Everything was screaming some kind of song through the air. Bugs and frogs crying out mating songs or threatening war over territorial disputes. You could fry an egg on the side of the dusty road that brought him here, no problem. The heat he could stand, the bugs he could stand, the screaming poisonous frogs and unexpected bouts of bird shit he could stand. But the humidity was killing him. Parts of his body that he never knew could sweat were drenched in it- sticking to everything, even the abused, bleach speckled t-shirt he's had since he was 15. There wasn't even a breeze to try and wick the sweat away in any sense. He felt like he could easily murder someone for a fan, even just a paper one. Why did he think it would be a good idea to vacation in the crowded jungles of the Amazon Basin when he could be home freezing his ass off in the dead of winter?
He flapped his sweat-soaked shirt again as they took a break on the hike to 'one of the most wonderful views that you have ever seen!' Right. The only view he has had since getting off of the top-heavy tour bus was the ass of the person in front of him, and even though he could enjoy that view, it wasn't the best he had ever seen. It grew even less appealing as time passed and sweat punctuated every crease and curve of his fellow hiker.
He sat down on a decaying log on the side of the path and pulled out his second bottle of water to take a lengthy and desperate chug. It may be humid but he was still thirsty, and they still had another two hours to hike before they made it to their destination. That destination was supposed to be some amazing waterfall. It was something that eleven-year-old Bellamy had ingrained in his mind as a bucket list destination and now that he was twenty-five, he wished he had never seen a documentary on the Amazon Rain Forest in his life.
Everything would have been just bearable enough for this trip if all hell hadn't broken loose. One minute there was a collective of people milling about, taking photos and chatting to one another as they took in the dense trees and the flashes of colorful feathers overhead. The next minute? Everyone was running and screaming like banshees, and since he had the pleasure of being at the back of the pack, he was the one to get bowled over and nearly trampled to death. Wasn't this vacation just amazing?
The world was upside down- or was it sideways? His vision was blurry from the concussion if he had to guess, but there was something more pressing than whether everything was up or down. Something akin to moist sandpaper grazed over his bicep, followed by a hot pant of breath and various low rumbling noises punctuated by random chirps. It happened again, and again. There was the brush of a long tail over his calf and he could almost feel his heart stop then and there. Something was licking him. Fuck that, a Jaguar was licking him! He was surely dead!