Kyle whimpered as he slowly pierced his fingertips with porcupine quills, but tried to keep it quiet.

His best friend, Nick, the last one of his group to make it to this round with him, screamed in sudden agony.

The young man swept out from behind a tree to grab Nick by the hand, and led him away from the clearing. Kyle wiped the sweat from his forehead, determined not to break in front of his audience. He was the last man standing.

If he made it through the final round, he would be invited to the ceremony. He had hidden in the jungle and watched what happened every month: gold, freely exchanged between trusted members of the tribe. The bright sheen of it was visible everywhere you looked - it hung from highly respected tribe member's necks. If he could win their respect, his future was made. It would take years, but would be worth it.

"What? What now?" he asked the young tribe member when he returned.

The boy's eyes were sparkling, and he was grinning. On the edges of the clearing, he spotted the teenagers from the tribe. He and Nick had mostly dealt with this boy and his friends since their arrival. The older tribe members mostly ignored them. But respect wasn't won overnight.

A lithe young girl trotted up to him. He recognised her wide, mischievous smile. She had picked up English the quickest in the year he and Nick had lived here, and did most of the interpreting.

"It is decided," she said, looking solemn for once. "White man must show bendiness."

"Bendiness?" he asked, baffled.

She twisted her limbs in demonstration, nodding slowly. "Bendiness."

"Oh, flexibility," he laughed, feeling relieved.

At least today, it wasn't tying himself to Nick for a month, or trying to communicate via hand gestures alone with all tribe members to demonstrate his 'wisdom'.

"Sure," he said, jumping up, the pain in his hands lessening a bit. He had been an excellent gymnast in school, after all. "What do I have to do?"

She pointed at his head, and then twirled around to point to her buttocks.

"What are you asking me to do, girl?" he snapped. He looked around at the onlookers, but their faces were grave, glaring at him. Hastily, he tried to look puzzled instead of annoyed.

"Head go here," she demonstrated again, pointing at the same place.

"You want me to stick my head in my ass," he said flatly.

At this, the grave faces of the teenagers began to twitch. Soon, they were rolling on the forest floor, howling with laughter.

"Flexibility so important," she called after Kyle as he stomped away from the clearing, hoping the chief would be open to a long conversation about the merits of disciplining the kids in the tribe.

"No gold for white man," the girl told her friends sadly, as they clutched at their stomachs, growing hoarse with laughter. She grinned as she rubbed at one nugget on her neck, revealing the lump of rock beneath the golden paste.