The Flesh Eaters
“There they are!” Chilli screamed, pointing to her parents clinging to a pile of debris in the middle of the raging river. “Mooooom!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.
“How’re we going to get to them?” she cried, looking around for something that would carry their weight on the water.
“Let’s...” Ty stopped short and sniffed the air as a familiar foul smell filled the air.. “What’s that stink? Oh no! The Mutandii! They’ve found us! Quick, we must find a boat or something.”
Chilli began frantically searching for some sort of watercraft the river may have spat out onto the shore.
Through the bushes they heard the sound of breaking branches and the squelch of damp leaves underfoot.
“Quickly! Detritus is getting closer!” Chilli screamed frantically.
Ty spotted something behind a shrub he had first thought was a big log.
“Over there! It’s an old canoe, and a paddle! Help me drag it into the water.”
As Ty pulled the canoe towards the water, two black shapes broke through the undergrowth. The Mutandii!
“Eeek!” Chilli shrieked. But there was no time for hysteria. She quickly grabbed the other side of the canoe and helped Ty drag the dead weight across the sand. Their fear of the Mutandii and the sound of the gnashing jaws gave them the strength they needed, and they managed to slide the canoe to the water’s edge.
“Get in Chilli. I’ll give it a shove!” Ty threw the paddle into the boat. Chilli and Oubaas quickly clambered into the canoe as Ty strained to push it towards the river.
“Nyaargh!” he grunted as his feet sank into the mud.
“Hurry! They’re right behind you” Chilli screamed. Ty gave the canoe a final desperate shove and it shot into the water.
“Eeeek!” Chilli squealed as Detritus thrust out a spiny claw to grab Ty. He ducked, but he felt the razorsharp spines scythe off a few of his dark curls.
“Buggeroff!” Chilli cursed, picking up an oar and giving Detritus’s claw a hard smack. Thwack!
Ssssssssssssss! Detritus hissed angrily at her.
“What, dontcha like it when your prey fights back? You big, ugly bug” Chilli taunted.
Before Detritus could recover, Ty grabbed hold of the canoe.
“I’ve got you” cried Chilli as she grabbed hold of Ty’s shirt. The canoe rocked dangerously as he dragged himself onto the dugout and then lay on its floor panting for breath.
“You okay, Ty?”
Evidently he was fine, because he got to his knees and shouted at the Mutandii: “You’re disgusting! You need a bath!” He grabbed the other oar. “Now let’s go and get your parents, Chilli.”
It helped that the river current had already grabbed hold of the canoe and began sweeping them rapidly downstream.
“Over there! They’re over there, near those rapids. Mom, dad, it’s me, Chilli!” she screamed, waving crazily in the air to catch their attention. But they didn’t react to Chilli’s screams.
“I don’t think they can see us,” Ty observed. “We must be invisible to them. We’re going to have to find another way to get them back on land.”
“Whoooa” Chilli grabbed onto the edge of the canoe as another violent surge of water almost toppled them over.
“We’d better be careful” Ty warned, ‘the river’s full of flesh-eating piranhas. Whatever happens, don’t fall in the water!”
But Chilli wasn’t listening. Her eyes were riveted on her parents. It was clear they couldn’t hang onto the debris much longer. The floating island was rapidly growing smaller as pieces of it were ripped off by the powerful current. Chilli’s mother screamed in terror.
“Richard” she screamed, “I’m going to fall in!”
“Hang ooooon. Whatever you do, stay out of the water!” Chilli’s father shouted.
“Eeeeeeeeeeekk!” Chilli shrieked. To her horror, the water around her parents started to broil with thousands of small fins. It was the piranhas!
“Mom, dad!” Chilli cried again. She stood up in the canoe as she helplessly watched her parents being sucked into the water. The canoe rocked dangerously beneath her.
“Sit down Chilli! You’ll topple us. We’ll be fish food!”
“I can’t hold on anymore. I can’t …!” Chilli’s mother screamed as the clump of lilies she clung to broke in half.
“We’ve got to do something Ty. Maybe they couldn’t hear me because of the water. Try whistling. Maybe they’ll hear that.”
Ty was doubtful, but he decided to try anyway. He pursed his lips and whistled as loudly as he could.
Phweeeeeeeep!
But Chilli’s parents didn’t react. “It didn’t work, Chilli.”
Then Chilli saw something that made her blood run cold. “There’s a rock in the middle of the river. They’re headed straight for it. If they hit it, they’ll end up in the water.” Ty began paddling furiously towards the struggling adults.
“Faster, they’re going to hit it” Chilli cried.
Too late! The weed bed hit the boulder head on. The impact shredded the makeshift raft, sending the last of the plants racing down the river. But at the last moment, her parents managed to jump onto the slippery rock. They clung to it desperately with the tips of their fingers, their toes scrambling frantically as they tried to keep their bodies out of the water.
But the boulder was covered in a layer of slime and they couldn’t get a proper foothold. Elizabeth was the first to lose the battle. Her feet slid off the boulder and touched the surface of the water. Instantly the river churned with thousands of piranhas as they greedily fought to get the first piece of flesh.
“Mooom!” screamed Chilli, tears streaming down her face. She covered her eyes with her hands, too terrified to watch.
Suddenly, Ty shouted “Chilli, look!”
Two pale pink shapes about the length of the canoe swam to the surface of the dark river and went skimming past them.
“What’s that, Ty?”
“Fresh water dolphins! They’re headed towards your folks.”
It suddenly dawned on Chilli why the dolphins had appeared. “Your whistle must’ve called the dolphins. Siesta said we must whistle if we need help!”
As if directed by an invisible hand, the dolphins swam straight towards the boulder.
Chilli’s father spotted the fresh water mammals. “Elizabeth” he shouted, “don’t be frightened. It looks like they want us to climb onto their backs!”
Her teeth chattering with terror, Elizabeth could only nod in reply. She watched as the one dolphin sidled up to the rock and bobbed in the water, waiting for her to climb onto its back.
Elizabeth carefully clambered onto the dolphin’s back, making sure her feet weren’t anywhere near the water. When the dolphin felt her passenger was safely seated; it flicked its tail and propelled itself towards the river bank.
Then Chilli’s father transferred his weight from the rock onto the other dolphin. It immediately followed its mate to shore.
“Wooooow” murmured Chilli as she watched her parents clinging onto the dolphins’ pale backs.
The dolphins swam as close as to the shore as they could and then stopped, waiting for their passengers to clamber off their backs.
Richard and Elizabeth carefully climbed off the dolphins, then stumbled to shore and collapsed onto the riverbank, exhausted.
Satisfied their passengers were safe, the two silent rescuers turned and headed back into deeper waters.
“They’re safe! They’re safe!” Chilli dangerously pitched the boat as she threw her arms around Ty.
Skree-skree-skree! Oubaas shrieked at the thought of being on the piranhas’ menu.
On the shore, Chilli’s parents sobbed and hugged each other tightly. Their ordeal was over.
But Chilli’s celebrations came to an abrupt end as a whirring sound came towards them from the air.
“What’s that?” asked Ty, glancing around them.
“It’s the Mutandii! They can fly! Start paddling!” Chilli cried.
“Where are they?”
“Behind us. Don’t look, just paddle!” Chilli yelled.
Ty turned to see two huge black shapes flying towards them. “Oh, hell no!” he cursed. He plunged the oar into the water and started to row as fast as he could.
“Paddle to the middle of the river Ty. The current’s stronger there. Let the current take us.”
Ty scooped deep and fast in a desperate attempt to reach the surge in the deeper waters.
“Faster! They’re gaining on us!” Chilli watched in horror as the giant cockroaches closed in on them.
“Faster, Ty. Faster!”
“I’m trying! I’m trying” he panted. His arms ached and he felt blisters starting to swell on his hands.
Detritus was now directly above them. His shadow and odour enveloped them. It was all the incentive Ty needed. With almost superhuman effort, he pulled the canoe into the churning rapids. They were immediately dragged by the current at breakneck speed.
“You did it Ty!” Chilli exclaimed. “You’ll never get us now!” she yelled at Detritus.
“Thank... goodness” panted Ty, “I couldn’t hold out much longer.” He rested the paddle on his knees and tried to catch his breath. The blisters on his hands were stinging like mad.
“They’ve given up. They’re gone” said a relieved Chilli. She searched the sky for Detritus and his hench-roach. But all she could see was a flock of noisy blue and gold macaws overhead.
The current pushed them at a terrific speed down the river and then round a wide bend. But they weren’t safe yet.
Whhirrrrrrrrr. Above the roar of the river they heard the drone of cockroach wings.
“They must’ve taken a short cut through the rainforest at the bend in the river” screamed Chilli.
“We just can’t get away from those things” grimaced Ty.
“You’re too tired. Give me the oar.” Chilli grabbed it from Ty and started slicing through the water with strong, even strokes.
“Keep steady Chilli. If we tip over, we’ll be the ones feeding the piranhas.”
“I know, I know” she grunted through gritted teeth.
“They’re catching up!” said Ty, giving Chilli more information than she needed.
To make matters worse, the river started to toss the canoe around in dizzying circles. Then it heaved them onto the crest of an enormous swell that pushed them even faster down the river. But not fast enough. Detritus and his officer tucked their ugly heads closer to their chests, and flapped their wings harder. The distance between them and the canoe was closing fast.
“I’ll try and get us back to the rainforest. We’ll have a better chance of escape,” yelled Chilli.
“We’ll never get out of the current.”
“I’m going to try anyway” Chilli grunted, plunging the oar into the water again.
“No, just keep paddling straight ahead. I’ll fight off Detritus” Ty shouted. He grabbed a thick stick floating past past them. “Hah, now for a bit of serious pest control!”
“Ty, look!” Chilli screamed in terror. The canoe spun again and Ty saw where they were headed. His heart sank. They were about to lose the battle.
“A waterfall! We’re headed straight for it!” Chilli screamed.
Ty didn’t need Chilli to point out the obvious. They were barely fifty feet away from the tell-tale mist that rose high into air created by the tons of water cascading over the cliff.
“Give me the oar” ordered Ty. “I’ll try and get us to the riverbank.” He reached out to grab it from Chilli.
“It’s too late!” Chilli was right. They were going to go over the edge! Ty reached down into the canoe and grabbed a rope lying at his feet.
“Oubaas, sit closer to me. Chilli shift backwards. We have to stay together. Here Chilli, tie that end around your waist. I’ll tie Oubaas to me. Then hold on tight!”
They quickly tied the rope to their waists then wrapped their arms around each other, bracing themselves as they plunged into the misty shroud.
Above them, Detritus had caught up with the canoe. He grabbed hold of the only thing he could - Chilli’s pony tail.
“Eeek!” Chilli shrieked in horror as she felt the sharp tug on her scalp. If Detritus managed to lift her out of the canoe, the others would follow – they were tied together! Chilli shrieked again as she frantically tried to pull her pony tail out of Detritus’s claws.
“Leggo!” she screamed. They were only inches away from the waterfall.
Something inside Oubaas snapped. He lurched forward, grabbed Detritus’s claw in his powerful jaws, and bit down hard.
Keeeruuunch! The claw snapped off and fell writhing and snapping onto floor of the canoe. Black liquid oozed from the leg stump and landed on Chilli’s arm with a sickening plop.
Detritus and his comrade backed off for a brief instant. But now Detritus was incensed.
Ssssss! he hissed as he swooped down again, his injured arm trailing uselessly behind him. Ty swung the oar wildly at the cockroach.
“We’re going to die!” Chilli shrieked as she felt the canoe lurch over the edge of the waterfall. In a final act of defiance, Ty threw the paddle at the giant cockroaches.
“Hold on!” shouted Ty. “We’re going ooovvveeer!”
“Aaaaarggggh!” they screamed as the canoe dropped out from under them. They plummeted down, down, down, following the craft as it hit the water far below them.
The three friends plunged into the deep lagoon at the bottom of the waterfall. The violent impact with the water jolted their brains, plunging them into unconsciousness. Senseless, they sank straight to the bottom of the murky water.
The waterfall had claimed its souls. All was peaceful again.
Below the waterfall, the river had been tamed. It flowed calmly, gently bending the reeds lining its banks.
The three limp bodies rose to the surface and floated lazily down the river. They spun and bobbed as an eddy nudged them towards shallower waters on the riverbank. It was here that the river finally gave them up onto the shore, its waters licking at their feet trailing in the water. Chilli’s ponytail cut a relief of bright colour against the drab sands of the riverbank. There was no rise and fall of their chests to show whether they were alive or dead.
There are not many have who taken on the power of the mighty Amazon River and survived.