Lost in the Jungle of Africa

Angela has been bugging me to post but I haven't written anything worth posting. I was looking through some old stories and finally decided I would post this one just for fun. It was the first story I ever wrote-I was about seven. Enjoy and don't worry, I am perfectly aware now of how bad it is. Sometimes is makes me laugh to think how proud I was of it then- "Mommy look! I actually wrote a story! And it even has chapters!!" Lol.

                       LOST IN THE JUNGLE OF AFRICA

Chapter One ~ Missing Animals

Zondra walked as silently as she could through the jungle. She was a fourteen year old African girl. That morning the entire village had found all their cattle gone! So they went to look for them in the jungle. They had split up and were going different directions. Zondra was scared. She hoped that she could find them because there was a prize offered to the person that could find them. She and the rest of the villagers looked all day but in vain. Late that night the last stragglers came in, all of them tired and dejected. When Zondra woke up the next morning her dog, Cormorant was not beside her like he normally was. She got up and called to him but he did not answer. When breakfast was done he still hadn’t shown up but they all headed off for a different jungle anyway. As they were on their way Zondra thought she heard cows in the jungle they had looked in the day before. So Zondra doubled back and soon entered the jungle.

Chapter Two ~ A Clue

Zondra walked and walked toward the noises. Suddenly Zondra pricked her toe. She grunted and bent down. What she saw made her heart jump into her mouth. There in the dirt were cattle foot prints, dog foot prints and panther foot prints. Panther. “What were panthers doing in this jungle?” She wondered. Only once in her life before had she seen panther foot prints. But here they were, no doubt about it, panther foot prints. That’s when she heard it. A scream. It sounded like a woman’s but Zondra wasn’t going to be fooled. She new what it was. A PANTHER! Zondra felt her heart stand still. A PANTHER, “What should I do?” she thought. While Zondra was going through all this it began to rain.

Chapter Three ~ Lost

Zondra didn’t know how long she stood there but the next thing she knew, she saw a black form moving toward her. It was too misty to see what it was but Zondra guessed what it was. The panther. Quick as a flash Zondra scrambled up the nearest tree. Then she covered herself with the tree branches. She could hear it beneath her. She squeezed her eyes shut. And held on. The noise went past her. And she, exhausted, drifted off to sleep. She woke up the next morning wondering where she was. When she remembered she decided to go home. She climbed down from the tree onto the ground. But when her feet touched the ground she remembered something. How was she going to get home? Then it came to her... Follow her foot prints back. Relieved she looked down on the ground. Her foot prints weren’t there. The rain had washed them away the night before. Now Zondra had to face reality. SHE WAS LOST!

Chapter Four ~ Found

As Zondra stood there stunned she heard a movement by her side. She quickly turned. What she saw didn’t relieve her any. Through the brush she could just barely make out spots of black fur. The panther. She thought of climbing the tree again but the black spots were in the way. The bushes parted to present a black head. Relieved Zondra dropped to her knees hugging the black head. “Cormorant!” she gasped. “Cormorant.” It was her dog, now she could have him take her home.

Chapter five ~ Unwanted Surprises  

Two days before Zondra had explained to her dog what she wanted him to do; now she told him to take her home. But her dog didn’t budge. So Zondra headed off by herself knowing that he would follow. Sure enough he came flying after her. But when he reached her he grabbed her clothes. Zondra, thinking she was going the wrong way, followed as he led her by her clothes. Soon they entered a small clearing. There in the clearing taking a nap was… the panther! Zondra didn’t know what to do. She looked at her dog, but he just stood there. She crept toward the panther cautiously. Cormorant ran past her Barking. She tried to grab him but he jumped past her. She was terrified that he would wake her enemy. Then she saw it…. two holes in the neck of the panther. Somehow Cormorant had killed him!

Chapter Six ~ Homeward Bound

She wasn’t quite sure what to do next. Cormorant had obviously wanted to show her that and now he acted like he wanted to show her something else. So she followed him. They went through a thicket and there in front of them were all forty of the village’s cows. Now it became clear to her what it was that had made her dog leave. He had smelled the cows during the night and had gone to find them. Then the panther had tracked them. That’s why there were all those foot prints mixed together. Then her dog and the panther had had a fight which Cormorant had won. Her dog was the black thing that passed her. She whistled to her dog and he rounded up the cows and started for home.

Chapter Seven~ Home and the Prize

When she saw her village she was so glad to see it that she ran ahead and beat the cattle there. Her mother and father were very glad to see her. Then she showed them the cows coming towards them. The villagers herded them back to the cow pen and then took her to their chief to get the reward. Her chief was glad to see the cows back for he would have lost sorely. He called all the villagers together. Then he said “My good tribe, we searched far and wide for the cows but none of us, not even the bravest who went even to the heart of the jungles, found them. But yet this young girl found them and got them home. Now bring whatever you wish to show this girl your gratitude. And I myself will give her gold trinkets such as only chiefs would wear.” All the people cheered and showers of things of gold and such where showered on her. But amidst all this she only thought of one thing. She was home! There would be no black forms that she thought were panthers. There would be no sleeping in trees who knows where. And Cormorant wouldn’t have to fight any black panthers. That’s when she decided what she would do with some of these things; make a gold collar for cormorant.

                            The End