Mystery Island
I stared at the instructor. He was explaining to us about the red flags.
“Now, if you get lost, just follow the red flags.” I laughed. This was going
to be great! We were going on a canoe race in the swamp. I can’t stop thinking
about how much fun it would be. This is our first try on the canoe. “Now, let’s
race!” he called. The Skeith-instructor hopped into the canoe, the other NeoPets
in the lead.
Soon we were pedaling, keeping the red flags in sight. Just then, I stopped.
“What is it?” Jainny asked.
I nodded ahead. There was a branch covered with spiders and bugs. Mairey screamed
and dropped her paddle in the water. There was a hissing, snapping snake winded
around the branch. Santannaa backed away. “L-Let’s turn around. Go left, you
know.”
Jainny nodded. “Yeah, I mean the swamp is circular, the instructor said. We’ll
keep to the edge.”
I hesitated a moment then I turned left. After a while, I blinked. “Um, where
are the red flags?” I couldn’t see any, not even the ones up ahead we had left.
There was just swamp. I peddled all the harder. Then, our canoe rammed between
two branches. “Let’s just stay here. Somebody will come--what is it Mairey?”
Mairey was backing away, her eyes wide. “Um, guys?” she whispered. We all followed
her gaze. We leaped out of the boat and ran through the swamp when we saw a
small point of land. We splashed, getting covered in slime and mud from the
swamp.
Jainny looked back to see if the group of Buzz were still there. She sighed.
“We’re stranded on an island. Well, come on. We might as well make the best
of it.”
I nodded and the five of us headed south. We passed a clearing and decided
to camp there for the night. I looked up at the sky. The clouds were dark. “Looks
like rain.”
Mairey looked up at the sky and tossed a rock in the air. She caught it and
clenched her fist. “Of all the days it had to rain, it had to be today?”
DorthyAnne shrugged. “Well, no use crying over spilt milk. Get up and clean
it!” She headed off and came back, cradling a bunch of wood in her arms. “We
may not be able to light a fire now to get help, but we can light one over there
by those two pine trees. It’s dry.”
We headed off, and DorthyAnne dropped the wood nearby. “Mom, you make the
fire. The four of us will gather wood. We’ll need to keep some dry when the
rain clears up. Then we can make a fire and they’ll see it and come to us.”
Santannaa snorted. “If anything, they’ll find our boat first. Then what will
they do? They’ll think that we had gotten eaten.”
DorthyAnne shook her head. “They’ll come.”
***
We had packed a lot of wood and put them in my bag to keep dry. We then made
the fire by striking stone and stone. I carried a small plastic butter knife.
We ate some of the food we had. Not nearly enough to satisfy our hunger, but
enough to survive.
We ate in silence, not a word passing between us. I decided to go scout ahead
and see if anybody was coming. Mairey went with me, and then we looked ahead
to get an idea of where we would be going tomorrow. We left just as the rain
began to pour down.
I sat down and shivered, hugging myself. “Well, we’ll go up ahead tomorrow.
There’s a mountain-like hill. We might be able to get a better view of this
island.”
We nodded and Jainny looked at the rain. “I have a feeling we’d better rest
tomorrow. We need to decide how long we’re going to travel tomorrow.”
Santannaa shrugged and curled up against the tree. “As long as we can, of course.”
“How long will that be though?” Jainny persisted.
I smiled at her. “Relax, we’ll know when it happens.” She nodded and then we
curled up, falling asleep. It was the middle of the night when Jainny woke up.
She looked at the pouring rain and sighed. “When will we be able to begin, if
it rains like this?”
***
In the morning, we all headed off. It was a light drizzle. We hiked for over
an hour when at last someone broke the tense silence. “I think we’re getting
closer. Yup, we need about one hour I’ll guess,” Jainny said.
With new enthusiasm we doubled our pace and made it at the foot of the hill
about an hour later, as Jainny had predicted. It was noon, but we all decided
to skip lunch and save our food. We climbed up the hill. I couldn’t help but
notice how steep it was.
An hour later we decided to take a ten-minute break, just to catch our breath.
Then we resumed our climb. It seemed like forever when we reached the top at
suppertime. We gazed out ahead and I turned. Everywhere was trees. I turned
another way and saw water. And a boat!
I pointed at it eagerly. “Look!”
Jainny jumped up and down, but then we remembered something. “How will they
see us?” DorthyAnne asked quietly. She looked at us, and then at the boat, and
then the island. “Not up here, that’s for sure! And we can’t go down and make
it in time.” There was a silence. “We’re stuck.”
I groaned. “We came up the hill to get a good view, but if we had stayed we’d
be on that boat right now! Come on, we might as well stay here. Then when we
catch sight of the next boat we’ll hop down this hill and leap into that boat!”
Mairey un-slung her pack, and said “Well, let’s eat.”
We all ate a small meal. DorthyAnne was gazing out at the water, obviously
hoping to see another boat come. Finally she gave up and we fell asleep. We
awoke to the sound fire. I opened one eye, and saw flames. I leaped upright,
screaming.
The whole mountain was on fire! I looked around for an escape-any escape! My
NeoPets woke up with a start as I yelled and soon they realised what was going
on. I found a steep slope and we ran down it, the flames licking us. We reached
the bottom and watched the flames die down. “How did that happen?” I gasped
finally.
Mairey looked up. “I think I might have left the fire on,” she said quietly.
Jainny groaned. “Great! Now what?”
Santannaa was already walking back. “Come on. Let’s go where the boat was.
There must be another one coming there, and we can have a better chance at getting
in it this time!”
It was a long walk. I pushed a branch down low, and I ducked under it. I held
it out for my NeoPets, who silently dipped under it and wove to the other side.
We walked on, until Mairey cried out. I looked at her in concern. “You OK? What
happened?”
Santannaa bit her lip. “We can get our canoe out and swim over there ourselves!”
We dashed off down the hill. When we reached the bottom we had a minute break
just to recover, and then we raced back to where our canoe lay rammed. We covered
over half the distance that day, then we dropped down to the ground and ate
some more of our food.
We saw our canoe. But there was a crack running in the front, and one of our
paddles was gone.
Jainny clapped her hands. “OK, let’s get this over and done with! Mom, you
go gather wood, Santannaa, you take Mairey and look for vines, and DorthyAnne
you go get some fresh water. I’ll go with Mom. The vines should be about this
long.” She demonstrated, “And this thick. I want them really strong.”
We dashed off to where we had come from to go get as much dry wood as we can.
DorthyAnne went to find a stream nearby with fresh water. Santannaa and Mairey
left to go look for some thick vines.
***
Santannaa and Mairey headed off, dashing through the island. Santannaa came
to a screeching halt as she heard Mairey shout, “Santannaa! I found a vine!”
She ran over to the sound of her sister’s voice. Mairey looked at her. “Is this
one good?” she asked.
Santannaa examined the vine. “No, too thin. Jainny said to get a thick and
strong one.”
Mairey pouted and tossed the vine back. She headed off down in search for another
vine. Santannaa looked around to see if there was another one before she headed
off after her sister. She ran when she finally caught up with the young Chia.
Mairey whirled around just as Santannaa came to a halt, smacking the Scorchio
in the face. Mairey flinched, “Oops.”
Santannaa rubbed her face. “Ow,” she complained. She turned back when she caught
sight of a vine. “Perfect,” she breathed. She ran over and inspected it. It
was perfect. Thick and strong, it was exactly what Jainny had wanted. “Mairey,
help me pull this will you?”
Mairey nodded and the two tugged at the vine. When nothing happened, they decided
to try a new approach. Mairey looked around when she saw a big rock. She picked
it up and checked it, then tossed it back. She looked around again, grappling
at the dirt. She found what she was looking for. Then she walked over to the
vine and began to cut. “Santannaa, see the part that grows from the ground?
I want you to find a really sharp rock and then slice that off.”
Santannaa nodded silently and walked off in search of a sharp rock. She found
one, tested it, and then headed off to the vine. She pressed it against the
tree and stabbed and sliced. Finally, she was satisfied when she saw a strand
break. Sweating she went back to work.
Mairey did the same, cutting the vine as best as she could. She stopped and
took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
She turned and set off to cutting the vine. A third strand snapped, and then
she began on the fourth. She felt the sharp end of the rock bite her paw, and
she cried out. Santannaa had similar problems. Finally, they came up with a
plan.
Finally, after about a few hours (they had to cut three more vines like that),
they managed to cut it all.
They walked back, beaming with their catch. They had split the vine into fours,
so that each was as long as Jainny had requested. Each lugged two pieces, and
they occasionally had to stop to take a breath. The vine may be a plant, but
it was heavy!
***
DorthyAnne walked on. I thought I saw some water back there, she thought as
she pressed on. She sighed. I think it was that way. She made a sharp turn left,
and then ended abruptly, to go north.
She was walking when she came across two split paths, leading in opposite directions.
She strained her neck to see if she could catch a glimpse of the water. When
she saw nothing she froze where she was. She listened intently. She sighed when
she heard nothing, no sound of water rushing. She focused all her senses on
her memory, and skipped down the right fork.
She came to the end of the path, and she listened. Nothing. She tried to catch
another glimpse, but all she saw was trees. She sighed and headed off right
once again. She was satisfied when her sharp eyes caught a glimpse of blue,
clear water. She dashed off in that direction and approached the small stream.
Now, she just needed something to carry it in.
She saw a rock and smiled. She grabbed it, making sure that it was narrow and
thin, but strong. She bent down over the stream and scrubbed at it, until she
thought it was clean enough. Then she looked around again. She walked for a
few minutes when she saw what she was looking for.
She stopped in front of a large tree. She grabbed at the loose bit of bark
and tore at it. She smiled when she saw the bark strip from the tree easily.
She pulled until she reached the end, and then turned to another loose bit.
She pulled on that one. Soon, she had five strips of bark. She walked over to
the stream and dipped them in the water. She kept only the ones that did not
break, which were four.
Then, she looked around. She needed something hard. She hopped over and grabbed
a bunch of twigs. She should have brought a bowl along with her. She grabbed
the twigs and put them in a pile by the stream. She sat down and grabbed her
rock. She began to carve the sticks, and then she washed them. She grabbed the
bark and she twisted it around a twig. Then, she grabbed another twig and she
laid it next to the first. She laid another one on the opposite side and continued
the pattern in a circular way. Finally, she had a bottomless bowl. She looked
around and grabbed some more twigs. Carving and washing them, she stripped off
another piece of bark to complete the bottom. She made sure that the bowl was
secure by dipping it in the water. She pulled the bowl up. Water leaked out
on the sides, through some holes.
She grabbed another twig and attached it through one of the wholes. She then
twisted a bark in it, and then through. She dipped it in again to find out where
the other wholes were, and filled in the second one. Then she worked on the
third, then the fourth, and so on. Finally, when she held the bowl up, filled
with water, there were no leaks. She held it on for a few minutes, and she was
pleased to see that it stuck. Just to make sure, she grabbed a stick and began
to tear it into twos. She then made sure that the halves were flexible and wound
them around the bowl. She did the same with another twig so that she could put
that one inside the bowl to hold the twigs. Then, she grabbed the sharp rock
she had used and began to clean the bowl one last time, washing the contents
away in the stream. She made two holes on opposite sides, and stuck a long stick
trough each, so that it was a handle.
DorthyAnne made two more bowls similar to the one she made. It took hours and
hours, but she did it. She carried them, filled with water, back to the camp.
She panted. She had to be careful with the water she got or else she’ll have
to turn back if it spilled.
***
Jainny glanced at me. “We need a thick, round stick-smooth, too. Still got
your plastic butter?” I nodded silently. She continued. “Good, if we can’t find
a round stick we’ll get as close as we can to one and finish off where nature
left.”
She grabbed a stick. “Here, it’s nearly perfect.” She tossed the smooth wood
to me and I began to carve it. She then gave me another flat piece. I attached
that to the end of the pole with long grass and vines. I even bent it a bit,
and it stayed. Jainny nodded and we headed off to find some more wood.
After a while, we found enough to fix the crack in our canoe. We headed off
back down, after I had finished flattening the wood with rocks and my plastic butter knife.
I grabbed some berries I saw on my way and I took off my sweater. I filled it
with the berries.
***
We all met by the swamp a while after. We began to push at our canoe. I grabbed
my plastic butter knife and I cut at the vines and moss on the tree, but it was still stuck.
We continued to push until we were sweating, all our muscles aching. Santannaa
called for a short rest, and none of us wanted to protest. Finally, we resumed
our task. We finally got it to move, and from there things went better. The
canoe free, we pushed it to shore to keep it from drifting away.
We had some water from the bowls DorthyAnne had made and we went to work with
fixing the canoe. We attached the wood to the crack. I held on to it, and my
NeoPets tied the vine around it so that it stayed. Mairey tightened the knot,
making sure it won’t come loose.
We then managed everything from there. We got into the boat and I handed Mairey
the paddle I had made. We grabbed our paddles, and soon we were drifting off
down the swamp.
To be continued… | 
