Journal Entry No. 1: James McAnnen.
Full disclosure: This journal I'll be writing is about my new life. But, for entertainment purposes it will be a recreation of events. In that, it will be told as a story. To whomever may read this, I hope you can read this without looking down upon me for... Well, we'll get to that.
The mission was simple: Air-drop into the Forgotten Marshes of Foldawn, and kill the ancient, mythical Beast of the Swamp. Well, simple on paper, maybe. In hindsight, it was an obvious suicide mission. Why would the military send a soldier into foreign lands to poach a creature? It wasn't a major country either - Foldawn is a small, forgotten land. It's an island, but bridges connect it to the mainland. It's just off the coast of the north of Mexico, but the name has far older roots than that, leading back to ancient Mayan names. It's an archaic word, nobody today is quite sure what it means, but judging from the landscape it could very well just mean swamp. I digress. I always kind of knew this mission would be a one-way trip, but I followed my orders anyway. They'd dropped me in with a prototype troop-carrying drone. They didn't even give me someone to talk to on the flight over... Should have been obvious I was being cast to the wayside. Either way, once over the drop zone I deployed my parachute and landed in a slight clearing. The marsh was filled with thick, wet mud, and where there wasn't ground there were deep pools of murky water. What lay inside them was anyone's guess. Part one of the mission was easy. Finding and killing the monster was the fun part.
The local folklore spoke of the beast as some sort of reptilian creature, and local reports often spoke of missing persons. It was surmised that the monster had the appetite for humans. Curiously, however, the supposedly "eaten" would turn up days later, apparently unaware of how long they'd been gone. The local therapy clinic also had several patients on record saying they suffered from dreams and nightmares about being swallowed whole by a titanic beast. The army had said it was in "their best interests" to put down the mysterious creature. What was interesting was that it didn't affect the military in any way, and none of the people who were eaten remained... Well, eaten. They'd come back. Damn, it was so obvious that it was just a way to get rid of me! They'd done it before - many of my friends in the army had gone MIA because they knew too much about military operations. That was their tactic, get rid of the liabilities.
But I don't want to beat a dead horse. The point is, they'd left me for dead in a swamp with some sort of monster, that in all likelihood would eat me, or worse outright kill me. I carefully trudged through the thick marshland, trying not to make too much noise. My helmet had a face mask and goggles, so all I could hear was the sound of my breathing and my pounding heart. I carefully held my assault rifle - it was a clumsy weapon, really. I scanned my surroundings, trying to keep myself calm. My squelching footsteps were too loud for my liking, and I could hardly hear anything around me. I took off my helmet. I could now properly survey my surroundings, and noticed the sound of birds in the treetops and the calm breeze blowing past. With that came the smell of the boggy landscape.
I continued further into the jungle. There didn't seem to be an end to the trees, or an end to the clustered landscape. It was incredibly humid in the swamp - sweat beaded my forehead, and it was a little difficult to breathe. Eventually, the land started to narrow into a slim path, stretching through a lake-like body of water. It was like a natural bridge. I carefully approached it and made my way forward. It was honestly unsettling, the water was so still...
There was a slight ripple that appeared on the surface of the water. I didn't raise my gun, but I kept an eye on it. Slowly, it subsided. My guard was still up, though. I knew, at any second, I could be attacked.
*SPWOOOOSH!*
The water to my right burst outwards as a dark, looming shape came crashing down on me. The large beast was scaled, and sunk its claws into my clothes, pinning me to the grass. I looked up into its eyes, bright yellow with slits for pupils. I had my gun in hand, and it was pointed towards the creature thanks to how I had landed.
But I didn't pull the trigger.
Looking back, I don't really know why I didn't take the shot. Fear? Remorse? The point is, I didn't shoot. The creature looked from me to the gun. It was stooped over me for a good few seconds. Its toothy mouth parted, sharp dagger-like fangs presenting themselves. Then, a strange thing happened.
It spoke:
"Are you... Are you not gonna fight back?"
I lay there, petrified and confused. This giant creature could speak? Well, I say giant creature. She could speak. The folklore had often referred to the monster as female, but I didn't think it would be so... Well, obvious. Her voice was quite feminine, not really gruff at all. I looked into her slit eyes.
"Uh... I wasn't planning on it... Are you going to... To eat me?"
She withdrew her claws. "But... You have the... The... That thing." She pointed to the gun. "The pain-maker. What do your kind call it?"
I looked at the rifle. "It's a gun. How are you able to speak my language?"
She thought for a while. "I don't know... I don't talk often..."
This was a very surreal conversation. "Is it like, a subconscious thing? Like, you can just speak my language and I can speak yours?"
The creature shrugged. She was surprisingly expressive for someone people called a monster. I looked at her a bit more closely now that she wasn't threatening to eat me. Despite being reptilian, her figure was quite humanoid. In that regard, then, I suppose the appropriate term for her would be an 'hourglass' figure. She was about 8 1/2 feet tall, and was suitably proportioned. Her breasts would have been ridiculous on a regular human, they were comparable to backpacks. On the tall figure, they looked large but not badly proportioned. Her stomach area was rather pudgy, indicating she clearly ate well. Despite that, I had suspicion that she was also quite muscular (Especially considering how mobile she seemed). Her lower body was... Well... Her thighs were incredibly thick. They were probably twice as wide as my head. As for the rest of her anatomy, she had a long, crocodile-like tail, which looked really powerful. It was situated just above her large rear. Her skin was tough and scaly, and she had gnarled claws for fingers and toes. What I found quite strange was that she actually had some long, black hair on her head. It mostly hung in front of her eyes. Her mouth wasn't really snout-like, but it did jut out a little more than a regular human. She also had slit, reptilian nostrils. And was totally bare-naked.
She sat down on the bank of the water, and looked back at me, expecting me to sit next to her. I hesitantly moved to her side, and sat down. She sighed.
"I've met several of your kind with weapons. People with pointy sticks, people with shiny blades, people with those 'gun' things. All of them have tried to attack me, so I just try to attack before they do. But you didn't. You didn't fight back. Thank you."
"No... No problem... So, you're not gonna kill me?"
She smiled at me. "No, I won't. Eating you wouldn't have killed you anyway. Where are you from?"
I looked into the middle distance. "A far away place... I've been left here to die, really. I was sent..." I thought about my next words carefully. "I was ordered by the army to... To kill you. But, I... I don't want to. The only real reason I'm here is to die."
She looked at me wistfully. "That's no way to live. What is the name of your kind?"
"I'm a human. But you can call me James."
"Well, James, there's a human village a few miles in that direction-" She pointed Eastwards "-So if you want a human home, that's your best bet. They... They don't think highly of me there. That way, you'll never have to see me again."
I looked at her sorrowfully. "I... I don't want to leave you. Yes, I probably should make a home in that village, but... I don't hate you, not like the others do. Sure, we've just met, and you did try to eat me, but... You seem sorry. If you don't mind me asking, what's your name? Do you have a name?"
"It's... Well, the local village calls me Mirinha. So... I guess call me that?"
I nodded. "Well, Mirinha, I'll come visit you every day if I start living in the village."
Mirinha shot me a toothy grin. "You're sweet, hu- Sorry, James." She then looked away a bit. "Why does my chest hurt? I feel weird..."
I smirked. "Is it friendship? Do you feel love?" Cheesy, I know, but strangely enough I was right.
"You're my... Friend? I've never had a friend before."
Dammit, my heart couldn't take this level of warmth, she was surprisingly calm and kind for a creature that was trying to kill me earlier. I was about to respond, but I was interrupted by a loud sound.
GrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRLLLLRRRRRRRGGGGGRRRRRRMMMMMBBBLLLRRRRRGGGRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr...!
I looked at Mirinha. I was afraid it may have been a growl for hunger, but then Mirinha turned to me and spoke again:
"You might want to step back a bit, unless you want to be blown away."
Okay, now remember when I said for you to reserve judgement of me? Well, reader... This is why. I'm going to be honest, I've always had an... attraction to girls letting rip. I don't quite know why, but... I just do. With that said, you should now know the significance of what Mirinha was about to do...
BRRRRRLLLLLLRRRMMMMMBBRRRRRRRRRRVVVVVVVVVVVVLLLLLLLLLRRPPPPPPPPRRRRRRRPPPPPT!
I did get up just before Mirinha released her stink bomb. It was... Wow, it was huge! I'd rarely ever heard girls cut the cheese (I did have a female friend in my later school years who was often gassy, but aside from that), so to go from that to... Well, this, was honestly a really big shock to the system. It was like going from Antarctica to the Sahara midday in the span of a couple of seconds. I have to admit, it was really intense. I watched, almost slack-jawed, as the mud next to Mirinha's backside shifted and blasted away in the wave of gas. I... Well, needless to say it was a spectacle. I'll admit I was getting a bit... Excited. I'll spare you the details though. Once the bubbly behemoth ended, Mirinha stood up out of the mud. She brushed herself off.
"Should we go to the village then? I'll lead you there."
How... H- How was she being so nonchalant? She'd just ripped quite possibly one of the biggest farts in history and- oh, man the smell. It smelled like a tonne of rotting fish piled in a harbour on a boiling hot summer's day. I wouldn't be surprised if the musky atmosphere of the swamp was all just because of Mirinha's presence there. I had to say something.
"Th- That was h- huge! How the..."
Mirinha looked at me as if I were some sort of alien (in some regard, I guess I was...) and raised an eyebrow. "What? That... Um, what's the human word? For that sound?"
"It's called a fart."
"Riiiight, bit of a weird word. That small fart surprised you?"
S- s- s- s- s- s m a l l ?
"That was a... Small fart?"
She looked at me with increasing levels of confusion. "I mean, I suppose humans are smaller so I guess you'd be a bit surprised."
I scratched the back of my head. "I- I've never seen someone like you fart..."
"You mean a giant reptile?"
"No, I mean a girl. Or woman, whatever."
I didn't think it was possible for her to look more confused, yet here we were. "But it's a natural function."
"Well, it's kinda taboo in human culture, especially for girls. As in, it's frowned upon."
"Oh... Well, if it's frowned upon, I'll just try to hold it i-"
"NO!" I practically shouted. I blushed, I wasn't expecting myself to react that way. I cleared my throat. "I mean... I don't mind really. Just so long as you're comfortable..."
She smiled. "You sure? You seemed pretty spooked when I farted the first time."
"I was just surprised! I wasn't expecting... A... From..."
"Whatever, let's start walking. It'll be getting late soon."
She was right. From what little sunlight I could make out through the trees, I could see the crimson sun dipping on the horizon. It looked pretty through the trees, adding a slight glow to the leaves... It was quite pretty. I followed Mirinha down the 'pathway' of mud. Thankfully, my combat boots were built to withstand walking through muddy terrain. Mirinha was up ahead and... Man, I didn't think I'd ever get to a point in my life where I'd say this, but... I kinda had a crush on this 8 and a half feet tall reptile girl... Man, even writing it out it sounds weird. Her butt wobbled with each step, it was quite a spectacle. It was wider than the breadth of my shoulders, and was really round and pleasant looking (although it was covered in mud because she'd been sat down earlier). I mean... I couldn't take my eyes off of it... Oh boy. Was this really happening? I'm presumed dead by the government, and I fall in love with this beautiful creature? Oh man...
PRRRMMMMMmmmmmBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRvvvvvRRRRRRLLLLLLLRRRRRPPPPPRRRRRRRRRBBBBPPT!
HOW DID SHE HAV- Sorry... How did she have more gas?! I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved every second of the unstable release, it was truly spectacular. But how was one creature able to contain so much wind? It was like a dream for me, how was this real?! Okay, focus. One foot in front of the other. Of course, walking straight forward led me right into the cloud of stench. It was just as bad as before, with a slightly organic tinge to it. Which meant she wouldn't be far off of... Wait... If her farts were this intense... What were her dumps gonna be like?! My imagination started racing. As she continued her fart, bits of mud started to fleck onto the ground. That was not helping shake the vivid image from my head. She turned to me, seeing I was covering my nose.
"What's wrong? Don't like the smell?"
Oh, if only she knew... "It's a bit overpowering."
"Well, I wouldn't know, I've gotten used to the sme-..." She trailed off and stopped, looking down at me confused. Her slit pupils weren't actually that unsettling, it's not like they were really wide and distracting. I stopped, looking around, baffled.
"What? Why are we stopping?"
"You've, uhm... You've got something right there..." She pointed in between my legs. Shit, she'd seen I'd 'pitched a tent', as it were! How the fuck was I going to explain this?!
"UHHH...! That's, uhm...!" I cover my crotch. What should I say? Does she know how arousal works for men? Should I lie? No, she deserves better than for me to lie to her... What should I say?!
"Why are you so flustered? Was it something I did?"
Okay, time to come clean.
"Mirinha, do you know what arousal is?"
"Kind of, yeah. Haven't properly experienced it myself, being the only one of my kind, but yeah."
"W- Well... Uh... Imagine feeling that, but..."
"But what?"
"U- Uh... Well... I mean I'm aroused b-by... Girls... Farting..."
She looked at me quizzically. But then everything seemed to fit together in her head, and a slow, mischievous grin spread across her face. It was slightly unsettling, even a bit malicious. She slowly walked up to me.
"So... You're saying that you... Like me? Love me, even?"
Thank God she'd said it... "Yes, Mirinha... I... I guess I do..."
Her smile was actually slightly infectious, I felt myself smirking back. She ruffled my hair.
"That's cute. I've never met a human like you."
"Y- You don't think it's... Weird?"
She laughed a little. "When you're a giant reptile isolated in a swamp, you lose track of what's acceptable. So, do you humans get a growth down there every time you're aroused?"
"No, it's just the male sex organ. It's called a..." I thought for a second. There were so many names for it. I settled on the 'correct' name, "Well, the organ is called a p-... a penis..." God, this was an awkward conversation. "It goes stiff when aroused."
Mirinha just looked at me blankly. "...I take it you humans don't talk much about sexual organs then? Considering how embarrassed you are? So, the female of your species... Do they have this?" She pointed in between her own thighs, where I saw her... 'Womanhood', putting it delicately. I instinctively averted my eyes.
"Y- Yep. That's a... Uh huh. That's definitely a... Vagina." Great, just boosting the awkwardness of this conversation. She just smirked.
"Come on, the sun'll set soon. We've only got a bit more of a walk."
We continued walking for a while, but soon enough we started to reach a clearing. Founded here was the village of Alma de Fuego, a small area with a few houses, a couple of shops and one town hall. Mirinha stopped at the edge of the trees, not going any further.
"This is where I leave you. I cannot give myself away to the village, they'd kill me if they had the chance."
I looked back at her. "I understand. I'll find a place to call home, try and get a job, and in the morning I'll visit you."
She smiled. Even with slit pupils, she still looked... Cute? I know, giant swamp creature, reptilian and such, but... I don't know, I still think she looked pretty damn adorable. "Hey, can I share a secret with you?"
"Yeah?"
Suddenly, she grabbed the back of my head and whisked me round behind her. I was aware of her tail just above my head, which meant she held me right next to her... Oh.
I was not prepared for what followed.
Prrrrrrrrrrrrffffffffffffffllllllrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmvvvvvvvvvrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-
Okay, so it wasn't the loudest I'd heard her rip so far. In fact, it was a deliberately quiet grumbler, as to not alert the locals. But damn, it was smelly. I couldn't do justice to describing the smell, but I'll give it a shot. Imagine the rotting carcass of a marine animal, soaked in saltwater, and with the added heat of the sun to make it decompose faster. It had that sort of smell - decaying fish, but a somewhat salty, wet secondary smell. Speaking of wet, the fart was that as well. It wasn't enough to let any brown residue fly forth, but it was still slightly sickening to listen to up close. And man, I loved every second of it, even when it crossed the minute mark.
-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-PPPRRRRRMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmbbbbrrrrrrrvvvvllllrpt!
The fart started to lower into a hiss, rushing out from between her titanic cheeks. After a while, she must have gotten fed up of the quiet of the fart, so she kicked it up a notch, blasting me with a more forceful blast which trailed into a low bubbling. Once it finished, she let go of my head and let me move away from the epicentre. The fart, in total, was two minutes long, but it felt a whole lot longer.
"A little parting gift. See you tomorrow~" She then crawled off into the forest, skulking into the water. Oh... Man... What a tease! I turned back to the village and walked into the main square. I got a couple of confused look from the locals who were shutting up their markets for the day. I couldn't speak Spanish, so communication would be difficult. Reading a couple of signs on the wall, I noted a sign that said:
Rooms To Let: House no. 22. Pay with chores + filling a job vacancy.
I'm not sure what was more confusing - that they had a sign written in both English and Spanish, or that they'd leave a room vacancy without direct pay. The village was small - it wasn't difficult finding house number twenty-two, considering there were only 25 houses total. It was an attached house - it wasn't detached in any way, and by the looks of things was no bigger than an apartment. I knocked on the door, deciding to take advantage of the vacancy. No one answered. I was about to knock again, but then heard a noise.
Prrrrrrmmmmmmvvvvllllllrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppt!
From the other side of the door, a muffled sound rumbled. It was definitely a fart. I waited for a minute, and then heard the flushing of a toilet, and the door swung open. I was greeted by a girl of about 22 years of age. She had light bronze skin, and caramel-brown hair. She wore blue jean-shorts and a white t-shirt, although it looked quite soaked with sweat. She was quite curvy, but after meeting Mirinha... My heart was taken. She shot me a fiery glare - not necessarily of anger, but of scrutiny, trying to figure out why I was here.
"Uh, I read that you have a room vacancy? I don't have anywhere to live, so I need somewhere to cras-"
"What's with the gun?"
I glanced at my arms. I hadn't realised I'd been carrying my assault rifle all day... I scratched the back of my head.
"I'm ex-military. As in, they sent me on a suicide mission and think I'm dead. I'll get rid of the gun if it means I can live here."
She looked at me with suspicion. "And how can I trust you? How do I know you won't try to take advantage of me?"
I backed off a bit. "Woah, I wouldn't! I swear! Look, I'll get rid of the gun, and maybe we could talk about me moving in here?" I started to dismantle the gun. I quickly ran over to a nearby bin and dumped the parts of the gun into it. I walked back to the front door. "See? No gun."
She sighed. "Come in."
As I walked into the house, the first thing I noticed was the smell. I mean, I'd heard the sound of her... Passing gas from outside, but I take it the problem was more than that. It was a hot, spicy smell, which wasn't pleasant when coupled with the muggy atmosphere. She sat me down on a sofa, which was quite comfy. She sat in an arm chair across from me.
"Sorry about the odour... I may have clogged the toilet. I can get a plumber in, but they'll be a few days 'cus they'd need to come in from the mainland. Sorry if it bothers you, but you'll have to get used to it."
"Honestly? I've done a bit of DIY pipework before, I could probably fix the toilet for you."
She looked at me, surprised by my offer. "You... Don't mind the smell?"
"Uh... No, I don't." I didn't mention the detail that I'd smelt much worse from Mirinha today.
She blushed, and seemed to be shaking a little. Was she... Was she about to cry?
"Sorry, it's just... My boyfriend left me a few months ago because..." She pointed towards a shut door, which I assumed was the bathroom. "He used to drive fish stocks from the harbour to the village, but he left here for America after he dumped me.
"Is that what the job vacancy is? You deserve way better than that dude if he left you over something so petty."
She gave a deep exhale, perhaps to calm her nerves. "Yes, if you're staying here all you have to do is, every month or so, take a shipment of fish from the harbour and drive it here. It's a 5 minute drive, but it's too much to carry. Besides, the terrain is too muddy to walk through."
I nodded. After being in the army, driving 10 minutes a month would be easy. "Sounds like a good deal."
"Some advice, first. Don't stray to far into the swamp, otherwise... Well, there's an ancient creature in there. We call her Mirinha, and she... Well, just don't venture off of the road when driving."
I thought for a minute. Should I tell her that Mirinha wasn't dangerous, that she didn't mean any harm? No, it would be too difficult to explain.
"Okay. Name's James McAnnen." I said, holding out my hand.
"Sofia Lopez. Nice to meet you, James." She shook my hand.
We spoke for a while, about living arrangements, the town, and a bit about how I ended up on the island. After a while, we noticed it had gone dark. My bed was separate from Sofia, but we were in the same room. I wasn't so sure about it, but if she trusted me I was fine with it. I lay awake for a while, but my mind was racing. Could I really sustain life here? How long until the military found out I was alive? How could I sneak out to see Mirinha when everyone thought she was a monster?
Brrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmvvvvvvrrrrrrrrllllllll-RRRRRRRBBBBBBBRRRRRRMMMMMPT!
My thoughts were interrupted by Sofia's butt letting out a wet, rumbling fart. I will say that, even though Mirinha had won my heart, it was difficult to deny that Sofia's fart was still really cute.
"Excuse me..." She whispered quietly. It was a boiling hot night, but eventually I drifted off to sleep. My dreams were fitful, and filled with lusting fantasies about Mirinha. It was disturbing, really. I couldn't believe I'd fallen so deeply for her in such a short amount of time. Sure, we'd spoken quite a bit while on our walk, but we didn't know each other that well. So... Why did I feel so strongly about her? But rest assured, when morning came, I'd meet her again.
And that concludes my first chapter. I hope, if you enjoyed, you'll stick through with my story. There's so much to tell. Alas, I must leave this here, the first chapter of my journal...