“Who the fuck are you,” he snapped?” Sending the kid flying out a hole in the wall. “Wait!” he yelled. “Babcia, hello, anyone there?” He called out. But there was no reply. All he could hear was strange sounds of insects. Millions of them. He could finally see that he was laying on an old door. And this enraged him even more.
“Is there anybody out there, for fuck sake? ” No one answered. Even over his pain, he called out again as loud as he could. Still no answer. He laid there for about half an hour, until he thought he heard something. Then he heard some quiet feet shuffling leaves, sticks under foot. Straining, he looked up back toward the bright hole, to see the kid silhouetted in the bright opening.
“Hey kid, I won’t hurt you. Where am I?” The kid just shrugged. “You don’t know where you are, asked Draino lowering his voice, after seeing the kid wanting to leave again? The kid slowly and timidly approached, holding out an old coke bottle, full of dirty water. “I don’t fucking want that dirty shit.” He yelled! The kid dropped the bottle and disappeared again. He could hear the water gurgling out. He forced himself to look down and sighed to see the water dissolving into a mud floor. “What the fuck is this shit,” he said out loud?”
He tried many ways to sit and prop himself up, but everything failed. His back, butt and legs were sore, he figured he’d been in this position for a while? He also noticed that he stunk bad. The make shift table creaked and complained at his every movement. All he could do was lay there. He must have dozed off, for it was near dark when he opened his eyes again. Someone was dragging something heavy sounding and propping it up against the opening.
“What’s going on he yelled?” But know body answered. “Hey kid, you out there?” The insect sounds were diminishing. Then he heard something heavy slam against the mass, covering the hole. It looked to him like someone was trying to seal him in?
Any remaining light streamed in through tiny pin holes, in long beams of light. “Who’s out there he yelled, this time with panic in his voice. “Dhey come.” Said an older mans voice, in very badly broken English. In a dialect he’d never heard before. “Who the fucks coming…Who?”
Draino just lay there helpless in pain. Now wishing for the dirty water. Hour’s passed in silence, earlier he could hear a strange bird call far off, but it slowly petered off. Now strange jungle type sounds filled the cooling air, growing louder. He thought he heard something, as he drifted off, opening his eyes again later in complete darkness.
Then again, he heard loud sniffing, coming from around the entrance. Like a big dog or some large animal, like a fucking bear he thought! Then silence again. Then padding sounds like some one walking? “Who’s there yelled Draino!” The walking stopped, then he heard something land on the roof, something very big, he could tell by the thumping and creaking.
He couldn’t stand it any longer and swiveled his body, to try and stand. The pain was intense, regretting it at once, he tried to lay back. Shifting he collapsed the table. Landing with a crash, that sent horrendous blinding pain throughout his entire body. Which made him cry, as a deepening fog encompassed him he could sensed something digging at the entrance, then darkness.
He came too, with daylight streaming in blinding him. In fear remembering the night breathing, He screamed “FUCK OFF, fuck off!” “Wrong, wrong,” came a frightened mans voice. “What the fucks wrong,” he yelled? “Tiger, Tiger wrong!”
“Ahaa, Tiger gone!” Where in the fuck am I…yelled Draino aloud?” But he could hear the man walking away. Come back, water, please!” It was then he felt his pain, and heavy breathing. Then darkness.
When he came too he was covered, with a heavy thick straw blanket and a pillow under his face. He was laying on his stomach, and instantly could tell he was feeling much better. The insect sounds were back.
The boy was kneeling beside him holding the ancient looking coke bottle, the glass had long been tarnished and foggy. It seemed like he’d been watching over him. And the water looked cleaner, like it had been filtered a bit. Draino reached out for the bottle. Taking it, he said, “Thanks kid.” It tasted piss warm, but he drank the whole bottle. And flopped back down.
He noticed that he was laying on a kind of thick soft mat. “Where am I kid” The boy just shrugged his shoulders. He felt much better for some reason. Not drugged but similar. He tried to lift himself to look out the opening and noticed he could do it with less pain. “Wild, what ya do to me kid?”
“Maybe we should put something across the door opening, encase that thing comes sniffing around again,” said Draino?” But the kid just stared back at him. Axle was wondering if the kid was dumb, when he heard footsteps. The old man appeared and knelt down beside him. He handed Draino some kind of root, that was plastered with some greasy looking shit. The old man motioned for him to lick it with his tongue. By making licking motions.
“Seriously” said Draino, “Fuck that!” ‘You want me to lick that shit, like fuck,’ he thought. He heard footsteps again, and the old man stood up and went outside. Draino could hear muffled conversation, one of which was a woman. The old man stepped back in holding a wooden bowl of what looked to be some kind of dark portage mash? The old man could see his disgusted look, so set the bowl down on the ground.
The man motioned for him to lay back. Draino did as he suggested. The old man drew back the woven mat and inspected his back and rolled him on one side and felt around the side of his chest. Now wrapped in large old orange and green looking leaves. Held together by some type if netting and dried mud. Resembling very much the hut he was in.
“Tiger, block door.” Said Draino. The old man mumbled something to the brown boy and he scampered out the exit hole. “Yes come,” The old man made the jester of sleeping, with his hands under his chin. Draino thought, you want me to sleep in the middle of the day? Ah…then it occurred to him that he meant. Tigers, they come at night, when you sleep?
The kid ran in with another coke bottle filled with water. The neck stuffed with leaves. The boy separated one out and pretended to chew the leaf. A dark shadow blocked the light and Draino could see a very large half dressed native man standing with a pot belly, which looked weird for such a fit man. He carried a wicked looking spear and bow. He noticed right off that the long spear tip was crudely made of iron. The old man and the big native conversed for a second, and then the giant walked away. Out from his line of vision, but he knew or could sense that he was still near.
Draino took note that the big brown skinned man never once looked at him. Like he wasn’t even there. The old man pointed to himself and said Natty. Then repeated it. He could see that the old man wanted to know his name. Draino looked at him for a moment, then said. “Cane!”
“Cane,” Repeated Natty. But it came out sounding like rain. “Tosh,” said the old man pointing to the boy. “Tosh,” repeated Draino, Looking at the boy. “Tosh,”repeated the boy slower. “Ya Tosh, I get it,” said Draino. The boy shook his head, “TOSH!” The old man shook his old leathery arm towards the child. Shaking his head and saying some gibberish to the boy. The boy ran out in a huff. Natty gestured for him to eat from the bowl and lick the root. Then stood up. Mumbled something over him and stepped out. Draino followed him with his eyes, as they both started sealing him in. Drano remember the Tiger.
Night came and the sniffing began again, His pain came back as well. Draino felt around for the Mush and started nibbling at it. Listening to the animals trying to get in. The Mush tasted insipid, not disgusting like it looked. So, he ate larger portions till the bowl was empty. The pain grew back to its original unbearable level. Only then did he realize that the root or the leaves or both, had been killing his pain.
Within minutes he was feeling better enough to even sit up, and better yet, lay on his side. However, he could feel a gurgling sound in his throat and chest, like something was wrong with his left lung. Which began to stress him. He moved to his right side and felt better. The animals tried everything they could to get at him, but the hut was stronger.
About and hour later it seemed as though they had given up and moved on. Then a loud piercing scream came from right out side his door way. Then a short struggle ensued, then quiet. Then a gang of thumping feet came out of nowhere. Talking and laughing, and chanting sounds followed. Then nothing. All he could hear were the familiar jungle noises.
“Hello,” he finally called out! But there was no response. Red suddenly popped into his thinking at that moment, and he felt nothing toward him, nothing. He realized that the root or leaves, blocked anger as well. But couldn’t block him from planning his revenge. As that was all he could do in the darkness.
Within a few days, he was able to stand on his knees, and duck walk to the opening for short periods. He was in a small opening, with a solid looking jungle wall all around him. Tosh came a few times a day to hang out. Bringing him water, mush and more root. Within a week he was on his feet. But the gurgling sound grew worse, and his breath was short.
He was finally able to walk around and was horror stricken to see two very large panther skins being tanned, stretched out on a crude looking loop made from a thick vine, near a huge fire pit. “Tiger,” he said to the old man waking by. “Tiger” said the old man, mimicking a spear jab.
The following day, Tosh took his hand and led him into the thick jungle, where they came out to a wide muddy river. Draino hadn’t a clew it was even there. Tosh motioned for him to enter the water. ”Fuck that jack,” he snapped! “I don’t know what the fucks in there?” Suddenly Tosh, dropped to his knees and started crawling back into the jungle.
Draino was astounded and just stood there wondering what the kid was doing. Then, only five or so seconds later he heard a motor. Two natives standing right beside him, the one he had seen before, that he didn’t know were there, motioned for him to squat. They looked surprised, that they had surprised him and didn’t know they were beside him.
Three white men, and what at first looked like a child were coming up the river in a long-motorized canoe. The a breeze rustling the fur of something big and dead in the boat. As they came closer. Draino felt conflicted. And the kid in the bow, turned out to be a little brown man, in a red toto. Holding a bow. ‘Mickey, there’s your fucking ancestor, laughed Draino to himself. Homo Erectus and the missing dink!’
Dan Ger
