Terri awoke suddenly, and felt that she’d been taken full inventory of. There had been something rummaging around in her mind; something that had been taking notes.
The rest of her small tourist party had wandered too far into the jungle and had stumbled on unstable ground, fallen, and been got by poisonous biting ants that swarmed the undergrowth. How she had gotten away she didn’t know, but her ripped Jungle Outfit™ suggested two things. One, that it wasn’t up to handling the full jungle (fine when handling the outer jungle, which is where tourists like her should be), and Two, that she’d been running almost blindly in panic through the trees and was now totally lost. The small details she remembered from the briefing was that this patch of jungle was about four miles across – according to the map half-remembered – and surrounding it was African Plain. There were lions, tigers, elephants and other normal African animals – some intent on eating others, and some intent on not becoming lunch in the foreseeable future. This was no game, this was life in its most raw. It was a giant ecosystem going on around her, around this patch of dense jungle, and somehow this single human – her – had to get back to some sort of safety – preferably the ranger station where she’d come from.
Unfortunately, in her blind panic, she’d headed deep into the jungle on a heading almost totally away from the station, and was now nearly two miles away from safety. That wouldn’t be problem in normal life – half an hour’s walking or so – but this was thick jungle, and progress of one mile an hour would be good for a novice like Terri. The radio homing beacon she’d been carrying had been torn from her thick pocket in her panic flight, so she was really lost. Then she’d hit her head on a low branch – difficult to see in the shifting patterns of sunlight – and that was that.
Suddenly there was a definite rustling in the jungle in front of her, clearly audible above the other jungle noises. In the limited sunlight filtering through the high trees Terri could just make out two young tigers – surely not much out of cub hood – but probably with one thing on their mind. She could turn to the left, it was slightly thinner that way, so she did. The tigers were having trouble manoeuvring in the undergrowth – why would they be here in this thickness? Anyway, the occasional growl served to keep Terri moving and soon they were ahead of her again. She turned to her left and there was a bit of an opening ahead of her. Unfortunately this would also be advantageous to the tigers, but when she looked back they were gone. No, not quite true, a rumble of power not too far away suggested that she shouldn’t go back the way she came, and that the other possible path was covered too. This opening was the only way. Walking, but prepared to run, she took it. Then she noticed some beautiful shimmering of light in the undergrowth, the interplay of shafts of light with branches and leaves creating a swirling effect, and then she collapsed. The two tigers came up beside her and took guard.
Terri looked around at the open Plain, and then felt her body image. She had no clothes on! She was also lying down in the long grass, hidden from view. She stood up, checking her long auburn hair for twigs, local insect life etc. It was then she felt it. There was a straining sensation all the way down her front, as if she were going to bulge from chest to hip. Then it stopped, and she looked down. There, beneath her breasts, were a smaller pair of breasts, and below them there were a smaller pair, and finally – little more than large pimples with nipples – another pair. Like her ‘original’ pair, these extra pairs had one breast each side of a line from her throat to belly button, creating a nice inverse pyramid effect. Then her skin started itching and this took her mind off her breasts. It was irresistible, this scratch instinct, so she scratched and scratched all over. Her surface layer of skin was coming away – but without pain and without fuss. From scalp to toes she scratched – had her nails been that long and thick a few minutes ago? – and before long she had finished. She was tiger now, there was no doubt. Her stripes and skin tone was no longer human. She thought that tiger stripes etc were in the fur, not the skin, but maybe she didn’t have time to grow that.
Her new skin was incredibly sensitive after the scratching, so she ran her hands over it and found the new breasts to be linked directly to the pleasure part of her brain, or so it seemed. She lay down and rubbed, gently but firmly, her new additions, with the occasional feel further down, and took herself to a wild, animalistic, orgasm. Her screams would surely have attracted interested – and hungry – animals, but there seemed none about. After a short rest after the orgasm Terri stood up again, and found some extra weight at her rear. Feeling around she found a tail, tigers for the use of. And yes, she was growing some feline fur in the correct shading and tones. Then she felt a bulging on each side of her head, and felt her ears stretch and move upwards, where they poked up and out of her hair to catch the sounds more clearly. When she felt them with her hands they moved. They were hairy as well. Feeling a sudden urge, Terri ran.
The Plain opened up before her, and she ran with pleasure and a feeling of oneness with this wide area. She was home!
A watering hole appeared in the grass, strangely still and highly reflective. Terri stood in the water, looking at the image of her new body and swishing her tail. Tiger-girl! And what do tigers do – apart from rip antelope up for food? She threw back her head and roared. Power and rawness and pleasure, her muscular body pulsing with surges, reinforcing her roar. It was good to be alive!
Terri awoke, and was alone. She was back in her sweat-soaked clothing, without a tail or feline ears or extra breasts or fur. She was also alone, in the clearing she’d just entered a few minutes ago. Not desiring to go back, Terri headed through the clearing and on into the jungle. The hidden tigers watched her go, then turned tail and headed back to the Plain.
Time wore on, and Terri felt hungry. Not knowing what was edible and what was poisonous, she’d left all berries and mushrooms and other inviting stuff well alone. She was also becoming very thirsty. Fluid loss would become a problem sooner rather than later. Still, she was making good progress, as the jungle was a bit thinner here. Then she found the small stream by putting her foot in it, hidden as it was in the undergrowth. It looked clean, and she didn’t have much choice. She drank.
“Ow!” What was that? Terri looked around. “Ow! Ow!” This one she saw fall. It was a nut of some kind. “Owowowowow!” She was under a deluge of nuts, and shielding her eyes she looked around for her attackers. There were some monkeys of some kind in the trees, throwing them at her. Why? Had she violated some territorial boundary? She was sitting on a fallen trunk, taking a rest, after drinking the stream water until she could take no more. Then she’d gone into the bushes to pass waste and returned to her little spot and now monkeys were raining nuts down on her.
Except they’d stopped, and now disappeared. Hang on. Monkeys and humans are reasonably related, genetically speaking, so it may be reasonable to assume that they were throwing edible nuts at her. No, that was a strange way of thinking, and Terri wasn’t sure where she’d got that train of logic from. However, the nuts all around did look very desirable, so she cracked one open and ate it. It wasn’t sharp or sour or yuck in any way so she tucked into the nuts all around her – noticing in passing that they were all the same type. Nut lunch wouldn’t be the most desirable item on a restaurant menu back home, but when you’re hungry it’ll do.
After eating her fill, Terri pocked the rest of the nuts – those she could carry – and had a further drink before setting off. Initially making good speed, her legs started to feel like lead, and she slowed until she could go no longer. She collapsed into a – luckily – soft bush and slept.
Terri was naked again, with a tail again – she could sense it by the weight – but when she looked at herself she was hairy all over. It was dark hair, and the shock of it made her climb the nearest tree. Only about twenty feet up did she come to her senses and realise what she’d become, a monkey-girl! Normally Terri had the climbing abilities of a tractor, plus her vertigo (which didn’t normally help), but this had all seemed natural and safe. She wasn’t bothered in the least of looking around – including down – and then climbing and swinging all over the place. The freedom of it all, combined with the suppleness that she’d inherited from somewhere, inspired her to find a suitable branch, lay down on it, and ‘have a feel’. Soon monkey-like screams and calls were echoing out through the treetops as she climaxed. Climbing on her four hands – when? Oh never mind – and using her tail for balance and as an extra hand, she explored tree after tree after tree. The 3D world now seemed as natural to her as the twists and turns of the wind to a bird, and the 2D world of a ground crawler would seem very flat after this.
Terri woke, and the memory lingered. She was back in a disgustingly-soaked-in-sweat safari outfit that was designed for only a few light scratches, not up in the trees on top of the world. She remembered the geography of her world when in the trees, and it seemed to fit her locality. She just knew this was so. She took off again, eating the nuts as she walked. Now she knew something of what to look for, the next stream was easier to find, and she had no qualms about drinking it. She did have qualms about the height of the sun, which was causing almost horizontal shafts through the trees, and it was getting noticeably darker as the sun descended and more trees blocked the light. She’d have to find the edge of this jungle soon – unless she’d been going in circles (what a thought!) – or she’d probably die here. She had tried to keep going in a straight line since the tigers had made her divert, but how much further?
She ploughed on. It was getting noticeably darker now, and the light was playing tricks on her. She thought she saw a tree move up ahead, and rushed to it, only to discover an elephant. It looked at her, and suddenly all the exertions of the day – she’d started her safari in the early morning – caught up with her and she fainted.
Terri awoke, and she was on the Plain again. Lying flat in the long grass again. Time to be a tiger again? She waited, but no extra breasts this time. She was, however, getting browner. Her skin was becoming thicker, so she felt for inevitable tail and found a pathetic little thing with a tuft of hair at the end.
“Oh,” she said to herself, feeling it gingerly. “Aren’t you cute!” In speaking she found her upper teeth – well, her ‘fang’ teeth, as she called them, were bigger and still growing. She couldn’t close her mouth now, and now she’d noticed them they seemed to grow faster. She was growing… tusks? An elephant?
Sure enough her face started to build up pressure, then her nose and top lip swelled out, then down. Soon she had a downwards-opening mouth and a trunk. This had forced her eyes to grow apart, and the bulge of the trunk now meant she no longer had stereo vision, apart from a small spot where both eyes could just see the same thing in front of her. This soon settled, and she realised that she had greater all-round vision – but without depth. She felt for the inevitable ears and yes, she had two-foot high ears, flapping out of her hair. She walked forward and fell over. Looking down at her feet they were elephant’s feet, round and stumpy-looking. It was a bit like walking on her toes, and she soon got the hang of it, snorting down her trunk and curling it this way and that.
She was now running on her elephant feet, and soon came to the watering hole. She just knew it would be there. Here she amused herself – after inspecting her new body – by sucking up water (choke choke, don’t suck too much!) and blasting herself and the countryside with water. Then she sat down and started pulling up and eating the invitingly luscious grass. This trunk seemed so versatile, no wonder elephants didn’t need hands!
Terri awoke, and found she was being carried in the trunk of an enormous elephant. It was almost dark, and there were lights ahead. Then she was put down, then nearly deafened by the trumpeting of the elephant, which then turned and ran off. There were lights getting closer. She called out, and there were human replies. She was safe!
It was later, and Terri had endured a full medical, a good meal and a proper shower. Terri was talking to one of the local guides, who’d been taking notes – as well as recording on his MiniDisc machine – all her experiences of the day. Then he’d turned off the machine and made sure the door was locked.
“Terri,” his eyes boring into her. “Now tell me what the Jungle did to you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Why were you saved?”
“I don’t know. I might have hang-ups about that later, I’ve been told. The survivor guilt, or something.”
“I don’t mean that.” The guide shifted his sitting position. “Terri, look at me.”
Terri blushed. “I’m sorry. I’ve never been one for eye-to-eye contact.”
“I don’t mean that. Look at me!”
The force of the command made Terri look hard at the guide, whom she’d liked and respected from the moment she’d met him, but couldn’t for the life of her pronounce his African name. There was something more now.
“I can see it in you,” he said. “You’ve been in contact with the Jungle.” Sensing something, Terri asked him to explain. “Well, I was born in a village about ten miles from here. I’m of this area. My family have lived around here for generations, as far back as we can remember. I was the first from my village to have full experience of the outside world. I eventually got my degree in anthropology at Oxford – King’s College, if you’re interested. I learned English, and the ways of the Western world, there. It was fascinating, watching people who didn’t expect to be watched. It was like watching, and learning from, one of those nature documentaries on the television, but in reverse. If you want it in blunt terms, the primitive watching the civilised. It taught me that people are people, for I was in awe of the very technological world you Westerners live in. I learned that underneath the veneer of the culture people are still human. I’m sorry, I can’t explain it further.”
“You’re not primitive.”
“Yes, in some advancement terms, I am. Different cultures. But we here have something you lack in the West.” Terri waited. Then realised that she was expected to answer. It had been a question. The answer was there, in her mind. “You have contact with your environment.”
“YES! There is a spirit, an essence of life, or whatever you want to call it, here. We call it the Jungle. It must be, as far as I can reason it, a composite, a collection of the minds of the more advanced animals – including us natives. The same as your brain is a collection of individual brain cells creating an individual, so is this. The lower life forms have little to contribute, and the non-animal life, such as the plants and insects, are too different and limited to be included. This is a soul of the land, if you like. Normally it lets things go on, such as normal life and death and other things that happen on the Plain, but occasionally it makes contact. Its heart, or control, or base, or whatever, seems to be in the jungle you’ve just survived in, so we call it the Jungle. Your party went off with an inexperienced guide, someone – an outsider – who thought he knew the land, but it resulted in tragedy. Life and death are normal parts of living here, so the Jungle took no notice of the tragedy. Then it picked up on you, because you are different.”
Terri smiled. “Is that a compliment, or an insult?”
“Oh Terri, very much a compliment. You are important to the Jungle, and it saw to it that you got out alive. I’ve sensed it from you as well. There’s something about you. You’re the sort of person that wouldn’t stand on a beetle if it crossed your path, you would take an effort to avoid hurting it. You help bees out of the house if you can, rather than swat them. In some ways humans irritate you more than animals. It’s your nature the Jungle picked up.”
“This is to be admired? I’m a bit of a loner. This, in my society is not to be admired, rather ridiculed.”
“Ah, but you are more aware of life than they are. They are semi-blind fools, to be blunt.”
“So the Jungle saved me because it liked me?”
“Partly. It saved you because it – we – I – need you. You now have a mission. You were shown some of the animals, and how they felt and worked within their universe. You almost became them. You are part of the Jungle now – its messenger. Go out and do your best to save this part of Africa. There are greedy men – black and white – who wish to destroy this Plain, and you are required to stop them. You are linked to the Jungle – how I don’t know – and you are now part of it. You were welcomed in, and taught, and now you must go out and protect. Please. We need you.”
Terri shuffled on her seat. “You’ve opened up,” she said, “and told me, more than you could possibly know, about things that happened to me. I understand now. Those tigers turned me around, because I was going in the wrong direction. The monkeys threw food at me because I didn’t know what to eat. It’s a unique environment, with a wide range of animals – more than there should normally be – and this ‘overmind’ wishes to survive. It’s conscious and sentient, but very different from an individual such as you and me.”
“Got it in one!”
Terri thought for no more than a millisecond. “Of course I will do my best. I’ve found my reason for being. It feels so right.”
“One other thing,” the guide said. “You remember your visions? You will have them again, if you want, and when you want. It flows both ways.”
“What do I do next?”
The Jungle told her.
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