It’s a cool day in the rainforest. The branches are dripping with just-fallen rain. The leaves are crackling in stereo as droplets fall upon them. It’s like the forest is stretching after a long slumber. Tiny birds chirp happily as the insects are out. The insects chirp happily too. The forest air is thick with noise.
A hiker has stumbled into this natural domain. His holey shoes and cotton jumper were poor choices for this environment, but that’s not his concern today. He drinks the sweet air through his nostrils. He loves the wilderness, and he knows what it takes to survive here. That’s not his concern today though. He’d normally be looking for dry tinder to start a fire, or a patch of flat land to pitch a tent – with no dead branches above. But, that’s not his concern today.
The hiker set out with one goal in mind. He set off with the clothes on his back. He walked from his home, through the suburbs, over the ridge, and into the rainforest. He scaled a cliff and crossed a river to get this far.
He’s found the spot. He sits under a fern tree and looks up at the sun. He’s soaked to the bone. He starts to shiver.
The only survival tool he brought with him was his knife. It’s all he thought he’d need for what he wanted to do today. He sits in the damp leaves. The moisture seeps through his jeans, making him colder and colder. He rolls up the sleeves of his soaked jumper, kicks off his dripping shoes, and puts the knife against his arm.
The hiker sees his reflection in the polished blade. He looks into his own eyes. He sees the sadness in his expression and he feels pity for the person looking back. How can he kill such a pitiful thing? Snap out of it! He raises the knife above his head, and with all his might, he brings it down hard.
The hiker has cut a length of bamboo. He peels off his drenched clothes, ties them to the end, and and throws the pole over his shoulder like a bindle. He walks back towards civilisation in the style that nature intended, allowing the last rays of the sun to dry his bare skin. He’ll be home by sunset.
T
Tandi Tales 
Oh, I like that! Nice twist. Just not sure what exactly he killed. A bamboo plant? And a now he’s a nudie like me.
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Yes, Fred! I thought you might like this one.
The hiker was going to kill what he saw in his own reflection: himself.
Instead, he had an epiphany, cut a hobo stick from a piece of bamboo and lived to be a nudie another day!
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Lets recommend nudity to all suicidally depressed people!
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Merry Xmas
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Same to you!
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