Tara, The Jungle Amazon  Part 2
by M.C.
Tara accompanies Mike back to civilization


Author's note: This is the second installment of a story that was inspired by
the illustration of the massive woman holding a huge club in the clubhouse
section of Diana's website. Part one can be found in the M.C. bookshelf.

It had been three years since Mike crash landed near a remote island in the
Pacific ocean and was rescued by an enormous woman. After his initial period
of resistance - described in part one - he fell in love with her. Despite his
deep affection for the massive six foot, six inch 350 pound muscular Amazon,
Mike was finding it hard to adjust to the simple, primitive lifestyle of the
villagers with whom she lived. Tara felt his pain but did not know how to help
him. As her English improved she would sit by him at the nightly campfire;
listening for hours as Mike spoke about the city he lived in and the many
places he had visited. As he described the outside world to her ( and such
magical devices as televisions, computers, automobiles, jet planes and the
other items one usually associates with civilization ) - and how much he
missed them - she felt sad that there was nothing she could do to help the man
she loved. Despite her tremendous physical strength, this - it seemed - was
beyond her. Then one day, all that changed.

Tara and Mike were walking hand-in-hand along a desolate beach. Suddenly, way
off in the distance, Tara spotted something she had never seen before. "
What's that?," she asked Mike, pointing far out into the ocean. Mike looked in
the direction she was pointing and gasped," My god Tara, it's a ship, it's a
ship !!! " He began to wave his arms frantically up in the air and shout at
the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, the boat was several miles offshore, way
too far out to see or hear him. To make matters worse, it was heading away
from them. In desperation, Mike started to enter the water. A strong hand then
grabbed him by the shoulder and prevented him from going any further. " It's
dangerous to swim out there Mike," Tara gently told him. " You remain here and
I will get them for you." As Mike watched in awe - he never ceased to be
amazed by what Tara was capable of doing - she dove into the water and, like a
human torpedo, began swimming rapidly out towards the ship. It couldn't have
been more than a half an hour later that Mike noticed the vessel changing
course and begin to move shoreward.

" What in the hell are you doing way out here in the middle of nowhere ?," the
stunned captain asked Mike when he came ashore. " We were positive that this
island was completely uninhabited." He was the captain of a scientific
research vessel sent to their remote part of the world in search of strange
and unusual flora and fauna. The ship was based in La Jolla, California - just
north of San Diego - and was associated with the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography. Mike couldn't believe his luck. Before the jet crash he had
lived a mere two hour drive north of there. He proceeded to tell the captain
about the crash and how he was rescued. Mike prudently opted not to mention
about the prehistoric life forms that inhabited the island, nor Tara's tribe.
He feared that it would attract enormous worldwide attention and spoil the
unique, pristine environment that existed there. Although he himself was
having a difficult time adjusting to the sedentary lifestyle of the village,
after three years he had come to know - and love - the people there too much
to want to see them exposed for the world to see. The captain recalled hearing
of the plane crash, but that was supposed to have been several hundred miles
north of where they were. They were really off course, no wonder why they were
thought to have vanished without a trace. " Three years eh ?," the captain
said and shook his head. " Must have been very difficult for you here." He
then gazed at Tara who was standing nearby and added with a good natured
smile," well, maybe not too difficult." Tara didn't understand why Mike and
the captain were laughing. " Well, we're scheduled to leave in a few days,
going back to civilization. You and your gargantuan lady friend here are
certainly welcome to accompany us." Those are the words Mike had dreamed of
hearing for nearly three years.

They agreed to meet back at the beach in three days time, when the research
vessel would be departing. As Mike and Tara walked back to the village, he was
singing; Tara, however,was somewhat more subdued. Although she had to admit
that she'd never seen the man she loved so happy before (and, after listening
to Mike's stories about what ' civilization' was like, she too wanted very
much to see it ) she found herself in something of a dilemma. For she was
Tara, the protector of the village and it's inhabitants. If she were to leave
now, who would defend her people from the dangerous animals that stalked the
primeval island ? Who would they look up to when danger threatened ? Who would
give them the sense of security that Tara - and countless generations of women
in her genetic line that preceded her - had given them ? She had a
responsibility to them, and yet, she knew how much it meant to Mike to go back
to the home he missed so badly. Tara simply did not know what to do.

The solution to her problem came from Mara, her mother and predecessor.
Feeling her daughter's anguish, she volunteered to reassume the job of
protector in Tara's absence. To allay her daughter's fears as to whether the
old lady still 'had what it takes', the 50 year-old woman woke up early the
next morning, borrowed one of Tara's huge clubs - which used to belong to her
- and ventured out into the jungle. Less than two hours later she returned,
comely dragging behind her the lifeless body of a large, fierce saber tooth
tiger. As they met in the center of the village, Mara smiled at her daughter
and said - loosely translated from their native language - " See kiddo, I told
you there was nothing to fear. This old girl still has a few good club swings
left in her." Looking down at the battered animal, Tara had to agree. " Now,
off you go with Mike and have a good time; momma will take care of things
until you return." She seemed to have no doubt whatsoever that they would
return. Freed from her responsibilities, Tara could now prepare to accompany
Mike back to his former home, and civilization.

Tara traveled light. In fact, except for her clubs ( and it took quite a bit
of persuasion from Mike to convince Tara not to take even one ), her only
worldly possessions were - quite literally - the clothes on her back. Mike
began to realize that there were going to be some rather 'interesting' hurdles
to overcome; not the least of which was, how do you find clothes to fit a six
foot - six inch, 350 pound muscular Amazon? Another was how would Tara - who
had spent her entire life on this isolated island and had never even seen a
boat before the preceding day - be able to adjust to life in the fast paced,
modern 21st century megalopolis of Los Angeles? Problems perhaps; but Mike
loved his Amazon superwoman so much - and she him - that he felt they would be
able to overcome whatever situations life in the big city would throw their
way. Two days later, at the appointed time, Tara and Mike bid farewell to
their island home and its inhabitants; boarded the research vessel, and set
sail for California. As the boat pulled away, Mike couldn't help but think
about the talk he had with Tara's mother the night before. Speaking as best he
could in her language, he tried to make her understand that he would watch
over Tara. He would protect her in the strange new world to which she was
headed and that she - Mara - should have nothing to worry about regarding her
daughter's safety. What struck Mike the most about their conversation, what he
couldn't get out of his mind, was the cryptic smile Mara gave him when he
finished.

The ocean voyage back to California was long and, for Mike, filled with
anxiety. Now that he was finally on the way home, he was anxious to get there
as soon as possible. He was also worried about how Tara would adjust to her
new surroundings. On her primitive island, she ruled. But how would his jungle
Amazon fare in the modern city of Los Angeles ? Worrying about this caused him
many a sleepless night on the journey home. Since they had nearly three weeks
on the open sea before they would arrive in California, Mike decided to take
the opportunity to introduce Tara to the type of environment that awaited her
in the 'civilized' world. He patiently tried to explain, as best he could,
what she should expect and be wary of in 'his' world. Crime (what's crime ?,
Tara asked ), banking, (even the concept of money eluded her), sleeping on a
normal bed (Tara had never done so and preferred to sleep on the hard floor of
their cabin as it was closer to what she was used to), shopping, smog, social
etiquette etc. Tara did her best to try to understand what he was talking
about but she found most of his explanations overly pedantic and - quite
simply - boring. Although she did appreciate his concern, Tara felt she would
deal with his world when she got there. In the meantime she was enjoying what
the ship had to offer - which for her was a lot. Having never experienced
anything other than the isolated island on which she had spent her entire
life, nor having ever met anyone outside of her the small village in which she
lived - Mike being the one notable exception - Tara found her time aboard the
ship fascinating. New people, interesting foods, strange technologies; all of
which was completely alien to her. The more she saw, the more she wanted to
see.

Naturally vivacious and - thanks to Mike - fluent in English, she was able to
converse freely with everyone on board the ship. Tara clearly loved the
interaction with these new acquaintances. At first the people onboard - the
scientists, students and members of the ship's crew - thought of the enormous,
primitive woman as some sort of curiosity; a stone age relic that time had
simply passed by. Then, an incident occurred that would change the way they
thought of her. Tara and Mike were being taken on a tour of the boat by the
captain. They were visiting the lower section where many of the specimens that
the researchers had collected on the expedition were being stored for the
voyage home. Several of the scientists were loading their finds into one of
the heavy crates when - quite unexpectedly - a large ocean wave rocked the
ship. One of the crates which was stacked high above them, teetered and then
began to fall. Weighing several hundred pounds, it would have certainly
crushed the unsuspecting researchers to death. Reacting instantly - while the
captain and Mike watched helplessly from the side - Tara raced over and caught
the falling crate just before it fell on the scientists. Seemingly without
effort, the mighty woman carried the crate off to the side and gently lowered
it to the floor. After word of this spread throughout the ship, Tara became
something of a celebrity among the passengers and crew.

Many of them, when learning of the circumstances which brought her onboard in
the first place, now offered her their assistance. Clothes were sewn and
fitted to her massive girth. Her hair was, for the first time in her life,
set. With the help of some of the female students, she even experimented with
make - up; although Tara had no idea why a woman would want to paint her face
in such a manner. When the women explained to her that it was to look
appealing to the opposite sex, Tara stared at them in total confusion. " Isn't
it much easier to just take the man you want ? " she asked innocently. Their
laughter left her somewhat perplexed. Cosmetics, jewelry, social manners
rules, regulations; all these things she found both intriguing and confusing
at the same time." I do have a lot to learn about this 'civilization' ", she
sighed.

Because this was a research vessel, some of the scientists now found Tara as
interesting as she did them. One in particular, Dr. Margaret Jones, took a
special interest in her. A molecular biologist, she was very impressed with
Tara's immense size and physical strength. She had watched in awe as Tara
easily moved several of the large crates around so that a similar accident
wouldn't reoccur; crates that weighed hundreds of pounds each. One day Dr.
Jones invited Tara into her laboratory to run a few medical examinations. She
stood spellbound as Tara easily bent inch thick steel bars into pretzels with
her bare hands. When Dr. Jones attempted to take a sample of Tara's blood for
examination, her hypodermic needles kept breaking; it was only with Tara's
help that a needle was finally able to penetrate her skin. What Margaret
found, defied explanation. Tara seemed to have twice the normal amount of
mitochondria ( the substance in the human cell which produces the enzymes
essential for energy metabolism and is transferred solely through the maternal
line ) in her cell structure. That translated into incredible physical
strength. How she could have possibly acquired such an amazing genetic
mutation, Dr. Jones couldn't even venture a guess. What she did know was that
Tara was, quite possibly, the strongest person in the world; perhaps even the
strongest person who had ever lived. For her part, Tara seemed to take all
this in stride. After all, she was used to being ' special ' as were all the
women in her line for as far back as anyone could remember. That's simply the
way it always was. Dr. Jones, who had by now come to like as well as respect
Tara and didn't want to add any further complications to her life, wisely
decided to keep her discovery a secret.

As the ship neared California, Mike began to contact some of his friends and
work colleagues to inform them that he was still quite alive and on the way
home with a 'friend'. Wanting to keep things low key at first - at least until
he and Tara had time to adjust to their new environment - he only told the
people he thought absolutely needed to know. They arranged to be picked up and
driven to an apartment in Los Angeles. The day before they were due to dock,
while they were still in international waters, Mike asked Tara to marry him.
Although he had explained the concept of marriage to her several times, Tara
still did not fully understand what it was and why it was necessary. After
all, didn't she choose him as her mate ? And didn't he - after some mild
'convincing' - agree ? Why this need for a marriage ? It was obvious to her,
however, that Mike thought it was important; so she agreed. Later that evening
- in the presence of most of the passengers and crew - the captain pronounced
Mike and Tara, " man and wife."

It was an emotional moment when Tara bid farewell to the friends she had made
on the voyage. Though awed by her physical strength, they were equally won
over by her personality. Margaret promised she would keep in touch with them,
as did Robert, the ship's captain. Tara's introduction to civilization was a
ride in a very strange vehicle. Although Mike had explained to her about
automobiles many times, the experience of actually riding in one was something
she wasn't quite prepared for. Riding along the highway at 75 M.P.H. in the
SUV, watching the other vehicles whiz by, was something that Tara simply
wasn't prepared for. She laughed when the driver beeped the horn, Tara had
never heard such a strange sound before. When they arrived at their apartment,
Mike - overwhelmed by the experience at finally being back home - excused
himself, saying that he needed a few days to re-adjust to life in the big
city. When he and Tara were alone, Mike warned her again about the potential
dangers that existed in L.A. " Please don't go anywhere without me. This place
isn't like your island or the ship, it can be very dangerous if you're not
careful. And wherever you go, please take your purse ( a wedding gift from
Margaret Jones) with you. It has all the things - documents, money - you'll
need; just in case you get into any trouble, or lost." The six foot, six inch
350 pound muscular woman looked at her new husband lovingly... thoughtfully...
but said nothing.

Tara goes for a morning walk

Tara awoke early the next morning. Not used to sleeping on a soft bed she
tossed and turned throughout the night. Seeing Mike sound asleep next to her
she decided not to disturb him. Instead, she would explore her new
surroundings by herself with a short walk around the neighborhood. Remembering
his warning, she decided she wouldn't go far; and she'd try not to be gone
long. It took her a little while to figure out how to put on the strange new
garments that her friends on the ship had made for her - the zipper really
through her for a loop. It all seemed so unnecessarily complicated compared to
the way she dressed back on her island. At length, she managed to dress
herself and, taking the strange purse that Mike insisted she carry with her at
all times - the purpose of which she was still rather unclear - Tara quietly
left the apartment.

The first thing she noticed when she left the building was some more of those
strange vehicles rolling along. Since it was still rather early in the day
there weren't quite so many as there were the day before. Tara laughed again
at the "beep, beep" sound they sometimes made. She walked along the street,
gazing at all the strange new sights; quite unaware that she was turning heads
left and right as people who had never seen such a massive woman before
stopped and stared at her. Walking along the sidewalk, Tara gazed into the
windows of every shop she passed by. Each one offered items she had never seen
before in her life. Tara came to a jewelry store and stared at the display;
she had never imagined anything so beautiful. There were necklaces, bracelets,
rings, watches, pins - each one adorned with the prettiest colored stones she
had ever seen. As Tara stared mesmerized at the window display, her purse
dangling loosely over shoulder, she didn't notice the man on bicycle speeding
towards her.

" This is too good to be true," he said to himself as he bore down on the
unsuspecting woman. " I'll grab her purse and disappear before she even knows
what hit her." That fact that such a jolt could dislocate a woman's shoulder -
as he had done on several previous occasions - didn't seem to bother him. As
he sped up, the would be purse snatcher reached out his right hand and
prepared to grab the strap of Tara's purse. Through years of experience he had
perfected his technique and his timing was perfect. He grasped the strap
firmly and tugged hard...and then a strange thing happened. As he tried pulled
away he himself received a jolt which lifted him off his bike. His momentum
carried him up until he was parallel to the ground where he seemed to hang for
a brief moment. Then, the stunned man released his grip on the strap and fell
to the sidewalk; knocking himself out. So engrossed was Tara with the jewelry
display that she wasn't even aware of what had just happened; she didn't feel
a thing. After a few more minutes she was finally able to pry herself away.
Turning around she saw a peculiar sight. A large man was lying on the pavement
next to her. " How strange," she thought to herself, " instead of sleeping on
a bed when tired, here they simply lie down on the sidewalk. I have so much to
learn about this civilization." Carefully, so as not to disturb him, Tara
stepped over the unconscious man and continued on her way.

She walked on for several more blocks and then Tara saw something which
reminded her of home. There was a large wooded area off to the side. Although
the trees were of a different variety then the ones she - living in a tropical
climate - was familiar with, they nevertheless gave her a feeling of 'home'.
It was, of course, a park - which Tara entered. Her attention was drawn to the
sound of several small girls laughing as they played on a rather unusual
contraption, a merry-go-round. Tara smiled as she watched the girls - who
couldn't have been more than ten or twelve years old - push each other around
and around; it reminded her of the children playing back home. Then something
happened that caused her to get angry. A gang of boys - perhaps around 15 or
16 years old - came and rudely pushed the girls off the merry-go-round and
began to play on it themselves. The girls began to cry. " That's not right,"
Tara said to herself," I'll have to do something about this."

Tara approached the merry-go-round. " What's bugging you lady ?," one of the
boys asked in an arrogant tone. Tara looked down at the eight boys who were
sitting on the ride and thought for a moment. " I just wanted to know if you
boys wanted a little push," she said. Smiling, they responded in unison," of
course." Tara smiled back. Leaning over, she grabbed one of the outside bars
and gave the merry-go-round a twirl. But not just any twirl...a Tara twirl.
The merry-go-round began spinning at a tremendous pace. Several of the boys
were thrown off immediately - some landing as far as 15 feet away. Those that
managed to hang on began to scream; even cry. The girls, watching from the
side, started to laugh. " Stop this thing, I'm getting dizzy....please, make
it stop ! " the boys pleaded. Tara winked at the girls and let it spin around
a while longer. Finally, she grabbed the edge of the merry-go-round and
stopped it in an instant...tossing the remaining boys off in every direction.
Tara approached the arrogant boy - who like his friends was lying on his back,
stunned - and comely said," it's not nice to take from others just because
you're stronger than they are; don't do it again ! " Turning back to the
girls, Tara smiled," you can come back and play on this thing now, I don't
think these boys will be bothering you anymore." The girls all ran up to her
and gave the mighty woman a hug. As they climbed back on the merry-go-round,
one of them asked Tara for a push. " But not as hard as you gave the boys,"
she said seriously. Tara laughed and said, " O.K., I'll try to be gentle; but
hang on...just in case."

Off in the distance, on the other side of the park, Tara saw a strange sight.
Waving good-bye to the girls on the merry-go-round, she decided to go
investigate. There must have been at least 25 men, or at least they appeared
to be men, dressed in strange costumes. On their heads they wore very peculiar
things; circular hats with sort of a cage on the front. Their shoulders seemed
unusually large, as did their thighs. But it wasn't so much their appearance
that struck Tara as strange, it is what they were doing. They would all line
up against each other and then knock each other down. They would then get up
and do it all over again. As Tara watched, they repeated the exercise over and
over again.The object of their attention seemed to be an odd shaped, brown
ball of some sort. Tara also noticed a man standing off to the side yelling at
them. " Come on guys, can't you hit any harder than this? You play football
like a bunch of women ! "

One of the players came over to the coach and pointed to the very large, well
built woman who was watching them. " Coach, maybe can use her for tackling
practice." The college football coach laughed at the suggestion at first. But
then, after he noticed just how large and powerfully built she was, walked
over to her. " Ever play football, miss? " he asked. Tara looked at him
perplexed," what's football ? " The men that had gathered around all began to
laugh. " Oh, I see you're new around here," the coach smirked. Tara smiled
innocently and said," yes, I am." He held up one of the odd shaped objects,"
this is a football, lady; and all you have to do is go from that side of the
field - he pointed to the opposite side - to here; pretty simple isn't it ? "
Tara had to agree that it was indeed simple. She smiled again and put down her
purse. " O.K., I'll try it." She took the ball in her hand and walked over to
where the coach had pointed. As she began to walk back towards the coach, he
said to his players," all right men, I want to see some real tackling now."

Tara couldn't understand why eleven men were suddenly running at her but,
remembering the coach's instructions, she kept walking forward. The first
player to hit her was a 250 pound lineman, running at full speed. " WHAM ", he
bounced off Tara like a tennis ball against a brick wall and collapsed on the
grass. " SMASH, THUD ", two more linemen went down. " Come on you wimps, can't
you stop one woman ? " the angry coach screamed. Tara continued comely walking
towards the other end of the field, seemingly unimpeded by the football
players who were trying to tackle her. She looked to the side and noticed the
little girls cheering. Tara smiled and waved back. " CRUNCH, WHACK , POW ",
three more tough football players slammed into her, and went down as if they
had run into a tank. Several of the players that remained standing tried to
grab Tara's legs; a few more climbed on her massive back in an attempt to
bring her down. Amazing as it seems, Tara continued to walk as if they weren't
there, easily dragging them all along. One by one they fell by the wayside -
their bodies bruised, their egos destroyed. The few that did manage to hang
on, Tara playfully tossed aside. When she reached the speechless coach Tara
handed him back the football; giggled and said, " thank you for letting me
play with you. But now I must go. Maybe I'll come back soon and we can play
again." She picked up her purse and began to walk out of the park; leaving
behind the stunned coach and his battered football team to come to terms with
what just happened. As she made her way back to the main street, Tara couldn't
help but wonder to herself," what a strange game they play here; I still have
no idea what I was supposed to do. But it was nice of them to let me play."

Tara returned to the street and began to walk back to Mike's apartment. "
He'll be up soon and I don't want him to worry about me." There were a lot
more vehicles on the road now and they made a cacophony of sounds of which she
was unfamiliar. All of a sudden, Tara heard something that, even to her
untrained ear, sounded ominous. It began with a loud," SCREEEECH !!!, followed
by an even louder " CRASH !!! " Tara heard yelling and screaming. She quickly
walked in the direction of the commotion. Tara reached an intersection and saw
what had happened. A large truck had tried to make a left-hand turn too
quickly and overturned, falling over a small car. There appeared to be people
trapped inside the car which was slowly being crushed by the heavy truck. All
around people were in a panic and nobody seemed to know what to do; nobody
that is except Tara.

The truck lay at an angle on the car. Tara managed to crouch low and get her
massive body in between the two vehicles. She made her way to the trapped
people - a mother and her small daughter - who pleaded," please help us, we
can't get out ! " " Don' t worry," Tara responded," I will save you." Placing
her hands against the side of the truck, the mighty woman - her massive thighs
and her powerful arms straining against the truck's weight - began to push
upwards. As she did so many in the crowd that had gathered, gasped in
disbelief. Slowly, unbelievably, the truck began to rise. When she stood up
straight with her arms fully extended, Tara bent her knees a little and gave
the truck a push. Gasps were again heard from the onlookers as the huge truck
was sent into an upright position. Nobody said a word, they were all in a
state of shock. Turning around, Tara noticed that the roof of the car had been
crushed and the doors smashed so that they couldn't be opened. The mother and
her daughter were lying helplessly on the front seat; the crushed roof just
inches above them. Tara put one of her hands against the flattened roof of the
car and the other on the door. There was the sound of creaking, bending metal
and steel as the powerful woman easily ripped off the car door and bent the
roof back; freeing the trapped people. Quickly, the woman grabbed her daughter
and ran out of her car.

An awkward moment followed as the crowd of spectators stared at Tara in dead
silence; not believing what they had just seen her do. How could one woman,
albeit a very large and powerfully built woman, lift that heavy truck off the
car and push it to an upright position? Then rip off the car door and bend
back the roof ? It was simply beyond their comprehension. Even the mother whom
Tara had rescued from certain death, couldn't bring herself to speak.
Suddenly, the little girl broke away from her mother and ran to Tara. She
wrapped her small arms around one of Tara's massive thighs and cried," Oh
thank you, strong lady, for saving my mommy and me !!! " The silence now
broken, the crowd spontaneously began to cheer. Even some of the football
players that Tara had unintentionally battered, whistled loudly. Tara picked
up the little girl, her tiny frame dwarfed by Tara's huge one, and carried her
back to her mother. She smiled at the crowd, but inside was very confused. "
Why are they all doing this ? " she asked herself. " Isn't this what I'm
supposed to do ?... protect people as I always have. Why are they making such
a big deal about it ? " Off in the distance, there was the sound of sirens
approaching. Tara remembered that Mike would probably be up by now and she had
to get back to him; least he worry. Grabbing her purse, she waved to the crowd
and kissed the little girl on the forehead. Then, turning around, she quickly
walked away from the scene. By the time the police and news crews arrived,
Tara was long gone.

Mike was nervously pacing back and forth when Tara returned to their
apartment. " Thank God you're all right ! ," he exclaimed," I was worried sick
about you." As they embraced Mike pleaded, " Tara please don't go off by
yourself again, this can be a very dangerous place if you don't know what to
expect." Gently cradling her husband in her powerful arms, Tara thought about
the morning stroll she had just taken, and about Mike's warning. " Yes," she
sighed to herself again," this civilization is strange indeed."

End of part two