In the Jungle: Chapter 1

Here is the first chapter of our newly finished story: In the Jungle. The next 
chapter will be posted next week, on November 11, 2012. Happy reading, and stay tuned!

Does the chapter look short to you? Don't worry. The rest of some of the chapters 
are much longer. Much, much longer, in fact...

Chapter 1

One warm Sunday afternoon, Bo was sitting on a chair at a table, putting together a 2500-piece puzzle with his brother, Bob. Just then there were nonstop knocks on the front door downstairs. Bo sighed. “Who is it?” he called as he thundered downstairs. He swung the door open and saw Tommy standing primly, with clasped hands behind his back.

“Hi, Bo. AB is out shopping, but his assistant called me and said to come to his house in five minutes. Zoe is already there. Come on!” With that Tommy zoomed across the street and burst in the front door of AB’s house. Bo yelled upstairs, “I’m going out now, Bob! Tell Mom!” He then slammed the door and ran after Tommy.

“But Bo, the puzzle--” Bob started.

* * *

Bo sank down on AB’s soft, blue sofa. The sun was so bright and the day was quite hot. He imagined that if he put a chocolate bar outside, it would melt at once. His thoughts faded quickly as the sunlight was blocked by AB’s huge body. He was back from shopping. “Ah! So you all are already here. I have a very interesting mission for you,” he boomed. “Trouble is brewing in the Zamanon Jungle. Four important animals are trapped in certain places in the jungle. They are all my friends, and two of them are monkeys, Bo, and the other two are big cats, Zoe. There’s a chimp and an orangutan, and a panther and a cheetah. They are all very nice and they do not act mean to...um, foreigners...like you, Tommy. But note, Zoe and Tommy, that the chimp likes to make fun of short people. Just to let you know. It is 9 am right now, and I expect this to be done by 5 pm. Thanks!” AB walked to the nearest table and grabbed a glass of water to moisten his smelly mouth from talking so long.

Tommy stretched after standing for nine minutes listening to AB’s ‘speech’. He checked his feet for swelling, and he saw that there was no sign of any. He motioned to Zoe and Bo and trudged out of the house.

“Uh, Tommy, do you know how to get there?” Zoe asked.

“Not quite,” Tommy said, turning around.

Bo laughed. “Why didn’t AB tell us how to get there, man?” He turned and ran back in the house, yelling. A few seconds later, Bo came back out. His expression was very grave.

“We have to figure out how to get there by ourselves.”