Saturday Matinee - The Well of Dreams

They drove deeper into the jungle than any modern man had ever gone....Professor Damien led his expedition into uncharted territory in search of something wondrous...something no one was sure even existed....The Well of Dreams!!!
The legends said that drinking from the well would fulfill your greatest dream!!!
Professor Damien along with his assistant Professor Bend, had spent years researching the literature and folklore surrounding the Well of Dreams and they had been confident enough to seek funding and begin the search in earnest!!!
The two took on several others to join them in the search....Andy Mitchell, Kieran Sissopolis, John Tambler....each a specialist in their own way!!!!
The two Professor's had narrowed it down to a few dozen square miles but that was still a huge amount of ground to cover in a dense and dangerous jungle!!!
They searched for weeks before they encountered a small native hunting party and needless to say both groups were equally shocked upon meeting!!!
Professor Damien motioned for Andy Mitchell to come forward....Mitchell was world renowned as a cunning linguist....and he was joined bu Kieran Sissopolis who was an expert on oral traditions among jungle tribes....the two spent quite a bit of time going from one member of the hunting party to the next....hours passed by until they returned to find their companions had set up camp in their absence....
They were both excited....they were a bit breathless and needed a couple of strong and deep swallows of the bitter whisky they had brought with them!!!
Mitchell spoke first....
"Kieran and I spoke to them and at first they were very hard to understand....but the dialect became a bit clearer the more I heard from them....I spoke to the oldest of them for some time as Kieran fed me some questions from behind.....finally we reached a kind of understanding and they told us of the legend of the Well as where as the direction we must travel to find it...."
"Andy basically translated for me as I questioned them....they have a rich oral history and I was sucked into their world by the legends they shared regarding the Well...they all had stories of the Well that they were eager to tell once they realized how receptive I was!!! The problem was that all of the legends involved terrible stories of Dreams gone badly wrong and the terrors that came from it....as far as they were concerned the Well was Taboo!!!! I challenged them on this and tested some of their other Taboo's but none were as strongly held as those regarding the Well!!!"
Professor Damien was ecstatic about having a definite direction to travel in, Professor Bend wasn't so sure they should continue...
"Doctor D, what if they're right....what if it's dangerous?"
"Nonsense, Sal, we didn't come all this way just to be frightened away by some superstitious savages....think of what it might be....think of your drams all coming true...and even if not that we could publish the definitive answer about the Well and put our names in history as the final word on the legends!!!"
"I guess you're right Doctor D, we'll push on in the morning....do you gentlemen agree?"
They all nodded quietly as they kept their thoughts to themselves...
In the morning they moved on....they kept to the direction they had been given and by nightfall they made camp again, the disappointment was palpable as they sat near the fire!!! They would continue the next day but their high hopes from the morning had been considerably dampened!!!
By the light of the fire only Professor Damien and John Tambler remained awake....
"Damn it John, I'm so close to it that I can feel it...."
I don't know Prof, maybe having all your Dreams come true isn't something that mankind should have.....I can just imagine the depravity it could sink to...."
"Well I'm just going to search ahead a little bit....I can't sleep and it might be just a few yards away through the trees ....I have to know!!!"
"Alright Prof, but I'll go with you....you shouldn't move around in the jungle by yourself after dark...."
"But you're the animal expert....you'll keep me safe right?"
"Yes Prof, I'll keep you safe!!!"
The Well wasn't just through the trees but it was much closer than they had anticipated and they came upon it without warning....there had been no sounds and strangely no light reflected from the still black waters!!!!
They had pushed through and suddenly found themselves on very shaky footing!!!!
"Professor!!!" Tambler shouted as he tried to catch the man as he stumbled and fell into the water!!!!
He reached out to save him and he too lost his balance and tumbled in after him!!!!
At the camp they all awoke as they heard the screams in the jungle....they grabbed weapons and quickly discovered their two companions were missing!!!!
Professor Damien came crashing into the camp....his screams were becoming more and more high pitched as they caught him....
"Dr. D., what is it!!!! Where's Tambler???? What happened????"
"We found it....we found the Well.....we fell in....oh my god the pain!!!!! It's killing me...."
"Look!!!" shouted Dr. Bend.
They gathered close enough to see that the Professors skin was moving as if something was inside him!!!!
"My god what is it!!!!"
The professors screams were being echoed by another's screams coming from the jungle!!!
"Kieran, get the med kit....you'll have to pump him full of sedatives....keep pumping him full until he's out!!!"
"Sure thing Dr. Sal!!!"
"Andy....start breaking down camp....we'll move out at dawn....we have to get some help for Doctor Damien....we're getting out of here!!!!"
"What about Tambler? Do you suppose that's him screaming from the jungle!!!"
"Who else could it be!!! If he's back by dawn he can come with us but I'll waste no time searching for him!!!!
They left at dawn moving much more quickly along the trail that they had made.....but it would still be weeks before they reached civilization!!!!
They kept a continual watch on Doctor Damien and the thing inside him was changing him....they all had to admit that he was beginning to look very feminine....they had sedated him for almost a week because every time he woke the screaming began again....but by the second week he spent most of his time sleeping naturally...but the changes still continued and by the end of their second week, with another weeks travel left to go, they all agreed that Doctor Damien was now a woman in every sense of the word!!!!
"Do you think it was the Well? Do you think this was his dream?"
"What else could it have been Andy?"
"But what about Tambler.....what do you think happened to him?"
"The Well must have changed him somehow too...."
"Into a woman....like the Doc?"
"No Kieran.....I don't think that's everyone's dream....I think his might have been different..."
"Prof, I've had a feeling for a few days now that we've been followed....do you think maybe it could be him?"
"I don't know and I don't want to speculate....but we will take turns on the watch tonight because I agree that something is stalking us and I won't rest easy until we reach civilization!!!"
Kieran took the first watch and was surprised to find that Professor Damien was awake when he checked on him....
"Hello....I'm so glad you came to see me.....I've been so lonely...." his voice was soft and seductive....
"Prof, it's me Kieran....do you know me?"
"Kieran, it's me.....the new me.....isn't it wonderful!!!!"
He rolled out of the blanket and stood....he had been transformed into a stunning blonde goddess.....he stood there completely naked letting Kieran drink it all in!!!!
"Would you like to be my first Kieran?"
When his watch was over an exhausted Kieran was grateful when he was relieved by Andy!!!!
Andy was ashen faced and worn out when he was relieved by Professor Bend....who also finally dropped to sleep as dawn broke over their jungle camp!!!!
Something moved through the jungle nearby....something big!!!!
The events of this night were repeated every night until they reached their base camp to radio for help.....it had taken them far longer to get there than they had anticipated and they were drained and exhausted by the time they got there!!!!
"What now.....what will we tell the world Doctor Bend?"
"We'll tel them that the Well of Dreams is real.....we have Doctor D here to prove it!!! More men will come....many, many more....and we'll tell them the story....and the world will know that there's someplace they can go to satisfy their innermost desires....where they can see their dreams come true!!!!"
"Never!!!" A voice roared from nearby in the brush!!!!
They looked up as a giant gorilla crashed through and, before they knew what had happened, had scooped up Doctor Damien under his arm....
"Mankind must never know!!!" the gorilla growled as he ran toward the jungle!
"Oh my god....." Doctor Damien looked up at his giant captor, "Tambler, is that you?"
"Don't worry Doctor, I promised I would keep you safe.....and I've already seen the debauchery that men will indulge in, if they come back to find the Well!!!! I can't allow that....mankind must be protected from their base urges....they must never see the Well of Dreams....!!!"
The man-beast stopped at the edge of the jungle and looked back at the stunned men!!!!
"Never come back here.....tell no one what you found here....I am the Lord of this jungle now and I will not allow anyone else to experience the Well of Dreams....look what happened to us....imagine what the world would be if mankind could fulfill all their dreams!!!!
"But Tambler....what gives you the right to shut down the dreams of the multitudes that would use the Well?"
"Because I'm an 800 pound gorilla that's what gives me the right!!!!"
"But what of Doctor Damien???"
I'm the Lord of this jungle....and every Lord needs a Lady!!!!"
He turned and, in a moment, he was gone....swallowed by the jungle!!!!
The survivors of the expedition never spoke of it again....but at night while they slept each of them came as close as they ever would to fulfilling their dreams and for them....it was enough!!!!