Deep in the Jungle of Doom Read online

  BEWARE!!

  DO NOT READ THIS

  BOOK FROM

  BEGINNING TO END!

  Me Tarzan. You Doomed …

  You’re on vacation in South America. All ready for some real jungle action: tigers, quicksand, swinging on vines!

  Then you eat some enchanted fruit and start changing into a hideous scaly monster! Now tigers are the least of your worries …

  You’ve got to find a way to get back to normal. And fast. Before your friends leave you behind in the jungle of doom!

  But first, you’ll have to escape a lake full of vicious piranhas. Or find your way out of an underground cavern. Or take your chances with a tribe of headhunters!

  You’re in control of this scary adventure. You decide what will happen. And how terrifying the scares will be.

  Start on PAGE 1. Then follow the instructions at the bottom of each page. You make the choices.

  Make the right choices and live to tell the tale. Make the wrong choice … and BEWARE!

  SO TAKE A LONG, DEEP BREATH, CROSS YOUR FINGERS, AND TURN TO PAGE 1 TO GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS!

  Contents

  Beware!!

  Title Page

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  32

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  39

  40

  41

  42

  43

  44

  45

  46

  47

  48

  49

  50

  51

  52

  53

  54

  55

  56

  57

  58

  59

  60

  61

  62

  63

  64

  65

  66

  67

  68

  69

  70

  71

  72

  73

  74

  75

  76

  77

  78

  79

  80

  81

  82

  83

  84

  85

  86

  87

  88

  89

  90

  91

  92

  93

  94

  95

  96

  97

  98

  99

  100

  101

  102

  103

  104

  105

  106

  107

  108

  109

  110

  111

  112

  113

  114

  115

  116

  117

  118

  119

  120

  121

  122

  123

  124

  125

  126

  127

  128

  129

  130

  131

  132

  133

  134

  135

  136

  Teaser

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “All right, Junior Explorers, I direct your attention to this magnificent specimen of Bromeliad aechmea …”

  On and on the guide, Mrs. Wheedle, drones. You can’t believe you’re stuck on a nature study tour!

  When you saw the brochure for the Junior Explorer Adventure Club at the front desk of your hotel, it looked great. Three days hiking in the jungle with ten other kids your age and an “experienced jungle guide.” How cool!

  “Come on,” you begged your parents. “We’re in South America and you want me to sit by the pool all day? I could do that at home. Why did you take me to a foreign country if you didn’t want to expose me to new things?”

  Now you wish your parents had said NO! At least your best friend, Zoe, is with you on the hike. And, even though the guide is as boring as possible, the jungle is pretty cool. Heavy vines hang crisscrossed over the trail. Strange and beautiful flowers in deep colors sprout from every side.

  As you follow behind Zoe, you notice a strange spiky flower with bright blue petals off to the side of the trail. Absentmindedly, you reach out to touch it.

  A sudden breeze makes the bright blue petals shiver.

  “NOOOOOOOOO!” the flower screams.

  You pull your hand back at the last second!

  Race to PAGE 2.

  “NOOOOOOOOO!” the scream continues. “Don’t touch that flower!”

  It’s only Mrs. Wheedle.

  “What’s wrong?” you ask. “Is it poisonous? Does it shoot venom or something cool?”

  “Of course not!” Mrs. Wheedle huffs. “That flower is an endangered species. You could have killed it!”

  She turns and marches back to the front of the group.

  “Whew! That was a close one!” Zoe says, brushing the bangs away from her eyes. “For a second there, I thought something exciting was actually going to happen!”

  Zoe’s cool. Way cool. That’s one of the reasons she’s your best friend. She has a sarcastic remark for every situation. And she’s not scared of anything.

  That’s why you know she’s just as anxious as you are to break away from the group and do some real exploring.

  Just a moment ago, through the trees, you saw something else that was definitely worth checking out.

  There it is again. Off to the right. About twenty yards away. Incredible! Your heart skips a beat at what you see.

  Find out what it is on PAGE 37!

  “THREE!”

  The king claps his hands three times and the servants flip the timepiece over. You do the same thing to the miniature timepiece in your hand. The sand pours through the glass. You tuck the baby hourglass into your shirt pocket. It fits perfectly.

  “You have one Palooka! NOW BRING ME THREE PIECES OF GOLD!” the king bellows.

  You glance around the chamber. There are tunnels everywhere.

  “Come on!” you shout at Zoe. “Let’s go!”

  The two of you head for the biggest tunnel leading away from the chamber.

  You have one Palooka to find the gold.

  Just how long is a Palooka anyway? you wonder.

  Flip to PAGE 58 to start the quest.

  No way are you going to throw away millions of dollars worth of jewels!

  You scrunch up as best you can and watch as the pointed rock formations inch closer and closer to you.

  Ouch! An emerald scrapes your shoulder.

  You huddle between the rocks, holding your breath.

  A giant diamond is coming straight for your head!

  One inch more and you’re history. You squeeze your eyes shut tight.

  With a screech, the walls stop closing in.

  Wow! Just in time not to crunch your head!

  You open your eyes. You try to move but you
can’t. You’re pinned in place by a fortune in jewels.

  You wait and wait, but the walls don’t open up again.

  In fact, they NEVER open up again. You’re trapped there.

  Forever.

  But look at the bright side. You always wanted to die a millionaire.

  THE END

  “Excuse me,” you call to Unger. “I don’t mean to slow us down, but I’m dying of hunger. Do you guys have anything I could snack on?”

  “Of course,” says Unger. “We never go anywhere without plenty of food.” She opens the tiger-skin sack slung over her shoulder. Unger takes out a handful of flowers and passes them around. The flowers are edible! They’re delicious. You’re glad you asked!

  After a few more minutes of marching through the humid green jungle, Unger brings the group to a halt. You’re standing in front of a cave. It’s dark and lined with jagged rocks. A warm, dry breeze wafts out from the cave’s mouth.

  “That’s where the Fireheart tree is,” Unger tells you and Ben. She points to the small cave. “Follow the tunnel until you reach a big cave. In the center will be the tree.”

  “Thank you so much!” you tell the Warrior Women.

  “It is our pleasure to defeat the spells of the Muglani,” Unger replies. “Good luck, my little friends!”

  She pats you and Ben on the back and turns to leave.

  “Oh, one last thing about the cave,” Unger remarks. “Beware of the guard dragon!”

  Turn to PAGE 87.

  “GRRRRRRRRR!” The gargoyle growls at you from shore and slashes one of its razor-sharp claws through the air.

  Meanwhile, you’re starting to lose feeling above your knees now. You never knew water could be this cold. Things are looking grim.

  “Let’s be calm about this,” you say. “There must be something we can do.”

  “Yeah, right,” Zoe moans, rolling her eyes. “Why don’t we just swim right up the waterfall!”

  “Ha-ha, very funny!” you retort. Sometimes Zoe’s sarcasm isn’t so cool.

  But you stare at the waterfall anyway. The water pounds down from the jagged cliffs above. Sunlight turns the falling streams of water many deep shades of blue and green. But that’s not what you’re looking at. There’s something else. You think you can make out the outline of something behind the falls.

  Something big. Something dark. Is it another stone beast?

  Hurry to PAGE 31 and find out!

  You stand in the clearing, waiting for the person who is coming closer. The sound of leaves rustling grows louder. You cross your legs and smile, trying not to look scary. You hope that whoever it is will help you!

  Ben, one of the kids from the Junior Explorer Adventure Club, bursts into the clearing. It looks as if he’s reading some kind of a comic book or a pamphlet. He keeps glancing down at his book then back up. As if he’s looking at a map.

  At first Ben doesn’t even notice you. You remember talking with Zoe about him. He’s a real bookworm and kind of a geek. His red hair is tousled and his glasses are slightly crooked. Freckles cover his entire face.

  Ben sees the table and rushes over to it in excitement. You clear your throat a bit to let him know you’re there.

  Ben spins around from the table. His eyes grow big as he stares at you. He stares at your clothes. Your sneakers. Your terrifying face. Your gruesome claws.

  Dropping the pamphlet, Ben points at you.

  “You’re … you’re … I know who you are!” he stutters. “And I know how you got that way!”

  Catch up with Ben on PAGE 21.

  You are tramping through the jungle, following your classmates. Zoe is right behind you. You’ve been doing nothing but studying plants all morning! This is the most boring vacation ever!

  Oh, no! Not only have you been zapped out of the cave, but you’ve also been zapped back in time!

  You’re back where you started … and everything you learned inside the mountain is starting to fade in your memory. It’s as if the whole adventure never happened.

  Pretty soon Mrs. Wheedle will lead the class off in search of that funny flower. And you and Zoe will sneak away!

  Try to remember this: When the stone gargoyle chases you, HEAD FOR THE CLEARING THIS TIME!

  Now go back to PAGE 1. Good luck!

  Zoe’s right. What do you owe that nasty cave king, anyway? He tried to make you slaves!

  “Forget I even brought it up,” you mumble. You slip the timepiece back into your pocket and keep climbing.

  A few more feet up the stone ladder and you and Zoe reach the surface. How sweet the fresh air smells! You hope you never see another cave in your life!

  Together, you and Zoe find your way back to the Junior Explorers. They’re not too hard to find. They make so much noise, talking and shouting.

  Mrs. Wheedle is upset because no one found the rare flower, but it seems like the other kids had fun!

  You keep the timepiece hidden during the rest of the day. Until after dinner, when you inspect it by the light of your lantern.

  Should I keep it or sell it? you ask yourself. You hold the pretty hourglass up to the soft lantern light.

  That’s when you hear the sound of hands fumbling to open the flaps to your tent.

  “Zoe?” you call. “Is that you?”

  “No!” comes a gruff whisper. You recognize the voice!

  It’s the king of the cave people!

  Race to PAGE 121.

  A puff of mist rises from the pool of lava. Through the mist appears a fierce, sinister shape — a dragon. Short spikes cover its head and run down its spine. Though it’s not gigantic, it looks quite deadly.

  The dragon has rows of jagged teeth and sharp rippling scales. Two evil-looking green eyes, with a stripe of fiery red down the middle, peer hatefully at you and Ben.

  “I don’t think we can fight it!” Ben yells. He scrambles to pick up his club.

  “But we’ve got to!” you shout. You tighten your grip on your stick. Your body is trembling from head to webbed foot.

  HISS! The dragon slithers right through the lava moat. As it creeps toward you, you hear its sharp claws scratch at the rock.

  “Let’s go!” Ben begs. “Let’s run! Now!”

  If you run, go to PAGE 13.

  If you try to defeat the dragon, go to PAGE 36.

  The stone beast is right behind you!

  “This way, Zoe,” you call as you race down the path that leads to the clearing. You know you can scare the gargoyle with the heavy sticks and stones you see on the ground.

  ROAR! The beast’s voice explodes through the jungle. Birds send out warning calls to one another. Your heart races even faster than your feet.

  You stumble into the clearing. The ground is covered in fine green grass. The sticks on the grass are just the size of baseball bats.

  “Quick,” Zoe shouts to you. “Grab a stick.” She has already armed herself with a heavy club from the ground.

  Out of the corner of your eye, you see a high table off to the side. Some weird little balls are hanging off the tabletop. But you don’t have time to check them out.

  Instead, you reach down and pick out a stick and a nice, softball-sized stone. You spin around to face the beast.

  Growling deeply, the gargoyle bares its teeth. It rips through the air with five razor-sharp claws.

  Then it pounces into the clearing!

  Turn to PAGE 48 and get ready to rumble!

  “Let’s take the tunnel that looks wet,” you say to Zoe. “There might be some sort of a stream, and sometimes gold washes up in a stream.”

  “Good thinking,” Zoe agrees. “I’ll go first.”

  She steps cautiously into the slippery tunnel.

  BAM! She wipes out and starts sliding down the tunnel.

  “Careful,” she calls back to you as she skids down the chute. “It’s slipperyyyyy!”

  You have no choice but to follow her! So you take a flying leap and jump headfirst down the tunnel, as if it were
a water slide.

  ZOOM to PAGE 118.

  The dragon draws nearer. Spiky white teeth snap at you. It eyes you viciously with its fiery pupils.

  “You’re right!” you cry. “We can’t fight that thing! Let’s get out of here!”

  You and Ben drop your clubs and race toward the exit. You stumble over the rough rocks.

  Because your backs are turned, you don’t see the dragon dip its mouth into the lava pool and slurp up a mouthful of molten rock. With a huge puff, the dragon spits fire at you.

  The flames bellow down the tunnel after you, catching up to you in no time at all.

  You told everyone in Mrs. Wheedle’s group you were a big-time explorer who could survive any adventure!

  Looks like you were wrong.

  Liar, liar, pants on fire!

  THE END

  “Let’s take the tunnel that goes down!” you say. You pull the timepiece out of your pocket to check it. “Hurry, we’ve only got about two-thirds of a Palooka left!”

  “Even if we do get the gold in time, do you think we’ll make it back to the group before they take off?” Liz asks, glancing at her clunky watch. “It’s already two-thirty! We only have a half hour left!”

  “Let’s worry about the gold first. If we get out of this mess, we’ll meet up with Mrs. Wheedle somehow!” you remark.

  You follow Zoe down the narrow tunnel. This one is not as well-lit as the other. There is only one lantern about every twenty feet. Even though Zoe is right in front of you, sometimes you bump into her because you can’t see her.

  “Ouch!” Zoe complains. “Walk farther behind me. You don’t have to walk on my heels.”

  “Sorry!” you answer. “I’ll hang back a little.”

  The tunnel twists and turns. Zoe gets so far ahead of you that you feel as if you’re alone.

  Your sneakers crunch on the loose rocks on the floor of the path. The sound echoes down the passageway.

  You can hear your heart beating. BUM-bum. BUM-bum.

  Flip to PAGE 33.

  “Hmmmmmm,” Cronby says, leaning up against the boulder. “Let me think….”

  “Don’t think for too long,” you tell him, pulling the hourglass out of your pocket. “I’ve only got a third of a Palooka left!”