"Caution! Watch the gap." Read the sign posted on the edge of the water.

The notice depicted a giraffe attempting to board the boat but he was balancing between the boat and the dock as the wide gap stretched his long legs out.

"Your attention please. We do not allow cutting in the line here at the world-famous Jungle Cruise. Anyone caught with a pair of scissors will be asked to leave." The voice said in a tv commercial tone.

Skylar rolled her eyes at the joke but suppressed a smile. "You should love it here."

"Knock-Knock."

"Who's there!?" She said playing along.

"Safari"

"Safari who?"

"Sa-far-i, so good. You'll be on the Jungle Cruise in a few minutes." Andrew said with a smug look on his face.

"Save it for the boat ride." Skylar simpered. "After all, I assume you want to be the skipper."

Ahead of them floated the Jungle Cruise boat named "Nile Princess." The usual brown canvas was laid over the top, leaving an awning of brown on the edge. The boat itself was empty but they heard the faint hum of the motor on.

Andrew one foot in the boat and pivoted with his second foot still on the dock. He held the position that the skippers would and he offered to "help" Skylar in the boat.

There was this inside joke about this because the cast members would touch your arm ever so slightly so you were under the illusion that they actually assisted you into the boat when really they didn't help at all. Skylar always wondered if the reason was because legally they couldn't touch you but it was just funny to imitate them.

Andrew dramatized the brief motion and barely grazed her arm as she stepped onto the watercraft. Then he jumped down the step also and walked along the wooden crates in the middle, to the wheel.

The control panel was not extremely complicated and was displayed on a polished wooden block. It held a few gauges, two switches and several buttons but most were just for decoration. The real control was on the side of the block; a silver lever, that controlled the speed of the vessel. Above that hung a holster, half concealing a revolver with a brown handle sticking out and finally on a hook hung the microphone-like square shaped speaker that the skipper used for their witty spiel.

Andrew picked up the speaker and warmed it up. "You know I get paid for the number of people I take out not the ones I take back!"

He acted as if he had a whole boat full of people watching intently yet there was only Skylar trying not to laugh at his theatricals.

Andrew pushed down the silver lever and the motor rumbled causing the boat to glide forward slowly.

"Wave goodbye to the dock." He pronounced, waving his hand then mumbled. "You will never see it again."

And they were off, slowly sailing into the thick humid jungle. It was a better entrance than the last time they entered---from the sky. This time around it seemed much calmer but that probably wouldn't last for long.

The boat drifted past a rather large boa constrictor that had coiled itself tightly around a dead tree that had only a few bare branches. Then the jungle path of water swerved to the right and expecting this, Andrew spun the wheel that way, slowing turning the vessel.

The din of the jungle was loud with the birds chirping and frogs croaking but it was also very peaceful white noise.

To their right was the Temple of the Forbidden Eye and they remembered that attraction well enough from their visit several hours ago.

"Over there is what we call Indiana Jones and the four hour line. We also know it as the 'pick any door and still die' place." Andrew quipped adding to the regular spiel.

Now they glided into the ancient Cambodian shrine that has dilapidated a lot over the years.
The Bengal tiger was hunched over, snarling with it's teeth. His pitch black stripes brightened the dark orange fur and white underbelly. This tiger looked much fiercer than when it was covered with Christmas string.

Andrew sped up the boat as he delivered the next line. "You know, Bengal tigers are over 500 pounds and can jump 50 feet. Don't worry though we're only 15 feet away, he'll jump right over us."

The feline's eyes followed them but he made no movement which made them feel relieved.

Next was the elephant bathing pool. The elephants weren't just sitting still ''bathing", they were tromping around in the water, roaring with their trunks, and just playing around with each other. A young elephant hid in the shade of his mother's head but squirted water playfully in a crocodile's mouth. Some were intrigued by the newcomers and lumbered over to investigate.

The little cruise boat was slowed by its skipper as they approached it.

The big mammals snuffed at the canvas on top and swung their trunks to examine the inside. A trunk swayed in front of Skylar and she reached out, gingerly stroking down the leathery surface. The long appendage withdrew from the boat in surprise then came back and puffed air in her face.

She giggled at the nose which sniffed around her hair and tickled her cheek as it brushed against it.

Andrew was having similar results and it was apparent when a loud noise, that sounded like someone was blowing a large amount of air, came over the speaker. A nosy elephant had found the mouthpiece that Andrew still had pushed on.

He shooed their long noses away from the front. "Go ahead and take pictures folks, today all the elephants have their trunks on."

The motor was slowly turned back on and they glided past a elephant bathing around in a waterfall.

Out of the watering hole, they encountered one last elephant and ducked before Andrew could deliver his line.

The water sprayed like a geyser from the mammal but they avoided getting the majority of themselves wet.

Andrew continued to steer the vessel and increased the speed to get past the water-loving elephant.

Coming across the abandoned camp with everything in a disarray, they ignored the screeching and chattering of the monkeys. The turned over jeep's lights flickered at them and the camp supplies that were all raided through lay everywhere.

"Alright, and over here, if you look really hard into the jungle. You'll see--" Andrew paused for effect but Skylar knew exactly what he was going to say. "Absolutely nothing, but thanks for looking anyway."

They passed the Sweitzer falls and took a sharp right turn.

"We're headed down the Nile river, the longest river in America. It goes on for niles and niles and if you don't believe me, well you're
in-de-Nile."

So they headed down the Nile river and found two of the "rare" African elephants along the way, hidden among the trees.

Entering the African Veldt, they spotted the monolithic sandstone formations that guarded the savannah. The zebras, giraffes, and impalas roamed around, feeding on any vegetation they could find.

They passed the lion pride huddled in the den with their meal of a zebra. Andrew didn't have the stomach to reiterate the vulgar joke about this  scene.

The boat advanced past the totem pole as well, where the refugees were being held captive by the rhinoceros.

"He always get his point across in the end."

A turn left and then right lead them into a wide lake. The crickets chirped extremely loud due to the humidity and the mugginess of the sticky air.

"We have just entered into a pool of hippopotami, but don't worry we're only in danger if they are wiggling their ears and blowing bubbles."

The words actual meaning sunk in and they soon noticed that this was more than a joke.

The hippos did indeed wiggle their ears and blow bubbles profusely, while surrounding the boat ominously.

Andrew knew what he had to do, so as soon as he saw them coming he grabbed the gun from the holster and shot a bullet into the air. The recoil of the small handgun surprised him as the grip dug into his hand.

Skylar jumped as the shot rang out and the smoke billowed up from the gun.

To their consternation, the hippos did not stop advancing but rather sunk into the deep green water. At first, everything was silent, even the crickets ceased to sing but then the whole boat took a dip to the left and both passengers were tossed to the side.

These gigantic mammals wanted to tip the whole boat over and in the process, dump its two passengers into the murky water but this wasn't something they were going to let happen.

The skipper kicked the boat into high-gear and the motor roared in response.

Another hit from under the water and they were swung the opposite way, swinging the wheel in the wrong direction. This caused a change reaction and regrettably the boat flipped, tossing everything out.

The turbid waters obscured their view of everything and filled their mouths with the grimy H2O.

One hippo slammed it's immense slick body against Skylar, thrusting her deeper down then before. She drifted down, helpless against the crushing weight of the waves.

Andrew sputtered at the surface, and got sprayed in the face by the boat as it sped off on it's own, still at top speed. He struggled to escape the water and finally laid on the jungle floor, water still lapping at his feet. He was in no mood for jokes.

The crickets filled the air with their singing once again and the hippos seemed satisfied with throwing them out, so everything for the moment was at peace. Caked with what was now dried mud, Andrew pulled himself fully onto the bank.

He heard drumming and chanting in the distance. Knowing what that meant, he stayed alert for any signs of assailants aka the tribe.

Suddenly, something dawned on him; that he was the only one on shore, the only one that had come up hacking and coughing for air moments ago.

Therefore, Skylar was still somewhere in depths of murky slough.

•

•

•

The small beam of light that was from the surface was all but gone. The shadows enveloped her and all Skylar saw were the contours of something else swimming around her. Her vision was extremely blurred and her lungs burned from lack of oxygen but her mind was racing, not about her predicament but about the most iconic joke this jungle attraction had.

Why it came to her now she had no idea, but the line echoed in her head.

Somehow she did not comprehend that this was no time for jokes as her last seconds were ticking away.

Abruptly, Skylar hit the bottom of the pond and lay there for a moment, her mind so jumbled and starving for air she finally stopped thinking of anything but the burning sensation in her chest.

A dark figure floated over her, blotting out what little light she had left.

When the light was no longer obscured from her vision, Skylar again heard the classic quip.

"The back side of water!" The skipper always shouted as they traveled under the small waterfall.

Everyone knew this part of the spiel and made their own puns about the "8th wonder of the world."

Even in her state, Skylar found it ironic that: here she lay at the bottom of a lake. Was the bottom considered the backside? After all what was the backside of a lake? Or the other side? If she could travel through the dirt floor would that be the backside? Her thoughts became more and more muddled into complete nonsense. Then again, why had these thoughts come to her? If Skylar could have sighed then she would have; she had always thought herself the sensible one of the two of them.

Here it came, her last instant before death. The light became brighter slowly, like a train coming at her as the pinprick grew.

The water foamed rapidly all around her as she slowly felt lifted into the after-life.

There was a flash of pink as another creature or what she thought to be a hippo swam above her as she rose.

She was being lifted, lifted out of the water!

Skylar broke the surface so unexpectedly she felt like she'd forgotten how to breath.

Something underneath her back guided her to the leafy shore, while Andrew rushed to help her.

She gasped for air but had to cough all the water out first.

Weary, from everything they could not make sense of yet, the pair collapsed on shore still out of breath.

"Ballet---backside---hippos---water show---." Skylar talked in fragments, wheezed for oxygen in between.

Andrew didn't question her; didn't want to make her try any harder to talk. He could not begin to express the revulsion he felt for himself. He had done nothing, could do nothing, not by the time he noticed her absence. Now she just said random words, and seeing there was no connection to them, he assumed she was losing it.

Maybe she was a little.

"Hippo." She repeated.

He tried to understand her but she didn't have the consciousness or the breath to formulate sentences yet.

"Pink."

"Tutu."

"Joke."

"Hippo"

"Fanta---."

"Waterfall."

Skylar tried desperately to communicate but her mind would not connect with her mouth. What ever main subject the sentence focused on is what word came out.

She was so bewildered and it took her several minutes to recuperate.

"I saw---." Skylar stopped, this time on her own will. "I just don't understand what it means."

"What did you see?" Andrew coaxed gently.

"A hippo---with pink---ballet shoes."

Was she crazy? Traumatized by the experience? Andrew didn't know what to think.

"And a tutu." Skylar said very sure of herself.

The drumming that was in the distance from the tribe was getting closer and that worried Andrew considering the state Skylar was in right now. She was usually head strong and overall fierce but after her life-threatening situation she was a mess.

"Also, we need to check the waterfall."

"Check it?" Andrew questioned, having no idea what she meant.

"You know the 'backside of water!' waterfall." Skylar said in an annoyed voice as if it were extremely obvious. "Check it for---I don't know---a message, code, a way out! Like Tiki Room."

Previously, they had uncovered a double meaning in the tiki room's dialogue. Upon touching a cloud with a 'silver lining', they were instantaneously transported to the Jungle Cruise with not so much as a say in the matter. Although, before that venture, their ''mentor'', the Walt statue, had been very peculiar in addressing these new rules for the "messages."

They still hadn't figured out exact the purpose for this way of exiting but it made things faster, so far.

"Maybe you should rest." Andrew said, sincerely concerned.

Although Skylar thought he was being demeaning. "I am fine! And not crazy for that matter!" She yelled seeing the look she was getting. "You don't understand, that hippo was from Fa--."

The deafening sound of drums interrupted her as the tribe came out the the thick jungle with spears raised above their heads.

Their short respite was over.

•

•

•

Skylar felt this was Tom Sawyer's Island all over again. The 'crazy kidnapping tied against their will' part at least.

They were escorted, by spear-point, to the central village. She tried talking once to try and relay her important message to Andrew but got jabbed with the metal, crying out in pain.

He tried to turn at her noise and got the wind knocked out of him as the butt of the spear whacked him in the stomach. Keeling over and then regaining his balance quickly, Andrew trudged on with Skylar following behind.

They were lead to their small village and tossed to the ground with their arms still bound tightly with rope.

Skylar's bag was raided by one of them but as luck would have it, it appeared empty to them, so that too was thrown aside.

The tribe members danced and chanted again like they always would when the boat would normally pass by. Their feathered heads swung to and fro, while they shook their shields and spears mightily.

Andrew and Skylar were left alone and perhaps forgotten about.

Non-coincidentally, information about Jungle Cruise's past was within their reach.

Skylar hooked her foot under the bag's strap and pulled it over to her, dragging it through the dirt. Then put the papers, with some struggle, in the bag.

Meanwhile, Andrew struggled to reach his hand to the inside of his pocket, for concealed in there was the only thing he possessed in this world. The ropes were bound very taut and he had to somehow slant his pockets upward to reach the piece. That was going to be a challenge.

"We need to get to the waterfall." Skylar said in a hushed whisper, even though there was no was she could be heard over the loud din. "I have a pretty good theory that that's where the next message with be, but the hippo just doesn't connect, I don't ---." Her voice trailed off, for she was deep in thought.

"If you say so." Andrew said absentmindedly but then he looked at her for a minute. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She responded with a flustered and agitated scoff.

He continued to work on his task. Andrew basically was doing the backbend, with his hands tied, when finally gravity took charge and the piece of glass from Tarzan's treehouse slid into the dirt floor in a small puff as the motes of dirt rose in the air. He grabbed it eagerly and began working away on the rope.

Skylar still seemed preoccupied trying to figure something out in her mind but with her hands freed suddenly she was coherent again.

"Let's get out of here." Andrew said eagerly.

"To the waterfall." Skylar agreed.

•

•

•

Back into the dark water, both were reluctant to go but Skylar was determined to check the waterfall. The water was deep and from experience she knew they were no where near the bottom.

They swam as quickly as possible, to distance themselves from the tribe's village. Both were fairly strong swimmers but against a current they would have both been swept away, like in Winnie the Pooh.

Coming under the giant rock ledge that poured down the waterfall, everything looked much bigger from the perspective of the water.

Skylar paddled around the waterfall, carefully not to touch it for some reason. She analyzed the side of it and then moved to the front. Slowly she passed through it, from the front to the back where Andrew waded. Nothing happened and she had suspected as much. What she was really itching to try was from the backside to the front.

She knew that for some reason the joke would not stop playing over and over in her head. On the verge of death, those were not the normal thoughts that would be captivating her mind.

On top of that, the hippo, she saw had been from---

Her thoughts were lost at she thrust her head through the wall of water. This time she did not see the frontside of water, she saw the 'future' in all its glory.

Gleaming rockets whizzed by and jet packs hovered many people off the ground. Autopia cars, driven by kids no older than 7 also passed by her and she took in everything with amazement.

It donned on her that she might appear to them here as a floating head and at Jungle Cruise a headless body, so Skylar quickly pulled her head back and through the water.

She turned to see Andrew waiting for her verdict like nothing happened.

"Anything?" He asked hopefully.

"Definitely something." Skylar said gleefully.

"What?" Andrew inquired.

"Tomorrowland."

•

•

•

A mechanical bird flew by, barely missing their heads.

"Fantasia? You saw a hippo from Fantasia?" Andrew asked as Skylar finished her brief summary of her time underwater.

"Yes, and I think it's because Fantasmic is closed right now for refurbishment. Maybe all the Disneyland water is from the same source. Look all I know it that it saved me."

"And I'm grateful for that but the Hyacinth Hippo?" He replied skeptically.

"You have no right to question anything. Look where we are right now." Skylar said still astonished by their surroundings.

"We have a right to question what it all means. Why the messages?" He responded not sated by what little information they had.

"Only one person, thing, can answer that and during our last visit, he yelled at us."

"He was very strange then." Andrew added. "I have a feeling we must figure out why."

"We will."

•

•

•

Hey guys!!!!! This took me forever to write but I got it posted today :D
I hope you all have questions about this mystery that's starting to unfold, we will see where it goes...