Lost in the Sahara

[PaintsOnCanvas]

Chapter 1

“This is Flight 306. We’re flying at an altitude of 24,000 feet, and we are about to go over the Sahara Desert” said the pilot. That was almost two hours ago though. Since then, flight 306 has had an engine failure and gone down in the middle of the Sahara Desert. The only one left alive after the crash was a thirteen year old girl by the name of Liza and her German Shepard. Liza was about 5’ 1” tall, with black hair, dark green eyes. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans with holes in the knees and a grey tank top. Her parents and the pilot were the only other passengers on the private plane owned by her father’s company. Now, its 4:00 and starting to get dark in this silent, desolate place called the Sahara.

“Mom? Dad? Pilot guy?” Liza said through a split lip. Her head was starting to clear. “Wh-where are we?” She sat up and looked around. She was alone in the crashed and crumpled plane. Her parents’ bodies were on either side of her. Her mom still in her red tee shirt and tan shorts, her neck was leaning over on her father’s shoulder and she was clenching his hand. Her father was wearing that tropical print tee and tan shorts her mom had got him for his birthday, his head was hanging back over his seat, and he was clenching his wife’s hand. A small line of blood ran down her father’s chin and onto his neck from his nose, disappearing under his shirt collar. Later autopsy revealed that her mother had died for cerebral hemeraging from the crash, her father had broken his neck from the impact and that the pilot was thrown around in the cockpit and died from internal injuries. “Ahhhhh!” Liza screamed. She stumbled from her seat. She tripped over hear fathers leg, scraping her left knee and elbow on the floor. Liza went up the isle going straight for the pilot’s cabin. She heard a whimper from the back of the plane. “Jess?” A bark. “Jess come. Come on Jess.” Pawing on a cage door. Where is she? Liza thought. She turned and started going to the back of the plane. The cage door rattled again, from Jess pawing on it. Liza turned and looked down a small set of stairs leading to a cargo room. There in the cargo room, was the big blue crate safely strapped down, with Jess ready and anxious to be let out. “Jess!” a smile grazed Liza’s face for a moment until she realized where she was again. Liza went over and let Jess out of the crate. As soon as the door opened Jess was out and licking Liza’s chin. “Come on girl.” Liza went out of the small, damp cargo room and headed back toward the pilot’s cabin.

Liza reached the door into the pilot’s cabin but, she realized that Jess wasn’t behind her. Liza turned; Jess was sitting in the isle wait for Liza’s father to pet her. Liza went over and petted Jess, tears rolling down her cheeks. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Come on let’s go see if Pilot Guy is still…..” she gulped, ‘Alive.”

So, once again Liza headed forward. Past the caramel and red seats, around her parents’ bodies, and to the door, although this time, with Jess right behind her. She pulled on the door. It has been hit by a flying something on the impact so it was dented shut from the inside. “Hmm…. How are we going to get this open? Maybe…” Liza said picking up a heavy plastic suitcase. “Worth a shot.” She picked up the suitcase and with all her might threw it at the door, a metal on metal sound. She went foreword and tried to pry open the door, no luck. “I want to see if Pilot Guy is alive but how can I get in?” Jess barked and ran back to the cargo room. A moment later she came running back with a crowbar in her jaws. “Dad, I can’t believe I made fun of you for teaching her to bring your tools to you.” Remarked Liza. “Good girl Jess.” Jess dropped it at Liza’s feet. Liza picked it up and managed after a minute of jabbing at a crack to get the bar wedged in. Now there was the task of prying the door open. One, two, three, pull! One, two, three pull! Suddenly the door crimpled open. Liza took a deep breath. “Come on Jess; let’s see if we have help.”

This time Jess ran in, Liza followed. Inside the cockpit they found a dead pilot. He was slumped on the floor in a big pool of blood. “Ok,” Liza said gagging a little, “That’s not help.” Liza went back to the middle section of the plane. “Mom, Dad, if you can hear me, I need help now. What am I to do?” With that Liza sat down in a seat and dozed off, Jess safe at her side.


(c) Copyright to PaintsOnCanvas. Please don't steal.

[ShellBelle]

Oooo! Nice beginnings! But you should prolly divide the current third person voice from the one in Liza's time.

[PaintsOnCanvas]

Chapter 2

She could smell cotton candy, soda, and popcorn. “Liza, Liza.” Her mother’s voice called in the dream. They were at last year’s trip to Disney Park. Mom, in the black pullover and jeans, was taking a picture of her and Dad and had called her name to get her attention. She turned and smiled. It had only been a dream she thought, no desert, no dead parents, just a dream, but as soon as the camera flashed she woke up.

Sunlight was shining through a cracked and broken window. Tears had wet her face and she was covered with sweat. I was like a steam room on high compared to last night’s freezing cold. “Ugh,” Liza said, “Why!? I want my parents! I want my friends! I want my house! Why’d this happen to me!?”” In her moment of distress she had awoken Jess, who had begun to nuzzle her arms. Liza quieted herself. “You’ll be here, you’ll be with me.” After a moment Liza wiped her eyes and her stomach growled. I’m so hungry she thought to herself. She stood up and stretched her cramped muscles. “Well, it’s now or never. I have to find something to eat.” Liza with Jess at heel walked up to the little door way beside the pilot’s cabin. She opened the door and started picking through shelves. Half a loaf of bread, a two gallon water jug, some mustard, some ketchup, and…….a jar of pickles. She read the expiration date on the pickles: FEB 13 2015 “Ok so I can eat these nasty little things.” She read over the other dates. The bread said: MAR 3 and it was April 14th so it had expired. Liza opened the bag to look inside. This bread was definitely NOT edible or even salvageable for the matter! It had mold all over the lower edge of the bread all the way up. So, Liza threw that in the trash bag underneath the pale brown cupboard. She then opened the water, it at least smelled fresh. She took a long swig. Once she was finished the bottle was at least an inch emptier. Jess sat down at Liza’s foot and leaned up into the beg position. “Oh, sorry girl.” Said Liza. Liza dug through the cupboard and found a bowl. It was plastic, yellow with age, and had a tiny crack in it. She set it on the floor and filled it with water. Immediately, Jess lapped it up, and was begging for more. “No, we have to use the sparingly.”

Liza grabbed the armful of objects and put them back in the cupboard. “I wonder what’s around here.” Liza thought for a second. “I can’t stay; no we can’t stay in here. We’ll bake like that charcoaled lobster mom tried to make for dinner last week. How can we get out?” Liza turned around from the cupboard. There was the emergency escape hatch directly across from her. “Perfect!” She went over to it and tried to push the big, heavy red metal handle up. It took a moment, but it finally started moving upward. A slight creek was heard as it went fully upward. Liza pushed hard on the door, an it swung open, letting a bunch of light in. Liza blocked her eyes. The dank little plane was fairly dark up in the food compartment, which was usually lit up by a small light bulb. Jess darted out of the plane and started running and barking. Liza looked. She was chasing something! What was it? She sat down on the edge of the space in which the door had sealed off and jumped down. “Ouch!” Liza yelped in pain. When she had jumped down she had mistakenly put her hand on the plane that had moments earlier been in the sunlight. She clenched her wrist. Her hand was bright red and her skin was peeling. “That hurt!” Carefully, not to let her burnt hand touch any thing, Liza stood up and approached Jess, who was digging rapidly in the sand. “What are you up to girl?” Jess kept digging. While Jess was digging Liza took a moment to look around. Sand, sand, more sand, and oh a big funny shaped rock of in the distance. Jess stopped digging, walked around Liza’s left ankle and dropped something at her foot. “What’s this?” Liza bent down and picked it up. The “it” was a dead skink. “Gross! That’s discussing!” Liza dropped it down, Jess didn’t care and picked it up in her jaws and wolfed it down. “Jess! That’s nasty! You don’t know where that’s been!” Jess just looked at her with the ‘What did I do wrong’ expression. “Let’s get back to the plane.” With that Liza turned and started walking back to the plane. Like a rocket Jess burst past her and hopped up. “What’s up with you?” Liza mumbled. Then she noticed that the wind had picked up drastically. She looked to her right and saw a huge yellow brown cloud of sand fast approaching. “Oh that!” Liza started running as fast as the hot desert sand would allow. Finally she made it to the plane; she pulled herself up and slammed the door shut behind her. She climbed in between the wall to the right of the door and the wall to the left of the door, Jess at her side and waited. Outside, a sandstorm was brewing.



(c) Copyright to PaintsOnCanvas. Please don't steal.

(I will revise it and probably use your advice Shell.)