Chapter Six: Crashing
The morning was bleak and dismal. Grey clouds drifted lazily around the Saint Bovine like vultures around a carcass. Today was Cher's funeral. Her body was wrapped up in white shrouds.
"May this soul rest in peace," prayed Captain Popagan, hands clasped in prayer.
"May she rest in peace," said the others. Tomo opened the door of the aircraft.
"Goodbye Cher…" lamented Hubb. And then, Kiba and Captain Popagan pushed the white-veiled corpse out of the plane. In plunged downwards, disappearing into the clouds below. The door of the plane closed.
"Well, I must attend to my duties," announced Captain Popagan," And all of you, tend to yours."
Kiba gazed wearily out of a window. Today, he had window-washing duties. How did she die so unexpectedly? A disease maybe? He dipped a blue rag into a bucket of water, and scrubbed the window. No, Cher was always healthy. He plunged the rag back into the pail of water. What if it is one of the crew…I do not see why they would…
"ATTENTION ALL HANDS ON DECK! WE ARE DECREASING ALTITUDE AT FIVE THOUSAND METERS PER SECOND DUE TO ENGINE FAILURE! SECURE A PARACHUTE AT ONCE AND EXIT THE PLANE IMMEDIATELY!" the intercom rambled. Kiba dropped the rag on the ground, and smashed open a glass box on the wall containing a parachute. He clutched it tightly to his chest and ran towards the nearest escape door. Then he strapped the parachute to his back, flung opened the door, and jumped.
It was a strange feeling. His stomach seemed to want to rise out of him as he fell. He ignored the feeling, and pulled the ripcord on his parachute. A large white sheet flew out of the pack on his back, and Kiba felt a large jerk, as if he had been suspended. This was a sure sign his parachute was working normally. He and his parachute drifted through a layer of clouds for awhile. The clouds cleared away, and the earth could be seen; though, it was still about fifteen thousand meters below him. A dark green color indicated that Kiba was above a forest
This is going to make landing a problem… He looked around desperately for a patch of grassland. There was one to his far right. Now Kiba was about ten thousand meters from the ground. He attempted to steer himself towards the meadow, but his altitude was decreasing too fast. Soon enough, he was only at one hundred meters. He could make out the pine needles on the trees. There was a few seconds of whistling wind, which only created tension, and then his feet brushed the top of a tree. He sunk lower, and his parachute made a ripping noise. Kiba felt another jerk, which only meant that his parachute had been caught in the trees. The wolf dangled about fifty feet from the ground. It was too far of a fall, for if he fell out of the parachute, he would most surely break a set of bones. Kiba felt helpless, like a grasshopper caught in a spider's web.
No, I can't let it end this way! I can't die yet! I have to reach Paradise! In his rage, he turned into a wolf and bit through all the cords connecting him to the parachute. Then he tumulted towards the ground and landed on something soft and squishy. Kiba got up, and looked at the thing he had landed on; it was Cher's body. It barely looked like Cher, because upon impact with the ground, it had been mutilated. Then, Kiba fell to the ground in agony. His left leg burned with an irrepressible pain. There was no doubt in his mind that he had broken it. He tried to get up, but it was no use. The pain in his leg was far too great.
Unexpectedly, some bushes nearby rattled. No, do not let it be anything looking for a fight… There was snarl. And then, something flew out of the bushes, landing on the wounded wolf.
"What the?"
To be continued….