THE island of Oauto in the Pacific Ocean located to the North-West of Hawaii. For centuries it had been a most peaceful little place. There was no crime. There had never been reports of violence and everybody who lived in the small villages dotted around the edges had happy and peaceful lives.

The villages were made up of typical old- fashioned wooden buildings. The majority of them were houses, but there were also a few shops, restaurants and bars. The main village located on the southern-tip of the island was a big church. This was actually the only non-wooden or mud- built building on the whole island. It's great steeple could be seen from almost anywhere on the southern-side of the island and on a clear day could be seen from neighbouring Hawaii which was about twenty miles away.

However, the church wasn't the most dominating feature of the island. That belonged to a huge volcanic mountain located virtually right in the middle. Between it and the villages was some of the best farmland in the world. Crops grew remarkably well in the soil. To look at, it was hard to believe that it was once a volcano for there were no records of it ever having erupted. Ever since the first people arrived on the island in 1837, there had been no eruption or even a possible sign of one. There had never been any recorded tremors either so the island's people had no reason to feel that their lives were in danger.

It was early in the morning on a Tuesday in December 2068. There were a few weeks to go until Christmas but preparations were already well underway. At the village school near the church, two young boys were sat on the wall watching the mountain through small wooden telescopes. They were watching a small blue Pick-Up Truck which was making its way up towards an area of trees on the western-side. It was here that the village Christmas Trees were taken from and the men were going to collect the big one for the main village square. There was always a big festival on Christmas Day and this year wouldn't have been any different.

The school bell suddenly rang forcing the children to have to run to their classroom. When they arrived they were met by Sister Bridget one of the Nuns who worked at the school.

"Where have you been?" she demanded ushering them hastily into the classroom. "Why are you two always late?"

"Sorry, Sister Bridget," the boys said as they sat down at their desks.

"So you should be," Sister Bridget scolded as she confiscated the telescopes from them. "Carry on, Sister Julianne."

"Thank you, Sister Bridget," said Sister Julianne who was conducting the lesson. "Now, my children. We shall start off today with a song. You've all heard it before so join in with me." She nodded to Sister Margaret who was at the piano.

The music began to play and the children and Sisters began to sing.

"High on a hill was a lonely goatherd Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo

Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd Lay ee odl lay ee odl oo

Folks in a town that was quite remote heard Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo

Lusty and clear from the goatherd's throat heard Lay ee odl lay ee odl oo

O ho lay dee odl lee o, o ho lay dee odl ay O ho lay dee odl lee o, lay dee odl lee o lay"

Due to the stillness of the air, the two men up on the mountain who were collecting the Christmas Trees could just about hear the singing coming from the school.

"There they go again, Mike," remarked Steve.

"Ah, just perfect, Steve," Mike replied. "I'll never get tired of hearing their little voices."

Steve looked around at the trees. "Which one are we going to go for?" he asked. "The chief wants the big one for the main village and these three smaller ones for the north, east and western villages," Mike said.

"So we got to do several trips then?" asked Steve sounding annoyed. He'd wanted to do the job in one trip but could see that their truck could only carry one tree at a time meaning it would probably take all day.

"You got a problem with that?" asked Mike.

Steve did, but he wasn't going to admit it. "No," he lied. "Let's just get on with it." He picked up a big chainsaw from the truck and began to carry it towards the tree.

RUMBLE!

The ground shook slightly causing the leaves to rustle. Some birds in the neighbouring trees took flight in alarm. The rumbling was felt all over the island. In the school, the children stopped singing as the tables rattled. As everyone fell silent, the rumbling then stopped just as suddenly as it had started.

"Come now, children, that's just a truck passing by," Sister Julianne said trying to sound as reassuring as she could. "Let's carry on." So they did.

"Soon her Mama with a gleaming gloat heard Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo

What a duet for a girl and goatherd Lay ee odl lay ee odl oo

Ummm (ummm) ...

Odl lay ee (odl lay ee)

Odl lay hee hee (odl lay hee hee)

Odl lay ee..."

"What the hell was that?" Steve asked.

"No idea," Mike replied.

"Come on, let's get on with it."

RUMBLE!

This time the shaking was a lot more violent than it had been the first time. Both men were thrown off their feet. Steve dropped the chainsaw which landed a few feet away from him. As he looked up he stared in alarm as a crack suddenly began to appear in the ground. It swallowed the chainsaw and began to get wider. There was then another sudden shaking which caused the ground to start reshaping. Mike only just managed to jump clear as a tree toppled over and landed on top of their truck. They also couldn't see each other now, but were distracted by the cracks forming in the ground. There was also a great heat coming from within the cracks as bright orange sparks suddenly began shooting upwards.

"STEVE! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! COME ON!" bellowed Mike. He looked around. "STEVE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

But Steve couldn't hear Mike above the rumbling. Everyone on the island could feel the shaking. They stopped what they were doing and those indoors ran outside trying to find out what was going on. Chief Bruce Johnson ran out of his office. "BRODY!" he yelled at his deputy. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"Don't know, Chief!" Brody replied hurrying over. "It seems to be coming from the mountain!"

BOOM!

The peak of the mountain suddenly exploded outwards. Huge chunks of rock went flying and a huge thick cloud of ashy smoke began to rise out from the top. The whole island shuddered so violently that everyone standing was knocked off their feet. When they recovered, they stared in horror at the terrifying sight that lay before them - the volcano had awoken.

The blast was also heard and partly felt on mainland Hawaii twenty miles away. Everyone who was in visual view of the island could also see the huge mushroom- like cloud rising into the sky. Even though it was twenty miles away, it still looked terrifying.

Chief O'Challagen, who was stationed on the North -Western coast of Hawaii knew this was a serious situation. "Oh, man - we're going to need serious help here," he said. "Sergeant, get every available officer you can find and get the choppers and boats ready. We're going to need everything we have."

"Yes, sir!" said the Sergeant hurrying out of the chief's office.

O'Challagen then tried to call Chief Johnson but found the line was engaged. This was because Johnson was already trying to call for help whilst trying to block out the panicked screams from people outside.

"This is Oauto! Chief Johnson here! Volcano eruption! We need help-AARRGHH!" Another violent explosion from the volcano rocked the island knocking him to the floor. He was then able to grab the phone and began shouting desperately into it. "…rescue!" he cried. "CALLING… INTERNATIONAL…RESCUE!"

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (Explosion)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"