Lost in the Forest

Lost in the Forest

Summary: When 17-year-old Shenzi Tuck takes a solo walk in a familiar forest unwillingly, she comes face to face with a group of all to familiar faces.

Shenzi’s POV

On a normal Saturday afternoon, I decided to take a walk. My mom had been on my butt a bit about getting some exercise, even though I’m already fit and slim, and fresh air, instead of staying cooped up in the house all day.

I decided to wear a pair of black corset-like, lace-up denim shorts, black socks with white lace, black converse sneakers, a green stud belt, a purple lace bow in my hair with a skull and crossbones, and a black cropped, short-sleeved sweater with a cool design of the planet Saturn in purple. It stopped a bit above the bottom of my ribs, so my belly and sides were exposed.

I giggled as I remembered a silly moment from 15 years ago; my friend Max’s little brother Matt was born, and me and the Zimmeruski twins, Bobby and Roxanne, wanted to take him back to the hospital for a “refund.” Mostly the twins wanted to. But we got trapped in a forest, along with missing circus monkeys.

One of which I remember got a little too curious about me; mostly my skin color. It had my shirt up, and was poking my sides. I remember it tickling quite a bit. My sides aren’t my most ticklish spots, but it still did. I had fallen out of the tree, but another monkey grabbed me before I hit the ground.

Plus I had drawn them away by running off with a jar of banana-flavored baby food, but I had to stop at the edge of a cliff. I had thrown the jar in the river below, but the all the actual food had spilled all over me, and the monkeys licked it off. Plus due to my bad luck, that curious one was there, and he had poked at my sides and belly. I remember it tickling a lot.

I stopped walking so I wouldn’t bump into anything or anyone, and I realized that I was in a forest. ‘Oh great,’ I thought as I looked around for a way out, but it all looked the same. “Ohh,” I groaned in frustration as I started walking around to find my way back home. All the while, I kept thinking that the forest looked so familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

When I saw a ranger’s station and a bridge with a large hole in it, it hit me; this was the forest me and my friends were trapped in when we were babies! Trying to remember the way out, I ran in a random direction, but I just ended up in another part of the forest. I groaned again as I stopped and looked around again.

I turned around to go in another direction, but I skidded to a stop when I saw a face right in front of me. I screamed a bit in shock and jumped back, but I saw that it was just a monkey, surrounded by other monkeys, all of them staring at me. They looked very familiar to me; then it hit me; they were the circus monkeys that chased me and my friends in the forest when we were babies! The first one I saw was one I knew all too well; it was the one that was manhandling me when I was a toddler. Hopefully they didn’t recognize me, or remember that.

“Uh, h-hi,” I stuttered nervously, “Re-remember me?” The first one leaned in closer to me after I asked that. He seemed to stare at my face before his eyes wandered down; he jumped down on a rock in front of me, and seemed to stare at my belly. I started to get nervous.

And just as I feared, it stuck out its index fingers, and poked at my bare belly and sides. I flinched and squeaked a bit. His expression after that clearly said that he remembered me. And his and the other monkeys’ now evil smiles read that they wanted to have some fun with me. I backed away, but one of the monkeys swooped down, grabbed my wrists, yanked me back over there, and pulled them up, leaving my partly exposed mid-section vulnerable. Plus I was facing away from them, which made me even more anxious.

“N-no! Leave me alone! I mean it!” I exclaimed as I started to struggle. One of the monkeys jumped down the rock, slipped his hand under my shirt, and started tickling my ribs. “Eeehehehehehehehe!” I giggled as I tried to arch back, but he followed my movements. He used his other hand in tickling my side right where it curved with one finger.

Another stuck out its index finger, and wiggled it in my belly button, which is one of my most ticklish spots, while his other hand tickled my waist, another one of my most ticklish spots, right above my shorts, which he tugged down a bit. “Aaaahahahahahahahaha!!” I laughed as I started to struggle again. The tickling was already too much for me. Thankfully, they stopped after a few seconds, but it wasn’t over.

One of the monkeys in the tree grabbed two vines, and tied them to my wrists. Then he pulled on them, so I was surprisingly lifted up in the air; they must have been strong. He then dragged his index fingers down my taut sides from under my shirt.

“Aaaaahahahahahahahahaha!!” I laughed as I squirmed around and kicked my legs in the air, and he dragged his fingers back up before just tickling my hips and waist, which were more exposed due to me hanging by my arms and being completely off the ground. More of my belly and sides were exposed too, along with more of my ribs.

He stopped after a few seconds, but he wrapped two more vines around my ankles over my socks. After they were tight, but not too tight, he pulled on them, so my legs were lifted up, and I was facing the ground, leaving me quite vulnerable. Not surprisingly, I was dangling near the other monkeys on the rock. I unfortunately couldn’t see the ones on the tree branch. It didn’t help with my anxiety or my nervousness.

I let out a squeal when a monkey grazed his fingers on my bare, trembling sides.

“Aaah!! Hahahahahahahaha!!” I laughed as another on the rock reached up and tickled my hips and waist. “Stohohohohohohop!! Pleheheheheahahahahase!!” I begged as one monkey in the tree reached down, and stroked my ribs under my shirt. One on the rock laid his finger in the middle of my ribs, then dragged it down my torso until it went in my belly button, where he tickled intensely.

“Aaaahahahahahahahaha!!” I laughed, tears coming in my eyes, as he used his other hand in tickling all over my belly, hips, and waist. “W-whyhyhyhyhy ahahahare yohohohouhuhu d-dohohohohoing thihihihihis?!” I asked through my laughter as my sides were still being tickled, but the monkey’s hands moved to where they curved in. They stopped after about a minute, thankfully.

But a monkey grabbed my sides, and pulled me on to a lower thick tree branch, where I was laid face-up, and my wrists and under my waist were tied down to the branch, with my hands under my head. The branch wasn’t completely straight, so my body was flexed out a bit.

“L-let me go!” I exclaimed as I started struggling, “Please! I’m begging you! I’ve had enough! Let me go!” The monkeys didn’t listen, however. One above my head pulled my shirt sleeves down, and tickled my armpits, two of my most ticklish spots. “Aaaahahahahahahahahaha!!” I laughed as I struggled again, “W-why are you d-doing this?! Hahahahahahahahaha!!” I asked again through laughter as my sides were tickled again. The monkey doing so laid his index fingers under my armpits, then ran them my trembling sides to my waist and back up, as I squirmed around, desperate to escape, go back home, and never leave the house alone again.

“P-pleheheheahahahase stohohohohop!! I cahahahahan’t t-tahahahake ihihit ahahahanymohohohore!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!” I begged as almost my entire mid-section; my sides, belly, ribs, belly button, waist, hips, and armpits, were tickled all at once. I had tears falling down my flushed red cheeks, and my lungs were getting exhausted.

Thankfully, after a few minutes, the tickling abruptly stopped, and I was untied and let down. As I panted, I was also sweating a bit, I angrily turned around to give those demon monkeys a piece of my mind, but they were gone.

Deciding to not get myself in any more bad situations, I started walking cautiously, and paying more attention to my surroundings. Miraculously, I was able to find my way home. I walked into my house, where my parents and sister were at. Or at least my sister; our parents were at the Java Lava, where they work at.

“Whoa, Shenzi!” My sister Frankie exclaimed as she quickly stood up, “Are you okay?” I guess she saw how out of breath I was.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” I nodded, “I just uh, I wanted to get home as soon as I could,” I said as an excuse. I didn’t want to talk about my traumatic experience. I walked upstairs to my room, flopped face-up on my bed, and took a long nap.