It took me a long time to sit up. I suppose I was in no kind of rush. The only sound was the wind rushing through the trees. There was long fronds, like on banana trees, hanging down all over the place. This wasn't a plant I recognised though. The fruit it bore was huge and covered in reddish hair. It reminded me of orangutans, but curled up so you couldn't see the arms and legs.
There was nothing to see overhead, not a single cloud. The sun scorched down one side of me. The sweat poured out. Still I didn't move. Aside from the occasional cough to clear chunks of mango from my throat, I lay completely still. It felt like I was sinking into the grass, becoming part of the earth.
The thing that got me was thirst. I'd almost drowned in liquid mango. On top of that I'd lay there sweating for what felt like eternity. You could say my throat was a little dry. So I sat up.
I saw now that there was a vegetable patch not more than twenty yards away. I saw, too, a hut where people were living. You could see laundry hanging up. There was smoke coming from the other side of the building. If it had been blowing my way I might have smelled it earlier. Charcoal? Pork? The idea of such scents, if not the actual smell of them, got me thinking about standing up, but first I wanted to get used to sitting there. I could see now that the sun was getting low, but it wasn't that low. There was still no rush.
And then I saw the elephant.
Previously: Part One
There was nothing to see overhead, not a single cloud. The sun scorched down one side of me. The sweat poured out. Still I didn't move. Aside from the occasional cough to clear chunks of mango from my throat, I lay completely still. It felt like I was sinking into the grass, becoming part of the earth.
The thing that got me was thirst. I'd almost drowned in liquid mango. On top of that I'd lay there sweating for what felt like eternity. You could say my throat was a little dry. So I sat up.
I saw now that there was a vegetable patch not more than twenty yards away. I saw, too, a hut where people were living. You could see laundry hanging up. There was smoke coming from the other side of the building. If it had been blowing my way I might have smelled it earlier. Charcoal? Pork? The idea of such scents, if not the actual smell of them, got me thinking about standing up, but first I wanted to get used to sitting there. I could see now that the sun was getting low, but it wasn't that low. There was still no rush.
And then I saw the elephant.
Previously: Part One
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