit a blunt stone on the bottom and blood flooded my eyes. I coughed and then accidentally drew in water. I instantly realised my mistake but it was too late. My lungs were flooded with water, my eyes were full of blood and I was drifting into unconsciousness. I was just about unconscious when I felt something pulling my leg.