Tarzeena- Jiggle In The Jungle Page

Back in Cambridge, she would write a monograph: “Kinetic Distraction as a Non-Lethal Tactical Strategy in Primate-Related Human Conflict.” It would be laughed out of every peer-reviewed journal. But in the jungles of the Congo, they would tell the story for generations.

The jiggle, it seemed, was a language of its own.

The morning sun, a molten gold coin, clawed its way through the dense, layered canopy of the Verduran Depths. It painted the world below in fractured light and shadow, illuminating a scene of primordial stillness. A single, massive orchid, the colour of bruised velvet, trembled as a drop of dew as big as a child’s fist fell from its petal. The drop arced in slow motion, a tiny, perfect sphere holding a refracted world, and landed with a soft plink directly on the forehead of a woman lying unconscious in a tangle of liana vines. Tarzeena- Jiggle in the Jungle

She freed the machete. It felt alien and heavy in her hand. She was a woman of keyboards and binoculars, not blades. But as the low, hunting growl of something large echoed from the eastern ravine, she decided it was time to learn.

She began to inventory her crash site. A shard of fuselage. A first-aid kit, popped open and mostly empty. A single, functional satellite phone, its screen cracked but displaying a faint, desperate sliver of battery. And a machete, still strapped to the side of a suitcase that had miraculously remained intact. Back in Cambridge, she would write a monograph:

The next morning, the jungle held its breath.

That was the signal.

The crash had been violent. The fuselage had torn open like a tin can, and she’d been flung clear. Her seatbelt had saved her life but had apparently sacrificed her clothing to the hungry jungle gods. She was left in a pair of sturdy, albeit shredded, canvas hiking shorts, and a beige, utilitarian bra that had seen better days—and fewer branches. Her sturdy boots were still laced, which was a minor miracle. Her pith helmet, a ridiculous affectation her ex-husband had bought her, lay a few feet away, slightly crushed.

She sat up, groaning. A cascade of chestnut hair, matted with leaves and what she hoped was mud, fell over her shoulders. She looked down. The jiggle was inevitable. Every minor adjustment, every breath she took, sent a soft, undeniable ripple through her frame. In the silent, predatory world of the jungle, she was a walking seismic event. The morning sun, a molten gold coin, clawed

The first guard spotted her. His coffee mug froze halfway to his lips. He nudged his partner. The partner dropped a rifle.

She pointed to herself. “Tarzeena.”