We all know the story of how Alex Vreeke was sucked away from our world and into the game Jumanji. But what about when a character from the game gets sucked into our world...
My second 'Jumanji' story! Theresa Ross is a teaching assistant at Brantf...
The jaguar at the front of the pack gave a sudden roar, startling everyone. Terri seized her chance.
She ran - right towards the jaguars. For some reason, she just got a safe feeling around them.
The cats let her pass, and she could hear commotion behind her.
When she felt she was far enough away, she paused to catch her breath - only to hear a nearby rustling. She raised her staff in defence.
Russell emerged. "Terri, it's alright, it's just me, you can put your weapon down."
Slowly, she lowered it, but only slightly. "Can I?"
"Of course you can."
"I don't know, can I?"
"Yes, of course."
"Where's the jewel?"
"I lost it in the commotion. They've got it now."
Perhaps the loss of the jewel explained his sudden change in how he was acting.
"You couldn't have actually thought that I would let them kill you."
"I didn't know what to think. I didn't think anything could come between you and your precious jewel," she mocked. "I thought I'd best get myself out of there." But fat lot of good that had done - now he was here with her.
"I can't believe you-" Terri was muttering angrily, loud enough for him to hear, as they began trudging through the jungle. "Now I'm married to a liar, a thief, and a murderer - brilliant. And now I'm stuck in this bloody jungle with you!"
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"This is all your fault, all your damn fault-" She strode past him, ignoring the hand he offered to help her step over a fallen tree. The next hand he offered was smacked away.She was thankful that her clumsiness hadn't kicked in then, and that she hadn't tripped over the log and landed face-first in the dirt in front of him.
"We're going to get the jewel, get it back to the statue, get out of here, and go home - end this stupid expedition. And then I want you gone." She stopped walking and faced him when she said this. Each word was like a stab - she'd spent twenty years waiting to be reunited with him, and now she wanted nothing to do with him.
The look on his face when she said this was worse. He stopped walking, looking wounded. "Terri - you, you don't mean that, do you?"
She was breaking down, she could feel it. No, no that's not what she wanted.
However, to emphasize her point, she held up her hand and slid off her glove. Then she slid off her wedding ring and tossed it carelessly into the bushes. Then she adjusted the strap of her staff on her shoulder and quickly turned away and continued walking before he could see the tears pooling in her eyes. She managed to catch the absolutely grief-stricken, devastated look in his eyes.
She marched onward, pausing only when her curiosity got the best of her. She cast a quick glance behind her to see that he had dropped to his hands and knees and was now frantically searching through the underbrush for her ring.
Perhaps it had been a little dramatic, a little bit of an overreaction, but she was pissed, and it got her point across. She wiggled her fingers - it felt strange now not to be wearing her ring. She rubbed her now bare finger and continued on.
He could not describe the wave of relief that washed over him when he saw a glimmer of diamond in the retreating sunlight. He immediately scooped the ring into his palm, turning to see Terri through the trees up ahead. He tucked the ring carefully into his coat pocket before rushing to catch up.
"You said you thought you lost me," she called behind her. "Well you did that all on your own!" What a cruel irony.
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Night began to descend over the jungle. They settled down by a stream and decided to wait out the night here.
In all the commotion, Terri hadn't realized she was injured: a cut along her side. She guessed she must have gotten scraped when she'd jumped into the river.
She knelt at the bank of the stream and began addressing her wound. She washed the blood from her shirt the best she could - the blood would surely leave a stain on the white fabric - and then taking her scarf she began to bind it. Or at least try. It stung when she cleaned it the best she could, dabbing it with icy stream water. The binding was difficult, trying to hold up her shirt so she could wrap the scarf around her middle, and tie it tightly, all at the same time. She cursed under her breath when her shirt slipped down again. Rolling it up she tried again, this time managing to wrap and tie the scarf around her middle, but not tightly enough. And the fact that it was getting dark didn't help.
"You need some help?" Russell came over and reached out.
"Don't touch me," she snapped, smacking his hand and turning away from him, trying not to remember her relishing in his touch the other night at the inn. Stop it! Stop going back to that! She tried to tie the scarf again, but failed yet again. The game was probably laughing at her. She heaved a frustrated sigh. "Fine."
He came forward, removing his gloves and taking her scarf. He was very gentle. Always so gentle. She held up her shirt while he bound her wound. She bit back a groan. "Not so tight."
"It has to be tight to stop the bleeding." He tied and knotted the scarf. His fingers lingered on her waist until she pushed her shirt back down, concealing it.
There was a silent moment between them before she muttered, "thanks." She got up and left the bank before he could say anything.
He'd made a fire to dull the chill of the night. "We'll have to take turns sleeping and keeping watch," she said. She was about to add, "you can take the first watch," when he spoke.
"No need." Moments later, a pack of jaguars slunk out of the bushes, standing guard. His power from the jewel clearly lingered in its absence.
She'd never been so close to a wild cat like them before today. They were beautiful, especially the way their golden coats glowed in the firelight.
She tried to make a pillow of sorts with her vest - it wasn't much, but it was better than lying with her head resting on the ground.
As she lay there, trying to fall asleep, she thought about all that had happened - what a wild and strange turn of events.
"Goodnight Terri," he tried.
She said nothing back.
(Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) We'll check back in with the avatars next!)
