Jungle Princess ✔

PROLOGUE - Monkey See, Monkey Do

Darkness crept over the canopy in a roll of menacing clouds as Julio burst into the tree shack, breathing heavily.

Bonita glanced up from her notebook, her cocoa brown eyes meeting his and silently asking her husband what was wrong.

"We have to leave. Now."

The tone in Julio's voice was all she needed to shut her notebook and stand up, the dark trails of her hair behind her as she hurried to scoop baby Amarissa from the bed of weaved palm fronds in the corner. Bonita gazed into her sweet six-month old daughter's eyes that reflected her own, admiring the innocence that resided in those eyes, and striving to sustain that innocence as long as possible.

As Bonita wrapped her baby in a bundle of her silk scarves, a rotten smell entered her nostrils.

"Oh, no, querida, why you have to do this now?" she tutted, unraveling the soft tropical patterns to reveal a stained diaper.

Julio hauled out their suitcase from the shack and dropped it onto the dampening ground. It had just began to drip with rain. Julio was hoping they could beat the storm so they could sail home, but the rumble in the clouds above proved otherwise.

Meanwhile, Bonita removed the stained white cloth from her baby's bottom and wondered why she ever thought her baby was sweet and innocent. Clearly anything that caused this kind of inconvenience had a darker ulterior motive.

"Julio, fetch me a clean white cloth, will you?" Bonita called to her husband, who was back inside, but there was no answer, so she sighed and entered the shack, leaving Amarissa out in the gathering storm, a foot in the mouth and wide brown eyes roaming.

There was chitter in the treetops, like that of a monkey, though how was Amarissa to know this? The hairy creature descended the neighbouring palm tree and instantly spotted a naked babe lying in a pile of silk scarves, wriggling her legs and cooing. Naturally, the monkey was curious, so he crept closer to investigate.

"Ah, it must be Amitola!" the monkey thought in its own chittering tongue. He would recognise the jungle's future queen anywhere. Though he wondered how the baby had crawled this far without anyone seeing. Especially him.

The baby lay in front of what looked like a house made of trees. Monkey could hear muffled sounds from the depths of this house, so he knew he must take Amitola away from this potential danger. He made an oath to Leotie to protect her daughter, and so he would.

Chip wasn't a large monkey, but he was large enough to carry Amitola in his arms and scamper up the palm with his gripping feet. Amitola made a happy sound which he recognised as a laugh, and Chip grinned with his teeth as he leaped from branch to branch in great fluid movements.

There was a yell from below and suddenly he was in pursuit by a man with tan skin and curly black hair. The man didn't look too happy. He kept yelling words Chip didn't understand, but there was one word that stood out among all others, a word that wasn't a word but in fact a name - Amarissa.

There was a loud crack in the sky and a flash of light. Chip screeched in fright, and the baby began to wail. Chip lost sight of the man, but now it was time to protect the jungle princess and wrap her in his lean furry arms, like the way his long dead mother did when he was a young monkey.

While Chip sheltered Amarissa, Julio tore through the damp jungle, half-blinded by rain and rage as he searched helplessly for his only daughter, his sweet child of the moon Amarissa.

He didn't know what he would tell Bonita if he returned empty handed, however, he saw a small body that flickered in the canopy, and the chortle of a baby - his baby.

Julio called and yelled until his voice grew hoarse, branches and bushes scratching his arms and rain drenching his dirty clothes. They only came to this island in need of urgent shelter. He didn't know what he'd do if the island decided to take one of his own forever. It was not a fair exchange.

Suddenly, the monkey stopped, and let out an impish holler. Julio stood very still and locked his gaze with this creature who held the one thing most precious to him in the world. The monkey cocked its head, the baby curled up in its arms, bare and vulnerable, her dark silky curls just poking out so Julio could confirm she was his.

The monkey still didn't move. Julio looked around him for a big stick of some sort to threaten the monkey. The fact that this monkey was the kidnapper of his daughter was ridiculous, and he was not going to let a stupid monkey get in the way of his happiness.

Julio reached down slowly, his fingers curling over a fallen branch. Lightning illuminated the monkey in a villainous glow, and Julio bared his teeth, growling like a caveman as he held the stick up like a spear. Fear trembled in the monkey's eyes and Julio pretended to hurl the stick, sending the monkey fleeing for its own pathetic little life, in exchange for the life of his baby.

Time slowed down as Amarissa fell through the rain-slashed air, and Julio called her name as he tossed the stick aside and caught his daughter, protecting her in his arms as he sprinted through the jungle. He didn't once look down to check if Amarissa was okay. He knew she would be, as soon as he returned her back to Bonita.

Julio also knew they couldn't leave yet, not in this weather, but with all the dangers toward Amarissa, it was the only choice they had.

Julio rowed their boat furiously through the pouring rain, with Bonita cradling Amarissa in her safe and dry embrace. They watched the jungle grow smaller, and the jungle watched them. It was too dark to see, and little did they know that a small boy at the age of three watched the boat leave, taking the jungle princess with them.