"Ugh. Stupid bushes. Where the hell am I supposed to find a damn purple flower at this time of night?"

Marisa grumbled, turning her flashlight over the paper in her hand, reading down the list of items for the scavenger hunt. Strange how those girls had invited her out on their camping trip. Maybe they had a sense of humor after all.

"Ech, screw this. I need a drink."

She turned and trudged back through the forest to the campsite, looking for the glow from the fire. After nearly an hour of increasingly nervous searching, she nearly stumbled over the ember lit remnants of the camp. The tents were gone, the other girls as well. She cast the flashlight around frantically, and came across a note on the stump she had been sitting on earlier.

Have fun getting back to the dorms! And maybe, just maybe, don't be such a bitch when you get there.

"Ahhh fuck. Should not have told that one girl she looked like a trashy whore with all that make up on. Shit shit shit. Wish I had paid attention on the way here..."

Sighing, she looked around the campsite, trying to see if she could follow the footprints back to campus. Holding the flashlight in her teeth, she pulled her hair back in a ponytail to get it out of her eyes. Rolling the sleeves of her maroon shirt up to her elbows, she set out where she thought she saw the most foot traffic, hiking her black skirt up to her knees, trusting her thigh highs to protect her ankles from the underbrush.

"Shit! Come on, come on!"

She cursed loudly, slapping the flashlight against her palm violently, trying to get it working again. After a few moments futile effort, she stopped and took stock of her situation, one shaky finger rising to push her glasses back up her sweat slicked nose.

"Ok. So, lost, alone, in the dark, in a fucking jungle. And, running around in circles in this damn place. Think I'm eating more mosquitoes than I'm swatting. Blech. Alright, so...what now?"

Swatting at another biting insect, she turned in place, trying to think of a way to get out of the forest. Flashlight dead, campfire out, trees too thick to allow moonlight. Wait! Campfire!

"Please work, please work..."

She dropped to her knees beside the firepit, ignoring the stains she made on her skirt, digging around blindly for a mostly dry branch to stick in the smoldering embers, praying she could light it as a makeshift torch.

"Yes! Score one for the cavemen."

She gingerly raised the torch, blinking as her eyes readjusted to the light. Light, now to get the hell out of the forest. Eenie, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by-. She stopped pointing in random directions, and tilted her head, trying to make out the song.

"Singing? Who the hell would be out in the middle of a forest, in the middle of the night, singing? Crocodile Dundee's daughter?"

Given courage by her own weak attempt at humor, Marisa turned until she was facing where she thought the sound was loudest, and set off into the trees, torch held high. Safety in numbers and all that, right? Just hope there aren't any snakes in these tress...

"Hello! Can you hear me? Can you shout if I'm getting closer to you?"

Marisa scrubbed at her glasses, only serving to smear the droplets across the plastic lenses. She grimaced at the state of her clothes, but fashion was a small concern next to getting out of this forest, and besides, her black and white striped thigh highs were still mostly intact, if soaked. Maybe the singing girl had a boat or something, to get them back to campus.

"Hey! You there! Ms. Diva! Wait up!"

She hurried along the bank of the river, glancing at the sky and cursing loudly. Perfect. Lost, tired, filthy, and now, a storm. Can't get any better than this.

"Hey! Do you have a boat, or something? It looks like its about to start throwing cats and dogs at us out here."

She held her torch tightly, trying to shield the guttering flame from the wind and moisture, not relishing the idea of stumbling along the slippery bank in the dark. Thank god someone else was crazy enough to come out here, or she'd probably never have found the river in the first place.