Chapter 1
(22 years ago)
To most people, a rainforest is a place no one would be able to survive in. However, some deny it. A rainforest may be filled with danger, but as long as someone knows the survival skills, they can take on anything. To those who do know how to survive the jungle, some of them learn from a young age, such as the jungle tribe, while others learn later in their lives. They usually learn from others, but for one particular girl, her survival skills began the moment she learned how to walk.
For her, her story began on a cloudy day in the African rainforest. It was a normal day for the animals and the jungle tribe, that was until the sound of a loud explosion from a nearby hill caught their attention. Nobody knew what could’ve been that sound until they spotted smoke coming from the spot which made them realize the horrible answer.
A plane had just crashed into the jungle. And by the looks of it, it seemed unlikely for anyone to have survived the crash. The moment the tribespeople realized what had happened, some of the men were already on their way to examine the site. But since the spot was far away, they knew they would have to hurry in case there really were survivors.
Unfortunately, unknowing to them, there were no survivors on that plane. Everyone from the pilots to the passengers had perished. Except for a single cry that was heard from the crash. A cry that attracted the attention of a group of gorillas who were passing by. From the crash site, one of the gorillas followed the sound of the cry until she came upon a sight that surprised her.
There, still in its infant plane seat was a crying baby girl who only had a few small cuts on her body. It was a miracle that she was still alive, in fact, she seemed to be the only survivor of the crash. With no other humans around, the she-ape decided to take matters into her own hands by adopting the human baby as she quickly scooped up the baby girl and disappeared into the jungle.
(Present day)
Away from any rainforests, in the town of Gainesville Florida, recently graduated college student Kenton Baffler was too caught up in the book he was reading to notice the busy people who were passing by him on the bench he was sitting on. Unlike most people who were enjoying the summer, Kenton wasn’t that kind of a person, instead, he preferred to focus on beginning his new life after college.
Now with a degree in Zoology, he was so close to his lifelong goal of traveling around the world to study the many animals of each continent, especially in Africa which was the last place he’s ever visited outside of America. At twenty-three years old, it would be exactly thirteen years since he visited Africa along with his family. And now that he was finished with school, he could finally do what he’s been passionate about. But before that, he had to finish reading his book all about the wildlife of Africa. And sitting on a bench in a local park was a nice way to do just that. Kenton read for about an hour before he decided it was time to go back home to his single mother. So after gathering his things, he drove to his house where he stepped inside to see his mom already sitting at the dining table with the food ready.
“That smells good,” he commented while taking a seat.
“Thank you,” his mother smiled. “So how was your day?”
“Oh, you know,” he shrugged, “practically the same every day.”
“Don’t you have that meeting tomorrow with Dr. Bond?”
“I do.”
“And what it’s about again?”
“I want to talk to him about job opportunities around the world, you know, ones that fit my major.”
“Are you still thinking about traveling around the world?” she questioned nervously.
“Yes,” he declared. “It’s been a dream of mine for a long time, you know I’ve been working hard to make it past school for that zoology degree. I love learning about animals and I also love learning about the world, so why not do both?”
“I understand that but, does this mean you want to travel to Africa as well?”
He let out a deep sigh. “I do.”
“Really?” she responded tensely. “Even after what happened to dad?”
At that moment, Kenton felt a hard punch in his stomach by the sound of his dad.
“I’m sorry,” his mother quickly apologized, “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”
“No mom, it’s okay,” he mumbled sadly. “I get it. Africa was the last place we saw dad.”
“That was thirteen years ago,” she mumbled back. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
“Well, we don’t actually know if he’s gone in that way.”
“For thirteen years?” she doubted. “As much as I hate to admit this, I don’t think he could still be alive after all these years. I mean, it’s just not like him to disappear like that.”
“I know mom, but there could still be a chance that he’s alive. And whether he’s alive or not, I need to know what happened so that’s why I’m hoping Dr. Bond will help me find a way to get to Africa.”
“But Kenton, we’ve been to Africa already to look for your dad, but we couldn’t find him, no one can.”
“Well, I’m not going to give up,” he declared. “Look, mom, I still love Africa. Now that I’m out of college, I can finally do what I love while also trying one last time to find out what happened to dad. So here’s the thing, if I do manage to go to Africa and if I don’t find out what happened to dad, then I’ll just move on with my life.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes, mom,” he nodded. “I’m sure.”
“Well,” she breathed, “if you do find a way to go to Africa, then I wish you the best of luck.”
“Thanks,” he replied with a small smile.
In his room, Kenton did some research on his laptop about traveling to Africa, especially the jungle since it was where he last saw his dad. And as he thought of his dad, he turned to the photo frame that contained a photo of him at age ten with his father a month before he disappeared. He still remembers the last day he saw him.
Years ago, Kenton was on a trip to Africa with his parents when his dad had to stay behind to work because he was a well know zoologist who was studying the wildlife of Africa. On his last day, Kenton said goodbye to his father as he and his mother went back to America. His father said he would come home the following week, but he never did. More weeks have passed and his father still hasn’t returned him. After about a month, Kenton’s mother decided that they should go back to Africa to look for him, but it was no use, his father was nowhere to be found.
There have been many theories on what could’ve happened to him, some say that he got lost and eventually died, others say that he was killed by wild animals, but no matter what theories everyone suggests, Kenton was not going to give up on finding out the truth. But first things first, he had to find a way to get to Africa, especially a cheaper way since traveling outside of America was more expensive. He didn’t have that much money in his bank to pay for everything since he recently graduated, not to mention that he was currently jobless. It seems that all he could do was hope that the meeting tomorrow with Dr. Bond will help him in some way.
