[ WP ] You are a child lost in a jungle . Something is hunting you .

*Heliconius sapho*. I'd only ever seen photos of the rare butterfly, and now I was less than one foot away from one. It stood on a leaf for nearly a minute before flying off. 
 
 I followed it for a few paces before turning back towards the trail. The rest of the group was no longer there. 
 
 I quickened my pace to catch up to them. They could n't have been far, but I walked for nearly ten minutes without being able to catch up. 
 
 `` Mrs. Avery?'' I yelled. Silence. 
 
 That was strange. I should n't have heard *nothing*. I should have heard insects buzzing and birds chirping, but instead all I heard was my ears ringing. 
 
 I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned towards it. Standing about 10 feet away from me was a humanoid figure. It was completely black except for two white points where its eyes should have been. Actually, `` black'' was the wrong word to describe it. It was more like it was no color at all, just a gap in what I could see. 
 
 I started sprinting almost immediately. I had no idea if it was following me but I did n't want to take any chances. After about five minutes sprinting down the trail, I paused to catch my breath. I noticed that the forest was no longer silent. In addition to my own heavy breathing, I could hear birds and insects. 
 
 After a minute, I continued walking briskly down the trail. After about an hour, I felt the cacaphony of the forest die down again, as if someone had turned a volume knob down on everything around me. 
 
 I did n't need to look back to know that *it* was right behind me. I took off running again. 
 
 After about five minutes, I felt my left foot catch on a branch, and I barely got my hands out in front of me to break my fall. I rolled over and came face-to-face with... Mrs. Avery? 
 
 `` Danny! You had us all terrified. I was about ready to call for a search party,'' said Mrs. Avery. She offered her hand to me. 
 
 I felt relieved. But then I realized – Mrs. Avery never called me Danny. Always Daniel. And I still could n't hear any ambient noise coming from the forest. 
 
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 /r/rpwrites
