Falling for the jungle boy

Chapter 9

Night fell rather quickly and the next jungle noises erupted into a symphony of squeeks, croaks and wails. The afternoon went by in a blurr, i remembered seeing Brian venture further into the bushes and abandon his "the road is the safest" analogy. He was calling out a name, and though he was too far to physically hear, something in my gut told me it was my name he was yelling for dear life. 

I studied his feautures from afar and compared and contrasted between him and my mystery guy. Next to the 'guy', Brian looked... average. There was nothing too special about his appreance, the muscles I had fawned over weren't as buffed up as I had made them out to be. -average, nothing too bad, but not amazing either.

I ducked quickly as his gaze swept over the tree I was hiding behind. The tree house I had been left in was completely hidden in plain sight. A few bushes were scattered under the wooden planking, the slabs of wood were concealed amoung the hedge growth and awkward vines that were strung from corner to corner... I guess this could be classified as home...

I had cried that night. With no particular reason for my abrupt tears, death was something that took its painful toll on all of us, but it affected me in the strangest ways possible. First there was shock, then there was disbelief... And then came the dreams. The dreams and nightmares no-one could ever properly fanthom. It was a hoard of misguided interpretations, that was what I would berate over and over again, until the scars of sleep were all but visible.

My energy levels were drained and I had no intention of getting up off the vaugely comfortable floorboards, yet I felt a pair of strong arms lifting me from the floor. I had splinters running down my shoulders especially the places were my shirt had ridden upwards and exposed skin had taken over, was heavily infested with the devilish wooden pieces.

I felt my body being pulled up and carefully dropped off on an airy and light piece of cloth, suspends in mid air meaning against the forces of nature and strung by two roles, in the joys of a hammock. The faintest of sounds were gently detected by my sleepy ears.

In the distance, i could hear something. The faintest flicker of it. But it was most prominently there. A blood curling scream. It echoed along my ear canal and managed to wedge itself deep into my brain.

I recognised it.

No doubt.

That was the scream one would protray after the loss of a loved one, even human emotions were beginning harder and harder to handle. That was the same scream I heard, when mother had been on the phone to Gran. She was hysterical, father had gone missing and tensions were high in the jungle where she lay alone. It had been a day since he'd left in search of water. And her hopes and beliefs were completely disgruntled.

I felt myself being hearded into a corner, my body but not my mind. My thoughts had drifed astray, so much so that the two were disembodied- to a certain extent.

***

The rain was comming down in slashes now, a distant hue of cloud marred the horizon. My feet were soaked through and the cold was trying to enter through my flash. Every time I tried to gauge the rainfall the devilish source of life spat into my eyes blinding me.

A warm hand gripped my frozen one, it dragged me toward a small sheltered area. The contrast was heart warming.

"Don't worry yourself Clarie." His voice was smooth and allowed the shivers to be set free on my spinal chord.

For some reason , the uncomfortable sensation and the awkward postition we were in, all helped fuel my temper. It was magical. It wasn't supposed to be magical between us. I felt my eye twitch. My breathing trying to be controlled. This boy though he knew so much about me, the reality being far from that. I felt a scoff jutting from my throat.

"What is it?" He seemed slightly offended.

"You seem to know everything about me. You know my name when I never told you anything. You act like I'm frail and stupid. You act like me know eachother. You act like-" I was cut off from my rant with an abrupt kiss.

"Are you serious?" I felt the anger boil up inside me. No-one steals a kiss from me. I felt my arm go up, palm outstretched, and get ready to slap the living daylight out of him. -I didn't even know his name!

"Tay."

I looked at him with such confusion that it disguised my disgust.

"That's my name. Well at least my jungle name." He tried a meek smile and came closer to my face. Cupping it in his hands as he spoke.

"Do you really not remeber me?" I stated flatly ahead of me.

"Not even after the small kiss ?" I had forgotton about that, I felt the fury build again,  my hand comming up to his perfectly groomed face. As soon as he said it, instead of retracting, he came even closer. Invading my personal space. His eyes bore into mine, with engorged pupils he looked like a madman.

The further he ventured into my private square the more  uncomfortable I felt, yet I refused to move. Making sure I stood my ground. I watched as the different contours on his skin ciss-crossed. Just above his eyebrow a jagged line marred his flesh. It looked like a pair of rough stitches had been previously pulling the skin together. I let my outreached hand smooth over the ragged line mirroring the same movement. He didnt even wince.

"What happened ... Tay?" I let his name roll off my tounge, the unfamiliarity of the name was confusing to say the least.

A bitter chuckle radiated off him. "I'm suprised you don't know. Your parents were brave you know."

He knew my parents? ..... I shook the thought off as soon as it crossed me. Of course he knew them, they came to the Amazon for a trip, what were the odds that they were to meet the infamous jungle boy?

"What happened to-"

"-your parents?" He tried to interject quietly.

"No. What happened to your forehead? The scar." I reversed the subject back into him.

He looked suprised at the change in topic.

"A couple of bastards-"

"The ones that sent the letter by arrow?" I inquired with a challenging tone.

"The very same." He muttered in defeat.

Sensing he didn't want to talk about the origin of his only apparent imperfection,  I digressed.

"So you knew my parents huh?" He nodded quickly, almost as if this topic was worse than the last. "Does their memory live on?" I remeber mum always talking about a tribe in the Amazon. She was the one who encouraged me to go when I was old enough. Explore the jungle roots. Explore her happy place.

"What do you mean... memory? Last I heard, they were fine. I don't think much can happen in a week..."

"You're delusional." Brushing his last comment off, i had already abandoned hope that they were strolling around happy as larks in the forest somewhere. - and if it was so, i felt a wave of disgust against my parents.

The phone call would have been a fake. Gran wouldn't have had to die that night. She could have taken care of me. I had been orphaned by my living parents, parted by death from my grandmother. Fostered countless times. All to end up with my alcholic and abusive uncle.

I was pretty sure my parents loved me...

"Sure T, they are definitely alive." I couldn't keep the venom out of my tone .

___________

Hey ppls.

It's me again. After a longish wait. Sorry, i didn't have any ispiration. Writers block is a bitch.

Questions:

1) How are you?

2) Are Claire's parents still alive?

3) And if so, why did they leave her?

4) If not, who is Tay talking about then?

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-LG