The Chronicles of Draylon (17 page)

“What's for dinner then Draylon?” asked Paul licking his lips.

“Let me see. We have energy bars and various dried foods, anything take your fancy?” asked Draylon amused at their lack of options for dinner.

“Could you do your flying thing and get me some fish and chips do you think?”

“Paul. We're in the jungle, how many people have a portion of fish and chips in the jungle?”

“Granted, but who wants to be the same as everybody else,” said Paul hoping.

“I'm sorry Paul, just this once you'll have to suffer the energy bars. We have some dried apricots?”

“Wonderful. A pack of them and some water then please.” said Paul sulking.

Draylon was most amused and couldn't stop grinning at his friend. Paul soon cheered up as evening approached and the tranquillity of the forest around them consumed him. He was quite happy chewing merrily at his dried apricots and dangling his feet in the cool water. Draylon was enjoying the peace and the gentle sound of the river, when he heard an almighty scream. He looked up Paul was scurrying up deck towards him. Draylon looked into the water and there was an absolutely enormous fish. When he realised that the fish had brushed past Paul and scared the life out of him, he became hysterical with laughter at his friend.

“Paul, Paul, please calm down, it's only a fish.”

“A fish! Did you see the size of that thing? That was a shark I tell you.” said Paul still in shock and miffed at Draylon's amusement.

“It was a Pirarucu; it's an ancient fish of the Amazonian rivers and lakes. Did you know that those things can grow up to ten feet long and weigh up to 220kgs?”

“I do now! Phew, that thing scared the life out of me.”

“I'll let you off; it certainly was a big fish. Do you still fancy fish and chips?” said Draylon laughing once again.

“No!” said Paul, starting to see the funny side of it now.

It was getting late and Draylon suggested dropping anchor and getting some sleep for the coming evening. Once the boat was at a pause, they both got out there sleeping bags should they need them. Paul sprayed the insect repellent all about himself, choking on the fumes, and also popped an anti-malaria tablet. They both stretched out getting comfy, and sat watching as the sun disappeared, giving way to the night.

“It's been a good day. This is such a beautiful part of the world, if only the fish were a little smaller,” said Paul smiling to himself.

“It was a giant.” Draylon laughed, “It has been a good day. I don't feel at all tired.”

“I don't think I'll have any problems sleeping, no noisy neighbours here.”

“Are you missing Easter Island?” asked Draylon.

“There is always a place in my heart for home, and my little yellow car. But I am having the time of my life, this year has been unbelievable. Thank you again for this, I'm very lucky to have a friend like you Draylon.”

“I'm the lucky one. You're a great friend. My sidekick. I am Batman and you are my Robin.” Draylon laughed.

Paul laughed. “Changing the subject slightly, do you miss your biological father, Karlon?”

“I do.” Draylon paused for a second, “despite him trying to kill me. I suppose he felt he had no choice.”

“I suppose. Very sad.” Paul felt bad for his friend, “I don't remember my parents, as they died when I was just a baby.”

“They would have been very proud.” Draylon smiled, “Come on, time to get some sleep, I expect we'll be on foot tomorrow.”

“Good night Draylon,” said Paul, and then seconds later he was fast asleep.

They both awoke early the next day, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. Paul helped himself to an energy bar and some water, and then stretched out on deck enjoying the scenery. Draylon started up the motor, lifted the anchor and set forth down river.

Draylon pointed out a caiman crocodile to Paul, and he explained that they are the top of the food chain in the rivers of the Amazon. Paul found himself a seat in the centre of the boat, suddenly aware of several crocodiles in the vicinity, Draylon laughed.

“You are perfectly safe Paul, trust me.”

“I trust you. It's those crocs that I'm having a hard time trusting.”

“We may have to wade to shore at some point today, if we can't get close enough to the land.”

“Don't worry, I'll stay and guard the boat.” said Paul nervously.

Draylon laughed, “I expect you'll be guarding our food supplies too.”

“Now that's a job that I am qualified for,” said Paul smiling.

It was midday, and Draylon manoeuvred the boat toward the riverbank. Paul was ecstatic that there would be no wading in the croc infested waters. Draylon lowered the anchor and tied the boat up to an overhanging branch. The forest was thick, but they were both looking forward to having their feet on ground again. They gathered up all of their gear and started to make their way into the jungle. Paul wasted no time popping another anti-malaria pill and covering his whole self in insect repellent spray.

The jungle was warm and damp, and they trudged their way through in awe of the gigantic trees, and many varieties of wildlife. Paul found it disconcerting all of the different noises in the forest, and everywhere he looked he saw movement. Draylon pointed out a bird with an enormous yellow beak; he explained that it was a toco toucan. Paul had only ever seen wildlife like this in a zoo behind closed doors, and he found it quite strange and scary walking amongst all of the wild animals. Draylon also pointed out a very flush looking monkey; he said that it was a bald-headed red uakari. Paul said that the monkey was obviously a little embarrassed about something judging by his bright red face, Draylon laughed.

“How on Earth are we going to find a disc shaped craft in this enormous expanse of land?” asked Paul.

“To be honest, I have absolutely no idea my friend. Let's just hope we are lucky.”

“Yes, before we run out of dried apricots and energy bars.”

“I've just had an idea. I remember reading that the Achuar tribe, use a concoction of plants to create a drink that promotes prophetic dreams. It wouldn't work on me, but for you it might just be what we are looking for. The only problem is that it would involve vomiting,” said Draylon unsure of what his friend's response would be.

“Vomiting! That sounds wonderful, bring it on.” Paul shook his head, “You must be crazy! I know what you mean now; I saw it on an episode of Bruce Parry's
Amazon
. There is no way I am doing that.” Paul was adamant.

“I'll make a deal. You do this one thing for me, and I'll get you some fish and chips”

“You drive a hard bargain Draylon. No!”

“Please?”

“Oh, alright, but you are going to owe me big time.”

“Thank you! I'll be back!”

Draylon shot off into the jungle looking for the key ingredients for ayahuasca. Aya means spirit, and huasca means vine, spirit-vine. The ingredients he was looking for was banisteriopsis caapi, a South American jungle vine. And also, psychotria viridis with its dimethyltryptamine containing leaves also found in the jungle. He returned an hour later to find Paul happily munching away at dried apricots.

“Did you find the ingredients we need for this brew?” Paul asked, hoping that Draylon had no success.

“I have everything that we need. All that is required now is to boil up the two ingredients, and then your health tonic will be ready.” Draylon smiled.

“I can hardly wait for tonight,” said Paul sarcastically.

“Thank you Paul. Maybe we'll find the craft before nightfall and you won't have to drink the tonic.”

They set off deeper into the jungle. Paul checked the compass from time to time, just to make sure that they weren't going around in circles. Every now and then both Paul and Draylon broke an overhanging twig to mark their trail, and help them navigate back to the boat when the time came. The day wore on, and everywhere appeared to be the same, trees, trees and more trees. Paul started to tire and suggested they make camp for the night, Draylon agreed.

They got their hammocks from their backpacks and hung them on closely-knit trees. Draylon gathered materials to start a small fire. Paul unpacked the cooking materials finding a pan. Draylon built the fire and made a platform for the pan. He then lit the fire and added water and the materials he found in the forest to the pan. The prophetic brew had begun.

The ayahuasca was ready. Draylon had about a litre of the concoction prepared, and explained to Paul that he must keep it down as long as he can before purging. He said that once the brew was all gone, Paul then had to drink a litre of fresh water and again it must be purged. Paul was apprehensive, but ready, he knew that unless he had a prophetic dream leading them to the fallen saucer, then they might never find it in the Amazon.

He started to drink, vomiting instantly.

“I am sorry Paul, but you must try and keep it down,” said Draylon.

Paul drank again, holding it this time for a minute and then vomiting violently.

“Well done Paul, that's good, well done.”

“Thank you! Those chips had better be good for this.” Paul mumbled, tears starting to stream his face.

He drank the last of it, holding it down for two minutes, and then an almighty roar, projectile vomiting all over his feet.

“It's Just the water now my friend, well done.”

Paul drank half of it in one gulp, seconds later he couldn't hold it, and vomited all over his feet again.

“Last time, come on Paul, try to hold it, last time.” encouraged Draylon.

Paul drank the last of the water. He held it, and held it, minutes passed, and then the mother of all projectile vomiting, Paul painted the tree with his bile. It was done.

“Well done Paul.” said Draylon pouring a little water over Paul's feet to clean them.

“Thank you! I feel Yuk!” Paul slumped over.

Draylon felt very upset for his friend, “Time to sleep Paul, I'll watch over you.”

Paul collapsed into his hammock and fell asleep instantly. Draylon watched over him as the hours passed by. Paul was sweating and mumbling and Draylon gently patted him with a cool clean dampened cloth. Paul's eyes opened from time to time, displaying only the whites of his eyes. Morning approached and Draylon continued to nurse his friend. Midmorning Paul eventually awoke.

Paul looked up at Draylon, “I feel terrible.”

“I'm sorry Paul. Did it work? Did you dream?” asked Draylon curiously.

“I dreamed alright. You owe me big time, big time!”

“What did you see?”

“All you have to do is put that ring on that you have in your pocket. The craft that crashed here belongs to the greys; your kind. So your ring should be able to navigate us to the site.”

“But I've used it recently and there are no grey craft on this planet.”

“Maybe it's buried and emits a weak signal.”

Draylon reached into his pocket and pulled out the flawless metallic ring. He placed the ring on his right hand, on his pointing finger. He could see the craft; the image was faint, but it was superimposed in his own vision. They were just a day's hike from the site. Draylon told Paul the good news, that by tomorrow morning they should be at the site of the grounded craft.

They both ate their breakfast, dried apricots and energy bars washed down with water. They then headed off deeper into the jungle. The temperature was warm, and Paul was finding the trek hard work, so he stopped regularly for water breaks. The forest was becoming continually denser. Draylon felt bad for his friend after the ordeal of the ayahuasca the evening before. And so didn't want to push his friend too much, and was more than happy to stop for as long as he wished.

The day was pressing on and Draylon held up his hand and whispered to Paul to be quiet and stand very still. Paul froze, suddenly feeling very frightened. Draylon pointed, raising his arm slowly to a beige cat in the distance prowling slowly towards them. It was a cougar. Its mouth was open baring its large sharp teeth, and it held Draylon's gaze as it stalked towards him. It appeared to have a limp on its rear leg and it did not look happy at all. Draylon moved in front of Paul to protect him, and readied himself for an imminent attack. The cougar started to run, faster and faster towards Draylon. Paul shouted with fear. And the cougar pounced.

A couple of months had gone by and Adriana had not heard from Draylon at all. She missed him very much, but knew deep in her heart that she could never be with him despite her feelings. She decided that she was going to be strong, and she was going to move on, and start dating again.

Adriana had been approached several times by Ronaldo Vega, whom also lived on Easter Island. He had asked her out on dates but she had always turned him down flat. Ronaldo was of average height, very lean, with olive skin and dark hair. Adriana found his brown eyes very seductive, and had it not been for her feelings for Draylon, she would have said yes to him many times.

One day Ronaldo came into the supermarket where Adriana worked, and as per usual he flirted with her and asked her out on a date. Only this time he almost swallowed his tongue when she finally said yes.

Weeks went by and Adriana was falling in love all over again. Ronaldo was very sweet to her, buying her flowers and chocolates, and taking her out to nice restaurants, she felt very happy. Ronaldo was starting to become quite affectionate towards Adriana, and she still felt a little uncomfortable, but she was warming to him, and she told him to just be a little more patient with her.

One evening she decided to go out for a walk to take in some fresh air and enjoy the stars in the night sky. She became tempted to pop into The Rongorongo Inn. She went up to the bar and ordered herself a coffee, and then sat down in a secluded corner dipping her complimentary biscuit into her drink. She overheard a couple that were drinking copiously and obviously very drunk, flirting and kissing, and she became quite embarrassed. She stood to leave, glancing in the direction of the couple. The man looked up, it was Ronaldo.