Short Story #2 -- The Lost Explorers

Another fun little story to share with you guys. Again, better said than written.

Not long ago, two groups of explorers left off to travel in a jungle. During their expeditions, one group encountered a massive storm and they were forced to try to set up camp. However, their light tents and other equipment were quickly blown away, leaving them with nothing but a single flashlight that doubled as a two-way radio between the groups. However, the battery was badly damaged and there was no way to get it to work. This also meant that they had no way of telling how to get back out of the jungle.

As time went on, members of the party started to die from starvation, leaving only two people left. These two knew they had to move and try to get out of the jungle, so they took the flashlight, which was all they had, and set off to try to find some form of help.

They traveled for a few days, living off anything they could find, but couldn't seem to find any source of help or direction. Just as they were about to give up hope, they stumbled upon a pygmy, who led them to his tribe. The tribes' people did not speak English, but they clothed and fed the explorers. The two men did not know what to think of all of this, as they were not sure if they were being nice or just fattening them up to eat them or something like that. But the food was good and they were safe for the time being, so they didn't complain.

During their stay with the pygmy tribe, they tried to convey through sign language whether there was a way to fix the battery on their flashlight. After many attempts for the explorers to tell them, and the pygmies to understand, the tribe took the explorers up to their elder. He was also a short man, with a long, wispy beard that only consisted of around eleven hairs. Needless to say, it didn't look very pleasing.

"We need to find a way to make this flashlight work. Do you know if it can be done?" said one of the explorers. In broken English, the elder replied, "There is way... with special ritual, with help of ancients. We must go now... gather the people."

The explorers were quickly ushered into the center of the village, where the other pygmies had already started to arrive. It was almost dark, and by the time the elder made his way down it was very hard to see. The elder placed the broken flashlight in the center of the area, and the other tribal leaders started some bonfires in a larger circle. Around these, all of the tribe gathered in a ring and sat down.

"Now, we start," said the elder. Proceeding, he clapped his hands in rhythm. *clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*, *clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*. The other tribes-members joined in. *Clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*, *clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*. The elder turned to them and said, "You...you must join for ritual to work!" The explorers were skeptical, but they joined in. *Clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*.

The flashlight started to flicker. The explorers started to get really excited and clapped faster. *Clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*, *clap clap clap*, *clap*, *clap clap*. As darkness came over the rest of the jungle, the flashlight worked! Overjoyed, the explorers were able to contact the other group and make their way out of the jungle. What's the moral of the story? Many hands make light work.