Sara+C

__** Chapter One -- The Crash **__ The wind whistles as the clouds pass by like shooting stars. There is a loud crash toward the front of the plane; it caught the attention of Rachel, Jane and Casey. Apprehension is plastered across each girl’s face.
 * __ The Failure's Expedition __**

“Guys, let’s go see what happened.” Jane cautiously said.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this you guys,” Casey stated. “Alex might be hurt.”

Whilst walking toward the cockpit, the girls feel the plane shake vigorously. They brace themselves. Holding on for dear life. Everything is happening so quickly, no one can focus on what is really happening; the plane is going down.

* * *  It’s a normal Saturday morning for Rachel, getting ready for the day ahead without troubles or worries. First she must detangle her unruly locks of brunette hair, apply make-up to a pair or beautiful green eyes and pick her outfit of choice.

“I don’t know what to wear!” she proclaims to a closet filled with clothes. Rachel says this as if her friends, Jane and Casey, are with her. Rachel is standing as picturesque as a ballerina: muscular legs, perfect posture, strong facial features and beautifully placed shoulders. Almost as if she was placed straight from heaven, onto Earth.

On the other hand, Jane is struggling with everything. Literally, everything. Her mind won’t stay on the train tracks of her thoughts, she can’t put sentences together, and she is as lazy as a sloth. Slouching on her bed, she has given up. //I’m done with this,// she thinks.

With her bleach blond hair flying everywhere, she has nothing to do but pull it all back, out of her face. Thus, her square-framed glasses and beautiful blue eyes appear more clearly. She throws some baggy clothes on and heads out the door to Casey’s house.Upon arrival, Jane notices some plane tickets.

“Hey Casey, where yah guys heading?” Jane questions.

“Actually, I won those, for you, Rachel and I. We leave for Thailand tomorrow!” Casey said with excitement in her voice.

“What! Are you kidding? This is awesome!” Jane said. “I’ll go get Rachel and bring her over here!”

Casey yells, “Wait up! I’ll come too.”

Upon entering Rachel’s house, each girl feels a sense of security; like it’s simply a safe place and nothing bad can or will happen. As they reach Rachel’s room, Casey shows Rachel the plane tickets, “OH MY GOSH!” she shrieked. They’re ripped out of Casey’s hands and idling in front of Rachel’s eyes. //I can’t believe this. We’re going to Thailand… Tomorrow!//

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to start packing my stuff!” Rachel stated. “Have you yet?”

“I haven’t. I’ll run home right now and do so!” Jane muttered, as she shuffled out the door. Rachel, Casey and Jane all frantically packed their bags full with clothes, for the upcoming week. With a blink of an eye, they were all cozy on the plane and heading to Thailand. Having met their pilot, Alex, they definitely had something to talk about. He was probably the most attractive guy they’ve seen. Ever.

Alex’s voice came over the loud speaker on the plane, “Good morning everyone. This is your pilot, Alex, speaking. I will be taking you from Moscow, Russia, departing at 1200 and arriving in Songkhl, Thailand at 1800. There is turbulence to be expected as we are nearing Thailand due to strong weather currents; please remember to obey the seatbelt signs and stay seated when they are illuminated. We will be taking off shortly, all cell phones and electronics must be turned off. Please watch the following video on safety. Thank you.”

As the safety video plays, the girls intently watch. Wearily looking around at each other, Jane says “Guys, do you think something bad might happen; considering the weather?”

“I sure hope not.” said Casey.

“Okay, we need to think of the positive. We won these tickets, and we’re going to have an amazing time!” Rachel explained.

All fastened tightly into their seats, the girls are ready for take off. Jane thinks to herself, //I’ll be fine, nothing bad is going to happen//. Her apprehension is building by the second, and is plastered across her face. Not wanting her friends to think less of her, Jane covers her eyes, and drifts off into a peaceful sleep. She dreams about the vacation her best friends and her are going on and it abruptly stops. //What the heck was that?!//

“Jane! Jane! Wake up!” Casey shouts.

“Guys, what’s happening?”

“The plane is heading into the turbulence; Alex said to keep our seat belts on and expect the plane to jolt around a bit” Rachel explains calmly.

Hearing Rachel talk so peacefully puts Jane’s thoughts to rest, //it’s alright. I’m alright, my friends are alright.// //Everything will be al...//



__**Chapter Two -- Arrival of the Crate**__

...//Alright//. Nothing was; everything went downhill from there. Miraculously, Jane managed to stay sane throughout everything.

“Guys! Try and hold onto something!” Rachel shouted through the blast of air coming from the cockpit. //I have a lighter in my pocket, just in case.// Her thoughts got immersed by the gush of water that flooded the wreckage of the air plane. Frantically thinking to herself, //Where is a life vest? I need to find one before the cabin fills with water!//

“Hold on!” screamed Casey.

“Try and stay together!” Jane persisted.

Gasping for air, they release themselves from the submerged plane and swim to the surface. Whilst bobbing for air, the girls managed to swim over to floating debris; clutching on for if their lives depended on it.

Breathing heavily, Jane asked, “Are you guys okay?”

“I’m good, how ‘bout you Casey?” Rachel responded.

“F-fine.” She said through chattering teeth. “Did any of you manage to grab something from the plane? I didn’t”

“I’ve got my lighter in my pocket, that’s about it,” Rachel replied.

“Jane?” Casey asked, “have you got anything?”

“Umm... No. Unfortunately not. I hope we get to safety, somehow, somewhere.”

Floating along, the girls catch a glimpse of what they think is land hovering. “Could it be an island?! I hope so!” Rachel says with anticipation.

“We could finally get out of this icy cold water and onto dry land!” Jane said.

Paddling as fast as they could, the girls approach the island and head onto shore. Plopping down with relief, the girls huddle together to keep warm. Jane thinks to herself, //what if we can’t survive here? What if no one finds us? What if we die here?// Too many ‘what if’s’ were floating through her mind at this time. “Let’s going looking around, maybe there’s food here, somewhere.” Jane offered.

“Sounds good to me! But, first lets see what we’ve got for supplies,” said Casey. “I’ve got the clothes on my back, and two hair ties.”

“I have my lighter, obviously my clothes as well, and thats about it,” Rachel said with contentment.

“How are we going to do this? We’re girls; not men. They can survive out here, not us.”

Rachel interrupted, “Hey, guys what do you think happened to Alex? Maybe he survived!”

“Well, lets hope. He’s damn fine!” giggled Casey.

The girls all joined together in laughter, sat down to talk more about Alex.

* * *  Caressing Jane’s face, the heat of the sun rays rises along the horizon and glistens the water. The three girls’ wake up to a withered crate washed up on shore, along with their pilot, Alex, trying to pry it open. He has his dress shirt wrapped carefully around his head, almost as if it was sacred. His black pants are all tattered up, and nothing looks right about him. Although, the sun is gleaming down perfectly to show his beautifully sculpted body.

“Alex! What are you doing?!” Rachel exclaims.

“Uh, hi there. What’s your name again?”

“Rachel, my name is Rachel. These are my friends, Jane and Casey. We were on the plane that you crashed. Thanks to you, we’re now stuck here until someone hopefully finds us.”

“Right, right, the plane. Yea, sorry about that,” he mumbled.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it! We’re stranded here!” Jane screams.

“I understand that, I’m here too if you haven’t noticed,” he respectfully replies. “Have you made shelter or anything for yourselves? I have, if you want to come see--”

Rachel buds in, “First, lets figure out what is in the crate; it looks extremely withered and worn down, I’m surprised it made it all the way here.”

Alex used a large stick to pry open the crate; it was Casey’s brother.

“WHAT!” Casey shrieked in terror. “How? What? No, it can’t be! No, no, no, no. This is all just a bad dream; it’ll be over as soon as I wake up.” Running away crying, Casey was in denial. Everyone else screamed in horror.

“Alex! He was on YOUR plane! Did you know about it?” questioned Jane.

“No! I didn’t! If there was any cargo on the plane, it would’ve been snuck on without being seen. All I knew of was you girls, your luggage and all the necessities for flying.”

“Clearly Casey’s brother is a flying necessity,” Jane snapped.

“That was uncalled for! I had no idea!” Alex exclaimed. “you can’t get mad at me for not knowing!”

“Well, we are. Deal with it,” Rachel clearly pointed out.

Leaving Casey’s brother in the withered crate, everyone went running after her. Including Alex. He yelled, “Casey! Come back, let us talk to you!”

“Case, hun, it’s alright.” Jane said calmly while attempting to comfort her.

Casey thought to herself, //no it’s not! My brother is dead, the one I grew up with, the one who taught me how to play hockey. I love him, he can’t be dead! This is all just a crazy dream.// “Alex, why do you have to be here? Honestly, just leave!” Casey manages to slip out through her tears.

He walks away, as she asked and doesn’t make a sound.



__**Chapter Three - Hanging by a Limb**__ Several months have passed; Casey has forgiven Alex, the girls have forgotten about how they look and have all focused on the situation at hand: getting rescued. They’ve become accustomed to life on this island: making fire, cooking fish and dealing with one another. It’s difficult to say the least.

The summer weather has become more prominent day by day. It’s nice, everyone enjoyed it.

“Guys, do you think we’ll ever get saved, let alone noticed out here?” Casey said filled with worry.

Alex replied, “I sure hope so. I miss my family.”

“You realize this is all YOUR fault, right?” Rachel yelled. “Why can’t you remember that!”

“Maybe because I don’t want to!”

“Well, you should.”

Steaming with anger, Alex and Rachel storm off in different directions; Casey runs after Rachel, and Jane goes after Alex. It seems to be this way all the time: Jane and Alex. Acting all buddy-buddy with each other, it annoys the other girls. Almost getting to the point where they want to split up; today has come to that day.

“I honestly can’t take it! Alex never remembers he’s the reason we’re here. It pisses me off so much! Ugh!” Rachel exclaimed.

“Well, I can’t blame him... I wouldn’t want to remember something like that, either,” Casey said.

“If you’re going to take his side, you can leave. I don’t need to hear it anymore.”

“You know I’m not going to leave you! We’re best friends. We fight. It’s normal. Maybe you and I should leave Jane and Alex alone for a while, let them be together. If thats what you’re thinking, it makes sense to me,” Casey explained cautiously.

//Maybe if we did leave them, everything will get better. No fighting, no yelling, not having to deal with Alex.// Rachel’s thoughts trailed off into a murmur, “I could get used to that.”

“What?” Casey asked questionably.

“Oh, uh... Yah, I think that could work. It’ll take the worry out of Jane’s mind about us; let’s go back and get our stuff. We can explain what we’ve come up with.”

The two girls then headed back to where they’ve been calling ‘home’ for the past few weeks, explain their plan to Alex and Jane who were already back, and took what they need.

Not knowing where to go, Rachel and Casey headed up the mountain in search for a place to stay for a while.

Whilst doing so, Casey lost her footing. She screamed, and fell. Hitting several rocks and trees, she tumbled down the mountain side. With a large thud, Casey landed on her side and screamed. Dropping everything, Rachel does whatever she can, “Casey! I’m coming!” she yelled.

Frantically running down to where Casey had fallen, Rachel slipped as well. //Shit. Going off like this by ourselves was not smart!//

She got stuck in a tree well and yelled out to Casey, “Are you okay?”

“No! Blood is everywhere and I think I broke my leg! I can’t feel it, I’m worried!” Casey managed to slip out through her tears.

“I’m stuck about 50 feet above you. Let me try and get out!”

“Please hurry!!”

Rachel thought to herself, //I hope Jane or Alex can hear us; they better come and help!// She’s crying as well.

Without thinking, Rachel sprung down toward Casey and saw what had happened. “Oh my gosh!”

“What! Tell me, what!” she shouted.

“Your leg... its-”

“Just get me onto something stable, for the love of God!”

“Okay. Just.” Rachel stuttered, “Move your arm- now the other. Okay, I’ll try and carry you down to the tree stump.” Rachel pointed toward a fallen tree’s stump; it’s fairly flush, and will be sturdy enough to hold Casey until she could find something to stabilize her leg.

Sitting in agonizing pain, Casey managed to realize what happened. She broke her leg; there is blood gushing from who knows where; whatever it is, it's going to get infected; she’s doomed. //Why does something bad ALWAYS happen to ME?// Without realizing, she moved her broken leg so violently it made an excruciating loud crunching noise. “AHH! Oh my gosh! Why did I do that?!” Her leg was dangling off the stump, “Rachel!” she cried.

“What!”

“My... My leg!”

“What happened?!”

“Look at it!”

Rachel looked up at Casey, the sight was unbearable. Her leg was literally hanging by the ligaments and muscles there. //She isn’t going to last, her leg is useless now,// Rachel thought to herself. //I need Alex or Jane here, ASAP! Why can’t they hear us?// “Alex! Jane! Someone, help!” She yelled. No response. Rachel yelled to Casey, “I don’t know what to do! I mean... You can’t move, obviously.”

Tears were streaming down her face, and suddenly, Casey flopped backward like a fish.

“NO!!” Rachel screamed so loudly, her voice had echoed throughout the eerie forest. She rushed up toward Casey, and did anything and everything she could.

Meanwhile, Alex and Jane had been talking about all sorts of things back at ‘home’: how much he does not like Rachel, how much he likes Jane, and other meaningless things. The list goes on for quite a while, until they herd Rachel cry out.

“Did you hear that? It sounded like Rachel!” Jane said.

“Should we go see what happened?”

“Yeah! But, where did it come from?” Jane asked.

“I think the forest on the mountain side, lets go check it out.”

Alex and Jane headed off into the forest together. Neither of them knowing where to go, they stumbled along what looked to be a beaten-down pathway. They heard Rachel again, “Help!! Someone, please!”

“Rachel! Are you guys okay?” Alex shouted.

She replied, “No! Casey’s leg-”

Racing toward the voice, they found them. Seeing what had happened, Jane went into a state of shock; losing all colour to her face, she had fainted instantly. Without a doubt, Alex caught her and slowly lowered her to the ground. He rushed over to Casey, felt for a pulse, but couldn’t find one. “Rachel, I... I’m sorry, but,” his voice trailed off as she bursted into a loud cry. Not knowing what to do, Alex held Rachel in his arms as she sobbed. Jane abruptly awoke from the sound of Rachel bawling, it had snapped her back to the present moment. “Hush.” Alex said, looking over to Jane, “She’s better off now.”