The Island

Before the Nightmare

Where am I? How did I get here? Where is Paul? The first thoughts that rush into Tasha’s mind. The thoughts are quickly masked by the noises of crashing waves, rustling palm trees, and the voices of people screaming for help in the distance. The blazing sun temporarily blinds her as she closes her eyes and falls asleep...

10:00AM

It was a windy, sunny day in Chicago. Paul and Tasha were on board their flight to Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The couple, eager to start their week-long trip, hastily put on their seatbelts and got ready to take-off.

“Everyone please remain seated as we begin our flight.” The flight attendant announces on the microphone as static breaks up their message.

The pilot introduces himself as everyone settles into their assigned seats. As the pilot cruises down the runway, Tasha and Paul grab each other's hands. As the pilot picks up speed, they both squeeze to comfort each other as their heads lean back on the headrest and the plane lifts off. The plane went soaring into the sky, breaking through the dense clouds as they sat in their seats, patiently waiting to see the sunshine again. Twenty minutes later, Paul looks out the window and is gleaming with happiness. With a smile on his face, and his body anxiously moving in his chair.

"Ok folks, we have reached cruising altitude and you can safely remove your seatbelts and move around the cabin," the pilot announces minutes later.

“Now we can relax for the rest of the flight. I can't wait to finally arrive," Tasha says to Paul, “It seems like ages since we were on the ground.

A flight attendant wearing a red and white suit with a blue tie approaches Paul at his seat and politely asks, “Excuse me young man, can I get you something to drink?”

"No thank you, I'm going to just rest my eyes for a bit," Paul tells the attendant..

Three hours later he awakens to see Tasha reading a magazine about special dishes people eat in Australia. A couple minutes later, Tasha impatiently unbuckles her seatbelt and goes to ask the attendant their current location and what time it is.

“Sit tight,” The attendant says, “We will be there shortly.”

Crashed

2:00PM

“Attention all passengers, we will be arriving at the Canberra Airport shortly, and our ETA is 5:41 PM." The radio announces throughout the speakers on the plane, “Due to a rough patch of clouds we are anticipating some undetected turbulence and limited visibility as we approach our destination.”

After a few minutes, the passengers hear a loud bang coming from the left wing and all look out the windows, anticipating what could happen next. Then an explosion. Fireballs of metal and debris break out of the left motor and seemingly reach for the sky. The wing then bursts into glowing flames with black smoke and ash leaking out of the wing and into the unknown. It causes a mass panic across the plane. Passengers began screaming as the airplane started to tilt side-to-side vigorously and the left engine stopped working, sputtering and then a frightening silence.

“What is going on?!” One passenger shrieks nervously.

“Are we going down?" Another one exclaims, holding onto the seat for dear life.

The faces of the flight attendants told it all and had everyone scared for their lives. Passengers begin attempting to call their loved ones at home to say their final goodbyes.

Tasha looks out the left window of the plane and sees the fire, continuing to blaze on the side of the aircraft. She forgets how to breathe as the sheer panic and adrenaline pumps through her veins. As life plays in slow motion, her anxiety sets in and Tasha realizes the plane is now going to crash on a remote island, away from any contact of civilization. She starts to hug Paul tightly. What started as a normal day turned into an ever-lasting nightmare in the matter of minutes. Just four hours ago, they were eager to get on the plane, but now would gladly give their lives to get off. But sadly, there was no way out. Paul looks around at the other passengers, hugging each other as they cry, trying to console the children on the plane, saying everything will be okay as tears slowly roll down their cheeks. As a cold tear rolls down Tasha’s face buried in Paul’s arm, she whispers softly, “I love you Paul."

“I love you too Tasha.”

As the plane nosedives on to the unknown island, all the passengers brace for impact, grasping the seats and their belongings, for protection. The airplane crashes onto the sandy beach causing everyone to be flung out of their seats but unfortunately not everyone made it out alive.

3:30PM

Where am I? How did I get here? Where is Paul? Is he okay? The first thoughts that rush into Tasha’s mind after she’d woken up from impact. Tasha slowly stands up and looks around in the distance searching for Paul.

"Paul?” Tasha yells out.

No answer. All she could see and hear was the burning wreckage of what used to be a plane. Tasha walks towards the fiery abyss not knowing what could be waiting behind the shadows for her. Deep in the forest, the smoke billowing out of the burning aircraft components makes it more difficult to find Paul or any other survivors.

Suddenly, she hears a strange noise, that sounds like a human screeching coming from a rocky cave that is hidden from sight behind the blanket of trees and brush. Thinking it might be Paul yelling for help, she walks quickly toward the cave. She listens as she approaches the cave slowly, being careful of her surroundings. Arriving at the slim opening of the cave, she peeks inside until a filthy, disheveled looking barn owl just grazes her hair as it flies away in distress, feeling threatened. Tasha, startled, jumps and falls on her into mud filled with rotting leaves and bugs. She spots the owl perching on a rock above her, its feathers looked torn, dirty and bloodstained. The owl kept staring at her eerily, almost as if it knew something she didn't. She was on the quest to find Paul, she got up and continued searching. After a few minutes she hears more suspicious noises. Could it be another bloody barn owl? Unsure, Tasha decides to check it out anyway. She hears shallow footsteps approach the front of the next cave. Almost frozen in her footsteps, she then hides behind a bush to reveal the identity of the noise and waits patiently. A few minutes later, a tribe comes out of the cave, chanting in an unknown language, with different animals following behind them, the leader having another owl on his shoulder. They came out with wooden spears and hunting materials, all of them having weird red and white markings on their foreheads, and jewelry made out of bones and plants. Before the tribe could spot her they ran off, going hunting for their next meal. Little did Tasha know, it was not a food any ordinary human of any culture would consume willingly.

4:45PM

Still searching for Paul in the forest, Tasha keeps a look out for the tribe. Suddenly, she hears a sudden blood-curdling scream that came from the other side of the island.

“Help! Please someone help me!”

Startled, Tasha runs to try and help the person thinking it might be Paul. She runs on the slippery rotting leaves on the ground surrounded by the swaying of emerald green palm leaves. After a few minutes, she spots the person screaming for help. Tasha remembers seeing the passenger on their plane with her husband and child. The woman, tied up by her hands and feet, was being carried by the tribe on their shoulders. By then, there were hot tears rolling down her face. The passenger was ripped away from her family like a baby, being taken away from its mother at birth. Tasha follows the tribe that took the passenger back to the cave. At the cave, she hears a quiet whisper.

“Hey, Tasha,” the whisper said, “Come here”.

She walks toward the sound slowly, aware of her surroundings trying to find who or what is calling for her. She gets to the tree and shockingly, it’s Paul! Tasha bolts to Paul and hugs him tightly.

“Paul, where were you? I’ve been trying to find you,” she asks quickly.

It had seemed like a century since Paul had seen Tasha. Now together, the couple slowly walks into the cave to see what happened to the passenger from the plane. Tasha and Paul slowly crept into the cave, afraid the tribe might hear them. The shuffling footsteps echoed in the cave. The cave was made out of naturally-formed limestone and the fire the tribe cooked on illuminated the walls. After a few minutes of walking, Tasha sees the crying passenger strapped onto a table. Paul’s jaw dropped to the ground. He sees blood splattered on the walls, the sharp blades made from stone, the pot of soup over the fire, and the guts of the woman from the plane. He looks to his right and sees a member of the tribe eating the insides of another human. He sees the barn owl tearing at the flesh with its bill and masticating the pieces. Tasha gags and throws up in the cave. The tribe hears her gag and vomit splatting on the rocky floor. Alarmed, they get up and grab their weapons. As quickly as they can, the couple jolts out of the cave with the tribe on their tail. Carrying spears to impale their next victim, they chase them, trying to capture Tasha and Paul for their next meal. They keep running through the island until they reach the sandy beach. Seemingly safe, Tasha and Paul sit on the sand to try to process everything they just witnessed wondering what to do next, until the owl swoops down and drops a bloody hand in front of them and flies away. They both screamed in horror until they were grabbed by their necks and dragged from behind. Sadly, their fate is unknown.

The End