Last Journal Entry

May 15th, 2024

Who’s idea was this? Not mine! This is why I keep telling people that they can't leave me unsupervised, next thing they know I'll be going skydiving, painting the whole house yellow even though it matches none of the decor…or buying a boat and trying to sail to China. I told Macy that if she left me to go on a trip with her boyfriend I would be bored, but noooo she didn't listen. She just told me “Darla you are 23 years old…you don't need to be babysat. You're fine.” 

So there I was sitting alone in my sister's apartment. I could have been working or even going to the movies like a normal person would do, but I got an itch. A familiar itch. The need for adventure. Maybe it was fate that my sister left the globe on the coffee table instead of putting it away. Maybe fate gave me the idea to spin the globe like we would do in elementary school, and point to a random place. And MAYBE it was fate that made my finger land in Australia. 

A small smile spread on my face. “Oh what the heck, let's do this”. So an expensive plane ticket and many hours later my plane arrived here, in the heart of Australia. Uluru. Naturally, I bought a tour. It's not every day you visit the most sacred national park in all of Australia. I showed up outside the lard red landscape with my backpack and shorts and a happy determined smile. My tour guide, a muscular girl in a similar outfit to mine, smiled as I joined the group.

“Alright! That's everyone! Now simple rules before we start, this is a very sacred ground. It has mountains of stories and beliefs behind it, So please, let's all have a great day and not disturb any of the amazing nature you will encounter.” It's hard not to smile at her accent, so thick and genuine, her eyes bright as if this was her whole life, and maybe it was. As the group started off, I instantly marveled at the sights I never would have seen in Bosie, Idaho. Big red rocks, trees with thick trunks and little leaves, brightly colored bugs and flowers. This place was beautiful!

 The tour guide, whose name, I learned, was Kelly, led us up the steep trial. The other members of our group took pictures and stopped every once in a while to look at bugs and other critters. Smiling, I took a picture of a pretty bird which I've never seen.” Macy would love to see this "I thought to myself as we walked. Pretty soon, Kelly's peppy voice broke through nature's sweet silence.

“Now, it was believed that if you wandered off these ancient trials, the gods would make you roam forever. The tribes of old times would tell these warnings to travelers. Of course, we don't believe in curses now, but we tell the same stories to keep the trials as natural as possible." She kept droning on about the history of such and such tribes, but I turned her out soaking in nature. 

It wasn't long before I was sweaty and tired, and wishing for a break. As if she read my thoughts, Kelly stopped and turned to the group. “Alright! Now this next part of our little tour is on the riverboat! We, unfortunately, will not be able to fit everyone on at once, so please wait here patiently while I take the first group across”. I volunteered to stay behind with two others, and we watched the little boat start off.

Sighing and thankful for the break, I pulled out my camera and looked through the photos. I softly smiled at all the animals and pretty sights, excited to show them to Macy. What would she say? Probably something along the lines of “Darla this is getting out of hand! But I hope you enjoyed yourself”. I softly laugh and turn my camera around, taking a selfie. I softly sigh and turn the camera around, making sure the picture isn't blurry but what I saw made my heart stop.

I quickly turned around, searching the trail with my eyes when one of the other tour members softly pointed. “uh..guys? “ she blinked. I looked in her direction and my face went pale.

I’ve heard of giant crocodiles in Australia, but I never imagined them to be that big! The monstrous reptile was about 12 feet long and 3 wide. It was so sudden that we almost didn't have to think, the second it started charging at us, we ran. Not in any particular direction, just away.

When I finally calmed down and took a breather, I found I lost the rest of my group. Alright…that's fine, I'll just find the trail and go back to the river, and everything will be fine! But no! I didn’t want to do that, there was a monster that way! Maybe it would be best to just stay put. I sat down on a large orange rock and crossed my legs, listening for anything. Kelly’s cherry accent, the other tourists, even that little bird, anything! But anything didn’t come.

Fearing the worst, that they were all eaten of something, I got up and decided to find the trail, but after hours there was nothing! I could have sworn that I didn't run that far, so I kept going, looking for anything familiar. My heart raced as the sun started going down and my mind began to wander. Was the curse that Kelly was talking about real? No…no that would be impossible. Lost and hopeless, I gave up trying to find the trial and started finding somewhere to stay for the night in hopes they’d come to look for me tomorrow. 

I found a cave about 100 feet from where I was standing and found a bunch of dry sticks. It wasn’t hard, almost everything here was dry. Thank god I took a camping course as a kid and knew how to make a fire because if I was alone out here in the dark I think I would prefer if I had gotten eaten. I gotta fire up in minutes, and after some adjusting I made a decent place to sleep, not free of bugs and spiders of course, but you can't win them all.

So that's where I am. I'm not sure if anyone will find this journal or if anyone will even care, but if you do and I haven't updated it that means I'm gone. Oh gosh, I hope I don't die. I should have listened to Macy and stayed home like a normal person, but no! I had to be a typical Darla. It really opens your mind, being alone out here, makes you realize how small you really are. Maybe I don't regret coming all the way out here. Maybe there is a curse, who knows, I don't. Maybe I don't need to know.

My name is Darla Jane Anderson, I'm 23 years old and live in Bosie, Idaho. I live with my sister Macy June Anderson and I live for adventure. And who knows, maybe I'll die for one too.

Signing out, Darla