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• Rupert Lawrie, Grade 3
• Short Story
• 2019

As raindrops spat lightly on my head I strolled deeper on in amongst all the vines. I came to a house blocking the path. I’d been on foot for seven weeks and hadn’t arrived at my destination. Slowly I fell on the ground for a snooze but I was too in pain to sleep now. This house was making me slower than ever because nobody knew how to get around it. I knew no one was here because nobody replied when I bellowed out. If no one was here, why couldn’t my crew live there. With a crack and a screech the door opened wide, we tiptoed in and it led to a hallway and all of a sudden out of the darkness came a JAGUAR. My crew scrambled out but soon enough we came out panting of terror we didn’t have time to stop. Turning corners, leaves crumbling under my shoes, dashing in between trees and sweat pouring down my face like a waterfall. I fell on the ground and caught my breath back. My heart was racing. But just in front of us rangers we turned around and peered at the snake that was chasing us before we ever got a glimpse of what was there chasing us. As rangers we knew a lot about animals, my crew turned around and we saw a secret passage. Each time our boots touched the puddles of water it squelched. Before we knew it it was already dark and all we had was a flashlight. We strolled deeper on and our flashlights flickered off. Now it was completely pitch black above our heads and we couldn’t see anything around us. Our crew came to a halt at a cliff. Our guide spotted vines in the treetops. Our guide climbed high in front as he sprang off the tree. Suddenly when he got a grip the vine couldn’t stay in one piece and with a snap and a crack our leader fell into the ground below and vanished into the darkness. In the trees above we heard a hiss. I crept up and grabbed our leader but we still had to get to the end of the quest. Suddenly I leapt off the cliff and calmly reached the other side of the mountain. Dust swirling around behind me I was sprinting for my life but I hoped it wouldn’t come to that point on my quest in the wet and soggy rainforest. Right behind our backs we heard a growl, a hiss and a splash. We whispered to ourselves, “run for your life people.” Dashing and ducking from vines we blurted, “they’re gaining on us.” They had only one choice that was splitting up. Losing my friends was the worst idea but somehow they gave up and they were out of sight. That night we had a big bonfire to celebrate and we will never come back here again. When we thought we were safe we all heard a familiar growl.