the kindness of the jungle

I found myself back in the jungle, dizzy from running so fast in such a confined space. Everywhere I looked I saw tigers of various shapes and sizes. Mama tigers with their babies and lone older tigers stalking through the jungle. I fell to my knees and began crawling, in order to attract less attention. Through the thick grass I crawled, looking for my travel mate who had been lost for several minutes. I looked to my left and then high and low. My friend, in his evident yellow t-shirt was nowhere to be found and we were not even remotely close to reaching our goal of securing a location to refuel our weak bodies. Overcome by weakness from not having eaten and frustrated by having lost my way and my friend, I decide to risk danger and approach a fellow jungle creature for assistance. I crawled slowly, trying not to distrurb nearby tigers or overhead foilage, which could have meant the end for me, if I was not careful. Getting closer, I quietly called out, so that I would not risk freaking out the beast, by approaching unannounced from behind. She, the creature I identified as my potential helper, acknowledged me with a weary smile. I said hello and gently raised from my semi-prone position to expose my belly, as I have heard that this is a method of demonstrating that I am not a risk to her or her mates. Using the local dialect, as best I could, as well as explantory hand gesutres, I quickly explained my situation; my quest for nourishment. Luckily for me, this creature was kind and explained twice where I would find necessary fuel for my weakened body. She pointed and gestured and I glanced briefly at her eyes and saw that she possessed a genuine interest in helping me out of my predicament. However, it was not her eyes so much as the identifiable mark on her chest which told me that I chose correctly. I selected a creature whose job it is to help people, lost and in similar situations. She was not a threat to me. Aimed with my new knowledge, which I acquired from my interaction with this kind creature, I thanked her and ran forward through the path that I used previously. Within minutes I saw my companion, in his yellow attire. I called out, using our lanaguage and he stopped to wait for me. The rest of our venture is a blur, sometimes running, sometimes crawling to avoid the tigers, but we finally got there. We had to wait because the line was long, but pretty soon we were filling our faces with Tim Hortons in the food court at the mall. Thanks to the salesperson at the Gap, we had found our way through the crowded mall on a Sunday.