Hello there. This was something I wrote when camping in the Amazon last April, a definite memorable and mind-opening experience. The story was inspired by a Brazilian folklore story that I heard when camping in the Amazon.
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I am a cocoon. A shell of dank sweat and squashed bugs as I try desperately to wrap the hammock around me, to veil out the jungle now as night has set. A night here in the Amazon is never quiet. In the daytime, the jungle's noises are masked by our footprints, our voices, even the heat. At night, the temperature cools slightly, and the sun bows among the graces of the large banyan trees. We, like the sun, surrender our presence and no longer speak.
At night the jungle is no longer shy, it is bold. Glamorous and mysterious like an exotic female, it sends out messengers, spies perhaps, to create unknown buzzings by my exposed ears. To create alarms, to take notes, to assess vulnerability perhaps.
Our guide tells us of the jungle spirit, the ruler of this dense domain, who now calls to us from the darkness with tree creaks, branch breaks and tiny movements coming from behind my hammock. The spirit comes in the form of the boa constrictor. He is there waiting silently in the centre, unseen and powerful, coiled and patient, while we walk in the circles that he has made for us. It is inevitable, we will reach the same place, pass the same tree, while he continues to wait for us to walk closer. We walk with no knowledge of our future, and he waits, coiled and patient. Our guide continues, he tells us that when this happens, you must change your shirt. From this we emit a new smell, a new identity unknown to the spirit. We can now find new paths and new travels, that we may be relieved from our circular journeying.
I am worried now, defenceless against the spirit of the boa constrictor, because I have brought just one shirt.
Katharine Wrobel is a third year English co-op student studying Professional Writing at the University of Waterloo. While presently chained to a 9-5 office job as a marketing writer, she has a constant affinity for travel and plans on travelling to N. Ireland for an academic exchange. Aside from writing, Katharine enjoys other creative pursuits such as painting and making her own jewellery designs. Feel free to contact her with any questions or comments at kat_wrobel@yahoo.com
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