Anaconda

Not waiting for a reply, Denise headed out the door and started towards Serone, a knife poised in her hand. She spoke softly to herself, "I will avenge your death Gary. If I should die in this fight, I hope that I will join you in heaven. My love for you is everlasting and so it never dies. For always and forever you'll be in my heart. For always."

From the jungle, Anaconda watched Teri and Danny wade to the trees. She saw Whitridge climb to shore and make her way towards the shore and tie the rope around the palm tree. Anaconda became aware of a second anaconda in the water, making her way towards the humans. Anaconda swam to her and hissed at the snake, forcing her to look elsewhere for a hunting ground.

Then Anaconda returned to her spying on Serone. She still wanted revenge for her mate's death. She was pleased to see Serone still tied up around the post but then noted that he had managed to free himself and was only pretending to be tied to fool the approaching Denise.

Anaconda slipped into the water and carefully approached the boat. She snuck underneath a floating carpet of grass, inadvertently alerting Teri, Danny, and Whitridge of her presence. She didn't hear Teri call for everyone to go back onto the boat; Anaconda's mind was set on killing Serone.

Denise carefully approached Serone. Her distraught fiery eyes piercing Serone's cold eyes. Denise stopped in front of him and demanded, "Aren't you going to pray?"

"Never look into the eyes of those you kill Babybird," Serone told her. "They will haunt you forever."

Denise faltered, lowering her eyes slightly. She couldn't believe she was about to commit murder. But she had to avenge her love's death.

Serone pretended to look down but he suddenly brought his legs up and onto Denise's shoulders, slamming her hard to the floor. He then began to squeeze her tightly around the neck, hoping to crush her esophagus and kill her.

Denise struggled under Serone's legs, fighting for air and freedom. Shortly her breath began running out. She didn't have enough energy to call for help. Slowly she began fading into darkness with each squeeze around her throat. Just as she began to succumb to the darkness, she felt someone attack Serone. Then she fell free.

Falling to the floor, Denise kept her eyes shut. She felt herself falling into the water and she heard someone call her name. Denise mumbled, "For always and forever." Before disappearing beneath the water.

Anaconda saw Denise fall into the water. She knew that without her help, Denise would perish. Anaconda forgot her rendez-vous with Serone and quickly sped off to help the ailing female. Anaconda dived underneath the water and found Denise drifting lifelessly in the murky water. Without hesitation, Anaconda gently began pushing Denise towards the surface.

In little time Teri and Danny had boarded the boat and were immediately attacked by Serone. As they fought over a shotgun that Serone had managed to claim, Teri and Danny briefly forgot about Whitridge in the water.

Whitridge watched Anaconda with surprise and fascination. He had never seen an Anaconda rescue a person before. Maybe Gary had been right that anacondas weren't so horrible and mean after all. But then, Whitridge remembered, Serone had said that Anaconda was the fiercest snake in the Amazon and she kills for pleasure.

Not a very comforting thought, Whitridge grunted to himself. He watched Anaconda gently roll Denise on the ship. Then he felt himself go cold as Anaconda turned her head and glared at him.

Anaconda opened her mouth and hissed at Whitridge as he scrambled towards the boat. As he reached up to grab onto something to pull himself out of the water, Whitridge heard a brief scuffle. Looking fearfully into the water, he saw Anaconda nearing him.

A hand grabbed Whitridge's arm and began to pull him up. Quickly glancing at his helper, Whitridge's jaw dropped in recognition. A sandy haired man with some painful wounds struggled to help him onto the boat. He then snapped out of his momentary shock and climbed onto the boat, away from Anaconda.

Falling onto the boat and scrambling away from the side, Whitridge watched as his savior stalked to Serone. He heard a noise coming from the left of him and saw Denise coughing up water, slowly coming back to life. He heard Serone give a sudden cry and fall overboard into the water.

Denise gave a cough and came back to life momentarily. She saw Teri and Whitridge approaching her with the sandy haired man. Denise's eyes lit up as she cried, "Gary?"

"No, Cale," the sandy haired man replied.

Teri softly told Denise," Denise, you know that Gary, he's,"

"I know," Denise sobbed, closing her eyes. "He's gone and nothing will ever bring him back."

Blocking out Teri's next comments, Denise began to think of how she was saved. She realized that it must have been Cale who had attacked Serone and freed her from his legs. But what troubled her was how she wound up back on the boat. Then Denise began to drift into unconsciousness.

It was late afternoon when Denise awoke again. She felt the boat's gentle sloshing through the waves, gently rocking her in her hammock. She knew that they were underway once more. Her eyes remained shut as she fought a headache that had recently come up.

Just then she felt someone's lips press gently against hers. The kiss wasn't a long, drawn-out kiss; just a gentle touch. Denise tried to open her eyes but she fell into the dark abyss once more for a couple minutes. Then she felt someone stroking her cheek and hair. By now her headache had worsened to the point where being asleep was the only thing keeping Denise from crying out loud.

When Denise finally woke up, her headache subsiding, Denise opened her eyes and saw Whitridge sitting next to her on a chair. Denise wondered briefly if it was Whitridge who had kissed her and stroked her cheek and hair. Just then Teri walked in and gave Denise a friendly smile.

"It's about time you woke up," Teri smiled. "How are you doing?'

"I have a headache, I'm aching, I'm tired, and depressed," Denise mumbled. She tried to sit up but fell back onto the hammock. She reached up to her head and felt the bump that had developed from hitting the floor earlier. She thought of Serone and asked, "Serone's dead right?"

"We don't know," Teri replied, sitting next to her. "The dart came out of Serone's back when he fell into the water."

Denise frowned and tried again to sit up on the hammock. Teri gently pushed her back, telling her, "You need to get some more rest Denise. You're not doing to well."

Standing up, Teri walked with Whitridge out of the sleeping area. They thought they were out of ear reach when Whitridge inquired, "How come you didn't tell her?"

"She's still too traumatized right now," Teri replied. "She'd be better off not knowing right now. At this point, I doubt she'd believe anything we told her."

"Well, somebody should bloody tell her," Whitridge grumbled.

They disappeared upstairs to talk further with Danny.

Denise fell back on her hammock and closed her eyes. Several times Denise dreamt of Gary. She relived his last moments and his last words, "Of course you do. Forever and for always."

At one point Denise awoke and saw Gary kneeling in front of her and he was giving her a warm smile. His hair was matted with water and his clothes seemed to be drenched in blood. None-of-the-less though, Denise recognized her lover and with her heart leaping, she reached out with her hand to touch him. Her fingers stretched to Gary's cheek but then passed right through his ghostly figure and then the image vanished.

Another time, Denise dreamed of Gary softly caressing her neck while pledging his love for her. Just as Denise was about to respond to Gary's affection, the image of Teri would suddenly appear and gentle pull Gary away. Helplessly, Denise watched and cried for him not to leave her and how much she loved him. Gary smiled and replied, "Of course you do. Forever and for always I will love you." Then he would fade away.

When Denise awoke again, she told herself that she would not allow sleep to fall on her again. Wearily, Denise came out of her hammock and found Whitridge playing golf on the bow of the ship. Danny was up at the controls, steering the ship while Teri checked on Cale.

Denise walked carefully over the ship's deck, noting blood splattered on the deck that she had not previously seen. She wondered who had lost all that blood. Denise felt a presence behind her and knew immediately that it was Teri.

Teri gave her a comforting smile and asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

"I think so," Denise replied. She then said, "I still miss Gary. I miss him so much." She wiped tears away from her eyes. She continued, "I wish he was here with me."

Teri nodded in understanding. She said, "There's someone I'm going to show you. But first, I'm not sure if this is right but," She pulled out a gold necklace with a blue bird on it. Teri continued, looking at the necklace, "Well, all I know is this: Gary wanted you to have this."

Teri placed the necklace in Denise's hand and closed her fingers over it. Teri directed Denise to the bow of the ship, saying, "There's someone who you should see/"

Denise followed Teri to the side of the ship. Anxiously Denise waited for Teri to bring out whoever she was supposed to see. Instead, Teri told Denise to look into the water. Unsure, Denise hesitantly knelt down and gazed into the river. She saw her reflection gazing back at her. Teri sat next to her.

"You know," Teri began gently, "Gary is still alive, in your heart. He exists because of you. Your love for him has kept him alive. You feel his presence around you at all times. I know this because I love Cale the same way you love Gary. Love makes a person live. Love can save a person even when others think that they are not going to make it. You see, you have loved Gary even more than his mother and he has loved you more than any person you know."

Denise stared at her reflection and asked, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Move on," Teri whispered gently.

"Move on?" Denise questioned angrily. "Don't you mean 'forget him'?"

"No," Teri replied. "Don't forget him. Keep him close to your heart. Remember him the way he was before Serone corrupted him. Remember Gary for the way he was before his death. But move on. He doesn't want you to remain this way. He loves to see you smile and hear you laugh. He loved you that way."

Nodding, Denise slowly stood up. She said, "I'm going to go listen to some music okay?"

Teri nodded. Denise headed back to the sleeping quarters. When she stepped into the darkening room, her eyes traveled to Gary's hammock. Denise gave a surprised gasp. Laying on his side, Gary slept soundly on his hammock. He was curled up; his head resting on a pillow and his bangs were hanging just above his eyes.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Teri reminded herself that Gary was no longer apart of this world. He only existed in her dreams. To confirm her theory, Denise hesitantly approached Gary and reached out to him. Her fingers brushed through Gary's soft hair and slide gently over his forehead. Gasping in disbelief, Denise let her hand slide over Gary's cheek. Feeling the warmth in Gary's cheek, Denise realized that Gary was not a mirage nor was he part of any dream. Gary was real and he was alive.

Kneeling next to him, Denise gently brushed Gary's hair out of his face and softly called his name.

Gary stirred and opened his eyes. He looked up at Denise and gave her a weak smile. He was delighted to see Denise receive him with a warm smile. Gary remembered how he had tried several times to check on Denise but only found her sleeping and unresponsive. Then, when she would awaken, it was short lived and she would not trust her eyes that he was real. Gary then decided that the only way to gently break the news to Denise was to have Teri tell her.

Now Denise was full of disbelief and shock as she continued to stroke Gary's brow. She noticed the bloody bandages on Gary's chest and inquisitively inquired about them by gently prodding them with her finger.

Gary told her, "I got those when Anaconda took me to her nest."

"Did she let you go or did you escape?" Denise asked, gazing into Gary's eyes.

"She let me go," Gary replied. He gave her a soft smile and said, "Anaconda is not as vicious as Serone claimed. Anaconda only wants to protect her babies. She is the queen of the giant anacondas in this jungle and she has to look out for everybody. Serone is the villain here, not Anaconda!"

"I know Anaconda's not the villain," Denise whispered, resuming her gentle stroking of Gary's cheek. Denise continued, "You can't base evilness on what a creature does instinctively."

"I would agree with you, except Anaconda is not acting on pure instinct in some cases."

"What do you mean?"

"Serone killed Anaconda's mate and captured her. Anaconda spent five years entertaining people behind a glass window at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle before she was rescued by a group of Animal Rights Activists and set free into the wild. When she learned through the other anacondas that Serone was still poaching and capturing the giant anacondas, Anaconda decided to settle the score with him."

"How do you know all this?" Denise inquired, staring at him unconvincingly.

"It was in her collection of news articles and video documentation."

Denise's eyes widened. She questioned, "Video documentations?"

Gary nodded, noting her non-believing eyes. He continued, "I know it's hard to believe but, we're not dealing with ordinary snakes here."

"I think you've spent too much time in the jungle," Denise smiled, kissing Gary lightly on the head. "I'm feeling kind of dizzy so I'm going to lay down."

"You can lay here if you want to," Gary replied, moving over on the hammock.

Denise gave a soft laugh, "I don't know if this'll hold us honey. Remember what happened the last time we tried?"

Gary nodded, "Yeah but I got better rope right after the last incident. I'm sure it'll hold now."

Denise chuckled and carefully crawled onto the hammock. She rested her head on Gary's arm and closed her eyes. Her ears strained to hear the stretching rope and waited for the rope to snap. A few minutes went by and nothing happened.

Denise began to trust the hammock as she felt Gary wrap his arms around her waist. Denise gently gripped Gary's hands and gave them a soft squeeze. She felt Gary's body close to hers and felt Gary's head rest softly on her hair. A tranquil calm fell over Denise as she listened to Gary's steady breathing. Slowly the two drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Teri rummaged in her first aide box for an extra gauze for Cale's throat. She heard a sudden burst of laughter coming from the stern of the ship. Curiously, Teri followed the noise and saw Denise and Gary playing with Todo, Anaconda's baby.

Danny video-taped them while laughing at the playful snake.

Teri found Cale watching the trio with apprehension from a stool. Seeing Teri, Cale looked to her and asked, "Why are they playing with that snake?"

Teri smiled as she answered, "They are playing with a baby anaconda because Todo is Gary's friend."

Cale was about to ask further questions but stopped as he observed Whitridge trying to talk about anacondas in front of the camera. Cale laughed as Todo played catch with Gary using Whitridge's golf balls. What made Cale laugh was the fact that Todo seemed to on-purposely lob a couple of golf balls directly at Whitridge and disturb the documentary for a brief bit.

Just then Cale noticed some movement from the right bank of the river. Tribes people, the Shiroshami. The two cultures stared at one another in fascination. Danny began filming the tribe while Whitridge began a narration. The rest of the crew simply observed the Shiroshami with wonder.

Todo recognized his mother, Anaconda, resting at the foot of the tribes people on the bank of the river. Giving a hiss that resembled a laugh, Todo gave Gary a friendly nudge before slipping off the boat to join his mother. Both snakes watched the boat and their friends disappear out of the tribuatary.




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