The Kindness Of A Stranger Who Made Me Feel Guilty (standard:humor, 731 words)
Author: Jughead	Added: Mar 24 2002	Views/Reads: 3516/1	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Some of us may have been saved from death by total strangers

Since young, I have loved adventure and liked to explore the unsolved
mysteries of the world. When i was in junior college, I had chosen 
Outdoor Adventure Club as my extracurricular activity. Our first 
expedition--trekking in Belintang Forest, Malaysia, was supposed to be 
fun and challenging activity. However, a tragedy changed everything. I 
quit from the club after the trip and have then treated my dreams as 
castles in the air. 

Everything started when i decided to halt in the middle of the jungle,
while our group continued to walk forward. What apity not to enjoy the 
beauty of nature while this visit was probably once in our lifetime. 
After observing the huge long-rooted trees, small curious mynahs and 
shy squirrels behind the bushes, I continued walking towards my group's 
direction. An hour's walk without anybody beyond my sight obviously 
gave me a good conclusion--I was lost in the jungle. 

Beads of sweat started to make their way down to my neck, but I did not
care. I continued walking, with irregular shouting of my leader's name. 
My legs were already wearing out, but I was determined not to rest 
until I discovered my group. I checked my Swatch and was stunned that 
it had been three hours since my last contact with them. In the middle 
of deep thought on how to get out of the forest, I heard a girl's soft 
voice. 

"Are you lost? Me too. Let's walk out of the jungle together!" 

I turned around to see the owner of that sweet voice. She should be at
around my age, had beautiful eyes and was an inch shorter than me. I 
nodded at her, without exactly saying a single word. We walked quietly 
in the stillness of the jungle, which gave me a suspense down in my 
spine. I was glad to gave found a new 'friend' as a companion. 

"What's that noise?" I finally began to make a conversation with the
girl. 

She hushed me and cupped her ear with both hands towards the nearest
tree. A growling animal noise was heard again. 

"Bad news. I guess it's a Malayan tiger. Run and when I ask you to climb
up a tree, you better do so!" She whispered. 

We ran in full stamina, but the powerful  creature managed to catch up
with us. What a beautiful beast it was! its stripes were divine and 
every part of its body were propotional. Before I could get better 
study of the tiger, my companion had already ordered me to climb a huge 
tree with many buttress ahead. Despite my lack of experience in 
climbing, I managed to struggle four metres above the ground.My 
partner, who climbed up the tree after me, had made a good escape when 
the tiger almost reached for her leg. She climbed up until the buttress 
above my head and was sighing heavily. I was laughing hard of our 
victory, even though the battle was still going on. 

Never did I realise the consequence of laughing too hard up in the tree.
The root that I was standing on began to vibrate slowly, followed by 
its cracking and before I realised of anything worse, I was falling 
down and down...However, an angel's hand shot out to grip my right 
hand. It was my partner's hand! After struggling for a few minutes, my 
feet managed to reach for a buttress. My hand had parted with hers and 
before I could say a thank you to her, it was her turn to fall into the 
sanme situation as mine. She had lost grip after saving me and only her 
right hand was in contact with the tree. I climbed up higher and tried 
to reach her other hand, but it had taken much of her energy. I tried 
making a bolder move, but it was impossible because i was standing on a 
slippery buttress. At last, when she finally could not take it anymore, 
she loosened up the grip and down she made a big thud to the ground. I 
was too stunned to do anything. The tiger, which seemed to understand 
what had happened, began to saunter away slowly. 

I cried softly in the darkness beside her corpse. I should have been the
one laying on the ground, motionless with blood coming out of somewhere 
in my body. If only I could turn back time...


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