THE ISLAND 

By Tessa Harvey


    Dennis marched with confidence for about twenty minutes. He had no phone, but even if he had, there was no coverage. Slowly the jungle seemed to become more and more tangled. Then the little boy stopped suddenly. A very pretty green snake was dangling down in front of him. The reptile slowly opened its wide mouth as though lazily yawning. The boy felt mesmerized by those black glistening eyes. The snake swayed. Dennis froze. The forked tongue flickered.
    Staring in to that mouth, Dennis had a bright thought. It could not swallow him! He had a chance. Behind the snake appeared a nasty, leering face. Elijah! Agh!
    Then, as though in a scary movie, a boy's voice whispered very low down. "Fall down child. Snake ok. Man not. No noise. Follow me. I am friend, Malati."
    If he had been a few years older, Dennis would have thought something like "Yeah, so what. You're just a random like rescuer. Get lost. I got this."
    The voice seemed to read his mind. "Fine, okay. You lost. Man mad. I go."
    Just about to yell "Wait," Dennis felt a very small hand over his mouth. A little girl looked at him - saved by a girl!! Dennis followed fast.....


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