The Amazon--Logan

In the Amazon, survival is only for the fittest. The first lesson you learn here is that you are in constant danger the moment you leave your territory. But one must find sustenance. My hunting is done during the day, when the surroundings are most visible. Finding and obtaining food is never a big problem, the danger comes in being the food.

Today was no different; I began just after sunrise, when animals are more unaware of you than normal, and hunting is easier, but prey is scarcer. Stepping into the forest, my eyes adjusting to the intense darkness, the sounds of the forest were becoming louder, but no animals were in sight yet. I moved into the humid rainforest, scanning for any potential predators or prey. I pulled my crudely-made knife, fashioned from a large rock, and shrunk into a bush. I felt a slight movement shake the bush ever so slightly.

I checked for the source of the movement, stopping my own motion altogether, as I saw an Amazonian Giant Centipede, inches from me. I slowly began backing away, preparing to introduce it to my knife’s blade. It fell out of the bush, just in front of me, barely missing my leg. I hacked at it, but in my panic, I tripped over a tree root, landing hard on my back. Dazed, I got up, grabbing my knife and looking back towards the centipede, which was now on my leg, preparing to bite me, so I kicked it off with my other foot, and regained my footing as it turned to face me yet again. It leapt at me, pincers extended, and I focused on its ugly head, and swiped at it. Unable to control its trajectory, my knife cut off a couple of his legs as it swept past the insect. Injured, the centipede landed on the wet dirt and writhed in pain.

Readying myself to end its suffering, a capybara caught my eye. I immediately began to chase it and it led me into the Amazonian wetlands, and I pulled out my knife, approaching it silently. As it drank the water, and I crept closer, a smaller capybara, most likely an infant, came out of the forest and joined its mother, who stared at me with an uncanny understanding of my intentions. I was frozen, and felt guilty about what I’d been planning, and then I remembered that this was my only source of food for the day, and food never comes this easily in the Amazon.

I took a step toward the animals, and raised my knife, only noticing too late, that there was something in the waters with us. Immediately, I saw what its target was, and I charged the capybaras, but it was too late. They turned to run from me, and a bull shark leapt from the waters and killed the baby animal in one bite. Then the shark turned its attention to me, and I attempted to steady my nerves, which were anything but. The bull shark slowly circled me, waiting for my fear to get the best of me. I took my knife and kept it pointed at the threat, and I prepared to strike. Wanting to creep slowly towards it, my body rebelled and thrust my legs into the ground, and I jumped towards the shark, who had already anticipated this, and sped around me., and was bearing down on me quickly. I pointed my knife at it, hoping to deter it, but it was determined to finish its lunch. I sat, waiting for the right moment to use my little trick. I began letting out the air in my lungs, sinking under the shark, while also plunging my knife upwards, into the shark, and my only weapon was torn from my grasp. I swam to the surface and saw the shark turning back to me, furious. I had stabbed it just under the jaw, missing almost every vital part of its body. As he swam back to finish me I swam toward it, and it slowed, maybe out of confusion, maybe the shark thought I was making it easier for it. As I watched it open its mouth and wait to be fed, I swam to the side of the bull shark, grabbing it by the gills, and began pulling on them with all my strength. It stopped swimming and rolled over, flailing violently, to get me to stop. I let go, remaining on the top of the shark, and grabbed the knife out, and as it looked at me in its final moments, I stabbed it in the eye, making it my new prey.

As I hauled my bounty to dry land, I saw another predator in the water, perhaps more dangerous than the first. In fact, just being able to spot the Black Caiman Crocodile was lucky. Rushing toward me after it knew I’d seen it, its toothy grin clearly visible, and I struggled to get the shark onto the dry land so that I had the advantage. It chased me out of the water, and ran at me, looking for a quick, easy kill. I gathered my remaining strength and defended my new prize. The crocodile snapped at me and I retreated, grabbing my knife by the sharp point, planting my feet, turning, aiming. The knife flew out of my hand, end over end, and it hit its mark; the Caiman shrank in defeat, closing its maw, and peacefully waiting for me to pull the knife from between its dead eyes. Turning back to the deceased shark, I found yet another problem, preventing me from my goal of transporting my food to an area where I can eat it.

A large Jaguar stood over the shark, chewing the bite it had taken, and daring me to challenge it as well. I was totally spent, and out of breath; however, this stupid animal would not prevent me from obtaining my food, and I rose to its challenge. After a couple steps forward, it roared at me, then ran in a zig-zag pattern, preventing another well-placed throw from ending my hunt. I tried to dive out of the way, but it was too quick, and caught me mid-dive, and pinning my shoulders on the dirt. As I lay, I struggled to escape from the jaguar, but it didn’t budge; however, I managed to at least bring my knife to its leg and put a good-sized gash in its right front leg. Leaping off me, its eyes were filled with frustration, and it licked its new injury, and I sat up, regaining as much strength as possible. Getting up, I prepared to attack, and I looked at the animal. It paced back and forth, waiting for my tired, weak attack. It knew that I couldn’t beat it. I knew that I couldn’t, I was tired and hungry.

So, I turned away from the jaguar, sprinting into the jungle, looking for an ally, yet, if you run straight for long enough in the Amazon, you will no doubt find something capable of killing mostly anything. Looking back, the jaguar was gaining ground quickly, so I looked forward again, and saw a glorious sight: a wide, brown tree trunk. Slammed into the tree at full speed, and I fell back from the tree. My nose was now broken, and the jaguar circled around me, victorious. Yet I smiled. I had done it at last. The jaguar slowly walked up to kill me where I lay.

Looking to the tree branches, I watched as the five-hundred and fifty-pound Green Anaconda dropped its full weight onto the jaguar’s neck, killing it instantly, and it began to encircle the dead animal. I sat up, and scooted away from the scene unfolding. I looked at the ground, finding a flower patch before me, and the Sun shining onto it. It was a beautiful sight on the other side of the tree, which saw flourishing life, as compared to the other side, which witnessed death. I picked up one of them, taking in its beauty. I was in shock from the pain of my collision with the tree and the weariness only added to it. I started breathing a bit slower than usual, and I began to feel lightheaded, then I began to drift off to sleep, slowly succumbing to the drowsiness and falling asleep, to the sight of the Anaconda slithering towards its next victim.