Jungle Walk

Anton gripped his walking stick tight as he navigated through the dense undergrowth. It was more than he had bargained for. The beginning of the jungle walk started off innocently enough, with obviously visible dirt trails to follow, clearings to help him take his bearings, and enough canopy cover to provide comfort from the hot sun beating upon his head above.

But then, it started to rain. And as he continued along, following the instructions on the map that he was given, Anton found himself deviating strongly away from the well-worn trails and bashing into virgin jungle, where the dense undergrowth hid tangles of roots, snakes and other animals that were there.

And soft muddy soil that would suck in whatever landed on it. That was the reason for the walking stick. It was not something that he would normally carry about, but before embarking on this journey, he was strongly recommended to bring along a stick just in case.

He was glad that he did after all.

The rain made the already terrible terrain just that bit more insidious, with the red mud hiding ever so maliciously beneath the grasses and undergrowth bushes that were there. Already he had nearly lost his boot when he had accidentally landed on a patch of soft red mud with his full weight in it, without having first tested the solidity of the ground with the walking stick. That alone took him around ten minutes just to get out, complicated by the fact that he somehow managed to get his other foot entangled on to some vines that were creeping along the ground. After that one incident, Anton was starting to more conscientiously apply the walking stick to the grounds in front of him before he let himself send his entire body weight forward.

He wanted to turn back. But he had gone too far in, and the only way out was through the other side. There was really no point in trying to turn back now, partly because the instructions only worked in one direction, and given the decreased visibility from the rain that had been pelting down for hours, it was even more dangerous to attempt to back track.

He wanted to look for cover, but there was little to be found. Each involved having to climb moss-infested trees, which was made more slippery by the rain. So all he could do was move onwards.

Soon he found himself at a clearing of some sort, with a cluster of huts on the other side. That was his objective, the reason why he even came out here in the first place. But the clearing was in the way. It wasn't full of short grass, if anything, it looked like a foreboding bog of some sort. The group of huts were only a hundred metres or so away, but they seem even further. Gritting his teeth and clutching his walking stick, Anton started forward gingerly once again.

(Based on an exercise generated by WriteThis - 2014-01-17 19:49:20)