Julia+W

Julia W

**Frozen Island**



Chapter 1

My ears rang as the dark events unfolded...

The plane lost control– screeching, like it was in agony; it plummeted into a downward spiral towards the ebony void. Emotionlessly observing my immediate surroundings, I noticed that either paralyzed in shock or attempting to find someone to blame, everyone seemed to portray the same desolate expression–fear. A loud voice, edged with a psychotic high-pitch, sounded over the announcement system: “The pilot is dead,” announced the uncaring voice, “I’ve killed him.”

An evil laugh echoed throughout the plane as a silence swept over the passengers. The eerie serenity of the stillness was demolished by the earth-shattering metal crash, as the plane collided with the surface of the lifeless ocean.

I had been on my way in from Russia, hoping to finish my teaching degree in Alaska. Being abruptly awoken from the ice-rain pelting against the darkened window, I felt oddly alert. Casually glancing down the plane’s isle, unsuspecting, I watched as a short woman cunningly snuck into the front of the plane like a ninja. Oblivious, I thought that the quieting roar of the plane’s engines meant that it was landing. I was wrong. Unquestioning, I swiftly stood up and reached above my head for my oversized luggage. Halfway through taking it off the rack, the plane embarked on its hopeless plunge. For a brief moment, the luggage went up, hitting the ceiling of the plane, just above my head. That’s when gravity decided to return; being hit on the head, I fell to the ground.

Dazed, I looked around, watching the confused people race around screaming. Everything was so deafening, but in contrast, all I heard were muffled cries. So loud, that it was almost quiet. Proceding the ominous announcement system message, the plane crashed; then it truly was quiet. Almost... too quiet; was I dead? A bright flash illuminated my new surroundings. I was set adrift, with three other survivors, on a life boat. ~ ~ ~

So much for the suicide mission; apparently killing the pilot wasn’t enough to make the plane crash properly. Now I was stuck on this shabby life raft with these wide–eyed fearful idiots. Before the wreckage had sunk, I grabbed a pile of useful items, while the two tall guys rescued the drowning scrawny girl. They were all watching helplessly as the enormous pieces of the discoloured plane went underwater. I glanced over at the pile of items I had collected– a gun was at the top. Using my foot, I quickly flung the metal–coated beauty towards me. I snatched it from the air and swiftly stuffed it into my designer pink parka.

~ ~ ~

I watched as the metal sunk under the water; somewhere in the pile was my luggage and my alcohol.... Sober, my annoyances began to rise. I spun around to face the others.

“Now what?!?!?” I screeched. “What are we supposed to do now– we’re trapped!!!.”

The rich-looking girl looked up calmly.

“Well,” she said rudely, “one of you could paddle us that way.”

She motioned in the general direction of west. Crossing her arms, she confidently sat up and held her head high.

“You all may call me Mary,” she stated. “I’m going to keep you three alive,” she scoffed– almost sarcastically.

Pointing at the guy sitting beside me, Mary began to bark directions.

“You,” she proclaimed, “are going to paddle.”

“The name’s Jesus (pronounced with an ‘h’),” he mumbled as he began to paddle.

Ignoring him, Mary glanced over at the other girl.

“You,” she said stiffly, “can try not to drown again.”

Obviously still in shock, the girl looked up and, having not heard what Mary had just said, she stuttered an irrelevant sentence.

“Oh, umm... okay,” she whispered, “and I’m Emily.”

“Whatever,” Mary said carelessly.

“Why don’t you just stop–“ I said, being cut off mid-sentence.

The entire life boat shook–we had hit an iceberg and the life boat began to de-inflate....

Chapter 2

Hastily searching the iceberg’s side for a ledge to cling to, I spotted a foothold and an icicle to reach for. It was just out of reach, just above my outstretched arm, far above my head. I had to try. Just as I crouched down, ready to spring, icy cold water touched the skin of my ankles. I yelped, leaping a foot in the air. Blindly grabbing at the iceberg’s side, the icicle pierced through my skin as I attempted to hold the tip. “Are you afraid of a little cold water?” Mary taunted. Of course I was: being deathly afraid of the water had made me reluctant to board the plane in the first place. But, I was too pre-occupied to defend myself. I cautiously pulled my hand back, and then grabbed the icicle, now covered in my blood. Wincing with every new move, I swiftly found a path to ascend up the iceberg. I sighed with relief when I had finally reached the top. Glancing back down, I watched the others carefully climbing up towards me. ~ ~ ~ Peering over at Emily, I noticed that she was still clutching at her injured hand, leaving a trail of crimson droplets in the pearly white snow behind her. She slowly turned her head in my direction. Quickly turning my head to face forward again, I felt almost guilty. She needed help, but I couldn’t help her. Not that I didn’t need help myself–I was freezing cold in this jacket, which was far too thin. We had been trudging through this barren wasteland for hours, unable to find so much as a single rock to huddle behind from the icy wind. “We are going to die here.” I stated boldly. “We are going to freeze to death.” “Be quiet, Mr. Negative.” Mary replied lazily. “It’s Bob, my name is Bob.” I said. “But we probably will freeze to death.” Emily interrupted, almost inaudibly. “Well,” Mary smirked, “’some’ of you will freeze to death.” Emily depressingly looked down at her injured hand, frowning. Mary reached into her pocket and clutched at something. Smiling evilly, she let her hand drop back down to her side. ~ ~ ~ Ignoring all of their melancholic lack of hope for survival, I glanced ahead at the vast white emptiness, seeing nothing, until I finally noticed something. “I think the snow looks different over there.” I said hopefully, pointing slightly left of the pathless plain ahead of us. “I think,” Mary scoffed, “that you’re hallucinating.” Without a hesitation, Bob raced in the direction I had pointed; he sprinted with a look of determination on his face. When he reached the snow drift, he went behind it disappearing out of sight. Sighing at the false hope I had brought, I ran towards him; Mary was following close behind me, while Emily continued to slowly trudge in the new direction. It was definitely different from the surrounding area, it sloped upwards on one side, and the opposite side, the one we couldn’t see, was the entrance to a cave. I went around, and entered the mysterious cave. Just as I entered, I noticed Bob disappear into the depths of the cave...

~ ~ ~ The vast network of cave went in multiple directions, but I chose the furthest right one. I jogged down the tunnel, through the near-darkness, nearly tripping a few times. After seeing that the tunnel widened ahead, I slowed to a brisk walk. Suddenly, a growl echoed throughout the caves ahead. Appearing out of nowhere, a snowshoe rabbit raced past me, running in the opposite direction, towards the entrance of the cave, it looked scared to death. Another growl came from ahead; I froze in my place. An enormous figure lumbered towards me; it was double my height. Timidly glancing up at the bear, I suddenly remembered that I had taken a knife from the pile of items on the raft. I pulled it out of my pocket, while the bear stood up on its hind legs. I unsheathed it, just as the bear lunged. With all my might, I jabbed the knife deep into the bear’s stomach. Probably feeling vertigo, the bear stumbled backwards, before falling to its side. ~ ~ ~  Bob had slaughtered the bear, so the rest of us had unquestionably accepted him as the leader. After a few moments of staring blankly at the murdered animal, he finally began to give orders. I collected firewood, Mary helped start the fire, and Emily just stood there, trying not to faint. We all eventually drifted off into sleep, warm from the fire

Chapter 3

Days seemed to blur by. We would always awaken to the stunning sunlight, echoing off the shimmering snow, and frequently fall asleep to the brilliant burning of the flaming fire. Since the overwhelming event, we had all lost hope–our chances of survival were far too low. ~ ~ ~ Emily had looked pale; soon after we had first found the cave, she quickly found a corner and she sat down. After a few moments, Emily closed her eyes, beginning to breathe quietly. I had fallen asleep sometime after that. Awakening to a lack of light, the eerie silence was deafening. Mary and Bob were both closer to the fire than I was, while Emily was further back, curled up in the corner. Surrounding Emily, the cave floor looked like a shadowed sparkling, alternating between a dark glow and a ghastly glimmering, as the shadows of the fire danced around her. I awoke on the second day, to find that, to my horror, the deceivingly glistening cave floor was nothing more than a crimson pool of blood. Emily had bled to death–her cold figure still occupying the drafty corner of the cave. Only her blood seemed alive. Like a river, the fierily luminescent blood slowly descended down the gradual slope, into the depths of the cavern. Both Mary and Bob attempted to hide their shock, yet neither of them could. Appointing myself the task, I buried her, deep in the snow. Sighing, I began walking back to the cave. I glanced back; a snowshoe hare had decided to stop and rest at the place Emily was. ~ ~ ~ To Mary’s disgust, our new 3-course meal, for multiple consecutive days, was nothing but cooked bear meat from the dead bear Bob had killed. Mary’s daily quest was to search for anything else to satisfy her hunger; after returning with nothing more than firewood, she would bitterly complain as she munched rapidly at her over-cooked chunk of meat. Although I didn’t want to admit it, I was getting sick of having nothing but this dead animal to munch on-we needed at least some variety. After more countless days, the bear meat was finally beginning to run out. To our luck, we discovered a forest, about half a mile past the cave. As Mary gleefully began her search for an edible plant, Bob and I created spears for hunting–despite our new dislike towards the thought of eating more meat. We wandered the forest for hours, regularly crossing paths with Mary, who found more to eat than we did. ~ ~ ~ “You two are so lazy,” I complained, “both of you were unable to find a single thing to eat?” Laughing, I stuffed another half-frozen berry into my mouth. I was proud of myself; without even searching too far, I found a dead berry-plant–covered in hundreds of nearly frostbitten berries. I still have no idea what type of berry it is, not that I care–I was overjoyed to eat something that wasn’t meat.

“Aren’t you just so glad that I was kind enough to share?” I sang. ~ ~ ~ Noticing the white-to-perfection rabbit, I quickly took my spear and raced after it. I slowed to a stop when I reached the woods; the cunning bunny had disappeared. A loud ‘bang’ suddenly echoed–ringing in my ears. Clutching at the pain in my side, I turned to see Mary’s retreating figure, putting the metal weapon back into her pocket. Through the vertigo, I watched as the snowshoe hare appeared–gleefully skipping around me. Unable to keep my balance any longer, I fell to my side. Moaning in agony, I drearily lifted my heavy head. Exhausted, I let my head fall back into the unforgiving snow. In the darkness, only the sound of my breathing, over the hollow thud of my emptying heart, kept me sane. It kept a sense of reality, my reality, which was now fading into blackness. ~ ~ ~ No one was in the cave when I awoke; I decided to explore deeper into the cave. Taking nothing but left turns, as to not get lost; finally, I reached a vast underground mine. Every cart and buggy was filled with sparkling jewels. “Wow!” I exclaimed. “You weren’t supposed to find that,” replied a voice from behind me. ~ ~ ~ Boom. He was dead before he hit the ground. Stuffing the gun back into my pocket, I took my cell phone out of my other pocket. “Jeff, get my helicopter down here,” I barked. “I’m getting cold.” After prancing around the dead body, the snowshoe hare danced into the depths of the cavern