Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

Whilst the apes were trying to swing after him at the same speed, Gerald had an unfortunate accident.

He collided with a rather large, and not very friendly beast that, like Mungai, was of dubious origin. The beast had been asleep in the branches at the time, and was non too pleased by this unwanted intrusion into his dreams. He reared up on his hind legs, delicately balancing himself on the thinnest of branches, and lunged for Gerald.

“He looks like a monkey-meat lover,” thought Gerald, but he was frozen to the spot and could only think of his imminent death, followed by a prestigious military funeral, he hoped, for his few remains.

The unidentifiable creature grabbed Gerald by the feet, and swung him round and round above his head, and then hurled him skywards towards the canopy roof, where he became stuck between two branches. He was so far up, the others lost sight of him. On his own, with no-one to help him, he thought immediately of his 'military training' and decided to bring in the 'vacate the high location' manoeuvre. This manoeuvre was something only to be used in emergency situations, which he quite rightly deemed this was.

He did not have much time, so he started straight away tearing off branches and bits of other vegetation, and weaving them together securely. He kept doing this until he had a large piece, three times his own size. He took one corner in each claw, and let himself fall backwards, down from the top. It was a very crowded tree. The growth from top to bottom was extremely dense. It cannot be said he sailed down from above, more bounced than anything. He bounced and he bounced and he bounced. From one branch to the other...sideways, backwards and forwards. Hanging upside down, he could not see where he was going. It was like blindfolded skydiving with obstacles. Much to his surprise, he found the jungle floor. It was not a soft landing.