Helenmollybooks

Photo by Ed van duijn on Unsplash

Dale wiped the sweat from his brow and stood on one foot, waiting for his three brothers. It was a hot, humid, miserable day. Dale cursed himself for letting his brothers talk him into coming to Africa. I don’t even see the appeal. It’s mosquitos, miserable hot, and whatever else. His brothers wanted to go check out a cool-looking market. It had weird stuff, from what Dale could see from far away. Straw dolls, glass bottles, and necklaces. Dale didn’t know what any of it meant. All he wanted to do was go back to the hotel. That’s the best part of this whole damn vacation, he thought. Dale slapped another mosquito on his hand. And these damn mosquitos, even with my repellent. When his brothers finally returned, they showed their brother what they got.

 “Look, Dale, it’s a glass bottle. It’s said to bring good fortune when you sprinkle the water. I want to try it tonight when we go out hiking!” But Dale shook his head. 

“I ain’t going out. It’s too damn hot out here with nothing to do.” Thank god we only have two more days here, I can’t wait to leave. His brothers persisted, but Dale said no. 

“You guys can sweat to death if you want, but I’m staying in the room with the fans on me.”

That night, Dale lay sprawled on the bed, watching TV. His brothers came walking into the room with full hiking gear on. They gave him a passing glance. 

“You sure you don’t want to come? The Congo forest is going to be great!”

“No, you go ahead,” Dale said. “I’ll stay here and keep up the fort.”

The brothers left, closing the door behind them.

The three brothers, named Jared, Josh, and Jake, excitedly left the hotel. When they reached reception, they were careful to not be seen. They didn’t tell Dale, but they were hiking the forest alone. The tourist guide had told them not to go alone if they planned to hike the gorilla trails. Illegal and could get you fined or banned from the park, he had said. But the brothers naturally brushed it off and continued. It was very late at night when nobody was around. When the brothers arrived, they hid while a guide left the gorilla trail. 

“Y’know,” Jake said, readjusting his flashlight. “This forest has been largely unexplored because it’s so big. What if we were the first to discover a new species or something like that?”

“That sounds amazing. But where would the undiscovered trails even lead?” Josh replied. “We’re on the trails the government wants us to stay on. If we really wanna explore, we gotta find another way.”

Dale clicked through different channels, feeling bored. Nothing to watch, he thought. Maybe I should’ve joined my brothers. It’s so boring being here alone. That thought jolted him up as he suddenly looked at the time. It was a quarter past 12. His brothers had been out since 10pm. He tried to call them three times, but he could not get through. Your call could not be answered. Goodbye. Dale put the phone down and went to the front desk for help.

“Finally, I think we’ve found it, gentlemen,” Josh said, pointing to a thick brush of trees. “This looks to be unexplored. Maybe we’ll even camp here!” His brothers followed suit into the night. The animals and crickets were especially loud. As they continued, Jared suddenly remembered the glass bottle.

“Let’s sprinkle this for good luck and to maybe find something cool,” he said. The brothers gathered. With a few words of affirmation, spread the liquid around. They all nodded and continued walking into the forest. It felt like forever as they pushed through thick brush and tree trunks. Eventually, they reached a clearing and sat down. Jake drank from his water bottle and looked around. The trees seemed to soar all the way up to the sky. 

“It’s so beautiful out here,” he said. “Let’s continue on and make camp soon.” His brothers followed, and they walked and walked for what felt like hours. Josh yawned and stretched. 

“Gentlemen, I think it’s time we made camp. We’ve reached far enough. Let’s make camp.” 

Dale ran to the front desk in a panic, explaining everything. The receptionist was understanding and patient.

“Did they go on the gorilla trails?” she asked.

“Yes, they told me they were,” Dale said. The receptionist nodded.

“I’ll call and ask what guide took them down there.”

“Thank you.”

The three brothers settled into their tents, pondering what they could find in this rain forest. One by one, they slowly fell asleep. The forest seemed to get quieter as they did so.

Thump. The soft sound of something in the distance woke Jake up. He rubbed his eyes, confused. Thump. He put on his glasses, slowly unzipping the tent to see what was out there. Thump. Something was walking towards their campsite. Jake clicked on his flashlight to check. He didn’t see anything. Thump. It sounded like..footsteps. Jake immediately freaked out. Shit, this was a terrible plan. We need to get out of here. But he couldn’t shout without giving away his position. It would draw attention to whatever was outside. Thump. Thump. Thump. The footsteps reached the campsite and abruptly stopped.

“What were their names?” The receptionist asked. Dale fought to remain calm, hoping his brothers just wanted to explore a bit before coming back.

“Jake, Josh, and Jared,” he said. 

“Did you have anyone named Jake, Josh, or Jared on your guide today? Okay, I see.” 

The receptionist put the phone down and looked sympathetically at Dale.

“I called the last one that was out tonight. The guide said that he has never heard of those names.”

“Shit,” Dale said. “Well, they definitely went out. I need help finding them, please.”

The receptionist nodded in agreement. “I’ll call the authorities.”  

Jake stared out with his flashlight, looking around frantically for anything. He still saw nothing. Carefully, he unzipped his tent to look closer. Still nothing. Jake began walking around, his flashlight shining from corner to corner. Probably just my own imagination, he thought. He shrugged and walked back to the tent. Thump. Jake swiftly spun around to see the sound. His flashlight shined onto a tree trunk. A tree trunk, what? Slowly, the latter examined it again. It was not a tree trunk. It was a gray, black, sharp object with spikes on the end of it. As he looked over it with his flashlight, it moved. Forward. Jake slowly traced the object with his flashlight and saw a second. A third. And a fourth. Jake backed up quickly, and that’s what he saw it. In the glint of his light, two tree trunks near the tents were covered in massive spider webs. The latter gulped in fear. He and his brothers walked into a spider’s nest. And the creature returned.