I Wonder….

It was filthy in there, absolutely disgusting. The smell was horrendous, it was like death, like bodies rotting and falling away. Every sense Rob had was under attack apart from his hearing. It was deathly silent, not a peep from anywhere. Rob contemplated giving up and questioned his life choices.

When he was sixteen, Rob did A-Levels. Classical Civilisation, Economics and English were his choice, twenty years later he still has no idea why he chose them. Then he went to the University of Brighton and completed a degree in Hospitality Management. Without getting into Rob’s love life which was unusual, these are just some examples of how Rob lives his life. He may as well throw a dart at a board for his illogical thinking.

Back to the horror, oh the bloody horror. Rob found himself in this situation where he it was so bad he actually thought it was funny. Luckily he had a hanky is his pocket which was clean enough and he held it up to his nose and mouth to disguise the rancid smell. The place was a cave, a cave in Peru, South America. Rob had just left his career as a tree surgeon, it was a hard tough job with many muscle and joint injuries. He was still strong, but just in short bursts. Peru was somewhere he was interested in due to the Inca’s. The human sacrificing, fortress building, civilisation from the 13th century.

Rob and his patient wife, Eve, decided to take this extended vacation as they needed time alone and wanted some adventure. Things were tough between the two and they were hoping this break would help. Little did they know what was going to happen.

Whilst on a guided walking tour through the jungle in search of a pukara (fortress). One of the party disappeared. There was only ten of them so it was quite obvious . Especially as it was Zak, a loud, brash and tall American. He was accompanied by his daughter who was around twenty. She was beautiful, sweet and carried herself with class, her name was Helen. Rob had nicknamed her Helen of Troy which suited her well.

The group spent some time calling out for Zak and looking around the jungle but to no avail. It was as though he had just vanished into the hue. Helen was beside herself and didn’t know what to do, a few of the ladies in the group were comforting her and trying to reassure her.

As time was ticking by and the sun was setting it was time to find shelter. The jungle is a scary place in the dark with the deadly bugs, snakes and spiders. The group leader made the tough decision to trek to the nearest hut, in Scotland they call them a bothy. It was just big enough for the remaining nine to get comfortable and eat some food. The noises outside were spectacular, it was surreal with rustling, scratching, animals calling and the odd squeal. The mood inside the hut was low with poor Helen imagining the worst for her father.

As the group awoke to the morning bird song, the sun was beginning to rise. It was a beautiful place if it hadn’t been for the mysterious disappearance. The group gathered and came up with a plan of action, Rob was trying to be positive and was doing his best to get the group onboard.

The group found the area from last night and fanned out searching once again. A few hours went by and as the group were drifting back to the RV point, Amy told of a hole she had found. She couldn’t say too much about it, as she hadn’t ventured down there as it was dark and scary. Peru is known for its cave systems so it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it had given the group hope.

Amy led the group to the opening and they gathered around removing the debris from the area to make it more visible. Helen shouted into the hole to see if her father might reply, unfortunately he didn’t. The group hatched a plan with their kit and tools that one of their members should get lowered into it to have a look around for any signs of Zak.

Rob was the man. His age, athleticism, size and overall enthusiasm made Rob the obvious choice. If Zak had been there, no doubt he would’ve put himself above Rob. Rob got kitted up with torches, an axe, compass and obviously a hefty rope to lower and hopefully haul him back up.

Just before Rob went down into the abyss he received a huge hug from Helen. Rob enjoyed the hug but tried to hide it from his wife. Rob began to get lowered into the darkness, the first thing he noticed was the smell. If you were thrown into a barrel of dead fish then this would be close to the smell. Rob’s eyes were beginning to water, his nostrils were swelling up and his head began to ache, in fact it was throbbing.

Down and down Rob went, the rope began to dig into his torso. He turned on a torch to have a better look at what he was up against. It was horrible down there, weeds had managed to grow, roots were coming down from above and the floor was all damp and boggy. Once fully descended he unstrapped the rope and shouted up to his fellow hikers that he was going to investigate. First of all he looked down to see if there was any obvious landing points where Zak had fallen in, but alas no.

Rob shouted out to Zak, with the hope of a sign of life but nothing. Off his trudged through the boggy floor which squelched as each boot hit the ground. Squelch, squelch, squelch was hard work to walk in, at times it felt like quick sand, it was energy draining. As Rob made his way he could see smaller holes through the cave walls which were too small for a human, but he expected there were plenty of creepy creatures down there.

As Rob made it through a small opening it then hit him what the smell was. Thousands and thousands of bats hanging upside down sleeping. What an odd and petrifying sight, underneath them was tons and tons of guava, stinking, dark coloured bat excrement. It looked like it was moving but it was just various cockroaches and beetles which seemed to have adapted to live off of it. It felt and looked like hell.

Rob was in a bad way and considered leaving, but remembered Helen and didn’t want to let her down. Like most men in their forties, Rob thought that he still had a chance with Helen, even though he was knee deep in bat poo and his wife was at the top with Helen. The dream never dies, and Rob thought it would be a great story to tell, when he and Helen elope.

Deep down Rob didn’t think for a minute that Zak would’ve made it this far, especially if he was injured in the fall. The quietness was ended with a whiny noise coming from another gap in the cave wall to the right. Rob made his way over and peaked though. Suddenly he could hear the sound of purring, which is a lovely noise with a a vibrant vibration. Rob shone his torch through and could see a group of puma pups. They were beautiful, they were cute and climbing over each other, it was such a beautiful scene. The puma mother must’ve found a way in so she could use it as shelter for her young. Luckily the mother wasn’t around, it was just the perfect pups, they looked inviting, like Rob could jump in and play with them. There was some natural light shining through and the smell was much better, however not perfect.

As Rob clambered closer he could see Zak’s backpack in the corner under some bush. Rob was hoping that Zak had found his way out via the gap the puma’s use. That was great news and he couldn’t wait to get back and tell his team. Suddenly there was a rustling near the entrance and the adult female puma made her way in, Rob had to duck for cover, his heart was racing and he knew he didn’t stand a chance against this huge cat.

The pups were delighted to see their mother and were jumping on her and licking her. It was a natural wonder, which Rob had the opportunity to view for himself. The cats settled down to sleep, so Rob took the opportunity to rest as well. After a few hours the adult cat left the cave, Rob dusted himself off and had a look around with the pups just watching him with curiosity. There were some bones scattered around which Rob thought must’ve been their lunch, brought to them from their mother. Unfortunately, as he got closer he noticed they were large bones, and possibly human. Rob then realised that they had eaten Zak, there were signs of ripped clothing in the scrub which looked similar to what Zak was wearing.

Rob gulped and then heard, thud, thud, thud, it was his heart. So many things were running through his mind, firstly, how was he going to get out there alive, secondly, how was he going to tell Helen. It wasn’t exactly going to be a hero’s welcome that he was expecting. This was seriously going to ruin any chance he had of romance with Helen, but probably just as well as his wife was with her. Rob needed to focus and start thinking with his head, he had to get out of there quickly.

His dilemma was whether he should go back the way he came or try and sneak out of the small cave exit just a few metres ahead. He didn’t have long to think about it and didn’t want to run into the bats and the guava again, so decided to make a break for it. He dropped anything that would hinder his exit, and with shaking legs and adrenaline running through his body he went for it. After just a minute Rob was free from the cave and could smell the fresh air. The puma was no where to be seen, so he checked his compass and headed for the group.

Rob ran as quickly as he could and saw the group in the distance, there was smoke raising up into the canopy of the forest, he slowed down to a walk and as he got closer he could hear the group talking. Rob could see Zak, Zak was sat next to Rob’s wife and they were laughing and holding hands. Rob couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He entered the camp area and everything went quiet, they stared at Rob in a way that they were really surprised to see him. Rob was confused and asked them what was happening, Zak told a story of him wondering off and getting lost. Helen looked embarrassed, and then Rob saw the tree that had the rope wrapped around it. The rope wasn’t there, had they planned on getting rid of Rob with this elaborate story. He couldn’t be sure, but the group walked back to the hut.

One by one they entered the hut, Rob heard a rustling noise behind him somewhere in the bush, then he heard a growl. Rob turned towards the hut but Zak closed the hut door, locking Rob out. Just as Rob turned back to the jungle a huge puma jumped on him, clamping its teeth around Rob’s weak throat, there was no getting out of this and he knew he was done for. With only seconds left to live he could only wonder what had really happened.

Kevin GARGINI

@Gargini10.

West Sussex

The Forgotten Man

Gargini10.