A Day in the Life of Jungle Jack (Short Story)

Jack, for as long as he can remember, has been woken by the happy chirping of one thousand and one birds around him. He wipes the sleep from his eyes and glances in the direction where the sun is starting to cast its rays in yellow streaks thinking, “What a privilege it is to be a Jungle dweller?”

As Jack wipes his long hair from his eyes, he hears Flashtail his favorite squirrel happily chirping in expectation of the new day ahead. He is perched on a branch opposite the wide forked branch in the Hardwood tree, which is also Jack’s favourite resting place. He has noticed that the acorns of the Oak trees nearby are starting to ripen and that some of them may soon be ready to be eaten or to store in his tree nest pantry as winter supplies.

A gentle shuffling sound in a fork lower in the tree alerts Jack that Jessie has also started to wake-up. She is usually not as keen as Jack for early starts and likes to nestle a bit longer in her specially selected abode which doesn’t get a lot of sunlight until later in the day.

Following the well-trodden route to the designated latrine fork, to relieve himself, Jack balances himself carefully as he starts to make a list of all the things that needs to be done for the day.

-        The water supply needs to be replenished.

-        He needs to check the bird traps for some fresh meat to provide himself and Jessie with protein.

-        The fish traps need to be checked as fresh fish will be a great supplement to their diet.

-        He must look for Dragon Fruit or Mangoes that can be harvested, as some of these have started ripening with the change of the season.

As he returns from the “latrine”, he retrieves the food storage basket from the large burrow in the tree that he and Jessie use as their pantry. He takes-out a Pawpaw, a Banana and a few pieces of dried pheasant meat for him and Jessie to enjoy for breakfast. Breaking the Pawpaw into two equal halves, Jack and Jessie sit next to each other on a thick horizontal branch with their feet dangling high in the canopy of the jungle.

Flashtail quickly rushes across to them to claim his portion of what is on offer, and together the three of them indulge in the fresh fruit while sipping lustily on a mixture of wild honey and coconut milk.

Jack shares his plans for the day with Jessie reminding her to be ready with the necessary ingredients to treat fresh bird meat for drying, to preserve fresh fish, and make room in the pantry for some fresh fruit that may be harvested.

Jack puts a few pieces of the Pawpaw skin, that still has some flesh on it, into his woven knapsack to use as fresh bait in the bird traps. He checks if there is enough bark twine in the sack to repair bird and fish traps where necessary.

He gently taps Jessie on the shoulder and light-footedly descends from the den in the canopy of the large Hardwood tree to take a dip in the pool below the waterfall before engaging the planned activities for the day ahead.

Jessie lingers on the flat branch thinking, “How lucky am I to have Jack around! He is always so eager to provide for our every need.”

That Night.....

When Jack returns to his favorite seat on the big flat branch of the Harwood tree he thinks, “This was a very successful day,” experiencing a pleasant sense of satisfaction. The pheasant that he found in the ground trap has been shredded into long thin slices, treated with some herbs and rock salt and hung on the branch of a thorn bush to dry. This will provide some good protein for him and Jessie for a while. The single perch that he managed to catch in the fish trap is big enough to provide a well-deserved dinner for tonight. Although the mangoes that he plucked from the early-season tree still need to ripen a bit, they can be sliced into small pieces and mixed with wild honey to make a salad to accompany the fresh fish.

He really enjoyed the time spent with Jessie in preparing the pheasant and filleting the fish while being inquisitively watched by Flashtail who thought, “How do they manage to eat other living things? Humans are funny animals.”

Jack’s thoughts are pleasantly interrupted when Jessie, with soaking wet hair, appears on the big flat branch after a refreshing dip in the waterfall pool.

They enjoy a tasty dinner and comfortably spend the time watching the sun disappear behind the horizon surrendering the jungle to the nocturnals, the moon, and the starry sky. They cuddle for a while before carefully moving to each of their favourite sleeping hollows way above the forest floor.