Chapter 2

"The Others of The Others"

"Come on. Stop acting like we're in a desert. We're in a JUNGLE, with gross wasps that sting and bugs that bite and wild animals that scratch and even more wilder animals that…….KILL!" said Gabe. As he said it he looked around uneasily with his big, brown eyes.

He was just another kid who was stranded from the plane crash. He was in the same rainforest as Kat, Hironi, Sarya, and Mira. He was also stuck with a younger child that was equally as annoying as Mira, maybe even worse.

Gabe was stuck with a little girl named Kristin. Out of everyone on the plane he had to get stuck with a little kid. Especially a little girl. He would have settled for a little boy at least.

Kristin was 6 years old. She had long brunette hair that was in braid down her back. Her eyes were brown and she wore glasses. Her glasses had thick frames that had little roses carved around both lenses. Her cute little nose peeked out from under the frames.

Gabe had been with her for a couple days and could tell she was pretty smart for a 6 year old. She knew all her times tables already and you aren't taught times tables in school until you're in 3rd grade.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. She could easily make someone believe she had a lot of attitude. Gabe knew she was just acting.

"We're stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere in a huge rainforest! Isn't that something that bothers you!" he asked. She just looked at him.

"No. It's fun being on vacation." He couldn't believe his ears. Her parents and little sister had just died in a plane crash and she was all, "What a fun vacation!"

"I guess she just wants to forget the crash and her mom and dad, uh, dying." he thought.

"Let's go. We have to find some water before we die out here." He said. She just laughed.

"I told you! I told you! See! It is a desert out here!" she said as she paused to catch her breath. "There's no water! Too bad we aren't camels. Did you know that camels can drink tons and tons of water and keep it stored for days? Do you know the difference between a……………."

"Oh my gosh. This girl can go on for hours with meaningless trivia!" thought Gabe as he watched her little mouth going and going and her shining eyes staring up at him. "But this is so weird. She knows tons of stuff I don't even know…………and she's just a 6 year old!"

It went on like that for hours. Kristin spewing facts of trivia and Gabe wondering what she's talking about. But let's get on to some others, not far away from where we are now.

He reached up and clutched his throat. He tried to call for help, but no sound would come out. He fell to his knees and rolled over on his back. If anyone was close enough they could've read his lips. "Help." But no one was close enough.

Slap!

"Ow!" he rolled onto on stomach. "What's the big idea!" he yelled.

"Stop messin' around." ordered the dirty blonde haired girl. "We have to find the others. I don't have time for your childish antics." She said coolly.

"Come on Taylor!" whined the spiky, brown haired boy. "You're so not fun."

"Why do I have to be fun!" she snapped. "My parents just died and so did my brothers! Do you think I'm happy? Do you think I'm going to be jumping around like a newly freed prisoner! Or would I be overjoyed like a little child after finding their lost puppy? Huh! No, I don't think so!" screamed Taylor. Tears flooded her eyes as she said this. She quickly turned away and brushed these from her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you mad…" said Brandon. His grey eyes didn't know where to look.

"L-l-let's get going," stammered Taylor. "There's no reason to stay here." She wiped her nose on her sleeve. Brandon nodded. He just wanted to keep her from screaming or crying.

Not far from where they were, they found a soft spot in the dirt. Taylor sat down on a rock and wiped her eyes and sniffled as Brandon dug a cave in the dirt. He was good at making hideouts, and could easily make and hide them under leaves and moss. No jaguar could get into his hideout……if a jaguar could even find it!

"Let's stay here for the rest of the night." He suggested after the cave was dug. Taylor nodded her agreement. They both crawled into their cave and Brandon covered it with leaves and twigs.

Even deeper in the jungle walked another child. Andrew had light brown hair and big front teeth. His teeth had given him his nickname in school: Beaver. His teeth in front were big and there was a gap in between them.

Andrew was all alone and was looking for anyone who wouldn't eat him. He would even settle for a wild boar if they at least paid attention to him when he talked. The only company he'd had in days were pesky mosquitoes and weird bugs that he wasn't sure had ever been discovered. He was longing for someone to talk to.

He had thought he had heard voices around a day ago, but when he ran through the bushes and trees looking for the source of the voices he became lost and the voices drifted off into the trees.

Andrew had been living in the cover of trees that had huge roots. He hid under the roots and hadn't been found by hungry animals. Jaguars were their worst predators in the jungle that they'd seen so far.

Andrew was a very kind person and loved animals. He had trained circus birds when he was young. Out there in the jungle he had trained a bird already. One day he had seen a beautiful parrot and captured it. Andrew had eventually earned it's trust and from then on it wouldn't leave his shoulder until he told it to. He taught it to speak and to carry messages of tree bark.

Andrew had tried to send a message to his new friends from the plane, but the bird had come back in vain. The message of bark was still tied to it's feet by bark string.

As he laid on his back under a tree root that night, his bird at his side, he hoped that all his newest friends were okay and safe somewhere else in the jungle.

Stay tuned to find out what happens to Andrew, Taylor, Gabe, Kristin, Brandon, Sarya, Mira, Kat, and Hironi.