Jammed (Camren)

The Storm

"Camila!", Lauren screamed into the rain-soaked wind. She wiped a drenched hand over her wet face to try and clear her vision. It was hopeless; she couldn't see a thing.

She thought she should just let Camila blow off some steam, so she didn't go after her, at first. However, then the first drops of rain started and Lauren realized it had the potential to be the caliber of storm which forced them to seek shelter in their cave over three weeks ago. Now, she's been searching the island for over an hour and Camila is nowhere to be seen. With the rain pounding down as hard as it was, Camila could be standing right in front of her and Lauren wouldn't realize it until she ran into her. One last call for her and Lauren took a deep breath before looking around to find her bearings. Then, she turned dejectedly back towards the cave.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!", Lauren shouted at the cave walls as she peeled off her soaked shirt and shorts. Despite the normally warm temperatures in the tropics, being pounded by the pouring rain and fierce winds for an extended period of time had left her feeling cold and shivering. Grabbing her hoodie from the back corner, she quickly pulled it on and sat down, huddled with her back against the back wall.

This was all her fault.

Lauren pulled her knees up to her chest and collapsed her head onto them.

If she had just kept his mouth shut, things would have turned out so differently. They would have...

but what's the point of thinking about that now. God, she hoped Camila was alright.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Lauren woke up to the familiar feeling of Camila's thin arm splayed across her chest. It rose and fell with the rhythmic rise and fall caused by her own breathing. Without opening her eyes, she reached over to stroke it. Something was wrong, very wrong. Her arm felt scaly and dry, but very smooth and hairless. Camila normally felt warm and bony with a feather dusting of peach fuzz on top. Suddenly, Lauren realized what she was touching when he heard a slight hiss and Camila's arm slithered down her stomach and onto the ground. She reflexively grabbed the snake and flung it out of the cave as fast as she could and didn't feel the least bit embarrassed when she realized she had just screamed out as the snake went flying.

"A snake... it was just a snake", she gasped as she tried to bring her breath under control. The offending reptile quietly slithered under a bush and disappeared from sight. "Probably crawled in here to get warm during the storm."

Lauren looked around in momentary confusion when she realized that she was talking to herself.

"Oh, hell..."

She suddenly remembered the previous night and quickly pulled on her damp shorts and mostly dry t-shirt. Lauren stood for a moment in the bright sunshine and judging from the location of the sun, she realized it was almost noon. How could she have slept for so long when Camila was out there somewhere alone and lost?

Lauren didn't know how long she'd been out searching, but her voice was raw from shouting and her gourd of water was almost empty. Leaning against a tree trunk, she pulled out the stopper and poured the last few drops down her parched throat. When she reached down for the stopper to re-cork the gourd, she found it was missing.

The cork was gone. At first, Lauren thought she had just mislaid it, but then, she heard a distinctively teasing clicking sound coming from the tree above her. Craning her neck to look up, Lauren caught sight of a medium sized brown monkey gaping at her from a low-lying branch. The monkey was balancing on a branch with its feet and tail while playing a little game of catch from one hand to the other with the gourd's precious stopper. It had taken three days to carve that thing with a combination of nail file and cuticle scissors and Lauren wasn't about to lose it now.