Night. The jungle is full of peace, not a jaguar prowling around or a monkey screeching at the top of his lungs. All around, calmness and serenity fill the air as the sound of talking is the only music that fills the jungle atmosphere. For in the jungle clearing, there lies me and my extended family: Luke, Resus, Cleo, Bluey, Bingo, Luella, Six, Muffin, Socks, Mike, Sue, Alston, Bella, Niles, Eefa, Dr F, Bandit, Chilli, Uncle Stripe, Aunt Trixie and Nana. Living surrounded by huts in the jungle clearing, we all sit together around the fire after a hearty supper of hog's meat, chatting and laughing. Socks is fast asleep, her head nodding off, while Bingo is fast asleep on her mother Chilli's lap.
From inside my hut, which I share with my siblings, I sit in darkness, feeling lonely and unsatisfied with what's happening right now. But didn't somebody say, "You've got to focus on the present moment, not on the past." Yes, he or she did. I creep towards the door of my hut and see this joyous family occasion. Suddenly, a jackal howls! I cower for a bit, but suddenly it stops. Finally feeling brave enough, I walk out into the clearing, and all the family are pleased to see me. They laugh and gesture for me to come and join in, and Bandit laughs, "Ah, always welcome in this family." I sit by the fire. Oooooh, it feels really warm. So warm in fact, it makes me feel like snuggling up beside someone. But who? What about Luke? A-ha! Yes! I think I'll do that first
I feel warm and safe with my brother by my side. Even though he turns into a werewolf when he's angry, he can protect me from anything that lurks in the jungle at night, such as cheetahs and jackals. When a predator does come, he partially transforms his hands into werewolf claws and fights like he's the bravest boy in the jungle! You don't have to thank me, thank Luke for keeping me under his wing. As a big brother to us all, he protects the other members of the family - even the adults, especially when goofy Bandit is acting like a big baby. You can tell, he sucks his thumb in his sleep! I wrap my arms around Luke and hug him like I never knew he was my brother until now.
Next I go up to Resus and sit beside him. I do this to him every time we sit round the fire because Resus is a bit of a wimp when it comes to hunting for food. He just holds his spear with sweat-covered hands and then runs for his life whenever a jaguar comes chasing after him. Chilli always tells him, "There's always tomorrow," and with her words Resus is inspired never to give up. He even declares that he hunts for his dark angel, Luella, as he doesn't want her taken by predators like the jaguar that always chases him. When he's not hunting, he's often playing amongst the leaves or in the lake with his siblings. He likes to chase me around the jungle, and then leap onto me when he has eyed his prey, pretending it's a little mouse. He would then tickle me, and I'd tickle him back. When Luke, Cleo and I challenged each other to see who could roar the loudest, Resus' roar would just be a little squeak. We would tell Resus that he was born different, yet, he could always challenge himself to roar louder next time.
I throw my arms around Resus and say, "Thank you for being a great brother to me." "I trust that. All the things I did was not just to embarrass myself, it was to protect my family." Everyone sighs softly, then I go up to Cleo and begin to talk to her. Cleo was the smartest of all the siblings, and she knows where to find food or seek shelter when there is one. Once, there was a huge rainstorm, and every animal there had to find shelter. Cleo and the older kids helped set up this shelter out of huge sticks and leaves, and all the family sheltered under there, so we all couldn't get wet. Another time, she confronted a jackal by howling fiercely and smearing her face with berry juice. She got severely stung, but Eefa, the wise witch woman of the family, used healing juice from the inside of a dry gourd to heal her. It took 8 weeks for Cleo to heal, but luckily she survived and was restored to normal. The jungle is sometimes a dangerous place, but here, you don't have to be escorted to some Man Village because there is no village near the jungle, you just rely on your family and friends - the ones you trusted and grew up with your whole life - to teach you to hunt and survive. No man-eating tigers are going to hurt you, because there are no such things as man-eating tigers.
Speaking of tigers, Cleo would find black ooze from a tar pit and paint stripes all over her bandages, then use juice from a berry to paint her nose pink, then trick the other siblings into believing that Shere Kahn has returned from the dead. Why? Because The Jungle Book was published a long time ago before me and my family came. Shere Kahn is dead now! This would frighten the younger siblings, especially Muffin and Socks, but Bluey would be brave and roar back, then wrestle Cleo while we cheered her on, screaming like apes. In fact, we would pretend to be apes when Bluey wrestled with Cleo, because we would pretend Bluey was Tarzan and Cleo was Sabor. There had been legends told in this jungle, such as Tarzan and Mowgli, and many famous people have come to adapt these legends into world-famous books, which have been published all around the world. Of course, we were the ones who knew these legends, and without us, these books would've never become famous.
Next, after a hug with Cleo, I approach Luella. I talk softly, because Luella is shy and tender. She is the one who stays at home to prepare dinner or clean our huts with her aunt Eefa while we are out to play or hunt. She often joins in as we play games like hide and seek or tag in the leaves, our laughter filling the jungle air as we played, but when she is tired, Luella nestles into the leaves and has a nice, long nap. We'd often join in with her nap too, because this leafy green nest was far from danger. We'd call it our special 'TogetherNest', where we'd cuddle up and feel safe from danger. It was Luella's idea. She thought of the TogetherNest first, because it's where we all liked to be together in the safest place in the jungle. When she bathed in the lake, she would shower under the waterfall alone, waiting for Resus to sneak up behind her and splash her. Luckily, this didn't happen, and Resus as always failed. But he obeyed Chilli's words and was inspired not to give up. Luella loved being tender to the little kids, especially Muffin and Socks - she showed Socks how to swim, as she was only a baby. Stripe and Trixie would be proud of her, because she was the only one who could teach the little kids the ways of the jungle, and how to survive. Socks was her favourite member of the family, and she always played fetch with her…unless she ran into any jaguars or warthogs.