Welcome to the Jungle by Pent Ghelsburg
Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work contains underaged content. You have been warned.
“You can't play city rules when you live in the jungle.”
Hunter S Thompson
The imagination is a strong tool for humanity. One that many people choose not to use because of life's trials and tribulations. Many just simply outgrow it or forget that it's even an asset to relieve stress or otherwise difficult times. However, there are parts of society that benefit from its often careless nature. Artists, writers, inventors, and scientists all have some element of their job that plays into the whole mindset of the imagination. But there is one part of us where, no matter our calling, that imagination never dies.
Childhood, the time in every person's life where curiosity and innocence reign as King and Queen. No matter the age, gender, race, or ethnicity every kid is capable of making the thoughtful leap from reality to fantasy. The escapism of the dream realm is just too enticing for children to ignore. Especially when their life might be devoid of any other form of delight. But for most kids, it only served as a supplement to otherwise make their life more diversified.
Pent Ghelsburg was a 12-year-old arctic fox kit who lived in the outskirts of Kingston, Ontario. It was almost the end of summer and the boy was looking forward to another year of learning new things. As a member of Boy Scouts, the fox always had something to do even during the downtime of summer. He was expected to meet just about every week. The next to last weekend before school started back up he was given a mission.
The mission was an expedition into the “jungle”. Of course, there were no real jungles to speak of in Canada so the cub figured it meant the forest or some other wooded area. Fortunately for him, there was a small outcropping of trees and other foliage right by his house. The specifics of the request were simple enough. He was to enter into the “jungle” and bring back 5 items. The items were translated since jungle foliage could not be found outside of exotic plant stores.
The specifics were bark from a species of a cedar tree, leaves from the maple tree, an acorn, a pine cone, and finally a molted snake skin. Now Pent didn't particularly find any of them problematic except for the last one. He hadn't actually actively sought out any type of serpent before. However, he felt he could manage to at least find one. The reward that was offered for completion was a new badge for his ever-growing collection of sewables. Already his uniform was quite full of them.
But the prospect of another seemed as enticing as ever. Once his scoutmaster assigned him the order, Pent immediately began planning out his strategy in order to make the expedition a successful one. At home, he began penning down whatever ideas that came into his head. On his computer, he began looking up the most likely occasions for each of the objects he was supposed to find. Surprisingly each of them had suggestions from various sources on the internet.
All in all, it seemed to have been a rather productive research session. Once Pent was satisfied with how much information he had gathered, he began packing enough stuff to make a trek into the so-called “jungle”. The fox decided that he would dress up in a special getup for the occasion. The boy put on some khaki cargo shirt and pants along with some mid-length boots. All of which was water-proof just in case it rained.
Pent decided that he would start early the next day so that he could get a fresh start. All he needed was to mosquito-proof himself in the morning and he would be ready. The fox was determined to finish the ordeal in less than a day. He even settled on turning in early so that he would be rested and re-energized for a long day in the forest. Once morning rolled around, the boy was awakened by his alarm clock as if it were a day of school.
The kit knew all to well it wasn't school and began to get together his things in a travel backpack. Making sure that he had enough water and bug spray to last the entire day was simple enough once he covered himself in repellent. After he showered and dressed he went into the kitchen to make a more hearty breakfast of oatmeal and fruit. Whatever was left over he decided to store away in a container for snacks along with some energy bars.
The fox was anticipating it to be a long day and didn't want to have to return. The last thing he did was leave a note for his brother so that the older fox didn't worry about his absence. Now he was ready to depart from home to the forest. Hunching his bag over his shoulder, Pent left the house making sure to lock the door behind him. Truthfully he was excited and curious as to what surprises the day might hold for him.
He began to make his way for the forest. Pent knew that it was a small distance from his home and decided to take his bike. According to the map he'd seen online, the trip was around 15 minutes by bicycle. The fox was extra expeditious on his journey to the destination and was able to make it in less time than was estimated. He decided it was safest to stash his vehicle outside of the actual forest where there was a parking lot and bike rack, making sure to lock it up.
Now he was ready to make his way into the foliage of the forest. It was quite a warm day so Pent went ahead and sprayed himself with repellent in case he worked up a sweat. After storing it, the fox made his way into the woodlands. Once inside it became a little cooler since the sun was no longer able to directly beat down on his body. It was a welcome addition to the otherwise humid and dry morning. The cub fished in his pocket pulling out his list in order to examine it and begin searching for the items on it.
Looking over it for a moment, the boy decided the easiest item to find on the list was the pine cone. He had seen a countless number of them in the course of his life and figured they would be over. Pent looked around searching, half expecting to see if there were any littering the ground around him. But he had no such luck as no pine trees were in his area. He began to walk around looking up to see if he could tell which trees were pine.
But Pent was no arbologist and most of the trees looked similar. Especially since he wasn't able to look at them from a more distant perspective. It seemed he had to rely on other identification skills. Changing his strategy, the cub began walking and looking on the floor set on finding a pine cone that way rather than having to keep his head arched upward. Occasionally he had to look up to make sure he wasn't running into anything.
After about 10 minutes of walking in a straight line, the boy was able to find a veritable treasure trove of pine cones. Both big and small, the cub reveled that his rather simple strategy produced results. But he wasn't one to complain and quickly picked up a smaller cone and stashed it in his bag. Bringing back out the list a second time, the cub decided that the second target of his search was the cedar bark.
It didn't specify which type of cedar which the fox figured was to allow more flexibility in the task. Pent decided to see if he could find a body of water. He figured if there was any place a variety of trees might be by, it would be there. But he didn't hear any running water and didn't have a map. He began to ponder how he might find a river, stream, or some other body of water.
The kit began to work his way in the same direction he was going, occasionally looking on the floor to see if he could find a snake or acorn. The longer he kept walking in the same direction, Pent began thinking that water couldn't have been the way he was going and decided to see if he could find moss on trees since they outgrowth would require more moisture than a tree without moss. But the second he began looking for it, Pent overheard a screech.
The fox looked around, expecting some animal to be skittering about in fear of him but no such finding was located. Pent shrugged it off and began looking around at trees more closely to see if he could find moss. Eventually, the search brought him more southward before the same noise was overheard. This time it seemed louder than before, but again a quick search produced no discovery. The kit began to worry about if something might be following him.
But Pent was not one to be easily scared off and continued pressing on into his journey. Still, the fox seemed unable to locate any moss and hear any running water.
“SCREE!” A very loud yell caused Pent to fall flat on his butt as if it was right behind him.
“Hee-hee! Are you okay?” An audible voice seemed much closer than Pent realized.
Looking around Pent searched before managing to look over his shoulder. Sure enough behind him was what looked like a monkey hanging with its tail curled around a branch. It was hanging upside down and after a few seconds, the rail recoiled and the primate was able to land on its two feet.
“A monkey? Here...?” Pent said half in a state of disbelief.
“Well...not quite...hee-hee.” The monkey extended out his paw in order to help Pent up.
“Thanks...” The fox took the gesture of kindness before it was quickly withdrawn.
“Catch me if you can!” The primate jumped into the trees and began to bounce away.
Pent was unable to completely compose himself yet. What just happened was odd on so many levels. Not only did it look like a monkey but its coloration was that of a rainbow. Pent just had to investigate. Quickly pouncing to his feet, the fox began following where he thought the animal might have gone. No longer caring about his primary task which quickly took second place to the more interesting revelation.
The monkey had already gone quite ahead but continued to make noises allowing for Pent to follow it based on sound alone. Eventually, Pent overheard some running water too and the sound was becoming louder and louder the more he followed along the monkeys little game. In a matter of moments, the fox ended up at a stream. The playful grunting and hollering of the monkey seemed to have quieted. There was no sound of the primate anywhere.
Instead in the center of the stream sat a bear, which seemed to be intent on catching some fish. It's gaze clearly diverted and focused on the water below it. However it's fur coat too seemed to match the monkey from before, it was a rainbow.
“What the...?” Pent rubbed his eyes just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
“RAWR!” The bear made a rather pathetic attempt at a ferocious roar after hearing Pent's voice.
“Want some fishy?” The bear extended out its rainbow paw speaking in a deeper tone than the monkey had.
“Uh...no, thanks. I'll pass.” The fox wasn't exactly hungry and looked around as if to gauge his surroundings.
Sure enough, they weren't the only ones there. Several animals still stood around, some of which gawked at the horribly out of place faux bear.
The bear fished out what looked to be a salmon out of the stream before extending it out to the kit who didn't pay it much mind. Then as suddenly as it was offered, the animal bit down on it before consuming what remained.
“Mmm! Tasty Fish. Your loss, foxy!” The ursine finished the light meal in only a few chomps.
“Just what are you?” Pent looked over back at the bear, not totally believing such a colorful creature could be natural in this setting.
“I'm a bear! Rawr!” The animal stood up on its hind legs before showing off its entire colorful body.
“Who are you?” The bear asked not seeing all that intimidating compared to your average predator.
“I'm Pent and what's your name?” The fox felt a bit strange talking to the seemingly wild animal.
“I'm Oo! Whatchoo here for?” A wide grin grew across the bear's long snout.
“I'm looking for some things...” The boy decided not to provide any elaborated details.
“What kinda things? Maybe I can help!” The bear looked over at the boy across the body of water.
Pent fished the list out of his pocket. The moment he did the bear suddenly vanished and transformed into a much smaller figure.
“What the...?!” Pent watched as the being before him transfigured itself from a massive bear to a much smaller bird.
Ooo flapped his wings and made a dart over to the other side of the spot where Pent was standing. Pent couldn't much react as quickly as it happened and soon the little mischievous thing was on his shoulder. It fluttered it's wings as Pent flinched at the unexpected touch. Had it not been for the same rainbow color scheme, Pent might have thought it to be a different animal.
“Oh! I know where these are!” The bird flapped its wings on Pent's shoulder.
“You do? Well, take me to them!” The fox was seemingly a bit distracted but still set on finishing his goal.
“Sure, but only if you agree to be my friend!” The bird quickly swooped down and snatched the paper with its talons.
“Hey!” As soon as Pent realized it, Ooo had taken off with his list.
With that little heist, the bird was off with little warning. It darted off into the distance and even know Pent ran after it, he knew he had little choice of ever catching it. The fox began to dismay that he'd been tricked into believing the creature. Though he didn't need the list to continue and decided instead of sulking that he would begin by looking for the cedar tree. He was by water after all so he assumed there must have been some nearby.
The fox began to look around at some trees. There were many around and Pent couldn't much tell the difference. He knew that the bark was lines instead of chips and so he began wondering around expecting to see something similar to that. Eventually, he came to a promising base, where the bark was pure white and the pattern was similar to the one he was supposed to gather.
“Yoo-hoo!” A sound startled the fox as he began to peel off some bark with his pocket knife.
Pent looked behind him and saw nothing, suspecting mischief. Perhaps the multi-colored beast from before was about playing a trick on him again, he thought to himself.
“Down here, Silly!” The same colorful creature before poked at Pent's belly.
The fox looked down and sure enough, the same rainbow-colored being from before was there. This time standing erect just like Pent was. But now significantly smaller than the kit himself.
“Here ya go! I found all the stuff on your list. Well except the bark, but seems like you found that!”
The kit looked down at the smaller one's paws and it seemed they were empty.
“But in order, for you to get them from me you have to catch me!” The colorful creature shapeshifted again, this time taking the form of a colorful Wolf.
Pent simply rolled his eyes and decided he didn't have much choice in the matter. Pent remembered to finish storing his freshly peeled bark and began to run after the wolf.
Pent had run on all fours before but was in no position to do it the way he was dressed right now and tried to keep up. Of course, Ooo was able to keep a far distance. But the longer it went on, the more Pent became worried that he was being led on yet another wild goose chase. He still pressed on, simply hoping for the best. After about 20 or so minutes of persistent running, Pent was beginning to lose hope and becoming more desperate.
It wasn't long before he reached a clearing outside of the forest. It seemed the little creature had led him to the exit. Pent couldn't help but be a little happy about that since he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to exit. Sure enough, the same figure appeared to him again, though no longer a wolf.
“Just...what are you?” Pent asked looking at the small colorful creature.
“I'm a whatever Ooo is! Cause I shapeshift sometimes! This is my normal form though, Yordle Lemur! What're you?”Ooo asked trying to get a humorous rise out of the fox.
The yordle held out his two paws which had the other three items in his paws.
“Friends?” The colorful yordle asked before hugging Pent with both his arms and long thin yet soft tail that looked like a scarf, without expecting an answer.
It seemed like a heartfelt hug so Pent was compelled to do the same back. Behind the critter was a house, with bright yellow lights. It seemed they had happened upon the yordle's home.
“Wanna come inside?” The smaller one asked before gesturing towards the building.
Pent simply nodded and the two head off inside. It had been a long day and Pent was tired. Truthfully he was happy to take a load off. He couldn't have been happier that he had managed to get the items he was after, even if it was a little unconventional. The two shared dinner and Ooo sent Pent on his way home. Before making his leave, Pent waved while making a warm smile. He was happy to have made a new friend.
