Proud of his accomplishment so far, the pilot turned to speak to the passengers when he saw something through a window. He screamed, “Let’s get the door open and run like the blazes!”

 
Chapter 5
 

The strange cloud swallowed the twin-engine plane. The engines sputtered and the pilot could feel the plane going down. He could not see anything and the instruments were not working, so he wished for an island — anything–except the ocean that he knew was below him.

Suddenly, as if by some miracle, everything cleared and land was visible, with trees, valleys, and mountains. As the pilot skillfully glided the plane over a mountain, he saw a clearing, so he made preparations to make a rough landing.

It was rough, the terrain being uneven, but the plane landed in one piece. It was clear, though, that the engines would need some work before they would start. It was doubtful that enough speed could be obtained to take off the rough ground, anyway. It looked like they were stuck — heaven knows where.

Proud of his accomplishment so far, the pilot turned to speak to the passengers when he saw something through a window. He screamed, “Let’s get the door open and run like the blazes!”

Seeing the fear in the pilot’s eyes, no one questioned the command. The three girls ran together in stride. Although Lizzie Jane was younger than the other two girls, she was tall for her age, so it wasn’t any problem to keep up.

They heard one of the men scream and, shortly afterwards, the other, but neither of the girls dared to look back until the reached the forest. They ran deep into the forest before they slowed down and looked back. They did not see anything but a jungle. They realized that they had run through thick bushes and had a few scratches on their faces, arms, and legs, but were out of sight of the clearing.

Breathing heavily, they sat down to rest. When able to do so, Shirley spoke first. “What do you suppose happened?”

“I dunno, but it must have been terrible,” replied Christy. “What do we do now?”

“Well, this must be an island, so I suggest we find our way to the shore and make plans there. I don’t like being in these woods,” replied Lizzie Jane.

“I think that would be a good idea,” agreed Shirley.

The three girls began to make their way slowly and carefully through the bush. Being alert, they eased by something that looked like a spider web, but the strands were as large as ropes. Looking up, they saw a spider as large as an average dog. Since they had not been caught in its trap, the huge spider did not move, but remain still as if it were waiting for an easier prey caught in its web and unable to fight back.

They saw some creatures that looked like huge worms, but the girls stayed in the bush as much as possible, staying away from what they consider possible danger. They were thinking that, if they got in the open, some larger animal might spot them. As they moved long, they felt their hearts pounding. They were three very scared girls.

They occasionally heard loud noises, sounding like elephants in a circus — or so the girls thought. Finally, Christie could stand it no longer. She broke down and cried. Trying to console her, Lizzie Jane softly spoke, “Please, just trust God. I believe He is watching over us or we would not have gotten this far.”

Although not having the faith Lizzie Jane seemed to possess, Shirley added, “Listen to Lizzie Jane. I betcha there are hundreds of monsters out there ready to catch us, but something must be holding them back.”

They heard a sliding noise close by, so the girls became quiet as a mouse. They could see a huge snake about thirty feet away through the bush. They hugged each other and prayed. After passing, Shirley said, “That thing was as big around as my daddy’s pickup truck. In fact, it could swallow the truck without any problem.”

As they continued on through the jungle, they saw many similar strange sights, always keeping their distance. They saw some creatures that looked like strange birds, but were not flying. A couple of times, some medium sized animal would stick its nose up in the air as if trying to get a whiff of the girls, but the wind must have been blowing the other way or something.

As the sun lowered in the sky and night was fast coming upon them, it seemed like the girls would not be able to hold their nerves much longer, but they softly talked to each other and fought the urge to jump up and run which might cause a ferocious animal to notice them.

They did cry often, being in shock. It seemed like an electric current was running through them continually. At times, they would vomit. Finally, all they could produce was dry heaves. Sick, exhausted, with aching bodies, they continued on.

The night produced a full moon, so they only stopped occasionally to rest. They watched every shadow, every rock, and each tree expecting to come face-to-face with some creature of the night. Continuing on, they worked their way through a very narrow valley with a creek running through it, but staying high on a slope, fearing to come near the water because of thirsty animals.

Finally, by the light of the moon, in the wee hours of the morning, Shirley saw a beach — the shore of the island. Somehow, that made them feel a little safer. They did not know why, but it just did. Crawling under a rock ledge, they pulled themselves close together and, before they knew it, they fell asleep. They were so tired.

Lizzie Jane was the first to awaken to the mid morning sun. She only had about four hours sleep, but strangely she felt refreshed. She quickly glanced around, looking for some kind of danger and seeing none, she ventured from the rock ledge. They were still shaded by the rock, so there was a marked difference when she felt the warmness of the sun.

She looked up and down the beach and began to feel hungry. During the night, the fear and uncertainty had masked hunger pangs, but now that she could not sense any immediate danger, her stomach was telling her it was time for breakfast. While the other two girls continued to sleep, Lizzie Jane decided to go looking for food of some kind. She remembered the berries that had satisfied her when she was lost in the woods back home with Uncle Jed and Aunt Maudie.

She carefully walked along the beach, watching the edge of the bushes lest some creature would spring out to grab her and, at the same time, looking for some kind of food. As she walked along, she noticed items that had washed ashore, probably from sunken ships. She came upon the wreckage of a small yacht. She boarded it and slowly made her way down to the living quarters. There she found some canned food, plastic plates with spoons and some clothing.

She picked through the clothing, finding some shorts and a dress that could fit her and, guessing at the other girls’ sizes, she selected clothing that she thought would fit them. Also, some wash cloths and soap. Just the things girls would need. She tied the food in the clothing and tying the clothing together in one bundle so she could carry it better, she started back to the other girls.

When she got back, she prepared three plates of beans and woke the other girls. They were startled for a moment with fear, but Lizzie Jane smiled and said, “I thought you might like some breakfast.”

The food before their eyes was a welcomed sight. The girls were famished and the food never tasted so good. When they saw the clothing, they were overjoyed. The shorts they were wearing were dirty and torn, so each picked a more decent pair of shorts and tees, but only after they had walked down to the ocean and took a sponge bath using the soap. None dared to get in the water; not knowing what creatures may be lurking there.

The remaining clothing and soap was tied into a bundle, being sure to include their plastic eating utensils so they could be used again. They sat down under the shade of the rock ledge to discuss their situation.

Lizzie Jane spoke first. “Do either of you have any idea what happened? Where are we?”

Shirley replied, “I heard the pilot say something about the Bermuda Triangle. There have been stories about airplanes and ships missing in that area and never heard from again. I have heard stories about flying saucers being the cause and some have mentioned a time warp.”

Lizzie Jane asked, “What is a time warp?”

“Well,” Shirley continued, “A time warp is something that causes somebody to travel through time — either in the future or the past. From the animals we have seen, I am starting to believe that and we may be in the past. We have not seen any huge dinosaurs, but we did see smaller animals that could have been small dinosaurs.”

Christie piped in, “We don’t know what happened to the guys. I heard them scream, but I did not look back. I was too scared.”

“Me, too”, agreed both Shirley and Lizzie Jane.

“Could one of those big dinosaurs have gotten them?” Christie wondered.

“Or one of those big snakes,” said Lizzie Jane. “Well, what do we do? We can’t stay here on the beach, can we? I guess we could — but, I found a boat and it was empty, so there must be other people here somewhere.”

“Or eaten”, replied Christie.

“Well, I am scared to go back into the jungle. That’s is what I would call it — a jungle,” confessed Shirley.

Christie and Lizzie Jane agreed. All three would be too scared to go back.

“So, what do we do?” asked Shirley.

“Well, I kinda think we could walk the beach together and see what else we could find. That boat I found was just a little ways that way,” replied Lizzie Jane, pointing toward the direction she found the yacht.

“Maybe” said Christie.

The three sat in silence for a moment, trying to decide if that was a good suggestion. Finally, they decided — why not?

Since they could not determine north, south, east or west, they just meandered along the shore in one direction without any idea where they were going. Each one walked carefully, watching ahead, to each side, fear of the jungle and fear of the ocean. They came to the yacht, went inside and looked around to see what they could find.

There was food, but nothing good enough to eat except what was canned. They each got a few more canned items and found a knapsack, so they had something to carry the food.
Shirley found some magazines dated in 1983 and was surprised that the President of the United States was Ronald Reagan.

“Why he is a movie star,” remarked Christie. “He cannot be President.”

“One thing it proves. We have entered a time warp. We have gone from 1959 to sometime in the past, just as they came from 1983,” replied Shirley. “Now the question is — what happened to them?”

They searched some more and found a young girl’s diary. They discovered that the yacht was lost in a sudden storm with a family of five aboard — the husband, his wife, two girls and one boy. They ventured into the jungle a few times and saw the danger, so they came back to the yacht to have a place to sleep and eat. They had built bonfires, hoping to catch the attention of a passing ship or plane, but so luck. The last entry was hastily written about some savages attacking the boat and the father trying to protect them with a pistol.

“Savages?” questioned Shirley. “Then there are people here but probably some that we don’t want to meet. I wonder if the bonfires attracted their attention. Let’s remember that and, if we have a fire, keep it hidden — under a rock ledge, for instance.”

“Fire”, thought Lizzie Jane openly. “If they could build a fire, there must be some matches here.”

They searched the drawers and found a carton of matches. They struck one and it still worked. That was another item to go in the knapsack. After spending much of the day searching the yacht and taking everything they thought would come in handy, they decided to leave. The savages may come back for some reason. Maybe they are getting things out of the yacht, too, for their own use.

The girls walked on, picking up small items that had washed ashore, but nothing they could really use. Finally, they came to a river emptying into the ocean. When they saw the size of the crocodiles in the river, they decided to not even try to cross the river, so they started back the way they came.

Arriving back at the rock ledge where they had spent the early morning hours sleeping, Shirley looked at it and stated, “I know we slept there, but it doesn’t look like it is much protection. I think we were lucky.”

“Or God was with us,” answered Lizzie Jane. “It is just a rock ledge with not much of room under it. I don’t think it is a place we want to live, either, and it looks like this could be our home for awhile — a long while.”

Christie added, “I agree with you two. I am scared enough as it is. But, I don’t think I could sleep a wink tonight there. But, I am not sure that I can sleep anywhere.”

“Well, we were so exhausted, it did not matter this morning before daybreak, but now that we are rested, it makes a lot of difference,” replied Shirley. “I am not sure that I can sleep tonight, either, no matter what we find. The yacht was a good place, but we were thinking about the savages returning, so I don’t want to go back there.”

“I suggest that we check further down the beach this way,” stated Lizzie Jane.

“I do, too — so let’s go girls. Hopefully we can find something before night,” replied Shirley.

So, the three girls wandered down the beach not knowing what — if anything — they would find. It was a warm day, not too hot, with the temperature reaching around 82 degrees. That did cause a little perspiration, but the girls did not mind. They were too busy keeping their eyes on where they were going, while also watching the jungle on one side and the ocean on the other. There were still fears of some sea monster rising up.

Finally, they came to what looked like a cave. Quickly Christie remarked, “I don’t like caves either. I didn’t like them back home and I sure don’t like them here. They are too scary.”

Looking in, Shirley said, “Come here and look. It just goes a few feet and there is a blank wall. It is about the size of a small house.”

The other two girls examined it and decided that it would be suitable — at least for now. Still fearful, none of the girls had planned to sleep that night anyway.

As they settled in, Lizzie Jane said, “Let’s build a fire. That might keep small animals away and maybe some bigger ones. We could warm our food over it because warm food tastes a lot better.”

Christie added, “And it would give some light. I am scared of the darkness.”

“Look,” stated Shirley. “There is a small stream of water coming down the walls. Ah–just like home — running water.” The girls laughed. Then they realized that was the first time they had laughed in about two days.

As the sun began to set, leaving just a little light, the girls had the fire going and had gotten a pan from their knapsack that had been retrieved from the yacht. No one noticed a hairy figure entering the cave. It had seen the fire and was curious, never seeing a fire before. It was timid or scared because it stayed away from the girls.

Suddenly, the ground shook and rocks and boulders began to fall. “It’s an earthquake”, screamed Shirley and the girls headed for the exit with Lizzie Jane trailing just behind.

She stopped momentarily when she saw the hairy creature trapped under a boulder.

The boulder had not crushed it, but fell just enough to trap and to prevent it from getting up. To Lizzie Jane, it looked like it was crying and seemed to be begging for help in some kind of monkey language.

Being tenderhearted and not wanting any animal to suffer, she considered trying to help it get loose. After all, it was small — about the size of Lizzie Jane — and not one of those huge monsters.

When Shirley looked back and saw what was happening, she screamed, “Come on, it will probably kill you anyway.”

Lizzie Jane had to make a decision. She did not have much time with all the rocks falling, so she sat down with her back to the rock wall and, using her feet, she pushed the boulder with all her strength. The boulder rolled over about a quarter, but that was enough for the creature to get out. The creature and Lizzie Jane exited the cave just as the roof caved in.

“Whew, what a close call,” said Lizzie Jane.

Outside there was just enough light so that Lizzie Jane could get a clear view of the animal. It was a gorilla — a small one — actually shorter than Lizzie Jane. It seemed to be trying to give Lizzie Jane a gorilla “thank you.”

The other two girls were astonished. It WAS giving a “thank you”. That was clear.

Lizzie Jane slowly, but carefully, reached out her hand and petted the little gorilla on the head. It seemed very pleased. That reminded Lizzie Jane about rescuing a little deer when she was lost in the woods and the deer became a pet. Now, it seemed that Lizzie Jane had a new friend.

“I think I will name you George. Since all the animals are huge around here, you must be a baby”, smiled Lizzie Jane. “I sure would not like to meet your mother.”

Unknowingly to the girls, the mother was nearby and she was huge — 18 feet tall with a large body to match. Shirley and Christie saw her first and Lizzie Jane turned and was shocked to see how large the mother was, too.

The mother scooped up Lizzie Jane before she had a chance to run and in her big hand brought Lizzie Jane up to where she could stare at her face-to-face. She snarled and showed her huge sharp teeth. Lizzie Jane immediately thought that the mother had assumed her child was in danger of being harmed.

Lizzie Jane screamed, trembling with fear, thinking that surely she was to be eaten alive.

--- To be continued

Copyright 2007 by Starla Anne Lowry
Under the pen name of Billie Sue