Cora

Part 1

Part 1

I trekked through the dense tropical jungle, slashing away at vines that blocked my path with my army knife. The sun was high above my head and it beat down relentlessly on my cameo hat. The air was hot and humid, and it fell around me like a thick blanket. Insects buzzed in my ears and birds, hidden up high all around me, continued to chirp happily as if welcoming me into their home. My blue eyes sparkled with excitement as I fished through my pocket to find and elastic to tie my brown, shoulder length hair out of my face. Maybe I would discover something new today! I thought to myself and grinned. “Cora! Where are you? It’s time for lunch!”

I paused and took in my surroundings. I was lost. Uh oh. I thought to myself and pivoted around. Taking deep, calming breaths I tried very hard, and unsuccessfully, to not remember the last time I was lost in a jungle and ended up with a snake wrapped around my torso. Or the time when I came across a wild boar and it chased me for 30 minutes before I had the idea to escape it by climbing a tree… where I had the encounter with the snake. Sweat soaked the back of my neck and I gulped a few times. Daddy would find me, he always found me. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally heard him call out for me.

“Daddy! Daddy, where are you!” I yelled as hard as I could, the screeching of the summer bugs around me almost deafening. What if I never found him? What if I was stuck in this jungle forever? And then I would have to live like Tarzan and find a female ape to adopt me and speak in animal and- I cut my thoughts off. I couldn’t think like this, I had to remain positive; Indiana Jones would be calm and know what to do at a time like this.

I continued walking in one direction, towards where I thought daddy’s voice was coming from and finally broke through the jungle. Daddy ‘s worried frown faded as he turned to me and he picked me up and began swinging me around like he did when I was a little girl. I had a massive fit of the giggles and he laughed along with me.

“I didn’t even get lost this time! I found my way out like Indiana Jones, daddy!” I exclaimed happily, wanting to share my morning with him. He smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners and playfully pulled my hat down so it blinded me.

“That’s my girl!” he replied. Taking my hand, he led me down towards one of the shiny cars that my daddy always had with him. Since we’re very rich due to our travelling business, daddy likes to switch up cars every time we go somewhere. This time the car was a truck with very big wheels that looked like it could drive over everything. I got around to the passenger seat and climbed inside. The interior looked very high tech and I immediately wanted to try pushing all of the buttons. But I was a big girl now and big girls don’t go around pushing buttons so I didn’t. Daddy saw me out of the corner of his eyes and he might have sensed my inner struggle because his mouth lifted in amusement.

We then reached our hotel and I quickly opened the door and jumped out. Daddy got around to me and held my hand as we walked up the stairs and into the lobby. I smile and wave at the front desk attendants and they smile and wave back. Turning to look back up at daddy, I’m about to ask a question when my stomach grumbles like a wild animal. Daddy bursts out laughing and my face heats up with embarrassment.

“Did you hide a lion in your pocket, Cora?” he asks smiling.

“No silly,” I giggle at the thought “that was my stomach! What are we having for lunch?” I ask curiously. Daddy was always trying new foods and he usually introduced me to things he thought were interesting.

“Hmm… It’s a surprise.” He replied winking at me. Ooh, a surprise! I loved surprises!

“What’s the surprise Daddy?” I ask excitedly.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.” He replied laughing as he led us into our room. I turned around and there were dinosaur balloons everywhere. Uh oh… Daddy knew that I loved dinosaurs and he usually only got me dinosaur balloons when he had something to tell me, something that was usually bad for me.

“Why all the balloons...?” I ask turning to look at Daddy and for a second I could have sworn he looked sad.

“Your aunt Madeline will be joining us after lunch. She says she has some important things to tell you. You should probably go get ready, you know how she is about appearances.” He told me solemnly. I gulped, visits with Aunt Madeline were never good… she always wanted me to act a certain way and dress a certain way. And she says the dinosaurs are for boys! I walked off to go get dressed in clothes that Aunt Madeline would deem appropriate and came back to Daddy to go out for lunch. This was going to be a long day…

Author's Note: I'm wondering if I should continue with the story... This is only the intro and i'm not sure if it's any good... Ahh well~

Tell me what you thought of this so far in the comments :)

~*~MasqueradeMagic~*~