; ; Taking a long drink from her water bottle, the young redhead looked ; slowly about her. “I’ve still got about four hours of daylight ; left, but I’d better be through this stuff soon or I’m going to ; have to camp in the midst of it. I’ll go on for another hour and ; then decide.”
; ; She was on a quest. It started with a few obscure old references in ; the sub-archives at the university library regarding third-hand ; reports of large carnivorous plants that fed on humans. After two ; years of reading old documents, she had narrowed the possible sites to ; two. One was in South America in an area where local warfare was ; raging. The other was here in central America, in a hidden canyon ; somewhere ahead. If she could find and photograph the plant, her ; position in botanical history would be assured.
; ; The university reagents had listened to her proposal, but the concept ; was too wild for them to fund. “And what would be the benefit of ; finding such a monstrosity, other than to prove it’s existence?” ; they had asked. She had to admit to herself that there really ; wasn’t any; the only reward was to have validated the old ; reports. Even if she brought back a living specimen, realistically ; there was no way anyone would let her feed it people – even ; troublesome freshmen.
; ; Frustrated, she sold everything she owned to finance the trip. The ; Botany dept did allow her to take some surplus equipment, including a ; very good camera and infra-red scanner with her. These so far useless ; pieces of lead were now pulling down on her shoulder straps as she ; moved forward with a forty pound pack on her back.
; ; Just as she was ready to stop for the night, she noticed the brush ; beginning to thin. “Am I imagining it or am I finally through this ; morass?” she asked.
; ; Up ahead, a clearing appeared. True, she was still deep in the rain ; forest, but the head-high brush seemed to fall away. Nearby, she could ; hear water running. Stepping into the receding sunlight, she realized ; that at least for tonight, she’d found a place to rest.
; ; Removing her pack and boots, she walked around. The area was perhaps ; fifty yards wide and more important, held a lovely stream. Looking ; into the clear waters, she could easily see the soft sandy bottom, ; punctuated by a few round stones. A few small fish darted away as she ; stepped into the warm water.
; ; “Do crocs live at this altitude?” she asked herself, but her ; tired brain refused to respond. “Not likely” she decided and ; waded in up to her knees, washing the dirt and sweat away. Returning ; to the bank, she peeled off her shirt, bra, shorts, and panties and ; returned to the soothing waters. She lay back and floated in the still ; pool at the bend of the stream, letting the mild current wash and cool ; her heated body. “What a relief” she sighed, “but I need to ; be careful or I’ll go to sleep right here and drown”.
; ; Something moved softly over her leg. Looking down, she saw the long ; strands of some water plant floating in the current. Her hand slipped ; and she was wafted slowly towards the strands. Regaining her grip on ; the bottom, she allowed the leaves to caress her skin. It felt ; good. Too good. “I haven’t had anyone touch me for a month” ; she thought. The soft touch was like that of a lover as he undressed ; her. By turning her body slightly, she was able to move the leaves so ; they stroked over her groin. Within minutes, a powerful orgasm washed ; over her, the another, and another. In her weakened condition, she ; realized she couldn’t keep this up, and forced herself to leave the ; pool and crawl into her sleeping bag. Her eyes closed and her brain ; simply shut down. Blackness rose up and swallowed her.
; ; The next morning, she awoke to realize that she had grossly ; overslept. “The sun is climbing towards mid-sky and my lazy ass is ; still in bed” she thought. “And I still have to keep going ; through the forest for at least another day just to be sure I’m in ; the right area. The canyon was supposed to be due west of a ridge with ; a tall peak of white granite at one end. Supposedly, the sun striking ; the granite at the right angle would make it appear to be snow. Snow; ; in a land where the temperature was already eighty degrees. Some joke!
; ; “Time to get on the trail” she admonished as she shouldered her ; heavy pack again and bid farewell to the clearing. The forest seemed ; to open as she walked. While there was nothing that resembled a trail, ; she could see ahead and began to make good time as she progressed. At ; noon, she reached a sudden overlook. Scanning the horizon, all she saw ; was green; no snow, not even a flash of white. Discouraged, she ; checked her map again. No clues!
; ; “Damn. This just isn’t right” she fumed. Discouraged, she sat ; down with her back to the overlook. “Maybe I should just go back ; and….”
; ; It was a though she’d been hit full in the face by a ball ; bat. Directly behind her, a tall white column of rock jutted silently ; into the clear sky. It couldn’t have been half a mile away. “How ; the hell did I walk past that?” she asked. A quick compass check ; told her she was west of it. “I’m in he damn valley right ; now. Great way-finding, you dumb shit!” she exclaimed. “You’d ; probably trip over the Goddamn plant, pick yourself up and walk ; blindly on without ever seeing it. What an explorer! Thank God no one ; else is along.”
; ; Calming down, she began to put her thoughts together. “First, I ; need to establish a base of operations. Second, plot a return course ; on my maps while I still remember the details. Third, set up a search ; pattern and start looking.”
; ; About fifty yards downhill, she could see a level spot. When she ; reached it, she was rewarded with not only a nice camp site, but a ; small waterfall with a deep pool at it’s base. Sorry, no floating ; plants this time. Ah, the things a researcher had to give up these ; days…..
; ; When all of her plans were complete, she ate her dinner, took a swim, ; and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day. “How many days will ; it take to search this place?” she wondered. “First, I need to ; find out how big this place is. Then I simply have to find a plant ; I’ve never seen before in an area whose size I don’t know – ; assuming it even exists.”
; ; Her only clue came from the two brief reports that both mentioned ; silver leaves. There was a single vague reference to a blue flower or ; bluish color somewhere. Each of the four reports gave differing sizes ; for the thing. “Well, if it can eat a human, it has to be at least ; six feet tall” she said. “WRONG said her brain, suppose most of ; the plant is below ground. All it would need would be a small opening ; – maybe a flower – to swallow its prey. Or it could be a version ; of the Venus Flytrap and just enfold its victim with sticky leaves ; that secrete digestive enzymes.” All pure speculation!
; ; “I’ll know when I find it” she thought, “But I do need to ; be careful. I’m here to find it, not feed it.” The sheer thought ; of becoming plant food made her shudder. “No one would ever find my ; remains way out here.” Sleep came easily and deeply.
; ; For the next three days, she searched in vain. Each night she returned ; to her camp. Finally, there was no more area to search. She had found ; two small previously unknown plant species which she photographed and ; collected, but her prize had eluded her. Her food supply was getting ; critical; she needed to go back. Reluctantly, she turned her back on ; the white column and retraced her steps.
; ; Back at her original camp, she returned to the warm solitude of the ; pool. Floating naked in the water, she allowed herself to drift over ; to the floating leaves. Soon they were caressing her body again, ; relaxing her, tempting her. She allowed herself to float even closer ; to them. Now she found she was actually supported by them in the ; water. Soft smooth leaves covered most of her body. The rubbing of the ; leaves between her legs lifted her gently from one orgasm to the next.
; ; “Ok Cheryl, that’s enough” she thought to herself, ; “You’ve got to get some rest for the trek back.” Time to get ; out.”
; ; Probing for the bottom with her foot, she discovered she couldn’t ; find it. She had drifted into deeper water. “No problem” she ; thought, rolling onto her belly, “I’ll just swim over to the ; bank.”
; ; She hadn’t gone three feet when she noticed she was not making any ; headway through the leaves. They seemed to be gently holding her ; back. She tried to push them away, but the current seemed to wrap them ; about her wrists and arms. Slowly she began to notice that they were ; moving against the current rather than with it. It was also becoming ; harder for her to move, as though the leaves were pushing in around ; her body. Her legs felt like she was buried in soft mud.
; ; She finally stopped struggling and lay still, waiting to see what ; happened. Off to one side, she noticed something floating in the ; water; something large. Rolling onto her side, she watched
; ; as a dull bulbous object rose slowly first to the surface, then above ; it. It seemed to be attached to a thick float or….was that a stem?
; ; Mesmerized, she watched as the object swayed gently in the air, the ; water dripping silently off to fall back into the pool. The thing ; seemed to expand and then the covering seemed to peel backwards, ; exposing a strange unrecognizable shape. Only when the covering was ; completely retracted did she notice the silvery color on the inside of ; the tissues.
; ; “Silvery leaves…..blue something…. flower? no…..petals? ; no….” Then it hit her; water, blue water. The pool was ; distinctly blue. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? “I think I ; may have just found what I was looking for or, more appropriately, ; it’s found me.”
; ; She could feel herself being drawn closer to the main body of the ; plant, for that was the only thing this object could be. A faint aroma ; was noticeable; pleasant, but not overpowering. Unnoticed, small ; tendrils began to first stroke her body, then rest against her ; skin. Swirling about her like so many long hairs, they soon had her ; effectively but loosely restrained. Microscopic needles lining each of ; the hairs gently entered her skin. A powerful drug began to be ; injected very slowly, causing her to relax even more. Strangely, she ; felt no fear, only a calm repose as she watched events unfold around ; her.
; ; Looking about, she realized that she was no longer in the water. The ; writhing leaves had raised her above the surface slightly where the ; sun began to dry her off. Returning her gaze to the plant, she began ; to search for the mouth. “If it’s going to eat me, there has to ; be an opening somewhere in the main part of that bulb.”
; ; As if on queue, the white bulb expanded. A depression appeared in the ; top, which widened steadily. Slender tendrils wiggled out and over the ; sides, reaching for her. She could look directly into the opening ; now. A moist, pink tube going down into the stem beckoned to her. The ; tendrils guided her head forward.
; ; “I’ll o down easier this way” she said as she raised her arms ; over her head. The restraining leaves did not serious impede her ; progress as she was moving very slowly. Both hands disappeared into ; the tube, exploring the incredibly smooth, slick surface. As her arms ; slid in, her fingers touched something hard and unyielding. There were ; several of these, slightly oval but thin, set into the walls of the ; tube. Running a finger over one, she was surprised with the ease with ; which it cut her flesh like a razor – deep and ; clean. “Hmmm…she thought, “teeth of some sort, to slice up ; its prey on the way down.
; ; Again, almost no pain. The drug that relaxed her also dulled all nerve ; endings. Her head entered the maw. Looking down between her breasts, ; she could see the leaves lifting her belly. A large thick coil ; appeared out of the water, ran under her pelvis and back over her ; rump. As it rose, she was slowly raised higher. Something crept ; tightly around her ankles and she felt her legs being raised as well.
; ; “It’s going to just let gravity slide me inside” she ; thought. “No wonder no one ever found this thing, it’s ; aquatic. It lives under water, disguised as a mass of floating ; vegetation in a quiet pool. Anyone looking would see only a crystal ; clear swimming hole beckoning during a hot day.”
; ; By now her shoulders were inside. She felt the leaves and tendrils ; moving against her breasts, guiding them into the maw. Now she was in ; up to her waist. The plant seemed to stop for a moment, then she felt ; more vines tighten around her ankles and she was suddenly standing on ; her head.
; ; “Dinner time” she shouted as the grip was released. Her body ; slid forward slowly, gathering momentum as she went. With a single ; smooth motion, her long legs straightened out and followed her round ; ass inside. The teeth cut long, deep gashes into her breasts, back, ; and belly as they slid over them. The maw closed over her feet and she ; was gone from sight.
; ; She slid about eight feet into a smooth sack. This had to be the ; digestive chamber. It was already filling. She felt vaguely warm, then ; realized it was the digestive juices working on the raw meat exposed ; by the teeth. “It won’t take long like this” she thought ; through a dim haze. Her higher brain functions were beginning to go.
; ; “Well I certainly proved the stories were true. Unfortunately, ; I’m not going to be able to share that with anyone. I wonder if ; they’ll even look for me. Probably not, the gear isn’t worth the ; cost of the ticket.”
; ; With a final sigh, she curled into a fetal position and went to ; sleep. Already above, the leaves were covering the bulb, which was ; slowly submerging to await its next victim. ; ;