I woke up, but my eyes remained shut. All around me teemed the telltale sounds of life, and not just any life – tropical life, rainforest life, even. I had never experienced it myself, but it existed enough in the cultural osmosis that I knew what it sounded like. Probably had a popup book as a child where parrots screamed at me or something.
Fittingly, the air around my face sat heavy, and soon I could feel my clothes sticking to my body. I wore a simple gray t-shirt and faded jeans, having done the bare minimum to dress before going out. Though, it was midway through the fall season, last I checked.
And I did not live in the Amazon.
Eyes flicking open, the sight I was greeted by fit my expectation. Lying dead center in a small clearing, I was surrounded by thick tropical vegetation – tall trees with long, thick leaves towered overhead, accompanied by shorter, but no less thick brush and other foliage. I could see maybe five feet out from the clearing before my sight was consumed by the jungle.
As I sat up, I pinched myself sharply on the arm.
"How cliché."
The voice – deep and masculine – came from somewhere out in the vegetation, but, somehow, I couldn place from where.
"Im being called cliché by a mysterious voice from nowhere, seconds after I wake up in a strange place," I retorted, getting to my feet. "Pot, meet kettle."
"Snark first, questions later?" the voice replied with clear irritation. "You certainly have your priorities straight."
"Excuse me for going off script." I cleared my throat and struck an exaggerated pose. "W-Where am I? Who are you? Whats going on?!"
"You…" the voice began, straining to keep its composure at my mockery, "…have been selected as a Participant."
"A participant?" I repeated, giving up the bit for the time being. "In what?"
"A bonus game, of sorts."
Novel Bin 