Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27602619-20160113082012

 Isn’t it funny how people are so afraid of spiders? Phobias are known as irrational fears, meaning there’s no actual good reasoning behind them. Arachnophobia is actually more prominent than the fear of death itself. Sure it isn’t the number one fear in the world, but it consistently comes close. It’s believed that about half of people have arachnophobia, and after that there are still those kind of people who can’t stand their roommate’s tarantula. Personally I never had much of a problem with them. I never really had a soft spot for them exactly, but I could handle capturing one and letting it outside. After all, hate them or not they’re essential to the world’s ecosystem.

 Nowadays, I can’t bear to even look at a picture of one. You could call me an arachnophobe because of that, but I personally disagree. Like I said I used to not get freaked out by them. Whatever it is about arachnophobes, they have their own psychological reasons for why they’re afraid. What makes me so different you might ask? I’d say my fear of spiders is more equivalent to post traumatic stress disorder than a phobia. You probably don’t know what to make of that, so if you’ve got a moment, I’ll indulge with you a story.

 I had recently earned a pretty solid amount of money. I’ve never liked working under people, so I had a tendency to freelance as a web designer. Typically it doesn’t actually pay that great, not bad, but definitely not something that’s likely to make you rich. I had been contracted with a local big startup mall however, and they found it in their budget to give me a handsome payout. The job took a while working alongside some other freelancers to get done, but in the end I had a good chunk of cash and no other jobs to start on. With all this extra money and no pressing work to be done, I decided it’d be a good time to take the family on a vacation. Of course then you gotta figure out where you’re going to go. I talked about it with my wife, she definitely liked the idea, but we still had to answer the question of where. We layed on the couch together and tossed around some ideas.

 “ We could go to Mexico” she said.

 “ Eh, lots of people go to Mexico. I’ve never found it that interesting myself”

 “ That’s ok, well anywhere in Europe is bound to have neat historical things to see.”

 “ True, that’d be neat, but don’t you think we’d have to be around a ton of other people? I’d prefer this to be a trip where we can be away from that kind of bustle.”

 My wife was silent to think for a moment.

 “ Well, we might as well just go camping somewhere if that’s what you want.”

 “ Oh come on, I’m sure there’s a place we could go outside of the US.”

 “ Oh yeah, well you can tell me what that place is then.”

 “ Alright, I’ll let you know in just a moment.”

 With that I carefully got up from the couch and went to my office computer to do some research. There are actually a lot of secluded places for vacationing. I learned about how you can still stay out in secluded cabins in the mountains of Norway. Lots of beautiful fjords, landscapes, an enchanting history. The only problem was, well obviously Norway isn’t exactly swimsuit style weather. In the more secluded areas high above sea level chances were that it’d be plenty chilly. I decided Norway would be a good place to keep in mind, but not this trip.

 Canada has a remarkable amount of beautiful environments to vacation at. I felt it would be kind of lame to vacation at Canada as an American however. I wanted to go somewhere that’d give the family a really interesting story to tell when they got back. No offense to Canada, but it just wasn’t the place that was going to do that.

 After a while longer of poking around on the web, I came upon an idea that made me feel as though I had struck pure gold. Why not Africa? I felt silly for not having the idea before. I also wasn’t looking at a stereotypical trip across the savanna. No, I as a matter of fact was looking at a trip to the Congo rainforest. Now, since it’s such a big place, there are several countries you can go to in order to visit it. The Democratic Republic of Congo was my first thought, but apparently at the time it was a pretty unsafe choice for some nieve American. Some tourists had been mistreated by the government in recent years apparently.

 I looked at the other countries, and still wasn’t quite sure. There were a handful that would have done fine, but my twisted fate had it I’d pick one in particular. I decided that we could go to Cameroon. Of course you can visit part of the Congo rainforest in Cameroon. Also, it seemed it was a place that didn’t get a lot of American tourists, so I felt it would certainly give us a good story. All in all, I felt as long as we prepared well, it’d make for a decent vacation. I went back to my wife to let her know about my idea.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Really? That’s getting pretty exotic hun. It’s your choice for this trip though sweetie. I guess if you’re sure it’s safe, it’d be fun. I suppose we should let the kids know?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Yeah let’s call them in!”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We had three kids, my oldest fourteen year old Arthur, our middle child and twelve year old daughter Emily, and then our youngest nine year old Zeke. When they all came in the room, we told them about the idea. It made me feel like a great dad when I saw how enthusiastic they all were about it. The decision did feel kind of rushed, but if anything that added to the excitement. From there I had to actually plan this vacation. I knew that this wasn’t likely to be something we could just go alone on. We would need to be careful about where we went in the country, and have someone as our guide. Getting a guide could prove expensive unless you wanted to tag along with a bunch of other people. I was hoping to find someone who could be a guide just for our family. It took me a while, but eventually, I found someone. He was a South African man by the name of Daniel Sauls. Apparently he made his living by being a guide for people in the Congo rainforest, and he had done the job in several countries before, Cameroon included. I went ahead and shot him an email asking if he’d be interested in guiding my family. I didn’t get a response until the next day, and he was very straight to the point it seemed.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Daniel Sauls: Alright, listen Cameroon’s tourism is more centered around places like their beaches. Going to the rainforest isn’t something a lot of people pay to do there, especially not for their families. I don’t give guides to tourist areas in Cameroon. If your family is actually serious about seeing the rainforest there however, I do happen to already plan to be in Cameroon in a fortnight. If you go on vacation shortly after then, it’s not a big hassle for me to service your family as a guide, and so I’d be able to give you a good deal. I’ll need some more information from you of course. If you plan things right, I would be able to meet you and your family as soon as you all arrive. Thanks for contacting me.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> -Daniel Sauls

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I didn’t think about much about the first part of his email. I was dead set on seeing the rainforest, and that’s what my family wanted as well. I confirmed to Daniel in my next email that it was indeed the rainforest we wanted to see, and would preferably like to stay a week. From that, Daniel said he’d be happy to be our guide for what he called a “decent price” although it was still very expensive. He seemed like an honest man after explaining the payment plan. I wouldn’t owe him anything at all until we actually met. At that point I’d pay him 25% over an electronic transfer. From there, if at any point we decided we needed to leave early, he’d base what we owed him in accordance with how long he guided us. I did admire him for his level of fairness. I also felt more comfortable as he explained things we would need to be prepared for, the safety rules when travelling with him etc. Be ready to have insect repellant, never go anywhere alone, watch out for thieves, be ready to encounter corrupt police at times. It all seemed possible to get past judging by the way Daniel wrote of it. We both agreed on a deal, and planned to see each other in a few weeks.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> My family prepared in the meantime, and soon, we were on a flight to Cameroon, to the Douala International Airport.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> When we arrived, sure enough I saw what looked to probably be Daniel waiting for us. I noticed his age more in person than from the only picture I saw of him, he must’ve been in his early fifties. We approached him, and asked if he was Daniel Sauls.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Hey, you must be Jack and the family. Nice to meet you all. How ya liking Cameroon?” he said looking at me. Zeke spoke up for me with all sorts of excited remarks.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ You’re going to take us through the jungle!”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Right you are buddy, you’re pretty lucky your parents gave you this opportunity. I’ve got lots of neat things for you guys to see.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Of course the first thing we actually did was sort out that 25% payment for Daniel. Then took he took us around, saying we’d want to get certain supplies before night time.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Anything you want to go shopping for, visit and see, has to be done during the daytime. It’s not safe to be out in the city at night. Also, all of you must always stick with me, whether it be here or in the rainforest. Make sure to follow those rules, and you’ll already be much safer.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We all acknowledged and agreed to his words, and with that did our days shopping. It wasn’t about getting fancy souvenirs or buying exotic food however. We were getting water sanitation pellets, insect repellent, first aid items, various sorts of travel food. It was like Daniel implied, we here for an adventurous experience, not a typical luxurious tour.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> The next day we didn’t head out of the city yet. Daniel asked if we’d like to see around the city first, and we had no problem with it. It was a good way to get more accustomed to the area before heading out somewhere more remote. There were some neat things to see, although it was much to our annoyance that we couldn’t take many pictures. Daniel said it was pretty easy to get in hot water with the locals or even government when it came to cameras, so he wouldn’t let us photograph very much. All in all the day was fun, but we came to anticipate getting to see the rainforest even more once it was over.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> To get to the rainforest, Daniel had to rent us a vehicle and take us on a long drive to the south east of Cameroon. We encountered a lot of road stops with posted government officials. Daniel made it clear that he was to do all of the talking with these people, and we had no problem with letting him. Most of the time we’d just show our passports, some paperwork, that sort of stuff. English is an official language in Cameroon, but all of the conversations with the officials Daniel had seemed to be in French, which I guess was the more prominent tongue. There were a few officials who apparently wanted some money, so Daniel payed a few off with small sums. It was annoying, but being charismatic and friendly about it seemed to work best. Despite the corruption, the officials were still for the most part seemingly friendly and not interested in harassing us. Just part of the way of living there I guess.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> After a while, we came upon obviously much less travelled roads. The roads cut straight through the rainforest that from our perspective had no end. Eventually we came upon an old clearing, and we stopped there. Daniel explained that he had camped here before and that it was a good safe spot from his experience. We set up our camp and a fire. It was remote enough out there that the chance of anyone threatening us at night was slim. When it was dark and we all simply sat around the fire, for the first time since we met Daniel we got to know him better.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ You guys picked a good time to visit here. Dry season didn’t start all that long ago. Let me tell ya wet season can wear you out quick as hell.” Arthur changed the subject and asked a question.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ So like, what can we expect to see in the rainforest?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Daniel leaned back in his canvas chair and answered a question he seemed to have heard more than once before.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Oh, all sorts of things. The rainforest is filled with many different kinds of life.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Will we get to see lions and tigers!?” Zeke interrupted.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ There are no tigers in Africa dummy” Emily chided. Daniel chuckled and went on with what he was saying.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Your sister is right, there are no tigers in Africa. As for lions, they’re not known to live in this area of Africa. I personally have never seen one in this area.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Arthur inquired “Isn’t it possible they do though, and people just can’t find them in the rainforest?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Sure, it’s possible, but I doubt it. Elephants actually live here, and they’re not too hard to find. If you see an elephant by the way stay the hell away from it, they’re likely to charge you. Same goes for hippos, although chances are we’ll be able to stay far away from those.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ We understand, but you didn’t really answer my question.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Oh sorry, like I said it’s possible. You must understand there are people that spend all their lives out here however. They know of all sorts of things living in the rainforest that most people never see in their lives, sometimes things even someone like myself never see.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Is that why they think there’s some sort of dinosaur out here.” Daniel gave a hard laugh and wide smile in response to this.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Ah so you’ve heard of Mokele before huh? Funny you mention it. You’re going to meet some of the people who tell that story tomorrow. It’s just a story of course.” I was curious about what he said, as I didn’t know of any plans to meet indigenous people.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Wait, who are we meeting?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Oh sorry Jack, I suppose I should have told you already. For people who come here regularly meeting the indigenous isn’t that a big deal. We’re going to try to find a Baka guide tomorrow. They’re neat people, you’ll really want to see them play some music.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Why are we going to ask for one of them to guide us, are you worried about getting lost here?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ No, I certainly feel safer taking one, but I’m pretty good at not getting lost myself. It’s mostly a matter of respect actually. This area is home to the Baka, so if we just barge in there they’ll find it rude. The government already has stripped them of enough. They know me and we’re on pretty good relations. As long as you all are friendly, they’ll treat you very well, I’m certain of it.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I trusted Daniel, and after talking a while longer, we all went to sleep.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I woke up in the middle of the night to an odd sound. I was worried that something was in our campsite. Daniel had made it very clear before going to bed however not to exit the tent if we heard something. If it was an elephant for example, it’d be extremely dangerous to come in sight of it. I strained to hear what was outside. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound like it was actually in the clearing. It was somewhere in the rainforest near the clearing. To be honest, I wasn’t the kind of person who could make a rational guess at what it was. It did sound like, however, something that was taking steps very quickly. I didn’t feel like it was moving quickly, but still taking many steps quickly. Suddenly, I heard a gunshot, and because of that I shot out of the tent like a second bullet. Lots of possibilities raced through my head, but for some reason I didn’t think that it could have just been Daniel using scare tactics on whatever was out there. Sure enough, he was standing outside his own tent with a pistol. My family had woken up as well and were asking from inside what was going on.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Sorry about that” yelled Daniel. “Something was hanging around too close for comfort, I couldn’t tell for sure what it was but the shot scared it away. Go ahead and go back to sleep.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I gave Daniel an ok sign and sluggishly went back to sleep without any further interruptions that night.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> The next day there was no driving. We had our first walk through the rainforest on our way to see the Baka. There were all sorts of things so different from back home. Snakes, tarantulas, colorful birds. It certainly was different from the impression movies give, but it really was a beautiful and life abundant place. Other than having to make sure we didn’t clumsily come too close to any hazards such as snakes, it was a pretty relaxing walk. We only stopped once for lunch, and about an hour after that we finally arrived at the Baka village. I was pretty surprised by what I saw. They noticed us and many gave Daniel a friendly and familiar greeting. They were also kind to us as well, even though we couldn’t understand each other. We had to ask Daniel some questions about them. Emily was obviously quite fascinated by their size.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Um, they all seem to be short?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Indeed, they’re pygmies. Most of them don’t ever grow to be more than a meter and a half tall.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ How tall is that in feet and inches?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Right forgot Americans don’t use a sensible measuring system. Off the top of my head I’d say that’s about equivalent to five feet. You shouldn’t be focused on their size however. You’ll see there are a lot of neat things about these people.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Daniel had told the truth. The Baka shared some food with us, which to be honest was a bit hard to swallow. I don’t want to say it was bad, just nothing like we were used to. We offered some of our own food as well actually, but they didn’t seem interested. While Daniel was off trying to find us our guide, the Baka showed us some of their song and dance. They actually had some very well taken care of guitars and some other handcrafted instruments. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but over time the family started having a lot of fun.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We stayed the night there, and Daniel filled us in on the plans for tomorrow.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ I’ve found us a guide. I couldn’t find my first choice as apparently he’s already out looking for a missing person. This fellow is a good man as well however, he’s been a hunter in the rainforest for many years now.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Someone is missing?” asked Arthur.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about it however. It was someone who apparently went into the rainforest alone. Never a good idea to go in the rainforest alone. Chances are he got himself in some trouble and had no one to help him.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Well where will we actually go tomorrow then?” I asked.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Good question, I actually just have a route planned for us. You’ll see whatever we come across on that route.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I was a bit disappointed that Daniel didn’t plan to show us some landmark location, or some awesome view. Still it was quite early in our vacation, and he had done us good so far, so I resigned to his wishes.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> The next day early in the morning after breakfast, we met our Baka guide. He was as expected a short dark skinned man, but he was dressed in more western like clothing than the others we saw. He couldn’t speak English, so Daniel had to translate anything he said in French for us. He didn’t look much younger than Daniel himself and obviously was a very seasoned hunter.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We walked for a few hours and saw more of the deep rainforest than we had the previous day. It was a whole different world not only from our home, but even from Douala where we had arrived. The kids seemed to still be enjoying the trip, and my wife Laura had just been exhilarated ever since meeting the Baka.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> At one point however, we suddenly stopped at the motion of our Baka guide. A group of what seemed to be other natives emerged into sight and walked over to us. They started talking to each other not in French, but in their native language. The conversation seemed very heated, and eventually all our new guide did was nod his head in agreement with something they were saying. I asked Daniel what was going on, but he was just as clueless as I was. The group we had encountered walked past us and down the way we had came quickly.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Our Baka guide and Daniel then started arguing in French about something. At first Daniel acted like he was being told a joke, then he started getting visibly annoyed. They even started yelling at each other for some reason. Eventually, the small man briskly turned away and just left us, following the others who were headed back to the village. I was deeply concerned and asked Daniel what the hell just happened.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ I don’t know I have never seen them act like this before. They’re upset about some superstitious nonsense. He just kept going on about something I’ve never heard of before. ‘J’ba Fofi’, it’s some legend of theirs I’ve never heard before I guess.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Don’t you think we should just follow them back to be safe?” said Arthur.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ No, listen whatever it is it’s just like the dinosaur Mokele-mbembe. It’s just a legend, it’s not real. Fun stories to tell at night but they have no basis in reality.” Arthur didn’t seem convinced.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ But what is it supposed to be?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ To be honest I’m not sure, but it’s not worth telling anyways. He was hesitant to explain it to me because he knows it’s something that people don’t actually ever see.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Hey if you can take us through the route without his help, I say we get a move on” interjected my wife. Daniel smiled in agreement.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Couldn’t have said it better myself, let’s get a move on!” With that, we followed. Since I was the closest one to Daniel however, I heard him mutter something under his breath. “Fucking great spider? Never heard of that before…”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We walked for many hours longer, and eventually Daniel had us stop. He had a very concerned look on his face, and asked to speak with me in private. I insisted that my wife would hear what he had to say as well, which he resigned to. In a hushed voice away from our children, he spoke to us.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Listen, I’m going to tell you something, but I need you to stay calm when I do. Losing your calm out here will never help the situation. Are you ready to hear what I have to say?” We both nervously nodded our heads yes. “Alright, I’m going to have to come out honest with you, we’re lost right now.” My wife gasped, and I suddenly felt a sickening pressure of worry.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ You said you knew how to get around this area!” I exclaimed quietly.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ I know, I know, and I apologise sincerely for this. It is entirely my fault. There was a certain spot I was supposed to recognize as our turn back point. For some reason we never came across that. We’re lost right now, and there isn’t enough daylight left to get back on track and find the village. We’re going to have stay the night out here.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Then what?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Then in the morning tomorrow, we’ll figure out where we are, and then we’ll get back to the village. After that, it’s back to the clearing and it’ll depend on what you want to do. We can start a fire and have plenty of food still, there’s nothing to be worried about. Again I apologise for this, but sometimes these kind of mistakes just happen.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Daniel had an incredible talent for making any worrisome situation seem less dire. My wife and I actually felt quite reassured about the situation, and asked Daniel what we should do then. We let the kids know the plan to make camp, although we didn’t tell them we were lost. Before it was dark, we had our tents and a fire up, and everything seemed like it was going to be ok.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> As we sat around the fire trying to treat it like a normal night, in mid speech Daniel stopped. He signaled for all of us to be quite. I strained to hear what he must have heard, but I couldn’t hear anything that I hadn’t grown accustomed to already at night in the rainforest. He then seemed to shrug it off and go back to talking.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ I need to go to the bathroom” said Emily. Arthur looked at her and in annoyed tone responded

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Well that sucks, there are no bathrooms here princess.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Shut up, you know what I meant. I’ll be right back.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Daniel quickly put on a serious and commanding face.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Stop. There’s all sorts of nasty stuff out there that can bite you Ms., and trust me we don’t want to deal with that being this far out here. Take this flashlight, and be damn careful while you do your business.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ I know god, I won’t be long anyways.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> After taking the flashlight, we watched Emily walk away from our camp in the middle of the rainforest. Out of worry I had to watch her from where I sat on the ground, I know that seems weird but it’s a parent thing.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> As I watched her, my life went from normal - mostly happy - with sanity - to utter hell. As Emily was walking away, she vanished. In the blink of an eye, her flashlight went flying into the air, and I heard her make the most bloodcurdling screams I had ever experienced as we heard her be dragged away through the rainforest. Daniel immediately shot up with his pistol in hand. He quickly fumbled through his pack until he found a flashlight.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Stay - Here” he commanded. With that, he shot off into the rainforest after Emily. At first, I was in shock, just standing there, but then I disobeyed, and I also ran into the rainforest after my daughter.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Daniel and I stopped at where she had left her flashlight. He scanned around puzzled, and then stopped his flashlight on something.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ What the fuck is that.” he muttered, speaking to himself more than he was to me. I turned my attention to what he was looking at, and noticed a large… string of web… I didn’t really register it as that, as it was simply not possible in my mind. It looked as if Emily had accidently tripped on it, and from there we could see the trail she left behind as she was dragged away.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ This is bad, I have never seen shit like this before. Jack since you’re already out here, do not fucking leave my side. I don’t know what is going on here for certain, but we’ve stumbled into the wrong kind of shit.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> It really wasn’t like him to use that much profanity, he was more freaked out than I had ever seen him. During all of this trip in the face of anything he had been so calm and collected, but now I could see panic grip his face. We followed Emily’s trail at a quick pace. Eventually, that’s when we found it.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We came across a large burrow, six or seven feet across. I heard the most disgusting sound coming from within it. It was like some form of irregular and extremely strained breathing, and moans of pain. I hated the thought that it could possibly be my daughter making those sounds. Daniel told me to stay where I was, and cautiously approached the burrow. I could see him tremble as he took step after step. His breathing was shaky, and I could see his knees could have buckled at any moment in terror. My heart pounded at a million beats per second, time itself seemed to slow down. I waited impatiently for Daniel to aim his flashlight down the burrow. As he came near, he had barely began to peer into the burrow, when I heard him scream and watched him bolt away for his dear life, dropping both gun and flashlight.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I immediately chased after him, not bothering to look behind me. Whatever was going on, I needed Daniel to help me save my daughter. I simply could not do this without him. I tried my best to keep up, but he ran faster than I had ever seen a man run before. Eventually I lost him. I stood there in the dark, no gun, no flash light, nothing. I was a sitting duck and completely lost. I realized I needed to calm down and so I decided to stay put, and collect my thoughts for a moment. After what seemed like a few minutes, I heard it. Something else, something much more quiet and stealthy, was among us in the rainforest. I strained harder to hear, and felt whatever it was, it was far from me. I heard it get louder, not because it was getting close to me however. It seemed to be moving faster through the rainforest. I heard Daniel again, screaming in pure terror off in the distance. The sounds of the rushing through the rainforest, Daniel’s screams, they went on for a while longer, and then suddenly they both stopped at once with one thunderous crash. Daniel let out one final scream, and then after that, he began to go silent. I could hear faint moaning sounds, and weak thrashing, but in time that to faded out. The rainforest was eerily silent. I sat there, doing everything I could to keep myself from losing it. I was scared I wanted to scream and call for help, but I couldn’t. I uncontrollably wept as my chest spasmed with fear and grief.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> My moment of rest was short lived. Soon, I heard it again. The quiet sound of something in the rainforest, moving stealthily along. I knew I was next. Whatever it was that had just gotten Daniel, it knew where I was, and I was damn well next. My body went into a fight or flight mode, and I sprinted for my dear life in the direction opposite of the sound I could hear. I ran for minutes on end, and I felt like the luckiest man in the world when I realized, I could see the campfire again. I finished my sprint towards it. Gasping for air as I came upon the camp, my heart sank. My wife and two sons weren’t there. I didn’t see any sign of a struggle, and noticed some missing flashlights. Much to my horror I realized they went into the rainforest in search as well. I called for them to come back, but heard no answer. I heard that damn awful sound of something in the rainforest still, getting closer. I decided that rather than running, I would rely on the fire to keep me safe. I thought whatever animal it was out there, it wouldn’t mess with me as long as I was by the fire. I waited in trepidation, much like I had waited for Daniel to see what was in that god forsaken burrow with Emily. I… I got my answer eventually. It was the moment of my life, where you feel like everything you’ve ever known - just fucking fell apart.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> From the edge of the light cast by the fire, I saw the most hideous and terrifying thing in my life. Eight black beady eyes shining in the glow of the fire were arrayed with each other, belonging to this hairy eight legged freak that you could call a spider. It had to have had a five foot leg span at the least. It was brown, covered in large tarantula like hairs, with these huge fangs that could easily puncture through someone. At that moment I knew why a calm, rational, brave man like Daniel completely lost his mind after looking down that burrow.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> The spider had stalled for a moment around the fire but began advancing towards me. My instincts kicked in and I began to run for my life again. I could hear it bustling quickly across the rainforest floor after me. I couldn’t look back, I simply kept running without any reserve. Without stopping, I realized I needed to find my remaining family. Luckily I didn’t run the complete opposite direction of where they would have went. I took an educated guess of where they would be, and changed to that direction carefully, so as to not be caught by the enormous spider. As I ran I could see a flashlight through the thicket of vegetation ahead of me.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Run! Run for god’s sake!” I screamed on the top of my lungs at them.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Dad!?” It sounded like Arthur’s voice. He quickly started running towards me. I tried to wave him away, he needed to keep away from me. Before I could run by him, he tackled me.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Dad, there’s nothing fucking behind you!”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Wh- where is your mom and brother.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ He’s right here, we can’t find mom! We heard her in that direction!” I sat up to see Zeke standing by us crying.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Come on, stay close to me, do not let your brother fall behind.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We headed in the direction my son had given. I could hear movement in the distance that didn’t sound like the spider, so I had hope that it was instead my wife. There was no flashlight however, so uncertainty plagued me. As we got closer, I realized that the sound I imagined to be my wife wasn’t moving. It was all happening in the same place. When we arrived to the sound my head spun and Arthur almost immediately threw up.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Laura was sprawled out on the ground frothing from the mouth, clutching her chest. Her skin was red and split all over, and we could hear her attempts to breath. It was just like the burrow with Emily. Intense irregular wheezing as her body spasmed and twitched, and her eyes were rolled back. The sounds we had been hearing wasn’t wandering, it was her occasional spasms as she slowly fell victim to some sort of venom. I scanned the area and couldn’t see anything. I ran over to her and cried as I tried to comfort her. She was completely unresponsive to anything I said. I carefully turned her over to reveal two large wounds on the left side of her back. One of the biggest parts of my life, of my whole world, had once again been ripped away from me in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t going to give up yet however. I was in denial that my wife was already doomed, and I had two more sons that I would do anything to protect.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> We tried moving as quietly as possible through the rainforest. I don’t know if Arthur and Zeke had seen the spider yet, but everyone was content with silence. We didn’t know where we were going, but staying put wasn’t an option. Unfortunately, nothing we did was going to keep us safe.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Once again the familiar sound of a giant eight legged arachnid came within earshot. I carried Laura, and Arthur carried Zeke, and with that we ran as fast as we could away from the sound. I was exhausted at this point, especially having to carry my wife. Arthur look behind his shoulder, panicked and lost his senses, running off in a direction other than my own. I screamed and tried to chase after him, but suddenly I felt my body smack the ground hard. Laura toppled onto the ground a few feet in front me, and I felt an excruciating sharp pain in my lower back. It had caught me, it was over. I had tripped on another one of those strings of web. I didn’t get chased down, I walked right into one of their fucking traps, as if I was their livestock. You could say that’s why I lived though.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> As the venom coursed through my body, it was hard to pay attention to what was going on around me. The two spiders seemed to be having a stand off however. I watched them circle around each other, rearing up their legs and fangs high in the air. I inevitably became too weak to watch. My chest had an unbearable pain like I was about to have a heart attack. My vision would later blackout. I lost all control of my own muscles, and my skin felt like I had thousands of bee stings all over. Beyond that, I remember nothing.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I awoke in a hut, and then I recognized I was back in the Baka village. I hoped that I had just awoke from a terrible nightmare. Upon trying to get up however I realized that wasn’t the case. My head hurt like the worst hangover you could possibly imagine. I couldn’t find any balance just sitting up. The sun seemed far too bright, my muscles all ached horribly, and my skin looked like I had a cheese grader taken to my body.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Easy, stay layed down and keep your eyes closed.” I layed back down, not that I could have stayed up if I wanted to. Before closing my eyes, I tried to see who was there. I saw a dark skinned man sitting next to an old Baka villager.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ The villagers sent for a translator and so I came. I’ll be translating so you and the elder may speak.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> The elder strung out some line of words in his language, and then the man translated.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ You are very lucky to have survived. It was very unwise of you to proceed into the rainforest. I am told our people warned you of the…” he paused, “ ‘J’ba Fofi’, the giant spiders, and you chose to go to into the rainforest anyways.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Now I knew it hadn’t all been some awful dream. My world felt like it had completely fallen apart.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Many of the people worried for you, and went in search of you during the night when you had not returned. You were already bitten when they found you. Our hunters had to scare off one spider and take you back quickly for medicine.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I didn’t care about what happened to me. I already knew I was alive.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ Is my family alive?”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> The translator interrupted the elder and asked him the question for me.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> “ I am sorry, we took your wife back with you, but our medicine could not save her. All the others were lost to the forest, lost to the spiders.”

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> After hearing that, my will to live was gone. Everything important had been taken away that night. I haven’t been able to live normally ever since. If I’m not crushed with the grief of the loss of my family, I am crushed with guilt for feeling like a complete monster who sent his own family to a horrible death.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> Arthur and Zeke were never found. I didn’t want to hear it, but the elder told me they had likely been taken into burrows just like Emily. Laura had died from cardiac arrest. It was nothing short of a miracle that I hadn’t ended up like her. The village mourned the loss of Daniel Saul, whose body was never found. They proceeded with some sort equivalent of a funeral in their culture throughout the day. I simply layed in that same hut and shut out the world for days, barely taking the time to eat or drink.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> They say all humans have their origins in Africa. The fear of spiders, it’s never been a phobia. Arachnophobia is a learned instinct. The world had long forgotten this, and because of it, forgotten why humans fear spiders. It’s because it’s in our blood, we are meant to fear them. There are dark places in the world that humans should not tread lightly. Despite humanity’s arrogance, there are things it is prey to still. It is in these dark remote corners of the world that we find tragedies such as my own. The deep parts of the rainforest in Cameroon have not been shown in the light of modern civilization yet. My family fell victim to something far older and greater than us, we fell victim to nature, where man has not conquered beast.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> I was so out of it while I recovered under the care the Baka, I can’t recall hardly anything from it. All I can remember was over and over again hearing that damn name as the fate of my family was the talk of the village.

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> J’ba Fofi… the Great Congolese Spider…

<p style="text-indent:0.5in;margin-bottom:0in;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:138%;text-decoration:none"> You can put your legs back under the table by the way.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;">

<ac_metadata title="J&#039;ba Fofi (Unreviewed)"> </ac_metadata>