Out of Africa

The night was peaceful. The wind whooshed through the trees making a calming sound. The roar of the one we call the king of the jungle was scary yet somehow soothing. The sound of the elephants and leopards responding to the call of their king was terrifying but exhilarating. We were in our tent, the three of us: my mother, my brother and I. We were all exhausted from the long Safari we had that day.

We spent the whole day looking for wild animals to observe, listening to “The Lion King” soundtrack on a loop. What did you expect? The whole cast was right there in front of us; we had to praise them somehow. Plus, we wanted them to be in a good mood because the Jeep we were in didn’t look very protected against massive, ferocious carnivores. You wouldn’t believe how dainty and defenseless most animals appear from afar. Lions look apathetic and weary; you wouldn’t believe they would bite out your jugular in less than 10 seconds. Elephants looked awkward and inept, as if one of their behemoth limbs wouldn’t plaster you at the slightest touch. Hyenas seemed joyous and amused even though they are vicious and bloodthirsty. Naturally, when they said don’t get out of the van we obeyed. Personally, I’m very fond of all my limbs and appendages.

When we got back to the lodge we were exhausted. I slept with my mom in one bed while my brother slept in the other. It was our first night there and we were in the middle of the African safari. The steps the elephants took made the floor under our beds tremble. The cries of the wild life felt like a threat. We were basically intruders so we were instinctively scared. Plus, we don’t have the best reputation with them what with the ravenous killing spree we embark on more often then not. So I’m pretty certain we’re not the most amiable guests.

We still managed to get some sleep; at least for a little while until I heard my brother get out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bucket the hotel called the bathroom. As he came back into the room something in his foot itched. It was dark and he couldn’t see what was bothering him. He got into bed and turned on the lights to get a closer look. As soon as he did I heard a loud scream that bounced of the thin walls of the tent. I jumped up at the sound and I saw my brother being attacked, or rather, taken over by red, rabid little ants crawling up his feet and on to his legs. He stood up on the bed shaking his whole body in an attempt to get the insects off of him, to no avail.

 The bed was covered with them. An army of ants continued their onslaught. We were more afraid of the tiny little insects crawling up his legs than our very large, very dangerous neighbors out there that were probably being very disturbed by our very loud screaming. My heart started pounding out of my chest and I felt little tickles and tingles all over my body. Suddenly, I felt like I was all covered in those ants too.

Insects marched towards the most accessible part of our body with armor and pistols ready to fight. They bit into our flesh and spilled our blood onto the mattress. We jumped up and down but it only seemed to worsen. The horde of red scrawny vermin enveloped our feet as they marched up our bodies with their long skeletal legs. My body pounded in pain because of the heinous pricking and stabbing their exoskeleton teeth into our

warm, sensitive flesh. There was blood everywhere, or so I thought, I couldn’t tell between the blood running down my legs and the fire crimson ants parading up my feet. I tried slapping them away with my hands but they sunk their claws into my arms, held on and didn’t let go.

My mother was still bouncing up and down beside me. Screams engulfed the tent and made it move from side to side. The nylon fabric swayed from side to side to the point of collapse. There was a single candle illuminating the whole awning. The yellow wavering light made our despair increase. The light was dancing ferociously to the point of extinction. All of our senses were handicapped; our incessant screaming crippled our hearing, our sight was obstructed by the darkness of the room and the pain of the monsters’ raid deterred our touch; and our smell was overrun by animals’ waste.

We saw no way out. The floor was even more heavily populated with hideous villains. The once green floor now appeared red. Our white beds were being colonized gradually by what seems like one monstrous red giant. I knew I had to do something. Their army would take over our bodies until no remain of us was left behind. It was only a matter of minutes. I told my mother to stay on the bed. I jumped off the bed and everything seemed to stop and slow down. The fear of what would wait for me on the other side made it feel like an hour-long leap. When my right foot touched the ground a crunching sound was made. I had killed a few of our attackers and I felt a rush of victory run through me; but a few seconds later pain immediately started to emanate up and down my leg; the poison felt ardent in my veins.

My mother screamed out when she saw me leave the tent but I kept going. I ran as fast as I could hoping no wild animals would come attack me. The fear of those treacherous all consuming creatures was much greater than the fear of the wild beasts that lived in the African desert. Not even the wind or my fast paced movement made the insects withdraw from my body.

As I ran I began to feel faint but I kept on going. I finally got to the ranger’s tent and screamed out for help. They didn’t respond. I heatedly tried to open their tent and my fingers kept slipping on the zipper. My hands had become numb and inflamed from the still ongoing assault. I used both my hands to open it and finally succeeded.

What I encountered when I entered the tent was abhorrent. My skin was crawling and vomit threatened to come heaving out of my mouth. The scent of death invaded my nostrils and I inherently gagged at the smell. The two bodies were scattered across the floor. The same creatures that were attacking us in our room were feasting on those poor men’s bodies. They seemed to chant in victory and walk around on the defeated. I snapped out of the trance the horrific image in front of me put me in and thought of my mother and brother. I knew what I had to do.

Fear slithered off of me as I ran into the tent and grabbed one of the deceased by the hands. I collected all the strength my body could gather and I hauled his body out of the tent. I interrupted the creatures’ dining and they were noticeably enraged like I was taking meat away from a lion. The red uniformed army pursued me but I paid no attention. I concentrated on hauling the heavy body to my tent. Once I got there I prayed my family was still fighting. I opened the tent and carried the body inside to elude the other creatures. As the reek of flesh invaded the creatures they ceased their attack. The troops migrated on to the already defeated fresh feast served for them. I took the body as far away from our tent and I ran to hug my now three times bigger mother and brother and was consoled by our safety.