The jungle seemed to pull out a chair and watch as the young prince stumbled down the path, the kind of path normally walked only by boars and tigers. The sound of chirping insects sang like a screaming symphony, wriggling through the underbrush and skittering in the space between his clothes and skin. A vine stuck out its leg, sending him staggering forward in a struggle to catch his step. Splat! Ptoo, ptoo! He batted away the bits of spiderweb that pied him in the face.
Doot!
What was that!!? Well, whatever. There were lots of strange noises here, and the young prince had bigger things to worry about. Mostly, he just wanted a cup of cool, clean water to wet the sandy desert that was his mouth. The air was so hot and humid, he felt as though he might be able to take a drink from the air. He stopped for a second to try, but unfortunately, it didn't work. Wouldn't that be convenient?
Doot!
Okay, what was that!?? A mosquito buzzed around his ear, and he flailed around as he tried to squash it. Splat. The only thing he squashed was another spider web straight into his face. He used both hands to wipe it away. He was getting good at this, unfortunately. Water. Water! That's the only thing he wanted right now. Please, pretty please? He didn't believe in a higher power, but still he pressed his hands together and prayed, the way his maid had taught him. It made him feel a little better.
Doot!
The sound came from his left. Ugh, that's it! He turned from the path, and muscled his way through the thick of the jungle. More spiderwebs in the face, one after the other! A branch caught his shirt, tearing it half from his body! Still, he matched forward like a not so stoic soldier, determined to find the source of the sound. The light shone through a curtain of leaves, and he pushed it aside, revealing:
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Oh, wow.
He stood on the edge of a cliff, perched like a king over the jungle that stretched into the distance, kissing the horizon. A warm breeze rustled his hair, and he took a slow, deep breath of nature's musk. He stood there, simply existing, hand pressed against the old stump of a lichen plastered tree. The more he looked out over this foreign landscape, the more his heart ached for home.
Suddenly, his ears twitched. Gurglurgle! A stream trickled down beside him, flowing over rocks like sparkling jewels! Excitement grew in his chest as he looked at it. And then, after hesitating for just a moment, he rushed over and dunked his head straight in. He drank as much as he could from the crystal waters, and a sense of sweet satisfaction washed over him. This water was the best he had ever tasted!
Now, the only thing he needed was something to eat, though he knew he was a long way away from a palace, a restaurant, or even a-..
Doot!
The noise blasted the young prince, straight in the ear! A metallic reflection shimmered in the water, and slowly, ever so slowly, the young prince turned around.
Doot!
A skeleton towered over him, its bleached bones stained with algae. A giant millipede waltzed its way across the skeleton’s skull and disappeared into its eye socket. Its joints popped and creaked as it lifted its trumpet to the place where its lips had once been.
Doot!
“AHHHHH!” His feet pushed the ground out from beneath him, like a burnout in a gravel lot. In no time at all he was running, running, running away!