"James!"

"Sophie!"

I swing my little sister around, hugging her with all my strength. "God I missed you."

*****

Emma P.O.V

"You ok, Em?"

The tears have started to dry now. James leaving camp this morning was a big shock to us all - my boyfriend was my rock in here. "I'm fine. A shower did me good." I comment, tying my hair up.

I sit beside the fire, feeling its heat irradiate onto my skin. "We have one day left. We just have to enjoy it."

"I think today will be hard." Fleur picks at a chipped nail. "It's the final day. Whatever they have in store for us, it's going to be difficult."

As if the Lords heard us, John trots into camp at the same very moment. "It's starting, guys." He waves the laminate. "Celebrities. Today, you will all take part in your very own trial in the chance of winning yourself a luxury final meal tonight. Fleur, you will go first, Emma, you will go second and John will go third. Fleur, please get ready to leave camp."

My muscles tense and shoot acid through my arteries. "What do you think it is?"

"Whatever it is," Fleur grabs her bag. "It's going to be our biggest fears."

John and I hug Fleur and walk her to the drawbridge. "Enjoy your final trial," I whisper to her. "You'll smash it."

A little while later...

I haven't been able to sit still this morning; I've cooked up some spare rations that we have lying around so John and I can have some extra energy, meditated in the treehouse, and emptied the dunny. Now there is less of us, we don't have to do it as often, but it's still god awful when we do.

"Were you a Destiny's Child fan?" John asks me whilst I attempt to hula hoop a branch we make into a circle.

"Independent woman was my jam." I nod. "I mean,"

"Hey, guys!"

I turn from John to see Fleur plodding back down the tramped down leaves and branches. "I did it!" She smiles. "I got all the stars!"

"Well done babe," I hug her tightly - there's a musky smell of cockroaches and crickets that lingers in her hair and clothes. "Was it bad?"

"The worst one yet." She winces. "But I know you'll smash yours, Emma. It's your time to shine."

I run up to my hammock, grab my water bottle from the floor and fill it up from the green waterbag hanging from a tree branch. "Wish me luck, guys!"

"Good luck hun," John rubs my back. "Bring back the bacon!"

I trample through bushes, brambles and over twigs and through muddy crevices to the overhanging bridge. This is the bridge I scaled many of times to my terrible trials, but also to meet my sister. The trials have been God awful, but I wouldn't change any of my jungle experience.

I clamber over the bridge, feeling the rope feed through my fingers and the structure wobble under my feet.

"Hello," Holly grins when I step into the trial clearing. "Come and take a seat."

As soon as I spot the table and chair, and only a table and chair, I know exactly what I'm facing. "Welcome to your final Bushtucker Trial."

"Thank you," I place down my water bottle. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"It'll be fine."

"You aren't the one doing it, Dec." I choke.

"Well, we know that James left this morning. How was it?"

Just the memory shatters my heart. "It was hard. He's been my rock through this journey, and to have him go on the final day, it's heartbreaking. But, I have to battle this now for Fleur and John, and I want to get to the end."

"Well, shall we explain what this trial is?"

I never realised how fresh and clean the two presenters look. God, I miss that.

"This ... is the Jungle Bonanza. This is an eating trial." Holly cringes. "In this trial, you will be presented with ten dishes. Five are BushTucker dishes, and the other five are tasty dishes that you may have had at home before. There are five rounds, and in each round, you will be presented with a nice dish and a BushTucker dish. If you choose to eat the BushTucker dish and you complete it, you will win a star. However, if you eat the nice dish, you will forfeit the star."

"So there are five stars to win. The first three stars are for main courses tonight for everyone in camp. The next star is for a drink for you, and the final star is for a treat."

"Ok," My stomach is eating itself. "Let's do this."

A ranger, dressed up in beige and camouflage, walks out with two colossal cloches. He lays them on the table - the pressure makes me want to throw up.

"So your first jungle dish is..." The cloche lid is lifted. "Beech worms."

I watch the grey slimy creatures wriggle over each other - their bodies could be meters long. "But ... they're moving!"

Dec grins. "Or, could we interest you in ... some mac and cheese?"

As the cloche is lifted, the stupendous aroma of fattening foods and sweet treats bungs my nose. "Oh my gosh. I can feel my mouth watering."

I don't even want to look at the worms, "but I have to eat the BushTucker dish."

The ranger removes the cloche of mac and cheese. "How many do I have to eat?"

Holly gags.

"Thanks, Hol," I giggle, touching the worms slippery exoskeleton.

"Two."

"Two!"

With a deep breath, I clench onto a slippery beechworm and trap it in my grip. "Ew!" The texture is foul, and the smell is abominable. "Here I go."

I raise my hand to my mouth and feed in the beechworms. The worms lap up in my saliva - tonnes of gunk squirt from their insides as my teeth pierce their skin. The taste of musky dirt with a yoghourt consistency makes me gag and almost spew. "Keep it down."

With a gulp, I swallow all of the gunk in my mouth. "Well done, Emma."

"James is going to dump me after this." I glug down a large volume of water. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten, and we had Nick as a chef."

Holly and Dec laugh monumentally. "Come on then. Let's get you your second dish."

I manage to digest a dead water spider at the expense of fillet steak, earning our camp a second main course tonight. "Your third jungle dish is ... goats eyes."

On the cloche plate, they look like golf-ball shaped spheres of white gunk and fluid. The smell is rancid - I want to throw up.

"The things I do for a pint." I laugh.

"Or, for your nice dish," a ranger takes the lid from the tub. "A kebab."

It looks delectable, mouth-wateringly good. I can feel the drool dripping down my face like a little baby. "My heart aches to say this, but I'm eating the eye."

"Ok." Holly shoos away the nice meal. "You just have to eat one."

As I grab the slippery sphere in my hand, it has parts which are hard and parts where a fluid is gushing from the centre. "I'm going in blind," I joke, throwing the goats eye into my mouth.

Breaking the membrane with my tongue, I bite into a tiny hard ball that pops, and a salty fluid gushes over my teeth. It's like chewing up a gallon of animal fat. It's vile.

"I can't believe you're doing this," Holly whispers, holding her cards up to her eyes.

I jump from my chair, needing anything to take my mind away from the flagrant soggy texture, each movement of my mouth intensifies the hell. I hunch over the back of the chair, banging my feet on the ground.

Finally, it's small enough to swallow. "Well done, Emma." Dec breathes.

"I feel sick."

The fourth dish is a drink- fermented duck egg - the taste is no different to what a rotten egg smells like.

"You have one more star left to win," Holly tells me. "How are you feeling?"

The mixture of animal parts regurgitates in my stomach. "Gross."

"Well, there is just one more." The ranger carries out the final two wooden cloche's. They're absolutely humungous. "This is..."

When the part is revealed, it resembles an uncooked sausage. "A bull's penis."

I laugh.

"Why did I do this show?" I giggle, studying the animal fallas. "I have to eat all of it?"

"If you want to." Dec twinkles. "Just what is on the cocktail stick on the end - the precooked piece."

"Thanks for cooking it. How luxury." I giggle.

"Or ... Jam Rolie Polie Pudding."

I feel my insides warm up. "Awh ... this was Hazza's dish." It's a luxurious cake drizzled in jam and cream. "Take the rolie polie to Harry's hotel room - I want the bull's penis."

The cloche is taken away. "Emma," Holly shakes her head. "You are a crazy warrior."

I pull out the cocktail stick. "This is for your final star ever. Your final Bush Tucker trial." Dec smiles. "Whenever you're ready."

I take a final inhalation and pull the meat from the cocktail stick. "It doesn't taste like sausage." I cry, pulling the flavourless fat apart with my teeth.

"Come on Emma. This is your last Bush Tucker Trial you'll ever have to do!"

It takes a lot of chewing and pulling, but as the penis segment slides down my throat, I know it's over.

"Thats it!" Dec smiles. "That's all five stars for camp! You've won the mains, a drink for yourself and a treat for tonight!"

I can't stop myself. I begin to cry.

"Awh, Emma." Holly coos. She gives her cards to Dec and then comes to hug my dirty body. "Why are you crying?"

I feel the happiest I have in a long time. "It's just, all so overwhelming." I wipe a tear away.

"Well, we will let you go back to camp, and tell Fleur and John the news. Have a great last day in camp, and we will see you tomorrow for the final."

*****

Hey everyone! I don't know who should win, so I want you to decide. If you want:

Emma to win, comment on this line.

John to win, comment on this line.

And Fleur to win, comment on this line.

Thank you so much to charlotteslocomb for all of the love and support!

Xoxo