Misplaced 1, part 2.

"Is life a thorn?  Then count it not a whit,

Nay, count it not a whit, 

Man is well done with it!

As soon as he's born 

He should all means essay 

To put the plague away,

And I, war-worn, 

Poor captured fugitive, my life most gladly give,

I might have had to live another morn!"

   All was quiet now.  The noise of the crash and the devastation it had caused to the forest had scared away the local wildlife.  There were a few bird calls deep in the trees, but for the most part the island, like the travellers, seemed dazed.

   The crash itself could have been much worse.  There had been no fire, no explosion.  The pilot had brought them down onto the tiny island, destroying the plane's undercarriage and a swathe of forest.  Trees had been uprooted and the noise had been like a battlefield in competition with a thunderstorm.  But the plane had remained, for the most part, intact.  There had been injuries to deal with from the crash itself- cuts, sprains, a couple of broken bones, but all the passengers had survived.

   At first after they had got free from the wreckage no one had wanted to go back near it.  Those who weren't trying to help the injured stood or sat around a short distance away from the wreckage, unsure what to do.  Ruth, thinking dully, knew it was shock.  She badly wanted a cup of tea, but had no way of getting one.

   Rachel had come and sat next to her.  For once, she was quiet.  She looked around.  Patrick was sat on a stood rock, rubbing his eyes.  Tom and Adam were nearby, dazed and unsure like the rest of them.  No one seemed to be missing.  

   After a while she saw Nick and Jack talking, and they stood up and went towards the plane.  A couple of the others joined them.  Slowly she got up and went to join them.  

   They climbed with some difficulty back into the wreckage and began to work their way forwards.  The front section of the plane had been the worst damaged as it had taken the worst of the impact. 

   When they eventually got into the cabin they found the body of the two crew members, hunched over the controls.

   "They must have been killed as we landed," Nick said.  

   So they were on an island alone in the ocean, not even in sight of any other land, and the plane's radio equipment (as they soon discovered) had been destroyed in the crash.  Nick and David tried to salvage enough to make it work, but with no success.  

   But things could have been worse.  When they investigated deeper into the wreck of the plane they found that their luggage had survived with little damage.  As well as all their personal items, most of their costumes, set and props had survived along with the tools they had brought.  Tools that would be useful in building a shelter.  Although electric drills and saws were not much use without a power supply.

   Even so, matters were bad enough.  They were marooned with no shelter, little food, and no way of communicating with anyone else.  They went back to give the bad news to the others.

   "Won't they search for us?" Rachel asked.  

   "I'm sure they'll search," Ruth said.  "The pilot must have radioed that he was in difficulty and given his position."

   "I don't know how much air traffic control there is out here, though," Tom said.  "It's not like Europe."

   "But even so, when we don't arrive they'll know something's wrong.  They'll know the route we were taking.  They'll find us."

   "We can hope so, anyway."  They were all gloomy.  Ruth knew that they were all, like her, afraid.  

   "The thing is," Nick said, "We don't know how long it will take them to find us, even if they start looking now it could be days.  We can't just sit here and wait."

   "We should stay near the crash site, though," Tom said.  "It'll be easier for them to find that."

   "Yes, but we need to find shelter, and water and work out how to get food," Nick said.  "We've got to make sure we survive to be found."

   And, thought Ruth, we need to do something to take our minds off the crash.

   So half an hour later the silent island had become a hive of activity.  The island rose at one end, and a rocky hill rose above the forest.  Among the rocks where the ground became steeper they had found a stream, not very big but fresh, trickling downhill through the jungle.  Nearby was a flattish open space, sheltered by the forest on one side and the hill on the other, and it was here that they decided to build their make camp.  Some of the techies set about building a shelter.  Well, perhaps 'building' was too optimistic.  They were trying to agree on a design and method of construction.  As the group contained at least two technical directors, this was taking some time.  

   Some of the others had climbed to the hilltop, the highest point on the island, to see if they could see any other islands or ships to signal to; others had searched the island for any sign of human habitation.  Both groups had returned dispirited and unsuccessful.  It was clear that for now, at least, they were dependent on their own meagre resources.  

   Ruth and some others were trying to find food.  They had found some trees with recognisable fruit on them, but they were up higher than anyone could climb, despite spirited efforts on the part of Patrick.  Ruth was terrified someone would fall.  Eventually they discovered some rope amongst the tools and props- no one was quite sure why, but they were certainly glad of it- and used it to rig up a kind of harness.  But fruit alone wouldn't feed them for long. 

   They carried what they had been able to find back to the campsite.  Everything they had been able to salvage from the plane was piled up near the rocks.  Jack was building a fire near the stream.  Ruth saw that he had some sort of pot filled with water and was trying to balance it over the fire on large stones.  He looked up as she approached.  

   "We found some food and stuff on the plane," he said, holding up some teabags.  "Fancy a cup?"

   "I'd love one," she said.  

The story continues...

   

Misplaced 1, part 1.

Away we go to an island fair.

"Away we go to an island fair

That lies in the southern sea,

We know not where and we don't much care

Wherever that isle may be."

   The University of York Gilbert and Sullivan Society were seated on a plane.  Fortunately they were the only passengers, because they were singing loudly.  It was something that almost inevitably happened, especially when they were on their way to a performance.  

   And this was no ordinary performance.  They had been invited to perform a show on a small island in the Pacific, whose monarch had been at York Uni many years before and had been one of their former members.  Well, so he said.  Unfortunately it was a period they had no record of.  He was holding some kind of cultural festival, it appeared, and had invited them to come and perform.  With expenses paid.  Unsurprisingly, the society had voted unanimously to go.  

   So there they were, aboard a plane with their costumes and set, and with miles of deserted ocean below them.   And of course they were singing- The Gondoliers at the moment.  It seemed appropriate.  

   Ruth looked out of the window.  The ocean below was beautiful, the sky was clear apart from a few small clouds.  The journey had been remarkably trouble free, there hadn't been many delays, and even the weather had been good.  She relaxed, and leaned back in her seat.  All was well.  

   It was good to be away for a while.  York, beautiful city that it was, just wasn't quite the same any more after all the adventures they'd had in space.  Not that they'd wanted them, of course, but they all recognise that it had been a life changing experience.  When they had arrived home they had just wanted some time to relax and adjust to normality, but they had been besieged by journalists, medical and technological experts and other people desperate to hear their story.  Even after the initial excitement had died down, psychologists and computer experts were still arguing about whether their adventures were real, or a complicated group hallucination, or an elaborate hoax.  The media didn't care, of course, but although it was hardly unexpected several of the group had found it hard, after all they had been through, to cope with being accused of lying in the popular press.

   So they had been glad of the opportunity to escape recession-hit, media-mad, rainy Britain for a few weeks and go somewhere warmer, drier and quieter.  Although not much quieter at the moment, Ruth had to admit. But since she was singing as loud as anyone she couldn't complain really.

   Then she heard, over the tuneful voices, a sound coming from the intercom speakers.  She stopped singing and listened.  It sounded worried.  She tried to quieten the others.  Fortunately the song was coming to an end anyway.  As the others' caught the pilot's tone the mood dropped.

   "This is your pilot speaking.  Please strap yourselves into your seats and try to remain calm.  I have to tell you that we appear to have developed a leak in the fuel system.  As a result we do not have enough fuel to reach our destination and will have to perform an emergency landing."

   Ruth thought about the hundreds of miles of open ocean below them.  Emergency landing?  The G&Sers looked at one another in horror.  

   "It's happening again," Ruth thought.  "After all that happened in space, I thought we'd be safe when we got back to Earth.  But no.  After all that, it's going to end here."

   After the pilot's announcement there was a couple of minutes' silence.  Then the babble of voices began to rise again.  There wasn't really any screaming, although several voices were raised and people were talking and shouting at cross purposes.  Ruth leant her head against the back of the seat in front of her.  She was surprised she wasn't more afraid, but it took her a minute or two to get her thoughts settled.  Then she sat up and looked at her housemate in the seat next to her.  

   "You'd think we'd be used to crash landings by now," she said, trying to smile.  Rachel had been with them during the space voyage, but had been rather in the background.  

   "We're going to die," Rachel said frantically.  "Isn't there anything they can do?"

   "I'm sure the pilot will do his best," Ruth said.  "Look, you'd better fasten these straps."  She helped Rachel fasten the seat straps.

   "What's the point?" Rachel asked.  "If we're not killed in the crash we'll drown."  But she did the straps up anyway.  Ruth made sure her own were fastened.  The pilot's voice came over the intercom again.  

   "We are currently heading for a small island on which I hope to land.  The risk of exploding upon impact is hopefully low due to the lack of fuel, however please exit the plane as soon as possible after landing in case of fire."  The speakers clicked off.

   "And if we don't drown we'll burn!" Rachel shouted as the plane began to loose height.  The G&Sers braced themselves behind the seats.  Everyone was quiet.

   Into Ruth's mind came a tune unbidden, and softly, under her breath she began to sing.  In the seat in front of her, Patrick joined in, and one or two others also picked up the tune as the plane continued to plunge towards the ocean of everlasting blue and the tiny speck of an island.

"Is life a boon?  If so, it must befall,

That Death, when'er he call, 

Must call too soon.

Tho' fourscore years he give, 

Yet one would pray to live 

Another moon.

What kind of plaint have I 

Who perish in July?

I might have had to die, perchance, in June."

The story continues...

Misplaced

   "Run!"

   The creature loomed above her, taller than a human, outlined black against the light from the fire.  They had thought the campfire would provide protection against animals, but they hadn't expected anything as big as this.  

   Close by David crouched over Becky, trying to rouse her.  There was blood on the ground beside her and she wasn't moving.  Everyone else was fleeing as fast as possible, apart from two or three who were standing at a safe distance, watching and calling to her and David.

   Ruth looked up at the creature.  She wasn't sure if it knew she was there, half hidden as she was behind a rock, but she didn't dare move in case it noticed her.  

   "Come on!" Nick called.  "Run!"  The creature had begun to advance, its indistinct shape moving stealthily towards her.  Slowly she tried to draw her feet under her, ready to start running.  She had never been much of an athlete, and she didn't think she could outrun the creature, but she couldn't just stay here.  

   She stumbled up and into a shambling run, just as the creature's paw swept down.  A claw scraped down her arm and side, but she kept running.  Nick and the others had turned to run too, as the creature took a few steps after her before seeming to loose interest as it sensed an easier target.  

   Ruth heard a scream, and looked back to see the creature bend its head to the hollow where David had been with Becky.  Then the scream stopped.  Ruth turned and ran after the others, struggling to catch up but they all seemed so far ahead.  She seemed to be dropping further and further behind and the pain from the wound inflicted by the creature's claw was increasing.  She wasn't sure which direction she was heading in any more. Dimly she head the creature roaring behind her, and in terror she quickened her pace, using her last strength.  Then, dizzy with pain and fear, she tripped over a tree root and fell...

   Ruth woke up suddenly.  She opened her eyes and sat up.  The first light of dawn was peeping over the horizon, and the fire had sunk down low.  She looked around at the others.  There were David and Becky, lying close to one another, breathing gently and regularly.  There was Nick on the other side of the fire, there were all the others, lying here and there around the fire.  There was no blood to be seen, no wounds, and no giant monster with huge white teeth.  All was calm and quiet.  It had just been a dream.

   Or had it?

The story begins here...