Gavin+R

Gavin R
 * __ Out at sea __**

A pink-red crab scuttled over the sand. Up ahead it could see a looming object lying in the sand. The crab approached this object to examine it. Suddenly the ground began to rumble. The sand itself was stirring. The object was moving. It was slowly rising from the floor. When it stood at full height it was a fearful sight to the crab. The cautious crab scurried away. Dexter O’Flannigan gazed at the wide open sea. The great Pacific Ocean was a wondrous sight, wondrously beautiful, and wondrously frightening. Slowly, he turned his back on the sea. Now he looked upon a high-rise of trees, palm trees they were. “Where am I?” he pondered aloud. Thinking hard, racking his brains he could see a blinking red light. The plane dropped and shuttered violently; the men and women started to scream and the babies cried. Dexter O’Flannigan jolted awake. “Wha, wha, wha…what’s happening?” he sputtered. Dexter looked out the window and spotted a flicker of flame. The plane fiercely jerked to the right. As Dexter was staring out he saw the left wing tear away from the plane. “We’re all going to die!” screamed a woman, a few rows back. The last thing Dexter remembered was seeing flame reflecting in the ocean’s eyes, then, nothing. It was all coming back: He had left Vancouver at 7:00 am and was heading for Auckland were the conference was taking place. Along the way the plane had malfunctioned and crashed in the Pacific. He must have drifted ashore and here he was. He looked at the trees; they were so tightly packed together that they created a kind of roof top to the forest floor below. Looking up at the trees he saw a flock of birds take flight in a hurried manner. It seemed as if something may have disturbed them into flight. He tensed not sure what animals this island may hold. He became aware of branches snapping and bushes rustling. Soon after, a girl not much older than he, burst out of the forest. Phoebe picked herself up off the sandy beach. She remembered everything; the plane crash, the frigid water, the powerful waves, the feeling that she was going to perish. She looked down at her feet where she was amazed to see that she still had her pack sack. It was sopping wet, but she still slung it over her back and trudged into the forest. It was hot and dense in the forest. She couldn’t walk 5 steps without stumbling over logs or getting spider webs in her face. She moved noisily and she disrupted many bird lodgings. As they took flight she would watch them move so freely. Eventually, she could see an end to the jungle-like surroundings. She viewed another beach, but also, a lone figure, gazing out at sea. “I am not alone” she muttered. She started to run but she lost her footing and landed face first in the white, hot sand. Water lapped up upon the shore. A dark woman lay face down on the damp sand. Water hit her fingers and she rolled over and looked to the sky. It was a beautiful cloudless day and the sun was hot. She had a long gash down her face. She gingerly put a finger to it and cried in pain. It ached; she had a head ache. The sun was too much. She had to get to the shaded woods. She tried to stand. Alas, the effort was too much and she passed out on the shore, water in her hair. A sturdy looking man, his name Kaliah, a man in his mid-twenties sat on the bank. He looked fixedly at the huge, rolling waves that crashed into each other. It was as if they were waging an imaginary war against each other. Time after time they would slam into each other, an endless fight. The man's face was sad and tired. His ears were still ringing from the babies cry; it was almost all too much. He painfully turned from the ocean and walked into the darkening jungle. It was late evening, and the dark women, named Banquiqui, awoke. Her hair was sopping from the persistent waves. She felt very light headed and her head was pounding. She got up and took a small step, she felt woozy but she was still conscious. She slowly made her way toward wooded area. In was painstakingly slow, but when she got to the first tree she collapsed. She pulled herself to the base of the tree and hung her head. There she drifted to sleep. Kaliah strolled through the moonlit wood. The moon shone so clearly that night that he need not worry about his sight, he was relaxing, but he was also tiring. He needed to find a sleeping place. Eventually he could see a place where a tree had been uprooted and had created a sort of shelter. He laid his head to rest, let out a deep sigh, and for a moment there was no worry.
 * __ On the shore __**

A great white seagull flew over the ocean. He was approaching his summer home; a beautiful island in the southern hemisphere. As he glided over the beach, he saw that strange construction that four foreign animals had made. “Dexter, hand me the knife” Kaliah ordered. “That storm tore a piece of the rope off, I need to cut some more” Dexter tossed Kaliah the knife. He looked out at the beach and there “home.” The storm had uprooted countless trees and had torn a hole in their shelter. Kaliah was repairing the house and Dexter, Banquiqui and Phoebe were out collecting fruit and assessing other damages to the island. They had been on the island for a total of 1187 days. They hadn’t seen a plane for over 130 days. They were getting very worried and Phoebe was showing the most effected from this.
 * __ 3 years later __**

Phoebe was walking along the edge of the woods. She wasn’t looking for anything in particular, she was just walking. As she walked she was thinking about her life. She asked herself many questions, what had she done in her life? What hadn’t she done? And the most important, what will she do? Being the youngest of the four, she worried more then anyone. Her greatest fear was dying on this island and never getting rescued.

Banquiqui was alone in the forest, gathering the fruit that they ate everyday. She was really suffering from this. Back home, she was always treated to the best of everything. Men would always be taking her out to five star restaurants. She didn’t have the best career, but she would get men draped all over her. She looked at a particularly big and juice looking fruit, sighed and bit into it.

Kaliah had finished fixing the shelter and had begun clearing away the fallen trees. They would use the branches for extra roofing, and they would use the logs in the forest. The storm helped them in a sense because they didn’t have an axe, so the fallen trees were a real help for the fire. Dexter had just appeared from the forest. “Oi” Kaliah boomed, “Dex, come over here and help me move this tree here.” Dexter sauntered over to Kaliah, and helped carry the log over to the fire. “Do you think a plane or ship will pass by today?” Dexter inquired. “I hope so” Kaliah started “but I have a feeling one wont. Whats it been? 100 days?” “Yeah, I know, but I have a feeling that we may see something positive today, I can feel it” Dexter exclaimed hopefully.

Phoebe had met up with Banquiqui and was aiding her in their attempt to gather fruit. They had about 3 days worth of fruit. Over the time they had been on the island, they had eaten plentiful fruit, but they hadn’t been able to find a meat supply. They had tried to fish, but they were not very successful. The few fish they had been able to get were no very meaty, mostly bone, but they had grown desperate. But now, there main food was the fruit that they could scavenge.

Dexter flopped down in the shade. He was out of breath; all morning he had been breaking the branched and carrying the logs down to the fire. Kaliah being a trainer in his pre-island life wasn’t feeling as affected as Dexter. “Man, all this work to keep the fire going better be worth it” Dexter said “I hope so, other wise, were gunna die” Kaliah joked. That was Kaliah, always joking keeping the spirits high. He was a bit crazy, but in the long run they needed that to keep some sanity. They tried to keep a steady daily routine so that they didn’t go batty. They had always kept the hope alive that someday they would get rescued, but now 3 years in, hope may be waning.

Banquiqui and Phoebe had collected enough fruit and had started back to their encampment. As they walked they didn’t talk much. They would listen to the nature. From time to time they would get spooked by a big snake or a harmless bird. All of a sudden a huge python swung down in front of them. They both screamed, and phoebe who had been carrying the basket. They ran as fast as they could to get away.

The two men heard the women scream and leapt up and sprinted into the jungle. They followed the echo and they came upon the snake. Kaliah who still had the knife in his hand went for the snake, but Dexter pulled him back. “What are you thinking man, you can’t kill that thing!” Dexter blurted “it’ll kill you first.” “Yeah, sorry Dex, I guess I just got a little excited. Let’s go find the girls: leave this place hopefully the snake will be gone by the time we get back.”


 * __ The tragedy __**

Banquiqui stood alone on the shore. The sun was becoming visible over the horizon. She had a sort of glazed look over her eyes, almost as if she were sleeping. Her brow was furrowed and her mouth was creased. Her body was tense. She resembled an individual that was pushed to her limit, and had no more will to do anything. She looked back at the tiny, roughly put together camp that she had called “home” for three years. A solitary tear tumbled down her dark cheek. She let out a deep, residing sigh. She turned away. The others would be awake soon. She needed to get this down quickly. She could not go on anymore. The lid was being lifted up, all hope was gone. She could see no end to this hell that she was in: she had been living with these thoughts for months. They were eating her from the inside out. She had a headache from the inner voice that was tormenting her day and night; it was as if a woodpecker were on her head, drilling it constantly, relentlessly, no end. She took one last look at the shelter, home: she saw Kaliah emerging from it. It was now or never; He was running towards her. She screamed, and ran out to the ocean.

Kaliah was running over the cold sand. He was crying desperately. He could not be too late. He had to reach her. He hit the salty sea spray sprinting. He dove into the water, following Banquiqui’s path. He was buffeted back by the heavy waves but he had to reach the girl he had fallen for. He could hear a violent splashing, and he plunged forward. Over the wave he could see Banquiqui go under the water; he waited but she did not emerge. He yelled in anguish; he propelled himself forward. He plunged down and opened his eyes. He saw a hand disappearing out of sight; he went deeper and grabbed out feeling something: he grabbed it and began to rise to the surface. He brought Banquiqui’s head above the water, and he piggy-backed her to the shore. He applied his knowledge of first aid, but his frantic attempts to revive her were fruitless. He flopped on the warming sand exhausted, and he wept. He lay there and wept, all the feeling of hopelessness and despair came pouring out in those tears. He felt someone’s hand fall into his; it was Phoebe’s. “I loved her,” Kaliah implored.” I loved her, and I never told her.” He looked into Phoebe’s quiet face and found comfort. “She was so good to me; she always spoke of getting rescued. She was so strong,” Phoebe uttered.

Dexter awoke with a jolt. He had been falling and had awoken in a cold sweat. A tiny shiver went up his spine. He looked around and found the encampment empty. The sun, he could tell, had just risen. He had a foreboding feeling about something. He had never woken up this early to be alone. Something must have happened. He pushed himself up off his mat and went round to the fire. He stoked it to get it going again, and then went out to watch the sunrise. What he saw made his jaw clench. He saw two bodies on the ground, and one had a figure kneeling next to it. The one kneeling was definitely Phoebe. The way the sun hit her made her look gorgeous, Dexter thought. Putting that thought away, he strolled over to the three figures. As he got closer, phoebe turned and he could see her face. It was tear-streaked. “What on earth?!” Dexter exclaimed. “What has happened?” Kaliah sat up, with a look of pure loathing uttered one word, “Banquiqui.” Dexter crawled over to her and as he examined her, realization came rushing to him and smacked him in the face. “How?” demanded Dexter. Phoebe looked up at him “She drowned.” She moaned. Kaliah was looking at Dexter with a look of hatred. “I loved her; she wouldn’t have done this if you had told her we would probably never be rescued. This is your entire fault!” with that, Kaliah, got up and walked away. The fashion, in which he walked, was that of all energy being zapped from within. The next days passed with no sign of a way of rescue, and no more tragedies. But the mood had changed. Kaliah avoided Dexter at all cost, and Phoebe was almost if not more mutinous towards him. Dexter would find himself spending hours alone, because no one wanted him. Phoebe would spend all her time comforting Kaliah; and Kaliah, well he had almost lost all will. Dexter was a complete outcast. Five days after Banquiqui had perished, Dexter found a rare moment to be alone with Phoebe. He was struggling to find a topic of conversation so her blurted: “I love you.” He gasped and slammed his hands over his mouth. She looked at him quizzically and finding no lie, she blushed. “Dexter, I can’t, I am sorry, but I can not think about those tiny little things right now. We need to focus on getting rescued.” Dexter felt a lump form in his throat. “Yeah, I understand, silly me. That wasn’t right. There is no time for those kinds of feelings right now.” He turned away, hurt. Kaliah walked in after that, giving Dexter the normal dirty look, and turned to Phoebe. “I have been meaning to talk to you about that snake that we keep seeing. We have to kill it, otherwise it will surprise us.” Dexter looked up at the two and in an anguished tone screamed “How come Kaliah is allowed to love Banquiqui, but my feeling for you are disregarded?!” He got up and ran towards the beach. When he got to the wet sand he paused for a moment. What are you doing? He pondered. This is useless wasting your energy. Then he heard it; that beautiful drone they had not heard for, well forever. He turned his ears to the sound. It was a plane. He scanned the horizon, looking for the tiny dot in the sky. The sunlight was dwindling, but he spotted it. He yelled with excitement. With that he tore up the beach, back towards the “Help” fire.