Into the Jungle: A Novella

Chapter 3

Ruby sipped water from a skinny bamboo cup. She had already drunk some earlier, but when her mother wanted to talk about the incident, she drank more for proof. "It's okay, Mom. It was just dehydration, that's all." She took another sip.

Viola squinted one eye with suspicion. "I hope so. That's what happened to your dad before we realized he got the virus."

"But it doesn't affect women, right?"

"No woman has ever reported having it, but I'm not sure."

Ruby's heart pounded hard for a second. Her eyes landed on the campfire behind Viola where a big chuck of meat was propped over the fire via a stick, the flesh charred and almost ready for consumption. Ruby had helped her mother prepare it.

Viola elevated a clay plate from a table. Then she pointed at a jug of water beside Ruby. "Drink all of that and refill the bottle."

Ruby picked up the jug and walked inside the house. She opened a door to her room and found Iris playing with a wooden slingshot. She frowned. "Why did you tell Mom what happened?" Iris held the toy to her sister like it would help the situation. "I don't want your slingshot. Now, Mom's going to be worried about sending me alone because she thinks I can't take care of myself."

"Oh," Iris replied. "I didn't know."

Ruby smiled, shut the door, and sat beside her sister. She curled her legs and held them. "It's okay; I'm still learning. At least, I won't forget to bring water with me tomorrow. It will give me another opportunity to prove myself. I want to be just like Dad. Brave. He never makes mistakes." Then she grabbed the jug and devoured the water.

Iris clutched a pebble from the floor, loaded the weapon, and said, "Watch this!" Ruby watched as she ricocheted the rock off the wall and hid her face. The rock smacked Ruby on the neck, making her twitch.

"Iris!" Ruby tickled the girl's ribs until the bedroom door opened.

Viola peeked inside and said, "Ruby, I'm off to give portions to Jade and her family. While I'm gone, can you divide the food between us all, and feed Daddy?"

Ruby quickly stood, holding the jug. "Okay."

Viola blew a kiss at them and left. Then Ruby walked outside and found a knife on the table. (All their knives are made from rocks with bamboo handles.) She carefully grabbed the rod of hot meat and placed it on two upright sticks inside the house. The upright sticks had a y-shaped notch at the top. Then she evenly divided it and placed some on four plates.

Iris came beside her and took one plate, but Ruby hollered, "STOP!" Iris screamed in terror, placed the food down, and covered her face. Then Ruby giggled. "That's for hitting me with the rock."

Ruby grabbed a two-prong wooden fork that had been crafted and sanded to perfection and then walked into her father's room with his plate of food. She sighed, sorry to see his sickly body, but he was too weak to feed himself, so Ruby and her mother would do it for him. Ruby knelt and nudged his shoulder. "Hey, Daddy, food." No answer. "Daddy, the food's ready. Daddy? Daddy?" She pushed him harder, but his head drooped to the side. Her heart throbbed. Normally, he would awake at the sound of her footsteps when it was time to eat, but as Ruby kept yelling, she suddenly realized something. "Daddy, no!" She grabbed his face with two hands. "No! Please, wake up!"

The first thought she had was to inform her mother, so Ruby ran to the bedroom door but stopped. Check his heart. She knelt beside him and touched his chest. No heartbeat. Ruby gasped, covered her mouth with both hands and took it all in for two seconds. Tears blurred her sight, but she darted into her bedroom, grabbed her sister's arm, ran into the great room, grabbed a spear, and then dashed through the jungle.