The Journal of Frederick Douglas

The Journal of Frederick Dalisi

August 3, 1995-

Today I arrived in Brazil by a small two seater propeller plane. The ride here was pretty rough for there was a storm brewing in the distance which made the winds jerk us around. We soon landed on a dirt runway near a small research located about 3 hours from the Amazon Forest. When we got off I took what little luggage I had and brought it inside quickly, for night was falling. That night I talked with the local researchers and how to get to lively parts of the forests. They told me that the best spots to find all sorts of life was very deep in the forest. They showed me a map they had made and the path I should follow to get there. Before I headed to bed they reminded me to back things to make a fire and a flare just to be safe. I chuckled to myself and went to bed.

August 4, 1995-

The next day I packed my things in the back of the green jeep and headed out on the long and winding road that led to the Amazon Forest. After a long drive, I reached the very edge of the forest I looked up to see hundreds of trees towering over me in a beautiful manner. Forward into the forest I could see many colors and all sorts of plants and insects. On the ground the road continued on into the forest but this time splitting into many different paths. I took out the map that the other researchers had given to me and followed the directions. In about another 2 hours I had reached the spot on which the researchers had told me to go to. I parked my jeep and unpacked everything onto the ground. Near me there was a large waterfall which fell into a rather small pond. Night was approaching but I noticed something odd. There wasn’t nearly as much wildlife here as there was at the beginning of the forest. No matter, I’m sure that it was just a quiet day. With that I unrolled my sleeping bag and went to sleep.

August 5, 1995-

Last night I was woken up by a strange noise in the distance and also a lot of strange movement. It was probably just some animal moving in the trees at night. But that doesn’t explain the noise... Anyway, today I went out and searched for some plants that I had read about back in the lab in America. Sadly I was unable to find any of them, even after a few hours of searching. Then I decided to search for Marmoset Monkey. Oddly enough, I did not find one. At this point I was pretty disappointed and night would be closing in on me soon so I decided to head back to camp. When I got back I made a small fire and cooked some meat I had packed with me and ate it up. I then put out the fire and went to sleep.

August 6, 1995-

In the middle of the night I was awoken by a loud screeching noise that pierced my ear drums followed by a loud cry and moan. Today, I decided to investigate the problem even though I didn’t really want to. But, my duty as a researcher was to explore the unexplored. When I headed out in the direction of the noise I came to a large opening in the forest where only one very large tree stood. But this tree was different. The bottom of the tree and some of its branches were coated in blood and feather and even some fur. But the most odd thing about the whole thing was nothing to do with the tree...it was what was around the tree. There was a massive black gorilla laying next to it...dead and looked as it was brutally mauled to death. I looked up at the tree in awe and suddenly felt that my safety was in danger. I quickly ran out of the open area and back to my camp. I collapsed to the ground when I arrived and began to catch my break. After a few moments I became less shaky, for the distance between the tree and I was great. I decided to wash up in the pond at the bottom of the waterfall. I took off my clothes and dove in. I put my head underwater for a few moments and opened my eyes to look around. All there was, was a bunch of rocks and a bit of algae. While underwater I heard the same screeching noise that I had heard the night before and rose above the water. To see that my jeep was gone. I got out of the water and threw my clothes on and looked around for my jeep. Nope. It was gone. Just like that. It had vanished right out of thin air. I suddenly felt that shaky feeling I had felt when I saw that bloody mess around the tree. Then my mind went back to the tree. Could it have done this? Nonsense, I thought. An acclaimed scientist like me would never believe in such voodoo nonsense. It surely must be... Then my mind thought for a while and didn’t come to any conclusions. I blocked the whole event out of my head and decided to get an early night, right after I ate my dinner. Wait, I don’t have any dinner. All of my food was in the jeep. That’s when I really started to panick. I wondered how I was going to survive. No animals to eat, and only water to drink. The water should hold me off a while until someone realizes that I have been gone too long. But then again I told them I was going to be gone for a week and I had only been a few days. Could the water last me until then? Then I was reminded of the flare gun. The flare gun! Oh...the flare gun that was in the jeep. I looked over at where the jeep used to be parked to see something on the ground. It was the flare gun. I scrambled up to my feet and ran up to pick up the gun. I decided to wait until night to shoot, for then it would be easier to see in the sky. At that point I held the gun in my hand and decided to get some water. I walked over to the pond and put the gun down next to me but still in my sight. I cupped my hands and drank some of the water...then spit it out on the ground. Salt water...it was salt water. I immediately thought to myself that if not for the flare gun, there was no way I would be able to survive for another few days. At about this point the cover of night blinded the sun as the moon came out. I thought that I was about time to shoot the flare gun. I examined it a bit and looked as to where the trigger was and aimed at the sky. I then pulled the trigger...click. That was all that happened. I quickly opened the barrel of the gun to look right through it. I wasn’t loaded. I fell on my knees dropping the flare gun and stared out into the distance in awe. I am going to die I thought. I decided that the only possible way of even having a chance of surviving was to start walking the path. Yes, that is what I will do. But first, I need one more good night’s sleep.

August 7, 1995

I awoke this morning in the circle that the strange tree stands. Still the blood is on it and the gorilla sits next to me. All possible exits out of the circle are blocked by spiked vines. I have already exhausted every possible escape route in my mind in real life and in my mind. There is no way out. I am now forced to sit here and die a lonely death. And to think I could have made a great contribution to science and all researchers in the future. Oh well, I guess this will make for good story someday. If anyone ever finds this journal please share this story with the world.-

Frederick Dalisi~

On January of 2012, the body of Frederick Dalisi was found hund by a thorny vine on a massive tree his journal on the ground below him.