A note from the pen of Mewslee37: I wrote this over two years in my spare time. I know, i know it's a long time...but i dont have much spare time. And you'll be waitin a while for a while for book 2...soz! Please review
Stranded!
Book 1
Chapter 1
Hi my names Mark. I am going to tell you the story of how I got stranded on an island on my way to Fiji. Here we go. Well, my mum and dad thought we could go to Fiji for the summer and of course, me as a travelling type, said yes. The holidays weren't for a few weeks so my mum and dad had time to plan it. Finally the holidays arrived and we were on our way to Fiji. We planned that we should take a small six-passenger plane. On the plane was a girl and her mum and dad. They of course were going to Fiji too. I asked what her name was.
"Jane," she replied.
"I'm Mark," I introduced myself then my mum and dad. We got to know each other really well and apparently we live in the same town, Sunbury!
It was a long flight and soon we could see Fiji on the horizon. There were other uninhabited islands that were mostly jungle. We had some turbulence and we were to be seated at all times.
"Oh No!" we all heard the pilot yell. He poked his head through the door of the cockpit and said, "I'm so sorry but it is not turbulence it's.... its well the engine is stuffed!"
"WHAT!" yelled all the parents at once. Jane and I (now good friends) looked at each other in horror. We felt ourselves falling down into the never-ending sea.
Chapter 2
I was ready for the end. Then with a huge CRASH we hit the sand of an island. We didn't see any lovely ladies welcoming us to Fiji with flower necklaces. We were all alone with our parents and the pilot. Jane and I managed to get out. David (Jane's dad) came out with my crying mother.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Your father died as well as the pilot," said David "I am so sorry" I was so sad I couldn't cry. Sandra (Jane's mum) came out with a big gash on the side of her face. She was very badly bleeding. David went back in the plane or really just a heap of metal now and carried out my dad and the pilot. I wept at my dad's body. David said there was no time for that and that we would give him a proper burial in the morning. He said we better get a place to sleep and some food. So the girls went to find some fruit after we cleaned up Sandra. David and I made a shelter for the adults and a shelter for Jane and me. Really it was like two metal, wood, leaf tents stuck together with a door to get in each. We were pretty happy with what we had done. We soon got a fire going and the girls came back with an amazing bunch of coconuts, melons, bananas and a little coconut shell full of grubs. Jane didn't want to eat the grubs but in the end she tried them.
"They taste like chicken and leaf put together" she exclaimed.
Chapter 3
That night I heard a loud noise. It sounded a lot like a pig snorting very loudly. Jane was awake and looked very scared. I asked her what was wrong.
"It's a warthog!" she whispered to me. "I can see it through a crack in the wall." I looked out the tiny crack and saw it. The biggest warthog I had ever seen (really the only warthog I had ever seen) I crept back onto my bed of palm leaves and wondered what was going to happen next. Then we heard someone in the adult's tent wake up. And then we heard a lady's voice. It said.
"Man am I busting, lucky we made that toilet near the forest," and we heard the person creep out. I poked my head out of the door and saw Sandra with a look of horror on her face and the warthog getting ready to charge.
"Look out!" I screamed. But it was to late. Sandra was warthog dinner. Jane poked her head out and saw her mother, dead, in front of the warthog. It was a sad night. Jane was crying so badly. I put my arm around her to comfort her. Mum did the same to David.
The next morning we had a triple funeral. My dad, Sandra and the pilot all in separate holes. Everyone was crying. We wrapped the bodies in palm leaves and laid them in the holes. David and mum said a few words and then we buried them. I didn't want anyone to see me at that time. I was just too sad. I ran to my hut. Jane came in.
"I know how you feel," she said. It was a sad day that day.
Chapter 4
The next day David suggested that we should explore the island. Everyone agreed. It was rather fun and we found a waterfall. Jane and I were rather hot so our parents let us have a swim. It was very refreshing. We were diving of a ledge halfway up the cliff. It went along the whole cliff and even under the waterfall. I went on the ledge and walked along until a came to the waterfall. I looked behind me expecting to see a wall of rock but instead I saw a cave. I walked in to check it out. I heard shouting from outside. I looked out and explained that there was a cave there. Jane ran up and looked in.
"Cool," she said, "It's really cool!" The parents came up and looked in.
"Can me and Jane explore?" I asked.
"Sure as long as you be careful" David replied.
"Maybe I want to explore to" Mum said.
"O.K. You two can come too," Jane said. We walked deep into the cave. It got rather dark and the sound of the waterfall faded away until it could not be heard. We could feel a breeze from down deeper in the cave. Eventually it was pitch black. Then we saw a dull light in the distance. It looked like a torch. When we got closer we found it was a torch held to the wall by a bracket. The cave came to a stop. The wall of rock next to the torch was carved. It had ancient writing around the carving and a carved monkey head in the centre. Its eyes were frosted glass. David knocked on the rock.
"Why did you do that?" I asked.
"It might be a door," he replied. Then we looked back at the monkey and saw that the eyes were normal eyes. The monkey moved and said in a weird rocky sort of voice,
"Password?"
"I don't know!?" David replied.
"Correct" said the monkey, "Enter."
"Cool!" Jane said.
"Oh my" Mum said and I was speechless. The door opened and we walked in.
Chapter 5
We saw a large cavern lit by torches held from the walls. It was surprisingly dry as the passageway before was rather damp. What was more surprising was that there were people dressed in weird clothes and talking a different language. They were walking around, minding their own business. Suddenly I sneezed, and everything went quiet. Every single person stopped, and stared, at us.
"We are from Australia and have become stranded on your island," David said. Four people with clubs came up to us and whacked us each on the head, and then everything went black.
When I finally awoke I found myself on a strange slab of rock. It was weird because instead of being hard it was soft. My eyesight was a bit blurred and I saw strange shapes moving around. My sight became sharper and I saw that the shapes were people. I looked around and saw Jane, David and Mum all lying on the same soft slabs of rock. One of the people came up to me; he was a man in his late thirties.
"Hello, I am Patrick,"
"I'm Mark." I replied,
"How is your head?" Patrick asked,
"Sore, how do you know English?" By this time David and Mum were awake and were listening to our conversation.
"It's a long story,"
Chapter 6
Patrick began telling his story.
"I was on a full plane to Fiji when some people got up. They were wearing balaclavas and looked like they had guns. They walked up to the cockpit. Some flight attendants tried to stop them but they got pushed aside. I heard some muffled screams from the cockpit then they came out again with the tied up pilot. He had duck tape over his mouth. The terrorists went back into the cockpit and we then heard a message from the speaker.
'This is a high jack! Stay where you are or you will end up dead!' Then the plane started to fall with full force. I was so scared. I looked out the window and saw the sea rushing up towards us. I quickly jumped up. Then the plane hit and started filling with water. I was up to my knees with water when I got to the emergency door. The passengers were going crazy. I opened the door and more water flooded in. I got out of the door with five other passengers. The plane sank to quickly to save everyone. We swam for hours. We were nearly drowning when I saw land in the distance.
'Land!' I screamed to my fellow passengers and we all rushed to the island. It took about thirty-five minutes to get onto the island. When we got there the sun had started to set. Some of us went to get food. The rest made shelter. We stayed there for a few days and then decided to explore. We saw a waterfall. I went for a swim and saw the cave. We all went in and amazingly we got the correct password. I have learned these peoples language. I have also taught some of them English. We will be able to help you get back to Australia as we did with the other passengers."
Chapter 7
I was amazed by his story. It was a lot like ours.
"You can help us?" I asked.
"Yes," He replied, "We can." Mum and David were sitting up rubbing their heads. That's when I realised my aching head. I began to feel dizzy. Then I fainted. When I woke up a strange tasting liquid was given to me. I drank it greedily. I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Jane was still unconscious.
"What's wrong with Jane?" I asked, "Why hasn't she woken up?"
"She is in a coma," replied Patrick "I am very sorry" David ran up to Patrick and grabbed him by his collar.
"This is all your fault!" David screamed at Patrick "Wake her up!"
"I'm s...sorry but we...we don't know how," Patrick said shakily. Mum went up to David and hugged him. I wondered why they were getting so close. Mum kissed David on the cheek.
"Mum!" I screamed, "What are you doing?! Don't you love Dad?!" I ran out of the room. I found myself in a house. I saw a door leading outside. I quickly ran through. The house was part of a town that was in a gigantic cavern. It was a town under ground! I ran and ran until the small town was far behind me. I stopped. I was very tired so I sat down on the country road. I looked around me. I was on a long dirt track. On both sides of the track were large plains. They had many different crops growing on them. I looked up and saw clouds. Past the clouds was the roof of the cavern. I was alone and very scared, what was I to do? No one could help me and I was lost.
Chapter 8
Then I heard a person yelling at me. It was a young girl about my age who was working in one of the fields. She was walking quickly over to me. She had long brown hair tied in a strange way that looked similar to a plait. She had olive brown skin and was very pretty. She was wearing the same clothes that all the other cave people wore. I stood up and walked towards her. We talked for a while and I found out her name was Derasita but her nickname was Dera. I also found out her family were one of the few families that learnt English. She was concerned about how I was lost and wanted to help me get back to my family.
"I don't want to go back to them," I said.
"Why not?" Dera worriedly said.
"Because of my mum," I replied.
"What did your mother do?" Dera said, "What did she do to upset you?"
"She has fallen in love with my friend's Dad," I explained.
"Are you sure you don't want to go back? I know a way to the town," Dera told me. I wasn't sure. I wanted to go back to see what happened to Jane but also I wanted to stay where I was and never see my mum again. Dera was waiting for an answer.
Chapter 9
"Ok, I will go back," I said finally. Dera was happy about this and told me that she had a cart. She led me to her cart. She told me to wait will she got the Fresda.
"What are Fresda?" I asked.
"Fresda are what we use to pull the cart," She replied. She went into a stable and returned a few minutes later with what seemed to be the Fresda. They looked a lot like horses but a lot skinnier and they didn't have any mane or tale. Instead they had long hair all over their body. One was brown and the other was pure white.
"Fresda are very fast and extremely strong," Dera told me.
"Can I pat one?" I asked.
"Sure," Dera replied "The white one's name is Greda and the other is Lapes" I patted each of them. Dera secured them to the cart and we got in. The reins we long so they could get inside the cart. Dera started the Fresda and we were off. They were amazingly fast.
"How long will it take?" I asked.
"Not long," Dera replied. "The Fresda are very fast" I sat back and relaxed.
Chapter 10
Suddenly the cart stopped with a jerk. I looked up and saw that we weren't in the town but still on the country road.
"What is going on?" I asked.
"Hide!" Dera exclaimed. "My parents are here! They do not like me with other boys!" I quickly hid under some weird blankets in the back of the cart. I was very worried. I heard gravel crunching and then I heard Dera's voice.
"Mother, Father."
"What are you doing?" A man's voice said sternly.
"I was going to town to run some errands," Dera replied. I could hear a small hint of anxiousness.
"What is under the blanket?" A woman's voice asked.
"Nothing," Dera replied. Then suddenly the blanket was removed and I saw a man and woman's face looking at me with rage.
Chapter 11
"What is this?!" Screamed the woman.
"I am sorry mother" Dera replied, "This boy needed help to get back to his family in town. I wanted to help." I felt very worried.
"Please let me explain," I said, "I was stranded in the countryside when your kind daughter Dera helped me get back. I would be proud of Dera not angry with her. She was doing what she could to help someone in need." There was silence.
"Very well." The man said finally, "She may take you back to town with us to escort you. We will then meet your parents and deal with this."
"Uh, I only have one parent." I said, "My father died a few days ago"
"Oh, you poor dear," the woman said sadly, "I am so sorry."
"Don't worry." I said, "We had better go anyway" Then we were off. Dera and I were in the cart and Dera's parents in a small thing that looked very much like a chariot.
After about five minutes we arrived at the town centre. I saw many people gathered. Then I saw Patrick on a raised platform calling out to the people. I couldn't hear what he was saying. We parked the cart just outside the group of people. Some of the people looked over at us. Then all of a sudden the whole crowd was murmuring and a path was split in the middle of the crowd. All the people bowed down to the floor. I was very curious to know what was going on.
"Oh no," Dera whispered under her breath, "Not this!"
"Not what" I asked.
"I didn't want to tell you before but," She started, "I'm a princess"
The End
Coming Soon
Stranded!
Book II
Will Mark and his friends get of the island?
Find out in the second book of this riveting series.