Fan Fiction ❯ Chosen ❯ Mariko ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chosen...
Author: Byakko Rei


Chapter 7
Mariko

After Midori left for New York, Mariko and Hachi were more than prepared to take a vacation somewhere and readily agreed to fly to South America with Kishi. Plans were discussed on the flight over between the friends. Hachi and Mariko wanted to go on a guided cruise down the Amazon River that started in Peru and Kishi wanted to start from Belém. It was unanimously agreed upon to meet in Manaus.

Hachi and Mariko boarded The Marcelita and enjoyed themselves immensely from beginning to end. At the end of their eight-day tour, they visited the Manaus Opera House before checking into the modest Ariau Amazon Tower Hotel. They inquired about private birding expeditions for the area and were directed to the activities department.

The clerk admitted that boat tours were being discouraged due to the alarming frequency of hijacks from desperate drug runners. He recommended a hiking expedition instead....

Their guide was a dark native of South America who probably would have been a wealth of information... had he spoken Japanese. Mariko and Hachi got by on their limited English and used up a several rolls of film. They had a few more hours before sundown yet, but it was nearly dark under the tree canopy. The guide lit a lantern and the trio headed back towards the hotel. They were hoping to spot some of the nocturnal wildlife in the area upon return.

Not long after the decision was made to return, Mariko informed the men she needed to relieve herself and ducked off of the trail to do her business. A loud crash nearby the trail startled everyone, and three things happened at once; the guide took off screaming down the trail with the lantern, Mariko fell into a deep ravine and Hachi was attacked by something Mariko couldn't make out as she fell.

Mariko suffered a few deep cuts, but mostly bruises and abrasions during her descent. She blindly tried to twist her body around so she wouldn't land head first, but was caught around her left ankle by a rope-like vine during her effort. She'd had her eyes closed to prevent them injury, but opened them when her fall ended abruptly. She found herself suspended over murky brown water, her face only inches away.

Water. In a panic she realized that her backpack with water purification pills, medical supplies, and food rations had fallen off of her back. She was bleeding and trapped alone in the jungle with hungry predators as night approached. In the distance, Mariko could hear Hachi's faint cries for help... and then only the twitter of birds. She shuddered and tried not to think about what his silence meant.

Mariko reached up in the dark to the thick vine that had ensnared her foot and pulled herself upright. Her muscles protested and sweat stung her eyes as she strained to free her ankle with one hand. Frustrated by the darkness, she decided it was a futile endeavor. She wrapped her body around the vine to anchor herself, then tried to rest until sunrise.

The insects had found all of her open wounds, and by morning her ankle was painfully swollen. She was going to need a knife she didn't have to cut herself free. Mariko looked up and saw that the vine she hung on was looped around a large tree branch about twenty feet up. On a burst of adrenalin, she climbed up the vine hand over hand, dragging her caught foot behind her. Sitting in the tree at last, Mariko rested her eyes while she recovered her breath. Then she began to methodically peel strands of the woody vine away from her ankle.

Hours later she finally extracted her ankle and lay on her stomach to sleep while a torrential rain beat down upon her. When she woke, she limped over the tree's branches, then swung her way across the water and onto the embankment. The sun filtering through the lush foliage revealed breathtaking beauty in the life that teemed under the canopy. She inhaled the mixture of pungent and fragrant odors deeply and let her breath out with a sigh. Her awe was only interrupted by her belly growling piteously.

Mariko sighed again... without her field guide, she was limited to eating plants that had been pointed out as being edible by the illustrious tour guide. Thirsty, she drained some pooled water at the base of a broad leaf into her palm and drank.

When she made it back up to the trail, she found her boyfriend's backpack contents littering the area... but no Hachi. His food was gone, but the medical supplies were there along with a field guide. Mariko cleaned her wounds, but could see evidence of insect infestation in them that she could do nothing about.

When she found the plant the tour guide had shown Hachi and herself, she checked her field guide for verification. It matched the appearance in the book as being edible, so she snipped off the tip of a single leaf with her teeth to taste. It was tart, but edible. Beggars shouldn't be choosy, so she bit off another piece. Her tongue tingled, and in alarm, she looked at the field guide again. This time she turned the page to see if there were any other varieties of the same family. There was a deadly cousin with shinier leaves. Mariko spat the leaf out, but it was too late. The poison had already begun its insidious work....


To be continued....