Station in the Jungle

At the end of a biology lecture, Hazel, an aspiring doctor, left the hall before making her way home. Since the subway station she usually used was out of service, she had to find another one nearby. This disrupted the strict schedule she relied on.

After searching for a long time, Hazel reached the station hidden in the jungle, where metallic gates were right in front of her. She placed her palm onto the scanner, which opened the doors. She passed through the faregate and entered the nature habitat. With no signboards to direct her, Hazel had to figure this out on her own.

The moment she ventured into the world of trees, she followed the concrete path. It split into two along the way; she chose the right one, thinking that it would lead her to the train platform. Little did she expect that it would bring her to a wall of blossoming, singing flowers.

They asked Hazel, “Do you want to sing with us?”

She replied, “No, thank you.”

She darted back to the split path and chose the other one, but ran into a mischievous red monkey, Toby. He threw his peeled banana onto the floor, causing her to slip and fall. With her back aching in pain, Toby climbed down the tree and snatched her bag, which made her furious. Hence, she got herself up before chasing him. As she closed the distance, the monkey panicked. So he climbed up the tree with her bag, only to meet a keeper, Amos, sitting at a branch while attending to the owls. This shocked the playful creature; he suddenly lost his grip and slammed down onto the ground.

Hazel put her anger aside and checked on the monkey. Amos stepped down the ladder before rushing towards Toby to examine his injury. Despite having fallen onto the hard stones, he twisted his body left and right with funny faces. Since the future doctor concluded that he was merely suffering from bruises, the keeper took out a magical ointment and applied the paste to it.

Toby healed his bruises instantly and swung around the trees with joy.

Amos then turned to Hazel and asked, “Hey, why are you here?”

She said, “I am on my way to the train platform. Any idea where it is?”

The animal keeper replied, “Train platform? I don’t know either.”

This left her head drooping with eyes on the ground.

Amos later added, “Maybe we can find it together?”

Finally, Hazel glanced at him with a bright smile. Later, the monkey waved at them, asking to join them on the mysterious trail, and they agreed.

The trio continued their journey and gazed at the waterfall roaring from a majestic mountain. It poured down the cliff and flowed freely in a river. The parallel passage then gave Hazel and her group their choices. She suggested that they split and see if it leads them to the platform.

She picked the one that guided her to a marble pavilion, where otters and swans were dancing in a huge pond. The moment they saw her, they curiously jumped onto the grass and crowded around her. Hazel became embarrassed. So she shied away from the cuddling cuties and dashed back to join the duo.

Amos and Toby went on another pavement where large water spiders soaked themselves in spring water. This had blocked their way, which creeped them out. As the student bolted towards the pair, the animal fans followed her like a celebrity. In the end, Hazel sprinted so fast that she collided with the pair and fell to the ground. The spiders felt the water vibrating, so they climbed up and joined the swans and otters in helping them up.

The moment they got up, an otter stared at Hazel and murmured, “Why is this lady here?” Amos responded that she was looking for a train back home. Upon hearing that, a swan asked the spider whether there was a way to get there.

The spiders sensed her rush and unfamiliarity, so they invited the group to enjoy their silk onsen before carrying on, which Amos accepted. Once they stepped into a gigantic tub, the gentle water warmed them up. While taking a hot bath, the attendants massaged their backs with hairy legs. The trio chatted happily with the arthropods as they relaxed in the jungle spa.

After they spent their time inside a pool, Hazel got back up along with Amos and Toby. The servants showed them the way to resume searching in rocky terrain. The team thanked the spiders for their service as they continued their journey. Unlike the slabs, the rough surface they hiked on was a roller coaster, and the three of them had to be wary of the steps, which slowed their paces.

This time, the road brought them to a small cave. Being drawn by curiosity, the monkey hopped off Amos’s arms and ran inside. Upon its dark entrance, several eyes were lit up, staring at Toby. He became terrified and fled back to the keeper’s arms. So Amos brushed his hand on the monkey’s fur while walking in together with Hazel.

Once inside the ancient rocks, Amos made a woof sound. It drew a family of mysterious creatures toward the adventurers and licked them with their tongues. To find out who they were, Hazel used her phone’s infrared camera, only to discover that they were stray puppies. This set her into combing their furs at ease.

When the monkey saw it, he climbed down the keeper’s arms and joined her in brushing the little ones. Amos then took out containers of food and laid them on the floor. As a result, these dogs went towards the food for a feast. With their mouths filled with sumptuous delights, they wagged their tails showing gratitude to the three of them. Without being asked, one of the puppies took charge of dispersing them to different corners of this garden.

The trio then split up from the cave to follow the dogs in looking for a railway. After a long time, the rest returned with grumpy faces, but one barked loudly after detecting something unusual with his sense of smell, gathering the crowd to a place of hope.

They had reached the final point, where the guided path ended. Hazel thought that she had found a train, but was shocked by a colony of pineapple ferns. She clarified with the puppies again, yet they shook their head with the same woof. This frustrated her.

Amos tapped on Hazel’s shoulder and encouraged her, “Hazel, I know how you feel now, but we have come this far. From the river passage to the rocky terrain, and now we are here. We just need one more step toward the goal. Let’s keep going.”

Upon hearing the transition from concrete paths to rocky terrain, she realised that a clear route itself was not enough to get there. Therefore, she had no other option but to barge into the ferns, and the rest followed suit.

They flipped the ferns one by one and plucked sweet pineapples to eat along the way, which kept them going after feeling refreshed. After a long search, Hazel found a huge burrow behind the leaf curtains. This intrigued her into entering the hole, where she crawled through tight spaces to the end of the tunnel.

At last, Hazel widened her eyes to the grand hall where black trains with red and grey stripes rolled into the platform. She ran towards it and shouted in excitement, and they joined in. The rabbits here rang celebratory bells to congratulate her on achieving success. In return, she thanked the rest for helping her navigate this place. She then scattered her favourite candies towards the masses and took a selfie to show her appreciation. They gave her rounds of cheers before opening the wrapper and melting in their mouths.

The subway slowly came to a stop and opened its sliding doors. Hazel boarded the cabin and settled herself onto the cushioned seat. After the carriage was sealed, she turned to the window and bid goodbye to Amos, Toby and the rest, filling her memories with warmth. The train set off from the station and rode into the tunnel, where she swiped through her phone galleries before opening the photo, remembering how she got here.

A few moments later, it left the dark tube, and the city skyline came into view. After the subway arrived at a station, she alighted before pedalling her bicycle home, where she finally reunited with her family.