The Rift

Chapter 3

The jungle has changed. I open my eyes, and I’m lying on the jungle floor, the canopy of trees looming above me.  Unlike previous visits to my jungle, there is no happy sun in the sky. There is a tiny sliver of moon, surrounded by pitch black night. This casts strange, threatening shadows across the previously welcoming trees.

In in my new surroundings, I flinch at any noise, whipping around, only to see a little creature, or a small bird.  It’s cold, and my shivers send goose bumps up over my pale skin. I seem to glow in the darkness, contrasting the dark trees and plants, the animals that are practically invisible at night, the birds that seem to have lost their colour.

A pale wind rustles the trees. There is almost no sound. But there! I hear it. The faint noise that I recognize to be water. My stream!

I walk slowly towards the noise, watching to make sure I don’t step on anything that I couldn’t see from far away. Like snakes or spiders or these little mice that I saw before. In front of me, there is a thick tangle of thorny braches, wound into an almost impassable wall. I can hear the water from the other side, so I attempt to kick my way through, with no luck. I try to peel apart the woven branches, but the thorns sting my fingers. Fed up, I place my foot into a knot, find two decent handholds, and yank myself up. Seeing the other side, I gasp in shock, almost letting go.

It’s not my stream; I understand now how I could hear the water from far away. It’s the very end of a thicker river, maybe the river that created my small, quaint little brook. The fast moving current meets a sharp decline a couple feet ahead of me, and the spray from the falling water leaves me soaking wet.  The sound is deafening, a roaring that fills my eardrums.  The water droplets shimmer in the pale light reflecting off the moon. They look like tiny diamonds. 

I laugh out loud. This is better than my stream. It’s beautiful here, draped in moonlight, next to the waterfall. If a little scary, but that’s just my nerves from last night. Nothing ever happens to me in the jungle, I’m always happy here.

I scamper over the thick branches, getting stabbed several times on the way over, but I don’t care. I barely felt them.  I scampered to the side of the river, settled down, and let my fingers dangle in the current. To my surprise, the water is pleasantly warm, heating my freezing fingers. I find a shallow part by the edge, and sit in the fast moving water, letting it warm my legs and arms. My fear has disappeared.

I watch the animals, which seem to have adapted to the night. The fur and feathers appear to have darkened, adding to their camouflage, but I know that’s not possible.

Then again, this is a dream, so anything is possible. I lean my head back and close my eyes. I don’t realize the detail that earlier escaped my notice, the one thing that might have preventing the next events from occurring. Why would such a beautiful area, have such a prickly, unpleasant fence surrounding it? A natural fence, yes, but a fence nonetheless.  To keep people out? Why would The Rift want that? This beautiful place is just the sort of thing it would create to keep people happy. Just like the crystal stream. What other uses could a fence have?

To keep something in, perhaps? But I was still thinking that this was all just a pleasant dream that my subconscious cooked up. So I didn’t suspect a thing.

It’s a rhythmic beating, like a heartbeat. I can only slightly hear it, sitting in the water, but it’s there. I stand, glancing around me, but it’s hard to see in the darkness. The fear returns, sudden and fast. I leap from the water, unsure of where to go. I wrap my as around my torso, cold and wet. The beating gets more distinct. I pinch my arm.

Wake up, Brooke. I tell myself. I shut my eyes, squeeze my arm, but I’m still in the forest, and the beating gets louder. I begin to make my way back to the wall of branches, but i never make it that far. Sweat beads on my palms and forehead. I shiver uncontrollably. Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, I think.