It wasn't meant to be like this. Solitude, harmony, peace. It wasn't much to ask for....
I went there to find myself, but I didn't know that the journey would be so....well, so "everything", really. Everything so terrifying that even writing this now, my hands tremble from the memory.
I left for the seclusion of the jungle shortly after my 29th birthday. The trip was a present to myself, an escape from the world to work out who I was and where I was going in life. The jungles of the Amazon had always been a fantasy destination and despite the protestations of my family and friends, I went alone to embark on what the Aborigines would call a Walkabout. Solitude and harmony with nature; walking until I found myself, somewhere amongst the undergrowth.
I had it all planned out: I would walk between water holes each morning, according to the map, and camp by them during the scorching afternoons and ominous nights.
My body glistened in the pre-noon sun as I hiked through the undergrowth. I'd been walking for hours already, miles now from where the car sat deserted and hidden at the end of a long dirt road leading into the shrub.
The tropic heat penetrated every pour of my body forcing me to shed my clothing piece by piece as I advanced. By the time I arrived at the first watering hole that was to be my camp for the night, the sun was high in the noon-time sky and the temperature had soared beyond reasonable comfort. I was down to my boots and underwear and every muscle was aching from the constant strain of carrying my saddlebag and fighting through the dense vegetation.
Exhausted, I dropped my bag by the edge of the inviting water and slowly ran my hands over by saturated body. The sweat ran from my shimmering skin like the waterfalls that graced this deserted paradise. At 5'7", I was a slim 75 kg, but was sure, after this first morning's hike, that I would be even slimmer by the end of my journey. My water bottle was near empty, so I knelt by the water's edge to refill it.
The pool was untarnished, offering fresh, crystal clear water. As the bottle gurgled steadily, refilling its empty interior, I smiled at my reflection which smiled back like an old and haggard friend. The mass of brown hair that capped my long, chiselled face was wet and dishevelled, clinging to my brow as though fearful of sliding off. My eyes twinkled in amusement at the image, the pupils dancing between their natural green colour and black as shadows played across my face.
Finding the temptation of the water too great, I peeled off my boots and the last piece of clothing, diving into the sparkling natural pool. The water's soothing touch healed every ache as I swam and floated, lost in my own haven, far from the madding crowds of civilization.
An hour later, I fell asleep by the water's edge, protected by the shade of the ancient trees, their thick trucks reaching to the sky and opening into a firework of branches high above.
How long I slept, I don't know, but I was awoken by the sounds of movement nearby. As my eyes focussed, I sprung to my feet in shock at the site of another man.
Like me, he had removed his clothing in the course of his hike though his underpants still remained, housing the impressive bulge of his manhood. For perhaps a full minute, we eyed each other curiously and by the smirk that finally graced his ruggedly handsome face, I could only assume and hope that he found me equally appealing.
With a thick coat of jet black hair carpeting his powerful chest, eyes that pierced right through you and legs that rivalled the surrounding tree trunks, The Stranger's towering frame was a powerful monument to strength and masculinity. Whilst no weightlifter, it seemed as though The Stranger had spent most of his 30 years ensuring his perfect physique by frequenting a gym as often as possible.
I was speechless in his presence, both from his unexpected arrival and the sheer beauty of his robust good looks.
Eventually, it was he who broke the silence.
"You're a hard man to track."
His voice was deep and soft, inviting my knees to buckle further at the thrill of hearing him. "I was starting to think that I would never find you."
"F-find me?" I stuttered, trying desperately to compose myself, and suddenly becoming acutely aware of my nakedness.
"W-Why would you want to find me?" I asked.
