in the rainforest

what two days in the heart of taman negara, a rainforest in malaysia 130 million years old, can teach you: nothing in the jungle cares about who you are or what you think you want to become. above you, lemurs shriek. on the ground beneath, scorpions roam in tight circles. at 7 pm, all is black, and you can't tell tree from sky. you are left to confront no one but yourself. in that moment of clarity, careers are redundant.

kadeeri, the forest guide, tells me about molly, the 30-year-old american woman who stepped into the rainforest and was swallowed. six years on, traces of her have yet to be found. as you walk deeper in the jungle, then, you can't help but think of molly. of who she was and what she went on to be. the possibility of her being alive does not exist, but you want to believe it does.

six hours from kuala lumpur city, the petronas towers are furthest from your mind. only molly and the jungle exist. and a slow-moving lemur, 25 metres above.