Burning Moon (Wattpad Version)

Alternative Ending- Chapter 23 (Lilly finally finds Damien!!)

We soon came to a large clearing in the bush were we found a small village comprised of a few small houses build out of bamboo. They were all very quaint and well -built, some of them balanced elegantly on stilts, whilst one or two were actually built into the trees like a child’s dream tree house, complete with rickety rope ladders. A few children ran around outside playing, whilst others seemed to busy themselves with the morning duties of washing clothes and cooking. A man then appeared and ushered us to the back end of the buildings, where about ten other people had already gathered. Many of them looked vaguely familiar but this didn’t seem to matter at all, because within a matter of moments everyone was hugging and greeting each other like long lost friends. You really couldn’t help but get caught up in the party spirit, I had felt that contagious feeling last year, and this year was no different.

We were all still talking and laughing when another man came around the corner pulling two elephants behind him. I’d never been this close to an elephant before and I was momentarily taken aback. Although the Thai elephant is much smaller than it's African counterpart, but that doesn’t detract form the fact that it is massive. It is imposing and intimidating and with its strange grey leather like- skin and long trunk, is somewhat alien in appearance. But despite all this, and despite my steadily growing misgivings about riding the beast through the jungle, they were in fact remarkable calm and surprisingly affectionate- especially after we’d fed them some lettuce.

Each elephant had a kind of box strapped onto it’s back which allowed for four people to climb in quite comfortably. So me and my BFF’s and a gorgeous, and I mean simply stunning, German woman named Friederike- who’s profession could only be model or actress or Miss Universe- climbed in. Although I’ve never been attracted to a woman, nor have I ever ‘kissed a girl and liked it’, you simply couldn’t help but stare at her. At one point she caught me gawking and I quickly averted my eyes and pretended to be staring at my big toe. Woman like this always made me feel self –conscious and at least 2 sizes bigger than I really am. But I had other things to think about right now, like holding onto the sides for dear life as the elephant stood up.

Riding an elephant is an amazing experience, you move through the world in a kind of slow rhythmic sway that only riding on the back of an animal gives you. None of us said a word, and the only sound we could hear was the cracking and snapping of the jungle under the elephant’s huge, deliberate feet. Our journey took us deeper and deeper still into the rainforest, crossing deep green rivers as we went and climbing up steep rocky slopes. We finally stopped at a large green pool of water after what seemed like a few hours and more than a few insect bites later.

A soft, delicate mist hung over the water giving it an ethereal quality- it looked like something plucked directly from Lord Of The Rings’ mystical middle earth. Once we’d disembarked- which I’m not entirely sure is the correct word one should use when referring to the act of climbing off the back of a large mammal- we made our way to the shoreline, where a few canoes patiently waited for us.

The water was a deep, emerald color and surrounded by a brilliant pallet of deep greens and blacks created by the huge rocky overhangs decorated in vines and the twisted, mossy roots of trees that looked hundreds of years old. As we rowed across the water, a gentle tide seemed to push us forward making it much easier to navigate down the winding river and around the massive mangrove roots that rose out of it. In some parts the river became so narrow, framed on both sides by large rocky cliffs, that you had to use your oar to push yourself along. My arms were really starting to hurt when Red shouted out that we were almost there.