Lost in the Jungle Read Free Page B

for the Valley of the Moon, but I was too nervous to enjoy the scenery. I was trembling all over and felt terribly nauseated. Otherwise nothing unusual was happening to me. Dede also looked perfectly normal. She wanted to fix me a cup of tea, but the pot was filthy with the mess of the cooked cactus, and we hadn’t brought along enough water to clean it.
    Darkness fell, but a different light reached me. I smiled to myself and gazed down into the abyss below. It beckoned me, and, terrified, I took a few steps back. The very last red rays of the sun lingered over the cliffs across the valley. I clutched tightly to a tree, resisting the alluring abyss.
    Dede clung to me from behind. ‘I feel wonderful,’ she said. ‘I’m flying.’
    I grinned to myself. She pressed her pelvis up against me, and I was afire. She moved slowly back and forth. I was enraptured.
    ‘Let’s go into the tent,’ she whispered.
    Walking was difficult, and I was frightened. It was already night time, and I groped my way from tree to tree. Dede took me by the hand, but I didn’t trust her. I wanted to feel the trees for myself.
    Once in the tent we lay down on one of the sleeping bags and covered ourselves with the other. Suddenly I was astride a galloping horse. To my right, to my left, everywhere I looked were galloping horses and soldiers in green uniforms, wearing visored caps – and I was one of them. Where was I?
    Dede laughed but seemed so far away. I rode swiftly on, not knowing where I was or where I was going. We were quiet, then suddenly the sky was lit by lightning, and we heard the loud crack of thunder. It started pouring.
    ‘Oh,’ Dede murmured, ‘it’s so stormy.’
    The rain poured down, and the tent began to leak.
    ‘I really love storms. I don’t know why. They excite me,’ she said.
    In no time at all we were soaking. Everything was. The sleeping bags were drenched, and a large puddle formed in the middle of the tent.
    ‘Let’s go outside,’ she whispered. She had taken her poncho out of her pack. It was really just a large sheet of nylon, I put it on, and she crawled underneath. We stood like that, the rain pelting down upon us. I was still wondering where I was and with whom I was galloping. I could hear Dede whisper, ‘I love it so much. I don’t know why. It’s so exciting.’
    She was pressing her buttocks up against my groin. Suddenly she seemed so tiny. I stroked her short hair.
    ‘I love it so much,’ she repeated. ‘I love it so much.’
    The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Soon the wind subsided too. I could hear a faraway flute, its strains pure and pleasing. Captivated, I listened, almost in a trance. The sound drew nearer. It was an enchanted flute from the world of legends.
    ‘Do you hear the flute?’ I whispered.
    ‘Of course,’ said Dede. ‘Where can it be coming from?’
    We were so far from the village, the night was so stormy, and it was so late. ‘Hey, you, come here!’ I yelled, but the flute slowly faded.
    Dede left my side and wandered among the trees, humming.
    The abyss, I thought. Lord, she’ll fall into it! And I shouted after her, but she didn’t answer my calls, and I became hysterical. I shouted, gripping the trunk of a tree with both hands. ‘Don’t go over there! Stay away from the cliff! Get right back here!’
    At last she returned. She wasn’t at all frightened or upset. ‘Let’s go back into the tent,’ she said quietly.
    She spread her poncho out over the sleeping bags, and we lay down, holding one another. I was conscious of being cold and yet felt curiously indifferent. The coldness didn’t matter; it was alien to me. I hovered in other worlds.
    ‘Do you want to?’ she asked in a murmur.
    Do I ever! I thought to myself, but what makes me think I can?
    ‘I’m not sure that I can,’ I said.
    Dede laughed. She removed my belt and stretched out on top of me. I guess I was off in another world. Everything felt different, new, unfamiliar. It was