After an accident, Imara, a 28-year-old plus-size black woman, ends up in a strange rainforest world from a bittersweet novel she read. This wild jungle is full of mysterious and dangerous beastmen, just like the stories she used to read.
To stay al...
Imara, a 28-year-old black woman with mid-back curly coarse hair, was excited about her cabin log girls' trip with her friends in California. They had rented a beautiful cabin log Airbnb and were ready for a relaxing getaway. As she drove up the side of a mountain towards the cabin in her rental car, she was full of excitement.
However, fate had other plans. As she rounded a corner, a truck coming from the opposite direction lost a tire, causing it to swerve and collide with Imara's car. In an instant, her life came to an end.
When I came to, I sat up feeling bewildered and disoriented. As I glanced around, I saw immense tall beautiful lush trees, surrounded by a healthy green forest stretching in all directions. It felt as though I had been transported to the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Flashes of the accident replayed in my mind, yet as I examined myself, I noticed something peculiar - there were no scars from the accident, and my clothes remained completely intact."
I must have been thrown from the car and landed here, I thought to myself. But as I inspected my surroundings, I couldn't find any signs of the accident, the truck, or any emergency responders.
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I reached into my book bag, which had survived the ordeal, and pulled out my cell phone. It was fully charged, but there was no service. I deduced that I must be somewhere in the woods of the cabin of the mountain I was driving up.
Feeling lost and anxious, I tried to keep my composure. "Where the heck am I?" Thinking to myself okay, I need to figure out how to get back to where the people are. As a black girl, this wilderness stuff isn't my cup of tea. I don't do unmarked forests and survival adventures. I might do zip-lining, tubing, swimming in the ocean, maybe even skiing, but it has to be facilitated. This is not feeling like that, my gut and instincts told me.
As panic threatened to take over, I took deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. "Where the hell am I?" I wanted to scream, but resisted, not wanting to alert any potential dangerous animals nearby.
"Okay, gurl, I think something is truly wrong here," I muttered to myself, feeling the weight of confusion and fear settling in.
"Why haven't I found a road or heard anything? All I've been doing is giving myself mini heart attacks from stepping on twigs and hearing the rustling of leaves from these abnormally huge trees.
I glanced around, trying to make sense of my surroundings. The towering trees stood tall like the coastal redwoods. My eyes darted from one tree to another as I continued walking forward, trying my best to stay alert and attentive to every sound and movement.
A gentle sound caught my attention. It was the trickling of water, faint yet distinct. The sound seemed to offer a glimmer of hope. A stream, I thought, feeling relief wash over me. If there's a stream, there might be others nearby, maybe even a road or a hiking trail.
