LIFE OF EMILY

                       LIFE OF EMILY

                                   - By Ashfa Ilham

         “You’re fired!” The chef busted out at Emily, she removed her apron and threw it on his face recklessly for which she knew she is gonna regret later. She took her jacket and left the restaurant which is no longer her work place.

        She sat on the bench at a bus stop which she usually takes at night after her work, a guy in his twenty’s approached her with a bunch of pamphlets. He picked one and gave it to her, “have a nice day” he said with a smile and left. “A nice day”, well it’s the worst day of my life, she murmurs and simultaneously looks at the pamphlet. “Become a millionaire in 3 days”, “what?”, she get a bit supprised but thinks it’s fake and turns the other side.

       “You get to live in Amazon Rain forest for three days, all you have to do is survive and get an egg from the forest without getting it or yourself killed. By the way you will be enjoying your own company and won't have any human to disturb and won't be taking any device to get in contact with people, isn't it amazing!”

      “In my case there is no one to speak even if I carry a phone there”, she sighed. She got in a bus and sat on the last with her headphones playing a super melody song which matches her mood. Her place arrives, she gets off the bus and walks across the road. 

      “Oh my God", she shuts her mouth with her outer palm. A black snake, long as a train crossing the road beside her, it stopped as she stopped; she was a lot nervous but didn't want to shout it out. She gathers up her courage and continues to walk, she couldn’t believe her eyes it started move as soon as she walked, it felt like it was waiting for her to cross the road so that it could follow her. Her heart beat started to raise she couldn’t believe it but still walks as fast as she can. Finally, she reaches her place and turns, to her shock she could see it had followed it all way.

       Her eyebrows trying to meet, she stepped inside and closed the door. “Hi” the land lady, for her horror dressed in black; looked at her, rolling her eyes. “wait... what...”, “what are you doing in here?” she asked nervously. “Are you asking me?” “oh dear” she sighed and said “the rent, do you even know it's already 5th of November”. She took her wallet out and handed over the money to the land lady. “Do not make me wait next time you little women” she demanded and left.

       She was exhausted and threw herself on the bed, “My life is a mess", she thought and closed her eyes.

                 Its 12 am, a cold night, she covered herself with the jacket, all of a sudden, the dogs start barking which is very unusual. Her sound sleep gets disturbed, “stop it you idiot dog” she shouts while in half sleep. Simultaneously the dog stops barking, she prefers to sleep again. 

                 “Meow", she woke up startled. “What is it again”, she gets confused with all these animal things but still she believes that these creatures are far better than human beings. She gets off her bed and grabs some milk for herself and the cat. 

       While drinking she notices the pamphlet, she picks it up and a wild thought comes to her mind. "Why don’t I try?”, she thinks. “Well, to be honest animals are far better than humans in many ways, why won’t I survive while I have survived for almost twenty years among the humans without humanity?”, she peered through the pamphlet searching for contact information.

        She called without considering the time. It had an auto reply saying “Thank you for showing interest in our Green Witch adventures, we kindly request you to visit our office at Green valleys at 10 am for further information”.

         She puts her phone beside her and gives a thought about it. “I don’t have people or job, so there's nothing to lose”, she thought and went back to bed.

              Next morning.  

             “Fill out this form”, the staff ordered. She filled it like name, age and blah blah blah. A man who was colorfully dressed approached her, “Hello Ms. Emily, I'm Jack." She stood up and wished him back. “We had got handful of inquiries but you are the first to visit, I’m glad you are here. This way please.” he showed the way. “hmm hmm” she cleared her voice and asked “May I know the reward for this contest.”                                 

“Yes, why not? If you have successfully survived and had brought an egg within three days you will be awarded one million dollars. There are some rules to be followed, first of all you will be going all alone, you will leave all of your gadgets behind and won't be able to contact anyone, even me. You won’t be rewarded if you have returned within 24 hours even if you have got the egg. Am I clear?”  “Yes, you are” she said a little bit nervously.

              “Good, and more importantly we are not responsible for your life or any physical ailments that may occur during your stay at forest. Did I make myself clear?” 

“Yes, I knew it's hard to get back alive, but I will try my best.” she said knowing the consequences.

“Aren't you too young to risk your life, are you sure you want to do this.” he asked.

            “I don’t think I have something worth it to do either; so, I guess it's okay.” she replied.

            "Okay, Then lets meet on Monday." He said and waved her a goodbye.

            "Yeah, sure", she replied and walked.

             The day came when she had to start her adventure at the worlds deadliest forest. She musters up her courage and walks towards the forest, while the staff members wished her luck and Jack who is in charge gave her some candies.

             She could hear the murmurs fading away. She walks slowly, her eyes moving all around. She sees an arch covered with green leaves, she thinks herself being in a Disney world- okay a green Disney world. Her hands moves back to pick water bottle. An unfamiliar sound arises from her left. Which seems to be like two of them murmuring or something. "Oh, did the agency hire someone to look after?" She proceeds in the direction of the sound. 

                          Two snakes facing each other, she went a bit crazy as she could hear them talk, not exactly what they are talking but yes, she verified that the murmuring sound is from them. She tries to get away from there but simultaneously the snakes heads turned towards her. Her legs keeps moving backwards and her hands in search for the sword which she took with her. 

                She stands there with her legs shivering and her hands holding the sword facing towards the snakes. "Don't come any near." , she says stiffly as if they can speak English. She keeps moving backward, she gets tripped from a root and falls which leaves a loud thud, along with her the sword seems to fall a bit far from her.               

                  She crawled backward and was terrified and to her fear she could see a group of scorpions approaching her. She got up and start running on the opposite direction, imagining herself running in marathon. the running continued until her tongue become dry and her shoes torn apart. She stands near a lake bending forward, her hands in support of her knees. She looks back to check if something is coming.

                  She sits near the lake and drinks some water, her eyes wandering around without stopping. A golden spark hits her eyes, which is surrounded by rocks. " I didn't knew there would be gold here?" Her mind voice telling a lot more things. 

            She moves towards it slowly, "Its a crown!" Her hands getting closer to it, suddenly she holds back. "Its a crown in a forest, Oh my God! I'm gonna get killed by a lion", she sighs. While her brain planning to escape, she could sense her head weighing a bit more than usual.Yes, she is already wearing the crown, its light glowing all over her. "Am I really on a Disney world?" she thinks.

                 Her ears busy with loud thuds and noises which she had not heard from all the four sides. It is sure that everything is approaching she doesn't find a place to hide nor to run. She could see all the animals running towards her, she was frightened and thinks its because of the crown. She tries to remove but it doesn't work. She moves backward and gets stopped by the rock.

                         The animals making huge noises approached her. She started to pray which she had not done once in her life. All of a sudden silence appeared, she looked at them all startled. A Jaguar comes forward and says to his fellas, "Show your respects to Queen Emily."  

THE END

  By Ashfa Ilham.J