As he looked over the wilderness, Chad couldn't help but be impressed by its endless beauty. And it was indeed truly *endless*
Above the horizon of trees, the sun was beginning to set and the sky was colored with bands of maroon pink and gold.
Behind him, he heard a soft thump. Rob had dropped from his upper branch to Chad's much more sturdy perch.
"Chtok, You know you have to eat the fruit to get at the fibers at the center?" said Rob, as he crouched down, pulling a small knife from a leather sheif tied to his clothes. A focused look crossed his face and he began fixatedly picking away at the wood, something seemingly having caught his eye. In his childlike way, he seemed almost uninterested in an answer to his own question, mind immediately jumping to something else.
Nodding, Chtok plopped down into a cross-legged position next to his friend, the thick branch providing more than enough room for the two ten-year-olds. Lifting the fruit, he took a bite and leaned his back against Rob's. He enjoyed the sweat juices and the rising excitement about what lay at the fruits juicy center.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the two boys sat back to back in quiet, the buzz of the jungle surrounding them.
______________
"Yes!" shouted Rob as he pulled a wriggling beetle from the core of the branch. "One of the big blue ones. The medicine man says these are good luck! Says we can make all sorts of things out of them!" Robs voice was colored with excitement as he stared at the insect.
"Someday" he continued "I'm going to be the next medicine man. And unlike him, I'm going to make all KINDS of things. Potions that will make me strong, love potions, potions to fix bones....you name it!"
Rob's mind raced with the possibilities, his dreams quickly extending into childlike fantasy.
Half listening, Chtok was more focused on his fruit. With a final nibble, he'd cleared away the orange fruit and held the sizeable seed that lay at the center. A seed that would provide more than enough fibers for the next week or more. Grinning, he turned to show his prize to his friend.
"And I'll make potions that can control minds! Then my stupid brother will stop...."
Chtok was going to interrupt to show off the fruits of his labor, but for some reason, he paused. Quietly, he listened to his friend's words.
Something was off about them. Looking at his friend's skin, he noticed something was off about that too.
And then it hit him.
Shaking his head, the many braids and feathers in his midback length near mane of hair flopped wildly as Chad concentrated on clearing his jungle boy thoughts.
"Ruut!!" he said, interrupting his friend. He noticed the name he'd used. It wasn't right...his name was supposed to be....R-Rob. Rob! It was Rob.
'Rob!" He repeated, correcting himself.
At the sound of his old name, the jungle boy paused. A look of confusion passing over his face. Turning, he looked at the boy before him. The name Chad passed through his mind, prompting many and more thoughts to cascade, prompting memory after memory of his old life to emerge.
"Ch-Chad?" He replied Looking at the beetle in his hand, he realized just how far gone he had been. The jungle boy in him was as-yet a major part of him, and rather than discard the bug, he put it in a small pack on his hip.
Scratching his hands through his hair, he was astonished at how much hair he encountered. Lifting one of the chocolate brown locks that cascaded over his chest, he could hardly believe his eyes. Below that, he saw his skin. In the hour or so that had passed atop the tree both he and Chad's skin had gradually darkened to a medium brown. Holding out his hand, he examined it. Its size, color, everything was just...alien. Yet still his, and familiar. It was all surreal.
"Dude...bro..." He said, turning to Chad. "We totally lost ourselves, didn't we?"
"Yea...we did" Chad replied, still taking in just how much they had both changed in the time that had passed "If we don't get out soon, i'm not sure I can resist this body."
He looked down at himself, studying his form.
"Something about it" he continued "Just feels good. Like, in this body I find myself just wanting to *be* a part of the jungle."
"I know what you mean. It's just weirdly, irresistible. It's fun, feels good, feels *really* good."
"Rob" said Chad with a point "Look!"
Turning, Rob saw a hand full of smoky pillars that were rising from the trees just a short distance away. Dotted in distinct patterns, the fires had to be human. It was a village.
"Think they'll know a way out?" Rob asked his friend.
"Worth a try!" Chad replied, a hint of his child like vigor once again tinging his words. A sense of excitement filled him. Perhaps they could get to the bottom of why they were here, why these clothes had changed them, and *who* had changed them.