The Unknown Island
“Dad!” yelled Ben, a fourteen-year-old boy with black hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. “When are we leaving for Prince Edward Island?”
“We are leaving in about five minutes. I’m just loading the rest of the luggage onto the plane,” said Ben’s father
Soon enough, Ben, his father Jim, his best friend Frank, Frank’s father Joseph, and the pilot Zachary were ready to take off. The passengers and the pilot buckled up and were off to Prince Edward Island. As the pilot calculated the arrival time, Ben looked out the window and saw Quebec resembling a Lego set he built many years ago. After a while, his eyes started to droop. For three torturous weeks, he had been staying up late studying for his exams. His hard work paid off because he aced all of his exams. He remembered how he committed to going on this camping trip even though he would rather be watching television and playing video games in his toasty warm house. He had never been camping before and was scared that something would go wrong. He still could not believe his father, an engineer, won a camping trip to Prince Edward Island on a private plane.
All of a sudden, he heard the booming voice of Zachary, a golden-haired and strong young man, confidently announcing the arrival time of 12:36. Ben looked at his watch and realized they would not reach Prince Edward Island for another two hours.
Ben decided to pass the time by talking to Frank. They talked about what they would do while camping, which hockey team would win the Stanley Cup, and their favorite vacations. Frank a fourteen-year-old boy with jet black hair, pale skin, and emerald green eyes was the most athletic kid in his school. He made the varsity tennis team and played number one singles even though he was a freshman. After Ben and Frank were done talking about their hobbies, Frank was thinking about what roller coaster he would conquer next. After all, he was afraid of nothing.
One and a half hours passed. Then, without warning, a sudden gust of wind shook the plane and oxygen masks dropped down.
Seconds later, Zachary yelled, “There’s a gas leak! We have to land the
plane!”
As the plane came out of the white, fluffy clouds, Frank saw only water for miles around.
Suddenly, he screamed, “There’s a small island!”
Zachary spotted the island too and guided the plane towards it. Zachary looked for a place to land. However, the only place to land was on the sandy coast.
He said, “Hold on tight! We are in for a rough landing!”
As the wheels crashed into the sand, the plane spun around and around. The passengers’ heads were spinning so fast that they could barely think. Then, all of the passengers were thrown to the front of their seats as the plane came to a sudden stop.
The pilot then yelled, “Get out of the plane! It’s going to explode!”
At that very second, everybody panicked and scrambled for the exit. Trying to save themselves from a terrible fate, they jumped off the plane. As they ran as far away from the plane as possible, Frank tripped over a rock and was thrown into the air as the plane exploded. The passengers barely dodged the enormous whizzing plane parts. Then, Joseph noticed Frank on the ground and yelled, “My son is hurt. Help me see if he is ok!” Thirty seconds later, everybody crowded around Frank as he moaned in pain.
Frank’s dad, a surgeon, examined him and said, “He has a twisted ankle.”
Joseph said, “Get me some wood, and I’ll make a splint for him.”
In no time Frank was up and limping around. Then, everybody decided to search the island. Hours passed and the group only found ponds, trees, and more trees. There was no sign of people, towns, or any man-made objects. Once they were back at the shore near the plane, they realized that only the back of the plane exploded. The back of the plane was burnt and ashes were surrounding it. However, the front of the plane was perfectly fine. After they examined the plane, Joseph suggested that they should come up with a way to get off the island.
That night, the group discussed ways to signal for help or escape off the island. In the end, Ben, Jim, Frank, and Joseph decided to build a radio so that they could send a signal for help. However, Zachary did not agree and decided to build a raft and paddle to Prince Edward Island.
During the discussion, Zachary said, “How would you even get the right parts for the radio?”
Then, Joseph and Jim blurted out at the same time, “We will find a way.”
“I highly doubt that,” Zachary muttered under his breath.
Time passed and the passengers were still thinking and talking about what Zachary said. They were all about to give up except for Frank.
He told them, “I never give up in a tennis match until it’s over. So, we should not give up until we have tried our hardest.”
After everybody had regained their confidence, Ben had an idea! They could use some of the parts from the plane to build the radio!
The next morning, Zachary was making an axe out of stone and wood. Later, Zachary sharpened his axe and was ready to cut down some trees. He found the tree that would be just right for his raft and swung the axe ferociously at the tree until it crashed to the ground with a huge boom! After the tree had fallen down, Zachary cut the tree into boards which he used to make the raft. He tied the raft together with some rope he managed to salvage from the plane. He was thinking, “I bet they will join me in no time. There is no way to build a radio.”
Meanwhile, Ben and the others went back to the plane and took the parts they needed back to their camp. They built the radio by taking batteries and electronic parts from the plane. Fortunately, Jim, an engineer knew how to build radios and had taught Ben.
While the passengers were finishing the radio, they noticed Zachary pushing his raft into the ocean.
After fifteen seconds on the raft, he was yelling, “I told you guys that this was the right idea!”
A few seconds later, water started seeping through the wood and his raft began to sink. Zachary jumped into the ocean and pulled his raft back to the shore. When he reached the shore, he was spitting up the salty ocean water. Ben and the passengers were happy that they did not agree with Zachary’s plan.
While Zachary was sitting next to the blazing fire warming himself up, Jim turned on the radio and tried to send a signal. However, nothing happened.
After a few seconds of confused silence, Joseph said, “It must be that the trees are blocking the signal. I think we have to send the signal from the ocean.”
Immediately, Frank asked Zachary if he could rebuild the raft. Zachary felt sorry for not working with the others. So, to redeem himself, Zachary decided to help rebuild the raft. Together, everyone started to fix the cracks in the raft.
Ben knew that he would have to send the signal because the raft sunk under Zachary’s weight and Frank had twisted his ankle. Ben’s heart started to race and sweat trickled down his face. His body shook at the thought of all the disastrous things that could happen. However, Ben knew that he was the key to getting off the island. Then, with bravery on his side, he paddled the raft out to the ocean and sent the signal. As Ben made his way back from the ocean, he heard everybody cheering his name. Everyone was overwhelmed with joy, but Ben was feeling something different. He was feeling proud.
That night, everyone was so quiet. The only noise they could hear was the silent chirping of the crickets and the soft chirps of songbirds. The passengers could only think about what would happen if nobody came to rescue them. After their minds could bear no more, they finally dozed off.
The next morning, Frank noticed a speck in the sky. As it grew larger and larger Frank realized it was a helicopter. When the helicopter landed on the sandy coast, the pilot threw the doors open and the exhausted passengers cheered and hugged each other.
As Joseph, Ben, Frank, Zachary, and Jim were flying over the blue ocean, a pod of dolphins leaped in and out of the water. As they saw the dolphins, they grinned at each other.