HELP!!!!

I spoke with a brave and distinct tone” No one panic…A tornado is coming at us at around 180-190 kms per hour. If we all work together, we can make it alive. No one separate yourselves from the group and stick to your partners”.

I started jogging as fast as I could (the rest were slow…very slow). I could feel the strong wind now, pushing against us. Terror covered my entire face. I felt hopeless. Naomi waterfalls passed in a whir, like in a blurry picture. A village could be seen in the distance. As we ran, I was thinking of the vital things to do. “Keep everyone safe, warn others of the tornado…that’s about it”, I thought.

A shrill scream interrupted my thoughts. It was so loud I had to turn and shout. It was not until I turned around did I notice that the tornado was much closer. A fact worse than that, a fact which terrified me from inside out, a body whisked by and was lifted into the air in that fraction of a second. The wicked tornado bellowed loudly, clearing a path, and it was headed right towards us!!! It raced, leaving destruction behind it, wherever it went. Our group ran back into the forest, hoping that we could lose the funnel, but we couldn’t. It took a sharp turn in our direction. We had no hope now. We took a left, back to where the body was whisked. Marion was her name. We darted past the green trees.

She lay there, motionless, with no arms and one severely injured leg. Taking her to a nearby hospital would be impossible. It would take every last of our efforts and we had a tailing tornado, for goodness sake!

One heave and one ho and we were off! She was lighter than we thought but that didn’t mean it was easier. The path we came from in the jeep seemed like the correct route. All of us got in and Dan started driving like he never drove before. The wind blew against my face harshly in two directions. It was starting to get cold, a phenomenon which rarely occurred in Central Africa. It was possible, due to the sun’s movements.

Clouds began camouflaging the sky. A deep grey was all our eyes so see. In a normal situation, we’d be extremely ecstatic about a storm, but this was not a normal situation. It would only make our mission harder and above that, the rain could cause infection to Marion’s arms, so we had to choose between taking shade or we could drive the jeep as if we were psychopaths. Survival in our case seemed out of the question. Rumours were that a storm can lash rain like a whip. It thunder sounded like a bellow by a monster. Only one option was left: Make for the edges!

“Drive!!!

 We haven’t got much time!” came out of my mouth. We left behind a torn-up village with no help. It gave the impression that we did not care about them but I would not mind. The towering trees and the lush green bushes whizzed by. The scarlet hibiscuses and lavender bougainvilleas zoomed, like a blurry picture. It felt heart-breaking to leave the forest. Almost cruel. Who would take care of those animals and plants during the storm? Their sorrow was also mine. I shared a brother-sister bond with Mother Nature’s creations. They were my friends.

I did not have a choice. If I did not take them out of the jungle then my job would go and I would never be able to roam the forest freely. If I left, then I do not know what fate will fall upon God’s children. This thought lingered on my mind. The two angels told me this: “Come on Carter! Your job will go! How can you feed yourself? How will pay for all the bills?”

Another said: “Think of all the plants and animals. You are their only voice. Who else will look after?”

The first one: “Mother Nature created ‘em! She’ll take care of ‘em!” I thought to myself, “He’s right though.” I have to take a break sometime. This was my life.

“STOP!!!!” came out.

Everybody stopped to look at me. Worry was written on their faces so well I could read it like a book.

“Move over Dan!” I said. Nothing happened. They seemed so hesitant to do anything.

“I mean it, Dan, move over!”

A slightly scared Dan moved to the front seat that was to the side. I got out of the jeep and went to sit in the drivers’ seat.

“I’m driving this baby from here on. If anyone makes a single noise, then they’re outta this truck. Get it?” I said, with a thug-looking expression on my face. All nodded in unison.

          I started driving as if I never drove before. The speedometer hit the 100s in 10 minutes. Maybe we could make it. Maybe we had a silver lining on this cloud. What if we did not? What if it was too late for Marion? She was losing blood at a rapid rate. Could she make it in time? Would God spare one life?

HELP!!!!

“C

ome on people! Follow me!” I shouted out, to the ten people behind. “We’ve still got ‘bout five km to go!”. I guess you could say I was a guide showing around 10 foreigners the beautiful and mesmerising rainforests of Central Africa. Although It’s kind of annoying when you have to explain every single thing to the guests, since they do not know much about the forests but the beauty and glory it presents, it makes me breathless. I feel blissful at the fact that I’m this lucky to be able to roam the jungle without any problem.

        “Here we have the famous Naomi waterfall, known to be the second tallest, after Angel falls. This mighty waterfall holds at least 10,000 species of insects, birds and animals. Anyone up for swimming?” I shouted, making my voice clear and confident. They all yelled back in unison “We sure are!”

        We all jumped into to the closest area to the lake at the end. The water felt soothing against my sweaty skin, cooling it off instantly, like eating ice cream after a hot summer’s day. The tourists came at a bad time though. At times, temperatures would soar to 55^o Centigrade.

        Thankfully, there were no children on our trip, these were just honeymooners out for some adventure.

 ”Well team, its time to get back to camp. We don’t want to get ourselves lost, now do we? We have other places to discover tomorrow and if we’re lucky, we might even see a tiger!!!”

“Huuurrrraaayyyy!” I think that was a very nice response.

To find the way back was easy. I knew the Masud forest like the back of my hand. Sure it’s full of creepy animals, scary insects and weird birds but this forest screamed out LIFE. Camp was located in a meadow north of the forest, so that animals wouldn’t find their way in. We set up camp about two days ago. We stay up here in the forest for five days, in the mountains for another five days, the coast for five days and an island located near Madagascar for the last five days (a package of twenty days). Just like little kids, we set up a fire (themselves of course, I only help them in lighting it) and cook their food. We told spooky stories but the scariest was my, which I tell to spook the tourists.

“One lone night, a man was reading a horror story when he suddenly saw a shadow. It loomed in front him, in a midnight black cape. No eyes, no teeth, no face either. Just a sinister hood covered its evil head. It was the old ghost. Rumours were that whoever entered the house would never live to see another day. Guess where the house used to be! Right on this very……” but I never got to finish the story, because out of nowhere, a loud whirring noise filled the background. I stealthily climbed a tree with my monkey friend Guana, just to double check what was happening.

What I saw frightened me to the core. I froze, unwilling to move my feet, afraid that I might fall into nothingness. A giant wind funnel hung over the horizon. It approached by the second. “Okay, Carter, don’t panic. If we all work together, maybe we can survive this.”


Rest will be posted on 
10th of December