[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Lana was scared shitless but I poked it with the walking stick I’d made from an aul fallen tree branch.Lana near had a fit she shrieked and pulled me back as the scorpion raised its pincers in a display of aggression it was about the size of your fist so it was.I just want to see him striking get off me will ye, I goes, it’s awesome isn’t it, don’t annoy it Will, she goes, I don’t want to have to carry you all the way back if it bites you.They don’t bite, I says, and besides it’s probably dead venomous too so you wouldn’t have to carry me far.I edged my stick towards it and the wee fucker wheeled around to try and see what was going on.Will don’t! Stop it, you’re scaring me, Lana says, what if it takes a run at you? I hesitated for a second then pulled my stick back, I never thought of that can they run fast, I goes, how many legs has it got, she says.I tried counting them, eight by the looks of it, I goes, right, she says, well that’s four more than both of us put together come on let’s go back this is obviously his forest, take it easy will you, I says, this is not Super Mario Brothers he’s not some guardian we have to defeat to get to the next level.I’ll just give him a wee incentive to move along out of our way with my trusty poking stick here.The scorpion scuttled away to the left to avoid the end of my stick then seemed to lose interest in us as it noticed something else in the jungle it turned sudden like and made its way quickly off into the brush.The forest was quite dense sure you could hardly see very far into it all branches hanging down and moisture in the air very authentic so it was like in Jurassic Park or something.Straightaway I thought of yer man the great white hunter getting caught out by the raptors that was the best bit when he knows he’s gonna get ate but admires them enough to say clever girl.The two of us was stood there taking in the sounds of the jungle like fucking Tarzan and Jane, the sweat dripping down my back and soaking my T-shirt.I felt Lana’s sweaty palm slip into mine and our fingers closed together dead tight.She was staring up at me with this weird expression, sort of studying me or something.I turned with my back to the forest so’s I could see her in the sun and just bask in her aul beauty.We stood like that for a while just looking at each other no talk or movement or nothing just holding hands the two of us.Eventually she moved in close to give me a hug, she stood up on her tippy-toes and her head went over my shoulder I was ready to squeeze the life out of her only she stepped back again dead quick and I was a bit disappointed until I saw the look on her face.She let go of me and put both hands up to her mouth.I could tell straightaway from her expression something was very wrong I’d seen it too many times back in Belfast that look of pure fear.There was something behind me I could feel it there in the jungle I hadn’t heard it sneak up I suppose that’s its business not being heard, wouldn’t be much of a predator otherwise.Lana was frozen to the spot so I turned around dead slow and peered into the gloom, it took me a few seconds to see it I think it was disbelief more than anything else that made me not register it was there sure it was pretty obvious.A fucking tiger.It was huge, bigger than me and loads heavier just standing there poised like a house cat stalking a mouse or a bit of string waiting for it to move so it could open its mouth and leap.It was stunning so it was the first thing that went through my mind was holy fuck would you just look at that, fucking magnificent it never even occurred to me that I was about to get ate like yer man in Jurassic Park funny I’d just been thinking about that fuck sake what a stupid thing to be thinking when you’re faced with two hundred kilos of killing machine, course I thought all this in about a millisecond or something ‘cos after that my first instinct was to get between the animal and Lana.Something kicked in then some switch inside me I went into pure concentration mode not scared or nothing dead calm actually they say you shouldn’t look an animal in the eye like a gorilla in case it charges ye but that all went out the window, maybe it’s not the same for big cats but I just took one small step to the side to block it from getting to Lana, flexed the muscles in my neck and stared it straight in the eyes.Everything came into sharp focus then, it was just me and the tiger looking at each other studying each other sort of communicating and the only thing I could hear was the sound of my breathing and its breathing, its belly rising and falling its shoulder blades sticking up ready to pounce there’s no way I could of stopped it if it had decided to barrel through me but I was talking away to it through my eyes I don’t know how I done it but that’s what it felt like, I want her, it was saying to me, no I said back, go about your business elsewhere you can tell what I am, you know I am not afraid brother.Wild so it was, never felt nothing like it, the creature kept staring at me with its big golden eyes its whiskers twitching a wee drop of moisture hanging off the edge of one clear as day it obviously heard what I was saying, I seen its shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.It’s not that it couldn’t take me of course it could easy but there was something between us some sort of understanding or respect maybe one beast acknowledging another, anyway it opened its mouth and bared its teeth turning its head sideways and snarling I tell you what ninety-nine point nine nine per cent of cunts in this world would of shit their pants right then and it would of been all over but I just smiled, nothing could hurt me no more I was gone beyond the limits somewhere more than human in that one perfect moment fucking transcendent so it was somehow everything was clear and in focus and still.I nodded and the tiger turned around and with a swish of his tail loped off into the jungle.I waited for about ten seconds to make sure he was gone even though I knew he was.I turned round to Lana her eyes was wide her mouth hanging open arms limp by her sides
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]