as it slid away from the shore. The monsters that were able jumped over the edge with a SPLASHSPLAT, and everyone else quickly shinnied down the snake rope.
âHurry, hurry!â yelled Gordon, who was practically pushing Ben down the rope. âJust jump, itâs probably deep enough now.â
âFine, Iâll jump if you help me swim to shore,â he said.
SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH.
Everyone was on the shore or in the water helping one another keep from getting sucked into the current as the ship was swiftly pulled away.
âAre the swamp creatures okay?â Nabila asked Director Z as he pulled her up onto the shore. âIs there something we can do?â
âTheyâre probably just stunned by the current under the waterfall,â said Director Z. âTheyâll be fine, but Iâm afraid they wonât come around quickly enough to save the ship.â
âBut they did save Chris,â said Shane.
âYes, they did, indeed,â said Director Z.
The great pirate ship, its sails completely slack with a lack of stinky winds, tipped over the waterfall with a great CREEEEEEEEAK.
There was silence and then . . .
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
âSo much for our monster transport,â said Gordon.
âThatâs all right,â I said. âI need to go into the jungle now, anyway, I think. Thanks for all the help, guys.â
I turned to leave and was immediately grabbed by Roy.
He flipped me, and Gil once again held up the gross brown armpit raisin that he had tried to feed me before.
I smacked it out of his hand before he could get it to my mouth. It tumbled into the dirt.
A small monkey darted out of the jungle and picked up Gilâs sick little treat.
âGive it back!â yelled Gil.
But the monkey ran right past him and scurried up my legs.
âHey!â I yelled, but Roy held on tightly.
The monkey shoved its hairy black little hand right into my mouth, depositing the putrid armpit raisin into the back of my throat. I swallowed and gagged almost immediately. My throat tasted like the moldiest mushroom pizza in the world.
HWARRRRF.
I dry-heaved so hard that I flung the monkey down onto the sand. It ran back into the forest.
âFor the love of Neptune, keep it down!â yelled Gil. âIt took years to make.â
Tears welled up in my eyes, and my stomach cramped terribly. I squatted on the ground and clutched my knees.
Shane walked up to me and patted my back. âHow do you feel?â he asked.
âI feel like I want to throw up through my eyeballs,â I said. âAnd I still feel like I have somewhere to go. But I donât need to rush there anymore.â
Shane sat me up on a nearby rock.
âWelcome back, dude!â yelled Clive, and he slapped my shoulder so hard, I fell off the rock.
âSorry, I got a little too stoked,â said Clive.
I passed out in the sand.
Jungle Zit
I woke up in the shade, but I was still sweating through my clothes.
âItâs so hot,â I moaned. âI feel terrible.â
Above me, beautiful tall trees rustled with birds and monkeys that jumped from branch to branch.
Shane walked over and helped me off the ground. Large wet leaves were stuck to my back. âYeah, Director Z said that youâd be affected by the heat a lot more now that youâre not as driven to go south. You were running on pure adrenaline!â
âWhere are we?â I asked.
âFirst of all,â Shane said, â
who
are we?â
âYouâre Shane,â I said. âIâm Chris.â
âAwesome!â he said. âI just wanted to make sure we hadnât lost you again.â
âSo, where are we?â I asked again. I looked around to see I was in a rain forest with massive trees. Huge trunks shot up from the ground into the air and were crisscrossed with vines.
Nabila, Ben, and Gordon walked over to me. Nabila held Benâs hand.
âFor the