Chapter
2 ‘Splat’ Page 6
Eventually the boys came upon a
right hand bend in the trail, leading away from the river. If they continued to follow the trail they
could end up anywhere. Following the
river was their only guide back so the decision was made to continue on
straight ahead. This lead them off the
trail and into the forest which lined the river. As the boys struggled through the thick foliage, they began to
hear the sound of rushing water.
Pushing their way through a row of trees, Tommy and Jason found
themselves at the edge of a high cliff, and gazing upon a most fantastic
sight. Cascading down the face of the
cliff was the biggest waterfall they’d ever seen! Even bigger than Niagara Falls which they’d visited last summer
vacation! It roared down the cliff
sending off rainbows of water spray.
The bottom of the falls emptied into the river that flowed through a
huge green valley. Tommy knew
immediately that they were on the right track.
The waterfall, however, was going to
be a problem. How were they going to
get passed it? There wasn’t a way down
that either of them could see. Jason
left Tommy to think and wandered off along the cliff edge. He scanned the area and something caught his
eye.
“Hey Tommy,” he called out. “ I
think I found something.” Tommy walked
over to where Jason was standing. Below
them, going down the cliff face next to the waterfall was a series of stone
steps, leading down behind the falls.
Where the steps went from there they didn’t know.
Jason scratched his head. “Well, it’s worth a shot.” he said. “I don’t see any other way down. Do you?”
Tommy shook his head. “No,” he replied.
Getting to the first step, however,
was a real challenge because the drop from the cliff edge was higher than the
boys were tall. Jason went first. He laid on his stomach and carefully worked
his way backwards off the edge. His
stomach churned and his heart was pounding so hard he thought it was going to
break through his chest. One wrong move
and he would fall to his death. It was
a very long way down. Jason ,
reluctantly of course, had to let go of the cliff edge and drop down the last
few feet. He steadied himself on the
narrow step and tried not to look behind him.
Then with his help Tommy followed.
The rest of the steps leading down were laid out at an angle and much
closer together. They had little trouble managing them.
The boys entered behind the
falls. It’s moist vapors clung to their
hair and clothes. Neither of them minded however, as it had been the closest
thing to a shower they’d had in over a day.
The heavy wet air was almost suffocating. There were more steps leading out from behind the falls and down
the other side to the valley floor.
The change in climate was instantly
noticeable. Atop the falls had been
warm with a mild breeze. But down in the
valley it was hot and humid with no breeze at all and tropical like a
jungle. The heat did its best to zap
them of what precious little energy they had left. The trees were covered with thick green moss and draped with
jungle vines. Everything was green
except for the ground which was covered in moist black dirt. It was like entering a world inside a
world. This adventure got stranger with
every step.
Tommy looked up at the tree
tops. He could see the sun fighting its
way through the dense jungle canopy.
Time was not on their side.
Trying to ignore the eerie feeling this place gave them, the boys set
off into the jungle, and had not gone very far when they came across a very
disturbing sight. Scattered on the
ground around them were bones. Tommy
pushed some of the battered bones around with his shoe. He immediately recognized some of the
skulls.
“They’re dinosaur bones,” he
announced.
Jason gulped and looked around. “What do you suppose did this?” he said in a
quiet voice.
“I don’t know,” said Tommy. “Maybe other dinosaurs?”
Their situation didn’t look
hopeful. If animals who lived in this
environment ended up dead, what chance did they have. This was yet another sign
of how dangerous and unforgiving this world was, but they knew they would have
to carry on. Home wasn’t going to come
to them.