Smelly Jungle Pillow

I remember the smell of my pillow when I was staying in the jungle hut in Peru. Pungent like mildew, understandable given the intense humidity of the place. My pillow was always damp there, and I guess it never really got the chance to dry. It also smelled like scalp, scalp and mildew. I guess the little pre pubescent boy who kept hitting on my sister must have laid his head on that pillow many times before me. Anyway, that day after canoeing through the river that was rushing beside our hut, I knew it was the river that smelled of dead things, thick with squirming creatures and decaying matter. Thick and swampy, and when the bubbles surfaced I could have sworn that someone had passed gas. As I ran my hands through my greasy hair I thought, there's no way I'm bathing in that sewage for the three days I'm staying here. So I didn't blame the pre pubescent boy for not washing his hair.

I lay my head down on that pillow and the mosquitos didn't bite me, the bullfrogs and the crickets lulled me to sleep.