Adventure

Just the Beginning

"Jameson, we're here."

I woke up to the sound of Will's low voice speaking softly in his ear, his hand gently shaking my shoulder.

We were aboard a private plane Will had booked for the expedition, my head resting on Will's shoulder.

I immediately sat up and smoothed out the invisible wrinkles in my shirt, looking away as my face burned a light red hue in embarrassment.

"Thank you pilot." Will nodded to the man up front as he gathered his belongings, seeming to not notice my awkwardness.

I grabbed my suitcase and followed Will out of the plane to see a world of green around me, which looked much different than the concrete jungle I was accustomed to seeing.

"We're a few miles away from Pretoria, the nearest village." Will informed me as he began hacking through vines to clear a path for us.

"We couldn't land in town since there wouldn't be enough space for the plane to land. Just stick with me and you'll be fine." The Colonel added as I tore my gaze away from the scenery to focus on pushing branches and leaves out of my face to keep them from scratching me.

My eyes widened in fear when a tarantula jumped from one of the trees to land on the Colonel's back, causing me to break off a branch to prod the male's shoulder and alert him of the problem since I was too afraid to take care of it myself.

"What?" Will prompted with a confused frown as he turned around, the tarantula slowly making its way up his chest.

"Damn these spiders." Colonel huffed in mild irritation as he swiped the tarantula off, sending it scuttling across the ground and out of sight.

"Anyway, we've only got a couple more miles to go." Will stated cheerfully, my hope for rest disappearing.

We trudged on in silence, giving me time to think about the predicament I was stuck in while Colonel forged ahead without hesitation.

I abruptly reached out and tapped on the Colonel's shoulder, the male forging on despite the distraction.

"Yeah?" Will replied, sounding slightly out of breath from having to slice our way through the jungle.

I grabbed his shoulder to make him stop before I wrote down in my journal, showing the page to Will.

Why did you come to Ireland to look for someone to come with you? And why me?

"I went to Ireland to spend time away from home, and I saw you. You looked like a brave man who could use some adventure." Will answered with a shrug. "What brought it up?"

I paused before writing more down, my face flushed a light red hue in embarrassment whe thinking of the spider encounter as I showed Colonel the page.

I'm not brave.

"You're brave because you're here. I had asked people back home to come with me, and they all said no....you're the first person to ever come with me on a safari hunt." Will remarked.

I contemplated Will's words as we continued our weary journey, Will returning to silently cutting through the vines.

I opened my mouth in surprise when I felt my foot trip over a root, causing me to tumble forward and fall face first to the ground.

As I hastily stood up, I picked up my journal and looked around to see that Will had disappeared, a feeling of panic welling up in me as I scanned the area for the Colonel.

I noticed a trail and ran towards it in hopes to find my colleague, only to feel my feet sink through the ground like quicksand.

That's because it's quicksand, I realized as I frantically scrambled to find a way to pull myself out while my bag of supplies was ripped free of my grasp.

With the Colonel nowhere in sight, it was up to me to try and find a way to save myself, which seemed impossible as the sand began to swallow me up.

Hope sparked inside me when I saw the Colonel trekking back through the jungle, his eyes wildly scanning his surroundings.

"Jameson!" Will called out, his voice tinged with desperation while I fought to get his attention to no avail.

The quicksand was already halfway up my torso while I was looking up for a way to escape, finding a low hanging vine.

Perfect! I thought in relief as I managed to grab onto it and pull, my relief dashed when I learned that the "vine" I was pulling on was actually a large snake.

The reptile hissed as it fell onto my head, causing me to stiffen in fear as I felt its tongue flicker across my skin to make me shiver.

Will paused when he heard the snake and finally saw me, his expression concerned mixed with fearful as he ran over to my aid.

"Don't worry, I'll help you." The Colonel promised me as he hastily dumped his duffel of weapons on the ground, retrieving a worn golden pistol.

"Do you trust me?" Will asked calmly as he cocked the gun, aiming the barrel at my neck where the snake was starting to constrict me.

All I could do was look Will in the eyes as the male pulled the trigger, his hands steady with sweat beaded on his forehead.

The snake fell off of me and sunk into the quicksand, the Colonel then grabbing my hands and pulling him to safety.

"Are you okay? Did the snake bite you? Can you breathe fine?" The Colonel barraged me with questions, each one answered with a weak nod.

"Okay...on we go then I suppose." The Colonel declared, Will occasionally glancing back at me as if worried that I would disappear again.

"Here we are." Will breathed in relief once we came across a village, men and women alike roaming around and completing their daily tasks.

"Welkom william en vriend." One of the men greeted us, waving to the Colonel in a friendly manner.

Will nodded politely in acknowledgment, elbowing me hard in the ribs, causing me to quickly followed suite when I realized that I had been staring.

Satisfied, the man guided us to a simple hut equipped with a bed, dresser, bathroom, and a table with chairs.

I immediately disappeared into the bathroom to shower while Will flopped down onto the bed, his hat resting on his chest as he fell asleep.

I scrubbed my skin clean until it was red, glad to be rid of the clumpy sand that seemed to be everywhere.

Once I emerged, I glanced around to see that the only place I could rest was the floor, Will already in the bed.

Without thinking what I was doing, I simply climbed onto the bed and fell asleep next to the Colonel, listening to his gentle snoring as I drifted off to sleep.