Linden+W

Linden W

By: Linden Williamson
 * Novella –** __**Terrible Paradise**__ **- Chapter 1:** __**52 Miles North**__

Seatbelt lights flashed on and oxygen masks flopped from the ceiling. The intercom buzzed on, “this is your captain speaking; please remain calm, get to your seats and put on your seatbelts. Your TV’s will display a video on how to use your oxygen masks, thank-you.” People all over the plane scrambled to their seats and struggled to put on their seatbelts. The screens on the back of the seats and everyone watched intently, putting on their respective masks.

Suddenly, the plane shook violently, and any unfortunate people who didn’t manage to get on their seatbelts flew towards the ceiling. They crunched against the ceiling and then fell limp to the floor. The captain’s voice came over the intercom again: “we are going down, I repeat, we are going down. Please head carefully towards the emergency exit closest to you”.

It was quiet for a moment, and then a child screamed, and everyone snapped back into the present. Bags were strewn across the floor as people ran, walked, or made their way anyway they could towards the emergency exits. Then the plane hit the water. People were thrown to their knees, and the exit doors flew open. Water filled the plane and engulfed many passengers who would never be seen by their loved ones again. Only a few individuals made it through the emergency doors in time to have enough breath to sustain them until they reached the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Four people emerged from the water on opposite sides of the plane. None of these people were aware enough to notice their companions. They quickly latched onto whatever they could find that could float.

Still oblivious to the other survivors, they drifted off in different directions. Eventually, all four of the individuals fell asleep on their makeshift rafts, and as if this was what the ocean currents were waiting for, they now were carried together until they formed a rough line, with four dots connected.

One of these makeshift rafts was struggling to stay afloat, and this particular raft was manned by a man named Dexter. Dexter was a strongly built man, with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes; he was cleanly shaven and had an air of importance. He was wearing a designer three piece suit and shoes. He suit was tattered from the perils of the crash. He seemed fairly unharmed, other than a few cuts and bruises, and was now taking in his surroundings.

He paused for a second and squinted into the sunlight towards the closest of the four rafts. He quickly dropped to his knees on his raft, which was now barely staying above the water, and paddled towards the other raft, hoping it could possibly hold another human.

Dexter paddled furiously, finally reaching the other raft. There was a small blond woman lying battered on the raft. She had tattered shorts and a see-through t-shirt on. She had tattered shorts and a t-shirt on and had blood caked on her left calf. Dexter cautiously shook her frail frame to wake her. Her eyes snapped open and she screamed shrilly. “It’s ok,” consoled Dexter, “I’m not going to hurt you”. “It’s OK!?” She yelled, “No, it’s not ok. Our plane has crashed in the middle of the ocean, were stranded in the middle of the Pacific on rubbish, makeshift rafts, and we have no assets.” “Ummm... well, sorry but there does appear to be land approaching, and I do happen to have a knife, if you want to add that to our list of //assets//”. The girl turned to look towards where Dexter was pointing and gasped. Land was visible; and they were headed right for it. “Oh, thank the Lord”, was all she could manage. “By the way”, said Dexter, “what’s your name?” “Phoebe”, the girl replied. “What’s yours?” “Dexter”

Finally able to take her eyes away from the land that probably had made their lives a lot longer, Phoebe glanced to her right. She spotted something floating about 50 yards away.

“Hey, what do you think that is?” She said, directing Dexter’s gaze towards the debris. “I don’t know,” replied Dexter, “maybe someone else survived,” he added hopefully. “What should we do?” “Well it looks like it’s drifting the same way as us,” stated Dexter,” Let’s wait until we reach the island and then we’ll see what it is”. “Ok”, agreed Phoebe.

They both settled onto the raft to wait until they reached the island. The evening sun was just dropping towards the horizon, and the water lapping against their raft.

Two hours later they reached the beach. Scrambling off of the raft, the pair surveyed their surroundings. Phoebe noticed the man first. Sprawled on the beach a muscular, handsome man, with dirty blond hair’s breath came in strangled gasps.

Dexter ran towards the man and Phoebe hobbled behind him, careful of the huge gash in her calf. Just as Dexter reached the man he coughed up a grimy mixture of blood, sand and ocean water. Dexter knelt down to feel the man’s pulse, but when his fingers touched the man’s warm neck, he felt no pulse.

The man coughed and spluttered, and then gasped in his first mouthful of air. He continued coughing up water for a bit and then sat up. “Where am I,” he asked groggily. “We’re marooned on a goddamn island”, exclaimed Phoebe angrily. “Uhhhh....” answered the man; then he fainted.
 * Novella –** __**Terrible Paradise**__ **– Chapter 2:** __**Survival**__

He awoke in the sand next to some palm trees and assessed himself physically, and mentally. His name was Koliah, he remembered, and he lived at 7928 Heartian Crescent in Toronto, Ontario. He had flown in his private jet to Hawaii and boarded a plane to Australia. He remembered bits of the crash, but could piece it all together, and he couldn’t remember how he had ended up on the island. He tried stretching his legs and arms, the way his job as a professional trainer had taught him. Everything seemed to be in working order, so he sat up and surveyed his surroundings.

In front of him was a beautiful beach with waves washing peacefully into the shore. To his right and left was a jungle of palm trees, and glancing backwards he noticed more jungle. About ten yards was a shelter constructed of tree branches and palm fronds, and fifty yards in front of it was a bon fire. Beside the fire was a huge pile of bananas, coconuts, and other exotic fruits he had never seen before, but were apparently edible. Dexter and Phoebe were nowhere to be seen.

Koliah slowly and carefully tried to, successfully, stand up. He cautiously walked around the beach to test his legs and then made his way over to the makeshift shelter. The shelter was square with a flat roof and palm fronds draped on all sides for walls. Koliah entered through a hole in one wall that he assumed to be a door and looked around. Lots of light came in between the leaves of the fronds, and Koliah could see two clear beds dug out in the sand and a spot for a third. There was a girl laying in one of the beds; it wasn’t Phoebe but he decided to ignore her and move on. A small knife was sticking out of the sand, blade down, beside one of the beds and there were bits of rope scattered carelessly on the floor. Koliah, with nothing more inside to investigate, turned and exited. He started towards the fire and the fruit when Dexter and Phoebe clattered out of the jungle onto the beach carrying armloads of firewood. Phoebe looked like she was struggling with the load in her arms and the cut in her calf so Koliah rushed over to help. “Thanks”, sighed Phoebe, letting her load slide into Koliah`s sturdy arms. “No problem”, replied Koliah. “So you`re finally awake”, stated Dexter under his load. “Yah”, replied Koliah, “how long was I out?” “Three days”, said Phoebe, “By the way, what`s your name?” “Koliah, what`s yours?” “Phoebe”. “And I`m Dexter”. “Alright, you guys built the shelter?” “No”, said Phoebe sarcastically, “we found it here”. “Hahaha”, laughed Koliah. “Well, nice job”. “Thanks”. “Who`s the girl in there?” “That`s Bonquiqui,” answered Phoebe. “She washed up on the first day”, added Dexter. “Hmmmm...ok”, said Koliah.

They walked over to the fire and dumped their loads beside it. Exhausted from their efforts Phoebe and Dexter sat down heavily and reached for some of the fruit. Koliah stayed standing but selected but selected a banana from the pile and peeled it. “You guys have been working hard”, he stated. “Not like we had much choice”, said Phoebe a little annoyed. “I guess”, replied Koliah. “How can I help?” “Well”, started Phoebe, “we need to set up stills to collect water. We have to collectfruit and wood.” She paused for a moment, “Oh and you have to dig yourself a bed inthe shelter”. “Ok. I`ll start on my bed. Is there a shovel or something?” “No, but there`s a rock that we used by the shelter”, Dexter replied. Koliah walked over to the shelter, picked up the rock and went inside.

Bonquiqui was just waking up when he entered. She looked about 23 and had wavy blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. “Oh, hi”, said Koliah, “How are you?” “I`m ok”, she replied. “Who are you?” “My name`s Koliah. Sorry If I woke you up”. “Oh, no, not at all”. “Good. Apparently I have to dig myself a bed”. “Alright, good luck”. “Thanks”. Bonquiqui left the shelter and Koliah knelt down to start digging.

Two weeks had passed, and the inhabitants of the island were getting thoroughly sick of bananas and coconuts and collecting more of them. One night the four of them awoke to the sound of a large animal. Dexter grabbed his knife and cautiously stepped over Bonquiqui to get out of the shelter. Koliah followed him and they saw the silhouette of a large bear ingesting their food rather rapidly. The men scampered back into the shelter and shushed Phoebe and Bonquiqui who were cowering together. “There`s a huge bear out there eating all our food”, Koliah whispered. “How big?” Asked Bonquiqui nervously. “Probably about seven feet tall and 360 pounds”. The girls whimpered again. “Let`s just stay in here and wait until it leaves”, suggested Koliah, “were gonna have a heck of a lot of work on our hands tomorrow”.


 * Novella –** __**Terrible Paradise**__ **– Chapter 3:** __**Razor Sharp Claws and Gleaming Teeth**__

By now Dexter and Koliah`s beards had grown long and tangled, Bonquiqui could be heard screeching every time she saw her appearance in the small mirror she had salvaged from the plane wreck, and Phoebe was getting more and more testy each day.

They were quite the bunch. Dexter had become the quiet leader among them; although, that didn`t stop Phoebe from yelling at him every time he did something she thought was wrong.

Koliah was hardworking and made sure the fire stayed lit and the fruit supply stayed high, which was quite the job. He also collected fresh water from the nearby stream.

Bonquiqui spent most of her time complaining about her appearance, but when they did get her to work she slowly picked her way through the jungle to the stream or fruit trees. She could only hold a half a bucket of water and usually carried only three or four fruits back to the camp, so it was hardly worth the effort of getting her to work anyways.

After the bear had visited Phoebe had had the idea of raising the fruit into the tree`s to avoid another bear encounter. They wrapped the food in Dexter`s soiled suit jacket, and used a strong vine to hoist it over a high tree branch, and then tied it to the ground. The only problem was that it was hard to get it down in the morning and back up in the evening. So Koliah had taken on this task as well as his many others, and this was what he was struggling with now.

Koliah grunted as he pitched the jacket full of fruit over a thick palm branch. Then, yanking on the vine, he selected a sturdy plant to secure the end of the vine to. Satisfied, he walked back towards the camp.

At the camp Phoebe was changing the bandage on her calf, using fresh gauze from the first aid kit Bonquiqui had brought from the plane she tightly wrapped it around her injury. Dexter was adding logs to the fire, and Bonquiqui was fussing over her the amount of hair on her legs.

Koliah headed for the shelter but was stopped by Bonquiqui. “How do I look?” she inquired, turning to him and batting his eyelids. “You look fine”, replied Koliah, glancing her way. “What! Don’t I look beautiful”, she said, astounded. “Ummmmm.....Yah, of course you do”, said Koliah reluctantly. “Oh goody”, she exclaimed, turning back to mirror.

Koliah continued toward the shelter. “Hey Kol”, beckoned Dexter from the fire, “can you come here for a second?” “Uh, yah sure”, Koliah said, changing his route towards him. Once he was by Dexter’s side, Dexter said, “I think there we’re going to need more wood”, gesturing towards the dwindling wood pile. Koliah took the hint. “Yah, I’m on it. Just let me rest for ten minutes and then I can go get somemore.” Koliah continued his walk back to the shelter for the third time in as many minutes. Just as he passed Phoebe she said, “Koliah, could you hold this for a sec?” Koliah moaned in his head. “Yah”, he replied reluctantly. Phoebe held out part of her bandage, “Here, just hold this down”. Koliah squatted down and wordlessly reached for the bandage, holding it to Phoebe’s leg. “Move it a little lower”, instructed Phoebe. Koliah moved it. “Little lower”, pursued Phoebe. Koliah moved it “Not so tight”, exclaimed Phoebe, annoyed. “Well sorry”, burst Koliah, “I’m just trying to help!” Phoebe grabbed the bandage and struggled to attach it herself. She finally got it and limped off. Koliah finally escaped to the shelter and laid down in his pit-bed.

Seven minutes later Koliah’s seven hundred dollar divers watch beeped as his alarm went off. Dragging himself out of bed Koliah rubbed his eyes as he emerged from the shelter. It was already dark. The others were sitting by the fire. Koliah weighed his weariness and the darkness and decided to go to sleep and collect the wood in the morning. Turning on his heels, he went back into the shelter for the night. The others gradually joined him and soon just the embers of the fire were left.

Koliah didn’t awake to the sound of his alarm; instead he awoke to the wall of the shelter crashing down on him, the roar of the bear, a razor sharp claw swipe above him, and the gleam of piercing teeth in the bears pink mouth.

Dexter was the first one on his feet, wielding his knife. He reached over to Phoebe and pulled her out of harm’s way, for the moment.

Next he hauled up Bonquiqui, and pushed her to Phoebe’s side. By now Koliah had untangled himself from the palm fronds that used to be the wall and was holding one of the larder branches as a weapon. The bear, confused, looked at Dexter and then at Koliah as if he couldn’t decide which one would make a tastier appetizer. “Run!” Yelled Dexter to the girls. This seemed to make up the bears mind because he lunged towards him.

Koliah sprang into action. Jumping in front of the bear he hacked at the side of its head with the branch.

Dexter reoriented himself and glanced downwards at the small knife in his hand. Realizing this wouldn’t be of much help; he tossed it to the side and reached down to dislodge another branch. Meanwhile, the bear was shaking itself off from Koliah’s attack. Launching into action again, Koliah skirted around the bear and jumped onto its back. Planting a foot in the bear’s tangled fur he leapt again and came down hard on the bear’s head with the thick branch. Landing hard on the ground Koliah watched as the bear tottered and then fell to the ground with a thump. “Pass me the knife”, said Koliah shakily. “You’re going to kill it?” exclaimed Dexter. “We have to”, answered Koliah, “would you rather it terrorize us?” “I guess not,” replied Dexter, reluctantly passing Koliah the knife.

Koliah put the knife against the bear’s neck, took a deep breath, and then cut quickly across; the blood flowing onto his hand.

__**Epilogue**__

After killing the bear the group rebuilt their shelter, and life on the island went back to as normal as it could be when one is stranded on the island. They survived on the island for two more weeks, until they saw the helicopter. Throwing green branches and leaves on the fire they attracted its attention with a column of smoke. The helicopter dropped down a ladder and Phoebe, Bonquiqui, Koliah and Dexter climbed up and flew home to families, friends, and old lives.