Lost in the Forest

By HLin



"Pupils, please follow your partners closely as we are now going for our evening walk. If you find your partner missing, please report to me immediately," our instructed commanded and added, "partners who fail to look after each other will be punished." All of us listened to him in rapt attention. "Okay, now, I want everyone to take their haversack and line up." Immediately, we formed two lines in front of our instructor.

I lined up grudgingly- not because I didn't like this expedition to the jungle, but because of my partner, John. John sat beside me in class and was my arch enemy. The sight of him makes my blood boil because he always gets me into hot soup by complaining to our teacher. In retaliation, I always complain about him too in front of our teacher.

I glared at him and he glared in return as though we were two strong armies engaged in a mighty battle. He seemed to have a trick up his sleeves today. Suddenly, he flung a well-aimed punch at my stomach. I groaned. He must be angry about the scolding he got from our teacher last Friday due to my complaint. Now he was seeking revenge! I clutched my stomach. "John, what are you doing?" Our instructor's voice thundered and everyone's eyes were fixed on us. "Oh nothing, instructor," John said, shrugging his shoulder, "I was just doing my warm-up exercises when I accidentally hit Lance. Are you alright, Lance?" He feigned concern for me and put his arms on my shoulder. "Ok, Pupils, let's go," our instructor turned his back towards us and led the pupils forward."Hey weakling, do you like my "stomach treat"? " John smirked and taunted me.

Anger welled up inside me and I "swore vengeance". Racking my brain, I tried to think of a trick to play on John that would make him feel scared and worried. My eyebrows furrowed as I discarded ideas after ideas in my mind until I found a feasible one. Act as a ghost and scare him? Absurd. Beat him up? Childish. Or.... A mischievous grin spread across my face as an ingenious plan to deal with John flashed across my mind--- I would have to disappear. That would get him into trouble, wouldn't it? Images of his angry face during the few times I managed to get his goat flashed across my mind. This idea was perfect since I had been in forests with our scoutmaster before and had a very good sense of direction. I was sure that the plan that I had devised would definitely work and so I proceeded to carry out my plan.

I began to walk very slowly and quietly, allowing John to walk forward without noticing me. Luckily, we were at the last row so the instructor could not see us. Lady Luck seemed to be on my side as my idea was working. I grinned. This would definitely teach John a lesson.Our group began to vanish from sight and I heaved a sigh of relief. Where should I go now? I wondered, scanning around the lush forest. I began to walk in the opposite direction. Little did I know that a nightmare was awaiting for me.

Darkness enveloped the place as I continued to venture into the forest. A sliver of the moon rose in the sky, illuminating the forest below dimly with its pale light. "My poor legs," I moaned and found a place to rest. I rummaged through my bag in search of my torchlight to see what the time was. My jaws dropped when I saw the time. Two hours had already passed since 6 p.m! Hunger was gnawing at my stomach and I rubbed my belly. I was famished and had to find the group soon.

Getting to my feet, I began to walk in the direction that I thought would bring me back to the group, oblivious to the fact that I was actually going further and furher into the jungle.The fallen and shrivelled leaves crunched under my foot as I hurried down the path. I wiped the endless trickle of perspiration and scanned around. The thick belt of jungle lying ahead looked more forbidden than ever. My heart sank. Where was I? I swat away the sinister flies that would not leave me alone. I scanned around the forest hastily again. It seemed alien. The branches of the trees crashed out towards the sky like bony fingers pointing at the heavens. I bit my lips as I fought my tears. "Why did I do this silly thing? Am I lost?" millions of questions raced through my mind, "Is there anyone here who can save me?" I strained my ears to hear something in the dead silence. Nothing. I prayed hard that someone would come and save me.

Suddenly, a loud growl jolted me out of my thoughts. What could it be? Could it be a bear? Or a lion? Or... a ferocious tiger? I stood rooted to the spot, fear engulfing me. I had never met a bear, a lion or a tiger! Shakily, I raised my torchlight. The full impact of what I was seeing hit me. There the striped beast stood, opening its jaws. My mind was a complete blank. What should I do? A tiger! I recoiled back in fear. I could hear the faint movement of the tiger as it advanced towards me. My heart palpitated. I knew I had to act fast. But my mind was just a blank.The tiger's breathing became more and more distinct, telling me that it was getting nearer.


Every nerve in my mind were screaming at me to run. RUN! These words kept flashing in my mind like a neon sign and without thinking, I took to my heels.I ran helter-skelter, no holds barred. I could imagine the tiger capturing me but I threw all these thoughts out of my mind and only concentrated on one thing- running! I ran as fast as my legs could carry me but they felt as heavy as lead. My lungs were burning, as if pleading me to stop but I forced myself to go on. Thick hanging branches lashed at me as I sped past them. I knew I would become dead meat if I stop running. At this moment, I was panting hard. "Ouch!" I screamed. The tiger pounced on me and I soon felt the tiger's teeth slashing through my legs but I ignored the excruciating pain and fought with all my might. The tiger held on to me. As I felt my last ounce of energy draining off me, I prayed hard that I would somehow survive this ordeal.

Almost instantly, a loud bang reverberated in the forest. I jumped. What happened? I turned back. The tiger, only an inch away from me, had collapsed beside me and laid in the growing pool of blood. "Are you alright, Lance?" A familiar voice spoke and I recognised it immediately. It was my instructor. Tears of joy and gratitude towards my instructor cascaded down my cheeks and I embraced him.

After relating the incident to my instructor, he reprimanded John and I and we were punished to sweep and clean our domitories in the forest.The harrowing incident was engraved in my mind forever and I could never forget day I was being hunted. Surprisingly, after that fateful day, John and I became the best of friends. I suppose that's a blessing in disguise.