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NOTE: Sorry. I posted the wrong file. The other one was just a rough draft. This is the real, edited one.
BEASTS OF BERMUDA
Prologue
In 1967, the first satellite was launched into orbit of the earth. It then took the first picture of the world. The picture became ridiculously famous, and by the next year, almost everyone on earth knew about it. It continued to fly around the earth, snapping pictures wherever it went. But one day, somebody noticed something. Around a certain area of the Atlantic ocean was a group of middle-sized islands. But not just any area of the Atlantic ocean. The Bermuda Triangle.
The government decided to send a team of scientists, explorers, and military personnel to the islands to explore and discover them. What they did not know was that only a small lucky handful would return alive…
*********************
Andrew Ospengance frowned as he looked at the parcel at the door. It was from the government. He took it inside and opened it. The parcel contained something that looked like a walkie-talkie or a radio. There was also a crumpled note enclosed.
Andrew-
This audio recorder was found floating in a sealed container in the northern Atlantic ocean. We think it’s from your daughter. She must have sent it from the Island of Bermuda. Nobody knows about the island yet-it’s meant to be top secret. When we tried to link it up to a computer, we couldn’t figure out the passcode… But we thought you could. Kelly was your daughter after all.
Regards,
Johnathon Meddle
Hmm, thought Andrew. Johnathon. The guy who had supposedly rescued him from a monster infested island. When he said he couldn’t remember anything, they said he must have amnesia. They had told him that story hundreds of times.
He didn’t believe a word.
They even told him that his daughter had been left behind on the monster island.
What rubbish. He didn’t have a daughter.
But he always felt like a part of his life was missing. When he was either burying himself in chip crumbs in front of the TV, trying to go to sleep, or having a lonely, solitary dinner, he had this strange nagging feeling of loss and sadness, like a dull ache deep in his body that he could never reach.
But now the government had come up with solid proof for their crazy stories. He rushed over to his computer with the audio recorder and plugged it in. He had no idea what the passcode was meant to be, so he put in his own passcode that he usually used.
Surprisingly, it worked.
The passcode was cracked, and he pressed play on the audio.
Then, a 13-year old girl’s voice rang out. Andrew froze.
He felt a small spark of recognition tingle in his brain.
“This audio thing is for my dad, Andrew Ospengance. If you government people are watching, erm, *cough* I mean, listening to this tape, then give it to my father first. It’s for him more than anyone else.”
There was a pause.
“Hey dad. I know you’re probably wondering what the heck happened, after your daughter disappeared. And I hope you’re alright with the amnesia and everything.
But here’s the story of what really happened.
The answer to all your questions.”
Andrew gasped and sunk back in his chair as his daughter continued talking.
Chapter 1
Andrew Ospengance sighed as he turned the key in the doorknob. How would he explain this to her? The second business trip this month. She would not be happy.
Andrew heard the lock click and pushed the door open.
“Kelly? I’m home!” He called as he kicked off his shoes.
“So you are now?” Kelly called back.
“I’ve been waiting for ages. What kept you away?”
Andrew breathed into his hand and sniffed his breath to make sure it wouldn’t… give anything away.
“Umm, traffic jam.” He said quickly.
Too quickly.
Kelly from the other room laughed. Even though it was a sign that she didn’t believe him, it still made him smile.
“That is such a heap of steaming cowpat. What were you really doing, Dad?”
Andrew began knotting his fingers. He knew he was on a diet, but he couldn’t help himself…
“I told you, I was in a traffic jam.”
Kelly poked her head out of the kitchen and down the hallway to where her father was standing. She was 13 years old, but could already cook and clean and do things for herself all day while her father was at work. She had dark skin, but bright green eyes, that seemed to twinkle whenever she smiled. She took one look at Andrew and burst into peals of laughter.
“What?” Andrew asked.
“G… g… g…” She could hardly say it, she was laughing so much.
“Go look in the mirror!” She squeezed out before laughing again.
So Andrew did.
His skin, unlike his daughter, was fair, and he had messy, raven hair. But smeared around his mouth was the brown, sweet truth of what he had been doing.
Eating chocolate.
He had just began to lick it off when Kelly had appeared to snatch another look. She was happy, but Andrew wasn’t. Not because of her laughing. Whenever she was happy, he was happy. But this was different.
He sighed and turned around. He had to tell Kelly now.
“Kelly…” He said.
“Hmm? What?” She replied.
Andrew sighed.
“I have to go…on another business trip.”
Kelly’s playful smile slowly disappeared.
It was replaced with such a stare that it could have sliced through solid metal.
“Good for you.” She said.
She spun on her heels and retreated to the kitchen to continue cooking dinner.
About 30 minutes later, while the two were having dinner, Kelly spoke up.
“So. Tell me about this new fangled business trip.” She said.
Andrew thought back to what his boss told him when he saw the flyer looking for volunteers. “Look, Andy!” He had cried, waving his arms around energetically.
“The government wants volunteer scientists to go explore these islands in the North Atlantic! I reckon that would be an adventure for you!”
So Andrew signed up for the trip, and now it was official.
He was going.
When Andrew told this to Kelly, she put down her sausage and thought for a moment.
“I’ll come with you.”
Andrew scoffed.
“No. Kelly, you can’t come. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Kelly shook her head.
“Nothing you say will make me stay here.”
Andrew sighed and looked at his watch. 9:26pm.
“I’m going to bed.” He said, standing up.
Kelly was incredulous.
“At this early hour?! Dad, you normally fall asleep at midnight in front of the TV amidst a snowstorm of chip crumbs!”
“Well, I’m waking up super early tomorrow, so I can get ready and go.”
“Oh. OK. Well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight, my heart.”
At 6:50 in the morning, Andrew stumbled bleary-eyed into the military facility, searching for somebody named “Wanda Wye.” His daughter, Kelly, was tagging along just to see her father leave.
“Kelly!” Hissed Andrew for the 50th time as his daughter touched one of the many things in the facility.
“Wot?” Asked Kelly without turning around.
“Stop touching everything! It’s this thing you’ve got! You see something poking out of a wall. You touch it. You see something interesting on the ground. You touch it!! Stop it!”
Kelly shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Eventually, Andrew found the person he was looking for.
Wanda Wye had short, blonde hair, pinkish-red glasses and a lab coat that stretched down to her knees, and was clutching a clipboard as if her life depended on it.
“Oh!” She said on seeing Andrew.
While her dad was talking to Wanda about something to do with leaving soon, Kelly decided to explore.
The place was almost entirely made of metal; and it looked quite old and weathered. There were lots of different vehicles. They all had the classic military camouflage pattern, and there were soldiers marching around with their legs flying all over the place with every step. Kelly couldn’t help but giggle at them. Even some of the most serious, no-nonsense people in the world could still look stupid.
Kelly hopped into a very long military vehicle. It was like a bus-but had tools and weaponry that you would definitely not find on a normal bus. She walked deeper in the vehicle.
Suddenly, she heard a soldier’s voice from outside.
“That door’s open!”
Said the voice.
Another voice spoke.
“So what? It’s meant to be open! It literally has a sign on it that says, “Please keep this door open!””
Kelly heard a dull whack. Probably a hand connecting with the back of someone’s head.
“Not that one, Nigel! That one! The door to the troop carrier!”
“Oh. Ok. Yes. It’s an open door. What about it?”
There was an irritated groan.
“Close it!”
“ALRIGHT YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT AT ME!!”
Kelly heard footsteps approaching the vehicle, and then the door was slammed shut, and Kelly was plunged into blackness.
Chapter 2
Andrew Ospengance looked over the edge of the ship. It was partly cloudy, and the sea was a dark navy blue, and the water around frothed as the ship cut through the choppy waves.
This is what Andrew had been doing for the past few hours, other than eating or playing on his phone.
He slowly walked over to the bow. The island they had been looking for had came in sight, and they were quite close. He could hear some of the crew muttering something about setting down the anchor soon. Suddenly, a loud rumbling made Andrew jump. Something wet fell on his head. He looked up. The sky had been blanketed with dark clouds, almost mirroring the ocean beneath it.
Rain began to trickle down from the sky. The droplets landed on the metal ship with a TONK.
As the TONKing grew louder and more intense, people ducked and ran for cover. Andrew slowly walked after everyone else. Rain didn’t bother him that much. He was already quite damp from the sea spray, so it didn’t really matter.
But then, the ship jolted with such force that Andrew fell over. Everyone who was running for cover suddenly stopped and looked around while making confused noises.
The ship was bumped again and the stone-faced, completely motionless soldiers fell on their bums. As they had been given orders not to move, they weren’t sure if that meant don’t move unless the ship gets jostled so much you fall over and you have to get back up, or don’t move at all.
If they weren’t supposed to move at all, they had all just disobeyed a direct order.
Everyone broke into a nervous chatter. Why was the ship bumping so violently? Had they hit a rock? Were they all going to sink?
Just then, a giant creature erupted out of the water. It was a bit like a dark blue, more streamlined crocodile with flippers. It flew over the boat, the people on it watching in terror with their mouths agape.
The giant creature splashed down on the other side of the ship, creating such a splash that everyone on board was drenched.
There was silence for a moment.
Then screaming.
People ran around crazily, shouting and yelling their heads off, waving their arms everywhere, occasionally hitting other people and making them scream even more.
The jaws of the enormous sea monster exploded out of the water and clamped down onto the side of the ship. The people on board threw themselves to the other side of the ship, screaming their lungs out. The creature flicked its head and tore out a huge chunk of the ship.
The sea monster descended back into the depths of the ocean.
Now there was a massive hole in the ship, and it was rapidly sinking.
A giant tail flew out of the water. It leaned dramatically to the left, and gave the ship an almighty WHACK!!
Andrew fell backwards and hit his head on something hard, and then everything went black.
Chapter 3
Andrew heard voices. Strange, faint, disoriented voices. His eyelids fluttered and flickered. He groaned. Wanda Wye was leaning over him. “Andrew? Andrew. You awake?”
Her glasses fell of her nose and hit Andrew in the face.
“Ow!” Mumbled Andrew as he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head.
“Alright. Good. You’re awake.” Said Wanda, standing back up.
She helped Andrew back onto his feet, who began to survey the scene around him.
They were on a sunny beach. The ship had made it ashore before it sank and carried its passengers just a few more hundred meters to the shore, which was good.
It looked like somebody had pushed it up onto the beach, and was now stuck there, and had quite a few bite marks and holes in it.
On the beach, there were many survivors. All but a few had survived, and were now either standing to attention, lying down, moping around, eating, or throwing up saltwater.
Andrew could only spot a handful of vehicles. The others must have all sank to the bottom of the sea or gotten eaten by the sea monster.
Everyone looked completely soaked with water, along with all the vehicles and the ship. If everything was wet, that meant all the radios and communications were dead, so they couldn’t call for help.
The beach actually looked quite attractive, like a sunny, tropical beach should, but behind it, inland, there was a dark, dense forest. It looked quite menacing. The giant leaves and vines and trees looked like they could hide an elephant.
“Alright, men! Barked an offical looking high-ranked soldier. A commander. He was a bit short, and had a lumpy, pink nose.
“We have laid explosives in the jungle. We will detonate them and blow the forest apart to drive out any nasty beasties, as well as clearing an easy path for us all. And if anything dangerous appears, we are going to BLOW IT UP!!”
The crazy man spat.
He began punching the air.
“Blow it up! Blow it up! Blow it up!” He chanted.
Eventually, the other soldiers joined in.
“Blow it up! Blow it up! Blow it up!” They all bellowed, waving their arms around and marching into the forest.
Andrew sighed and shook his head.
“This plan is doomed to fail.” He said.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Muttered Wanda beside him as the soldiers detonated the first bomb, blowing the first part of the forest apart, and began complaining that the bombs were making them deaf.
Andrew and Wanda jumped and they heard gunshots.
A loud, menacing roar rang out, seemingly filling the entire island.
The ground began to shake as terrible, thundering footsteps approached. A few soldiers burst out of the tree line, taking random shots with their rifles and yelling in fright.
A few seconds later, a massive creature burst from the trees. It was a scaly green monster, with a brightly coloured face a bit like a mandril. It was quadrupedal, with its front arms and hands much bigger that its legs, a bit like a gorilla, and had its razor-sharp teeth bared in rage. Its behaviour and appearance slightly resembled that of a very angry gorilla, but there was no mistaking this creature for an ape. Just on all fours, it was about 7 meters tall, and it had mid-green scales, and a sharp horn on its head, which it seemed to be using as a machete and a battering ram.
It simply plucked the soldier off the beach with its mouth, not even stopping, and swallowed the soldier whole. Wanda gasped as Andrew grabbed her and they bolted, through the foliage they ran, occasionally nicking themselves on a sharp leaf or stick. A few other people running from the monster joined with Andrew and Wanda, and soon they were all standing breathless in a clearing of the forest. Just a few meters away from them was a massive gouge in the earths crust. A ravine. There were a bunch of long, thick vines hanging down above the layer of thick mist that was obscuring the ground.
Andrew flopped down.
“Thank god.” He breathed.
“I think we lost it.”
An earsplitting, ferocious roar only a few meters away from him begged to differ.
Chapter 4
All heads turned quickly towards the source of the sound. It was the creature from before. Its gums were bared and it was growling viciously. It opened its mouth and its lower jaw widened, revealing a mouth crammed with teeth. Andrew’s stomach lurched when he spotted what little remained of the creature’s victims stuck between its teeth.
Suddenly, something crashed through the trees, making a loud noise. It was a military truck! The creature barely had time to finish its comical double-take when the front of the truck slammed into the creature, sending it hurtling into the ravine. It roared with fury as it fell. It crashed through the vines, until eventually it got so tangled it stopped falling. It wriggled and kicked and roared, but it couldn’t get free.
The door of the truck opened and Andrew went over.
“Thank you. You saved our li-“
“You’re welcome, Dad. Don’t mention it.”
Said Kelly Ospengance.
Andrew stood there staring at his daughter with his eyes wide. He rubbed his eyes and blinked, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Kelly?!” He panted finally.
Kelly put her hands on her hips.
“Wot?”
“Kelly what are you doing here!? You are in so much trouble young lady!” He yelled, shaking his hand with every word he said.
Kelly crossed her arms. “Don’t call me “young lady”, dad. I may be one, but I do not appreciate your tone.”
“This is your daughter?!” Asked Wanda, incredulous.
“Yes, yes she is.” Andrew replied, brushing her off.
Wanda still had “what the heck” written all over her face.
“She shouldn’t be here.”
Andrew shook his head.
“Dang right she shouldn’t be here!”
He said angrily.
Wanda opened her mouth to say something else, but then a twig snapped audibly. Everybody jumped.
“What…was…that?” Somebody asked.
The foliage rustled, and they could hear footsteps coming.
The soldiers had their guns up and ready to shoot whatever emerged from the bushes.
Just then the leaves were pulled aside to reveal…
A human.
He stopped and looked at our terrified faces in confusion.
“All right?” He said in perfect English.
Chapter 5
Nobody said anything. They just stared in amazement at the person. He was a native person of the island.
He definitely wasn’t one of them, as he had a completely different skin colour. He wasn’t black, like most of the other native people of the world; he had sort of a… green tinge to him.
He was wearing a dark green shirt with leaves stuck on it, and brown pants with no knees and had a ring of decorative leaves around the leg holes. The clothes seemed to shimmer as he moved. Camouflage. He also had a tattered, red headband tied around his forehead.
Andrew stepped forward.
“Ummmm… Hi. Me,” He said, pointing to himself,
“Andrew. An-dr-ew.” He pointed back at the native man.
“You?” The man looked confused. “Can you speak English?” He said. Andrew, and everyone else looked shocked. “You speak English?” He asked, surprised.
Now the man just looked confused. “Okay.” He said.
“I asked you, “Can you speak English.” And, you responded to me, in english, asking me if I spoke english.” He spread out his arms. “So… I guess we both speak english.” He looked across at the group of strangers. They were just staring at him, mouths open, in amazement.
Just then, Kelly spoke up from the people and strode confidently over to the man. “My name is Kelly Ospengance.” She said, shaking the man’s calloused hand. “And we all speak english.”
The man nodded. “Good, good.” He said.
“My name is Guashino. Welcome to our island.”
Kelly opened her mouth to say something else, but then somebody burst through the trees, making everyone jump.
“Aargh!! Huff, puff, huh, puff.” He huffed.
He was a short, squat figure with a ruddy nose and a long moustache that connected with his sideburns. He was dressed in a military uniform, with medals plastered all over his chest, holding a big rifle. He looked like the
He kept panting. It seemed he was running for a long time, as he was so breathless he couldn’t talk.
“I’ve… got a… a… sti…a… stitch!” He wheezed.
“Are you alright, sir?” Said one of the soldiers.
“Yes, yes, i’m fi… fine.”
The moustache guy batted the soldier’s hand away from him. He got up and surveyed the group, as if sizing them up. Then he noticed the green local staring at him. He yelped, as if he was stung by a bee and pointing his rifle square at the Guashino’s chest. Guashino obviously did not appreciate this gesture at all, and he suddenly whipped out a decorated bow and arrow in less than half a second.
Both stared eachother down, weapons pointed at the ready.
Andrew stepped between them.
“Woah, woah, woah. Break it up, guys.” Guashino lowered his bow slightly, but kept his eyes on the soldier.
“Who is this green idiot?” He growled at one of his soldiers.
The soldier spoke hesitantly.
“Sir. Commander. This is Guashino. He is a local native person that lives here. When we met him, he came in peace. He poses no threat. His bow is no match for our guns…” His voice trailed off as Guashino gave him the most withering look that a human face was capable of.
The General lowered his rifle. “Guashino.” He scoffed.
“What a stupid name.” Then he sniffed in a sort of cross, arrogant way.
The native man and the military commander had only exchanged a few words, and already clearly disliked eachother.
The commander turned to the soldiers.
“Right men.” He barked.
“We are now stuck on this island. We must find the survivors, and make sure we survive as well.” He clicked his fingers at Guashino.
“And we will use the natives as tools to help us survive.
And…” He said, his face darkening with anger. His voice raised into a shout.
“WE WILL FIND THAT GODFORSAKEN CREATURE AND DESTROY IT!!”
Suddenly, there were a series of roars coming from the ravine. Everyone rushed over to the ravine and looked down.
The creature, the one the commander was talking about, was having a blast. It was swinging and jumping from vine to vine, roaring and whooping in delight. It had evidently forgotten about its lost meal.
Guashino smiled.
“Aww. Look at that.” He cooed.
“Taushenjoonga is having a blast.”
Everyone looked at Guashino with bemused looks.
Before they could say anything, the commander yelled.
“THERE IT IS!!”
He fumbled in his pockets for a moment and pulled out grenade. He was just about to pull the pin, when…
As quick as lightning, Guashino reached into his quiver of arrows and pulled out a different arrow, a blue one.
He took aim and fired and the commander. The arrow streaked through the air, eventually finding its mark, diving into the commander’s leg.
The commander suddenly stopped everything. He stopped yelling and his facial muscles relaxed, and he dropped the grenade. It fell down harmlessly into the ravine without exploding. Before the commander could follow, Guashino lunged forward and grabbed the commander, and hauled him back onto the ground. He laid the commander down, and delicately pulled out the arrow.
Instantly, the soldiers all pulled out their rifles and pointed them at Guashino.
Guashino remained relaxed.
“Actually,” He began,
“I saved your leader. That silly little exploding object was just going to anger Taushenjoonga, and he would leapt up here in seconds and then eaten everyone. I temporarily put your commander to sleep to stop him doing so. When he wakes up, he will be much calmer.”
The soldiers looked at eachother. The crazy green guy had a point. They lowered their guns and regarded him with suspicion.
“But why save the creature? It attacked us. It even ate some of us.”
Guashino fixed the soldier with a look.
“Excuse me, but if a bunch of crazy weirdos march into your house, yell at the top of their lungs about killing things, and then begin to drop bombs on it, you have no choice but to retaliate. Especially if you’re a wild animal.”
He looked at the soldiers with one eyebrow raised. It was clear that he knew there were no comebacks to that.
And there weren’t.
“Right.” Said Guashino, hoisting the disgruntled commander over his shoulder,
“Follow me. I’ll take you back to camp.”
Everyone stood up and followed.
“Camp?” Asked Andrew Ospengance.
Chapter 6
“Here we are!” Exclaimed Guashino as the group came to a wall. The wall was about 3 meters tall, and made out of natural-looking bricks, and were decorated with natural paint. On the top of the wall were a few wooden spears. Wanda Wye, however, was more interested in lingering at the back of the group trying to pick as many plant samples as she could. She saw an interesting leaf float down from the tree canopy. She bumbled over to it, rustling in the ferns, trying to find it. She didn’t.
“Never mind.” She muttered to herself.
“I can get a fresh one from the tree it fell from.”
She straightened and looked up.
A pair of yellow eyes were staring back at her.
She opened her mouth to yell, but she couldn’t talk. Blood flowed to her legs to turn and run. But she couldn’t run. She was frozen in fear. The yellow eyes drifted down from the canopy. The owner of them was a giant snake, which had scales that were a primary colour of muddy-dark green, and a diamond shaped dark yellow pattern running across its back. It descended from the tree. Its body arched and moved but her eyes stayed locked with Wanda’s. It flickered its tongue.
“Pollyanna!” Came a call.
The giant snake’s eyes flicked over to Guashino, who smiled broadly, approached and patted the snake on its head. It tilted its head and almost seemed to purr.
“Everybody, meet Pollyanna. Sorry if she gave you a scare, Wanda. She’s just a bit curious.”
He rubbed Pollyanna on the cheek.
“Anybody want a pat?” He asked.
Everyone took a step back, except Kelly, who smiled broadly and marched confidently over to Pollyanna.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Growled Andrew through gritted teeth as he pulled his daughter back.
When Pollyanna had slithered off, they continued walking along the wall until they came to a large decretive arch. It was covered with banana leaves.
“Welcome to home.”
Said Guashino as he pushed the leaves aside.
Inside the wall was a very small village. There were several houses made out of wood, and Andrew could have sworn that there were these huge bones making the skeleton of the structure. (Hahahahaha. Get it?)
They had no doors, instead having those banana leaves.
In the corner, there was a large pond. It had several lily pads floating on the surface, as well as a carpet of duck weed. There was a big log in the middle, completely covered in moss.
But the most striking things were the giant, vivid green frogs swimming and splashing about.
They were like green tree frogs, except they had a low, long red dorsal fin flowing down their backs, a stumpy little tail, and a strange little bulb on their heads. The bulb glowed a warm yellow colour. The creatures came about knee height to Kelly. Guashino noticed everyone’s eyes bulging out of their heads as they watched, and chuckled.
“Oh, you’ll love these cuties. These guys are a special type of giant frog. We call them Bulbits. They usually live here in the shallows, just hanging about, but when they go to hunt they dive down into these underwater caves. They catch fish by attracting them with their glowing bulbs.” He began pointing at them one by one. “This one’s called Frank, He’s called Nigel, and she’s called Sonja.”
The Bulbits all perked up and looked to Guashino when their names were called out.
“Everybody else,” Guashino continued,
“Just left to go hunting in the caves. These guys didn’t go because they’re a bit young. The others will probably surface in about half an hour.”
Kelly thought they were cool.
“Cool!” She said.
She crept up to one.
“Hello little cutie.” She said in a baby voice.
The Bulbit, Nigel, turned and edged towards her.
“Kelly.” Said Andrew in a warning voice.
“I don’t think we should touch it.”
Being a classic 13 year old girl, Kelly chose to ignore him.
“Do you want a pat?” She asked.
Nigel did want a pat. He slowly waddled over.
Kelly scratched him under the chin. Nigel closed his eyes and his stumpy tail wiggled.
Kelly reached up to pat him on the head.
“There. Aren’t you a cutie. What a funny little thing you have on your head-“
Nigel’s eyes snapped open, and he opened his mouth wide, revealing a terrifying set of needle-like teeth. He lunged forward, hissing loudly.
Kelly yelped, quickly jumped away from the now nasty Nigel.
Guashino chuckled. “Don’t worry. He didn’t mean to hurt you,” He said, scratching the now nice Nigel on the chin.
“It’s just that when something touches a Bulbit’s bulb, it will lash out, as the bulbs are very sensitive, and used to attract prey. So if you are attracted by it, the Bulbit sees you as prey.”
Everybody in the surrounding area shuddered.
Suddenly, the snoring commander’s eyes smacked open, and wobbled around wildly.
He did not appreciate being slung over Guashino’s shoulder, and started kicking and yelling.
“Stupid native idiot!” He yelled.
“Put me down, you green Gumby!”
Guashino immediately let go of the commander, sending him falling flat on his face.
Andrew smothered a grin.
“Where the ruddy hell am I?” He bellowed, looking around.
“This is my village.” He said.
He swivelled around and noticed the Bulbits.
“And what are these disgusting things?!”
Guashino frowned.
“This is Frank, Nigel and Sonja, mind you, and they are not disgusting things.” He growled.
The commander shook his head in disgust, muttering something under his breath.
Wanda tapped Guashino on the shoulder.
“Excuse me for asking, but…” She hesitated.
“Where did you learn to speak English?”
Guashino laughed.
“A few decades ago, these three strangers came to the island. They had these flying metal birds called planes. Anyway, they stayed here, probably because they were stuck, and they taught us English.”
They must be some of the people that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle! Thought Andrew.
“I see.” Said Wanda, as she made a note of this in her notepad.
Kelly asked something.
“How many people live here?” She asked.
Guashino thought for a moment.
“I would say nearly about fifty.”
“Fifty?!” Asked Kelly incredulous. “Fifty people live in four houses?!”
Andrew stepped in front of Kelly with a weak smile.
“Sorry for my daughter’s rudeness. It’s just that she’s 13 and she’s so stubborn-“
“No, no, it’s perfectly alright.” Interrupted Guashino.
“Fifty people live in fifty houses.”
Kelly shoved Andrew out of the way.
“But where are the extra 46 houses?”
Guashino smiled and pointed upwards.
Everyone looked and gasped. Around 10 meters above their heads, an intricate network of bridges and swing vines connected around 46 houses. A few people were gathered on the bridges, looking down upon the newcomers with curiosity.
“Everyone lives up there so we can be safe from predators. These buildings on the ground are warehouses and shops, and because they were so big they were too heavy to build up there.” Explained Guashino.
The grumpy commander sneered.
“This will be easy.” He muttered.
“What was that?” Hissed Guashino.
“Oh, nothing.” Said the grumpy commander innocently.
“Just admiring your… handiwork.”
Then he laughed a cold, evil chuckle.
Andrew shuddered.
It seemed like the Commander was hiding something…
Suddenly, Kelly yelped, making everyone jump.
“What was it?” Asked Andrew.
Kelly pointed a finger over to a corner where a children’s play area was situated.
“The playground moved!” She quivered.
“I swear, I saw it wobble.”
The commander muttered something about a girl drinking so much rum she was seeing things.
Guashino looked over to where Kelly was pointing.
“Hm? Oh, that would be Jay Jay.” He smiled.
He crouched down and began punching the ground to a specific rhythm.
Suddenly, the children’s playground began wobbling and moving. There was a loud CRACK and the entire playground was raised out of the ground. A giant tortoise’s head poked out from underneath it. The tortoise sleepily turned its head towards Guashino.
“Introducing Jay Jay.” He said. “Jay Jay is a ginormous type of tortoise that buries itself in the ground when it sleeps.
It sleeps in the day and goes to feed at night. He is completely deaf; but he can feel vibrations through the ground. So even while he is asleep, he knows exactly where something is a long as it is moving and connected to the ground.”
By now Jay Jay had tottered over to Guashino who gave him a pat.
“When he’s asleep, he’s like a dormant volcano, and we set up a little jungle gym for the kids on his shell. Hence his name, Jay Jay. He doesn’t even notice it’s there.”
Wanda spoke up.
“Umm… You do know that “Gym” is spelt G-Y-M and not J-Y-M.”
“Is it?” Said Guashino in surprise.
“Yes. So really his name should be Jay Gee.”
Guashino shrugged as if to say “I don’t care.”
Then he looked at the sky.
“Hm.” He muttered. Then he turned back to the newcomers.
“Right, everyone, its late. You can come up here and shelter with us. We’ve got a few spare rooms.”
Guashino climbed up the ladder, beckoning for everyone to follow him, which they did, reluctantly.
Guashino led Andrew and Kelly into their spare home.
The walls were made out of a fine coloured, solid wood, but there were also these giant bones seemingly holding everything together.
But the most noticeable thing was the carpet. It was damp, and was softer than you could have believed.
Kelly bent down and looked at it.
“Hey.” She said.
“This carpet is made of moss!”
Guashino smiled. “So what? Moss is nature’s carpet.”
Andrew smiled and went to his bed. It was small, but comfy and quite warm. Guashino blew out a candle as he walked out.
“Nighty night.” He said.
Andrew rolled over, shut his eyes and stayed still.
Then rolled over again. It was quite comfortable here. Except he was lying on his arm and it was getting numb. After repeating this for what seemed like hours, he finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Guashino burst into the room, kicking the door open with a bang.
His eyes were wild and panicked.
“What’s wrong?” Asked Andrew.
“The soldiers are gone, along with some of our weaponry!” He spluttered.
“They’re going to kill Taushenjoonga!”
Chapter 7
Guashino, Andrew, Wanda and Kelly set out to look for the soldiers, or find Taushenjoonga and protect him.
They walked for a while in silence.
Wanda was lingering at the back of the group picking as many of the native plants as possible.
About an hour passed.
Suddenly, Guashino yelped and ran over to something hidden in the undergrowth.
He was cradling a giant snake’s head in his hands.
It had been shot several times.
“Pollyanna.” Whispered Guashino.
The snake was breathing.
Taushenjoonga did not like the visitors. So far, all they did was shoot him, yell about blowing up his territory, and make several attempts to kill him and the other creatures in his territory. But these visitors were different.
The other visitors were wild, vicious and had no respect for life. But these ones seemed to be honestly concerned for the long, scaly one.
They offered it food. One even went down to a stream to get water.
He silently crept down from the branches.
Wanda was stroking the giant snake, trying to reassure it, when she yelled in fright.
Guashino and everyone else came running back.
“What’s wrong?” Gasped Andrew. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Taushenjoonga staring at him.
“Get down!” Yelped Guashino.
“No eye contact! No sudden movements!”
Taushenjoonga leaned closer to Kelly, sniffing her all over. Kelly’s face scrunched up when she smelt the giant predator’s terrible breath.
Andrew lunged forward to try and grab Kelly, and yank her away from Taushenjoonga.
The monster growled at him, and fixed him with a stare. Andrew stayed in his spot.
Kelly slowly lifted up her hand to Taushenjoonga‘s nose.
Andrew screamed internally as his daughter reached up and began patting the nose of the creature that had tried to kill them on more than one occasion.
Taushenjoonga leaned closer. He almost seemed to purr.
But Taushenjoonga was confused. Why did these visitors show submission, respect, and even affection to him if the others only wanted him dead?
Taushenjoonga‘s train of thought was shattered by a loud explosion.
He roared in fury as he leapt back up into the forest canopy and leapt from tree to tree toward the source of the sound.
“KELLY!!!” Raged Andrew.
“WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!”
Kelly looked at him with a stare.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!! GOING UP TO A WILD, MAD CREATURE AND POKING IT ON THE NOSE!! DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!”
Kelly reached up and poked her father on the nose.
Chapter 8
Guashino, Kelly, Wanda and Andrew hurried through the forest. Guashino had his bow drawn, and at every noise he snapped his head in the direction.
They came to the clearing. It was the same place where they had first met Guashino, and when Kelly barged Taushenjoonga off into the ravine. Taushenjoonga was growling ferociously at the commander, who was smiling quite smugly. His men were at a dynamite detonator.
He waited until Taushenjoonga was right at the edge of the ravine. “DETONATE!!” He bellowed. The edge of the ravine exploded, and Taushenjoonga was sent tumbling down into the ravine, only to be caught by the vines again. “FIRE!!!” Roared the commander again. All the soldiers began firing and shooting at Taushenjoonga, who roared furiously. Most bullets missed, while some found their mark and burrowed deep into Taushenjoonga‘s flesh. Poor Taushenjoonga bellowed in pain. The soldiers then lit several fuses of dynamite, and threw them down. They exploded mid air, snapping the vines that Taushenjoonga was holding onto. Taushenjoonga howled as he fell out of sight. There was so much smoke and dust nobody could see a thing.
When the dust and smoke finally cleared,
Taushenjoonga was gone.
It was a quick, clever and fearsome plot meant to kill.
Guashino drew his bow and began madly shooting at the soldiers, who opened fire with their guns.
For Andrew, the following events seemed to happen in slow motion. A soldier fired. The bullet flew out of the barrel of the gun, mercilessly flying straight towards…
A small boulder, missing Andrew by a good 2 meters. But then the bullet ricocheted straight off the rock, burrowing deep into Andrew left leg. Andrew yelled in agony and clutched his leg as it folded beneath him, sending him falling down onto the ground.
In his unbearable pain, he heard somebody shout, “Wheee! I hit somebody!”
Before he was dragged away by Guashino.
Andrew awoke back in one of the treehouses of Guashino’s village. He moaned as the pain of his leg being moved rippled through his body.
Guashino was standing over him.
He stuck three fingers in his face.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” He asked hurriedly.
“Um, four?” Replied Andrew, still delirious.
“Maths isn’t your strong suit, then.” Muttered Guashino.
He poked Andrew in the leg where he got shot.
Andrew yelped, but then stopped.
“Hey, wow, it doesn’t hurt that much.”
Guashino nodded.
“Mm. I rubbed some of our healing cream on it. Wanda also took out the bullet while you’re asleep.”
Andrew rubbed his head and tried to sit up.
“You’ll be alright. The bullet didn’t go in too deep.”
Just then, Kelly burst into the room. “Um, guys! We got company!”
Guashino swore in a native language and began to help Andrew up.
“Quickquickquick, we gotta GO, GO, GO!!” Shouted Wanda from outside.
Andrew eventually, with Guashino’s help, made it down the ladder and onto the ground.
They were just about to rush for freedom, but something cold and metal pressed against their head. It was a gun.
“Well, well, well.” Said The Commander.
“Fancy seeing you again.” He sneered as he ordered his men.
“Tie them up.” He barked. But before they could do that, a downpour of arrows flew from above. The villagers were fighting back! But the commander was quick to respond. He aimed his gun and fired at a rope bridge. The rope bridge collapsed, sending the people hurtling down onto the ground. Some clung onto the rope bridge, and some stayed where they were, but most ran off into the forest.
There were a series of short, sharp CRACKS and then several bodies slumped to the ground.
Oh.
Kelly screamed and looked away.
“STAY STILL AND SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!!” Yelled the commander, not sure if he was yelling and them or the locals.
Guashino was not going to give up without a fight. While the commander was busy shooting his people, with his hands tied behind his back, he rubbed the ropes against his belt, feeling around for something. Finally, he found it. It was a sharp blade, made from a particularly vicious looking claw. He had forgotten exactly where the claw came from, possibly one of the giant eagles that flew around up in the mountains. He rubbed the rope against the blade, and eventually it was cut in half and dropped off. He struggled and kicked free of the soldiers holding him, and lunged over to the commander, who was now busy rounding up his village.
“LET THEM GO!!” He screamed as he crash-tackled the commander to the ground.
The commander landed on the ground with a pitiful yelp.
But before Guashino could do anything further, he was lifted up and put in a headlock by one of the soldiers.
Chapter 8
“So this is how it ends.” Growled the Commander, looking quite pleased with himself.
“When I get home, you won’t be with me.”
“You people.” He pointed at Guashino, Wanda, Andrew and Kelly.
“Dead. Didn’t survive. I tried everything I could to save you. But you died.”
He chuckled.
“Boo hoo hoo.” He added.
“You green idiots.” He pointed at the locals, who shuddered.
“Some new slaves!”
“Hang on.” Interrupted Wanda.
“The government won’t let you do that!”
The commander chuckled.
“The government won’t be there.” He smiled viciously as he explained his plan.
“Before we came here, I was already preparing for a large-scale coup. But then, this island thingo came into play. And I figured that on most islands, there are natives, so there might natives here as well! And because natives are always so primitive, I knew I could just take them in and they could be my slaves-“
Croak.
The commander was interrupted by a soft croaking noise.
Croak.
He wheeled around, to be face to face with a Bulbit.
“Croak.” Said the Bulbit.
“NO!” Yelled Guashino.
“Don’t hurt Emerald!”
The commander’s nose wrinkled in disgust.
“You name these repulsive things?” He growled.
Guashino opened his mouth but the commander yelled at him that it was a rhetorical question.
“What’s a rhetorical question?” Asked Guashino.
“You seriously don’t know what a rhetorical question is?”
“YES! That’s why i’m asking you!”
“SHUT UP! That was also a rhetorical question!”
Guashino rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, the commander felt something on his leg. He looked down.
The disgusting toad thing was rubbing his leg!
The commander yelped and shot Emerald point-blank in the head.
Then, the pond that she emerged from seemed to burst into life.
Bulbits poured out, frills and dorsal plates opened out wide, their monstrous teeth bared, hissing wildly.
They were not happy.
The commander screamed and began taking random shots at the bulbits.
Guashino’s eyes filled with tears as he watched them slump to the ground.
“GO, GO, GO!!!!” Yelled Andrew.
“NOW’S OUR CHANCE!!”
The commander looked over his shoulder.
“Don’t you idiots go anywhere-“
Then he screamed hideously. A bulbit had latched onto his leg! He shot it dead, but more and more kept coming, as Guashino, Kelly, Andrew and Wanda disappeared into the jungle. Eventually, they burst out onto the beach. To their surprise, there were helicopters and boats and soldiers.
A rescue team!
The group raced out onto the beach. The soldiers instantly trained their guns on them, but then lowered them when they saw who they were.
One soldier stepped forward.
“Have you seen Commander Hector?”
Wanda opened her mouth, but Guashino interrupted.
“You mean the crazy, insane, rude, racist, murdering cuckoo guy with the oversized moustache? Yes, I’ve seen him.”
He pointed to the jungle.
The soldier looked confused.
“Commander Hector is a murderer?”
Kelly jumped in.
“YES! He just took a native in to be his slaves, and he told us about how he was planning a coup!”
The soldier looked very shocked.
“He’s planning a coup?!”
Just then, the commander in question exploded out of the forest in a flurry of madness, anger, and swearing.
“RIGHT, YOU IDIOTS! STUPID CHILD! CRAZY GREEN GUMBY!!! PREPARE TO BE THE FIRST VICTIMS OF MY NEW COUP!!!”
That’s when he noticed the baffled-looking soldiers.
“Oh…” He moaned.
The soldiers walked up to him and tied the commander’s hands behind his back.
That was when the sand seemed to move.
“What was that?!” Spat Kelly.
Andrew spun around.
“What was what?”
“That!”
“What’s ‘That!’?”
“The ground moved!”
Suddenly, a giant creature erupted from the sand. It was a scaly green monster, with a brightly coloured face a bit like a mandril. It was quadrupedal, with its front arms and hands much bigger that its legs, a bit like a gorilla, and had its razor-sharp teeth bared in rage. Its behaviour and appearance slightly resembled that of a very angry gorilla, but there was no mistaking this creature for an ape. Just on all fours, it was about 7 meters tall, and it had mid-green scales, and a sharp horn on its head, which it seemed to be using as a machete and a battering ram.
“Taushenjoonga?” Said Guashino in amazement.
Taushenjoonga roared in fury and made a beeline for the commander. The commander squeaked as the giant creature roared with such force it knocked him over. But instead of eating him, Taushenjoonga lined up his fist with precession at the commander. When he was sure he had gotten it right, a finger burst out of the fist, sending the commander flying.
In other words, a giant, scaly green monster had just flicked his arch nemesis into the ocean. The commander landed around 400 meters away with a quiet “plip!”
Then he floated to the surface, coughing and yelling and screaming.
Then the sea monster that had destroyed the boat and left them stranded in the first place came and swallowed him.
Everybody stared in silence for a while, except Taushenjoonga, who burst into a sires of short barks and roars, like he was laughing.
Finally he stopped, looked around, and realised how many helicopters there were.
He roared and lunged at one, bashing it against the ground. It exploded in a ball of fire. Kelly jumped into a nearby helicopter with her father. Taushenjoonga continued rampaging around. Finally, the helicopters lifted off and flew into the sky.
Taushenjoonga bellowed a roar of victory, and then retreated back into the tunnel he came out of.
Andrew smiled. Then he laughed.
“We’re going home!”
This sentence was soon declared false by the giant sea monster that had just devoured the commander leapt clean out of the water. Its fearsome jaws crushed the tail of Andrew and Kelly’s helicopter, narrowly missing them.
The helicopter immediately stopped flying and splashed into the ocean. Luckily, it wasn’t that high above the ocean, but it was still high enough to shatter.
Kelly floated to the surface of the waves. She looked around desperately for her father, and then saw. He was lying with his back underwater, but he was breathing.
She swam over to him.
“Dad!” She said the word like a prayer.
“Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad!”
Slowly, Andrew opened his eyes.
“Who’s dad?” He asked.
Chapter 9
Kelly looked at him incredulously.
“You’re dad! Andrew Ospengance!”
Andrew nodded slowly.
“Uh huh. Who…who are you?” Kelly looked at him, confused.
Then, a piece of helicopter fell on top of her.
Kelly woke up. She was on the beach, and Guashino was leaning over her.
She sat up with a jolt. She stood up and ran over to the shoreline, just in time to see the helicopters disappear over the horizon.
“Dad…” She whispered.
“Don’t worry.” Said Guashino.
“Your father just has a bit of amnesia. He was picked up by the helicopters.”
Kelly looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Guashino sighed.
“I swam out to rescue you. Last time I checked, they were telling eachother that you were dead.”
Chapter 10
The past faded back into the present as Andrew sat crumpled in his chair, his chest heaving as he took his daughter’s story in.
“A few months later…”Said Kelly’s voice,
“I recorded this story onto an old audio tape I found, discarded by the commander’s expedition.
I stuck it in a container and sealed it as best as I could, and pushed it out to sea.”
Andrew rubbed his temples where a headache had just blossomed.
“It’s not actually that bad here. It’s quite fun. Me and Guashino have helped the local people rebuild after the disaster of cuckoo commander.”
Andrew sighed.
“And now I have to go, Guashino’s calling me.
I hope we meet again.
Love, your stranded daughter.
Kelly.”
The computer beeped as the recording finished.
And suddenly, Andrew could remember everything.
Chapter 10
“Mmmmm.” Said Andrew appreciatively.
“This cake is delicious.”
Andrew, Wanda, Johnathon Meddle and a few other people were gathered around a table eating a cake.
On the cake it said: Bon Voyage.
“So, where you planning to go, Andy?” Asked Wanda cheerfully.
Andrew swallowed his cake.
“Hmmm. I’m not sure yet.”
“I remember when I went to Hawaii for a week. It was perfect. Lovely weather. You want to go there?”
Andrew smiled and shook his head.
“No. Not in the pacific…”
He looked up and smiled.
“How about a certain group of islands in the north Atlantic?”
The End.
(∩🌔 ͜ʖ🌔)⊃━☆ﾟ.*
BEASTS OF BERMUDA
Prologue
In 1967, the first satellite was launched into orbit of the earth. It then took the first picture of the world. The picture became ridiculously famous, and by the next year, almost everyone on earth knew about it. It continued to fly around the earth, snapping pictures wherever it went. But one day, somebody noticed something. Around a certain area of the Atlantic ocean was a group of middle-sized islands. But not just any area of the Atlantic ocean. The Bermuda Triangle.
The government decided to send a team of scientists, explorers, and military personnel to the islands to explore and discover them. What they did not know was that only a small lucky handful would return alive…
*********************
Andrew Ospengance frowned as he looked at the parcel at the door. It was from the government. He took it inside and opened it. The parcel contained something that looked like a walkie-talkie or a radio. There was also a crumpled note enclosed.
Andrew-
This audio recorder was found floating in a sealed container in the northern Atlantic ocean. We think it’s from your daughter. She must have sent it from the Island of Bermuda. Nobody knows about the island yet-it’s meant to be top secret. When we tried to link it up to a computer, we couldn’t figure out the passcode… But we thought you could. Kelly was your daughter after all.
Regards,
Johnathon Meddle
Hmm, thought Andrew. Johnathon. The guy who had supposedly rescued him from a monster infested island. When he said he couldn’t remember anything, they said he must have amnesia. They had told him that story hundreds of times.
He didn’t believe a word.
They even told him that his daughter had been left behind on the monster island.
What rubbish. He didn’t have a daughter.
But he always felt like a part of his life was missing. When he was either burying himself in chip crumbs in front of the TV, trying to go to sleep, or having a lonely, solitary dinner, he had this strange nagging feeling of loss and sadness, like a dull ache deep in his body that he could never reach.
But now the government had come up with solid proof for their crazy stories. He rushed over to his computer with the audio recorder and plugged it in. He had no idea what the passcode was meant to be, so he put in his own passcode that he usually used.
Surprisingly, it worked.
The passcode was cracked, and he pressed play on the audio.
Then, a 13-year old girl’s voice rang out. Andrew froze.
He felt a small spark of recognition tingle in his brain.
“This audio thing is for my dad, Andrew Ospengance. If you government people are watching, erm, *cough* I mean, listening to this tape, then give it to my father first. It’s for him more than anyone else.”
There was a pause.
“Hey dad. I know you’re probably wondering what the heck happened, after your daughter disappeared. And I hope you’re alright with the amnesia and everything.
But here’s the story of what really happened.
The answer to all your questions.”
Andrew gasped and sunk back in his chair as his daughter continued talking.
Chapter 1
Andrew Ospengance sighed as he turned the key in the doorknob. How would he explain this to her? The second business trip this month. She would not be happy.
Andrew heard the lock click and pushed the door open.
“Kelly? I’m home!” He called as he kicked off his shoes.
“So you are now?” Kelly called back.
“I’ve been waiting for ages. What kept you away?”
Andrew breathed into his hand and sniffed his breath to make sure it wouldn’t… give anything away.
“Umm, traffic jam.” He said quickly.
Too quickly.
Kelly from the other room laughed. Even though it was a sign that she didn’t believe him, it still made him smile.
“That is such a heap of steaming cowpat. What were you really doing, Dad?”
Andrew began knotting his fingers. He knew he was on a diet, but he couldn’t help himself…
“I told you, I was in a traffic jam.”
Kelly poked her head out of the kitchen and down the hallway to where her father was standing. She was 13 years old, but could already cook and clean and do things for herself all day while her father was at work. She had dark skin, but bright green eyes, that seemed to twinkle whenever she smiled. She took one look at Andrew and burst into peals of laughter.
“What?” Andrew asked.
“G… g… g…” She could hardly say it, she was laughing so much.
“Go look in the mirror!” She squeezed out before laughing again.
So Andrew did.
His skin, unlike his daughter, was fair, and he had messy, raven hair. But smeared around his mouth was the brown, sweet truth of what he had been doing.
Eating chocolate.
He had just began to lick it off when Kelly had appeared to snatch another look. She was happy, but Andrew wasn’t. Not because of her laughing. Whenever she was happy, he was happy. But this was different.
He sighed and turned around. He had to tell Kelly now.
“Kelly…” He said.
“Hmm? What?” She replied.
Andrew sighed.
“I have to go…on another business trip.”
Kelly’s playful smile slowly disappeared.
It was replaced with such a stare that it could have sliced through solid metal.
“Good for you.” She said.
She spun on her heels and retreated to the kitchen to continue cooking dinner.
About 30 minutes later, while the two were having dinner, Kelly spoke up.
“So. Tell me about this new fangled business trip.” She said.
Andrew thought back to what his boss told him when he saw the flyer looking for volunteers. “Look, Andy!” He had cried, waving his arms around energetically.
“The government wants volunteer scientists to go explore these islands in the North Atlantic! I reckon that would be an adventure for you!”
So Andrew signed up for the trip, and now it was official.
He was going.
When Andrew told this to Kelly, she put down her sausage and thought for a moment.
“I’ll come with you.”
Andrew scoffed.
“No. Kelly, you can’t come. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Kelly shook her head.
“Nothing you say will make me stay here.”
Andrew sighed and looked at his watch. 9:26pm.
“I’m going to bed.” He said, standing up.
Kelly was incredulous.
“At this early hour?! Dad, you normally fall asleep at midnight in front of the TV amidst a snowstorm of chip crumbs!”
“Well, I’m waking up super early tomorrow, so I can get ready and go.”
“Oh. OK. Well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight, my heart.”
At 6:50 in the morning, Andrew stumbled bleary-eyed into the military facility, searching for somebody named “Wanda Wye.” His daughter, Kelly, was tagging along just to see her father leave.
“Kelly!” Hissed Andrew for the 50th time as his daughter touched one of the many things in the facility.
“Wot?” Asked Kelly without turning around.
“Stop touching everything! It’s this thing you’ve got! You see something poking out of a wall. You touch it. You see something interesting on the ground. You touch it!! Stop it!”
Kelly shook her head and rolled her eyes.
Eventually, Andrew found the person he was looking for.
Wanda Wye had short, blonde hair, pinkish-red glasses and a lab coat that stretched down to her knees, and was clutching a clipboard as if her life depended on it.
“Oh!” She said on seeing Andrew.
While her dad was talking to Wanda about something to do with leaving soon, Kelly decided to explore.
The place was almost entirely made of metal; and it looked quite old and weathered. There were lots of different vehicles. They all had the classic military camouflage pattern, and there were soldiers marching around with their legs flying all over the place with every step. Kelly couldn’t help but giggle at them. Even some of the most serious, no-nonsense people in the world could still look stupid.
Kelly hopped into a very long military vehicle. It was like a bus-but had tools and weaponry that you would definitely not find on a normal bus. She walked deeper in the vehicle.
Suddenly, she heard a soldier’s voice from outside.
“That door’s open!”
Said the voice.
Another voice spoke.
“So what? It’s meant to be open! It literally has a sign on it that says, “Please keep this door open!””
Kelly heard a dull whack. Probably a hand connecting with the back of someone’s head.
“Not that one, Nigel! That one! The door to the troop carrier!”
“Oh. Ok. Yes. It’s an open door. What about it?”
There was an irritated groan.
“Close it!”
“ALRIGHT YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT AT ME!!”
Kelly heard footsteps approaching the vehicle, and then the door was slammed shut, and Kelly was plunged into blackness.
Chapter 2
Andrew Ospengance looked over the edge of the ship. It was partly cloudy, and the sea was a dark navy blue, and the water around frothed as the ship cut through the choppy waves.
This is what Andrew had been doing for the past few hours, other than eating or playing on his phone.
He slowly walked over to the bow. The island they had been looking for had came in sight, and they were quite close. He could hear some of the crew muttering something about setting down the anchor soon. Suddenly, a loud rumbling made Andrew jump. Something wet fell on his head. He looked up. The sky had been blanketed with dark clouds, almost mirroring the ocean beneath it.
Rain began to trickle down from the sky. The droplets landed on the metal ship with a TONK.
As the TONKing grew louder and more intense, people ducked and ran for cover. Andrew slowly walked after everyone else. Rain didn’t bother him that much. He was already quite damp from the sea spray, so it didn’t really matter.
But then, the ship jolted with such force that Andrew fell over. Everyone who was running for cover suddenly stopped and looked around while making confused noises.
The ship was bumped again and the stone-faced, completely motionless soldiers fell on their bums. As they had been given orders not to move, they weren’t sure if that meant don’t move unless the ship gets jostled so much you fall over and you have to get back up, or don’t move at all.
If they weren’t supposed to move at all, they had all just disobeyed a direct order.
Everyone broke into a nervous chatter. Why was the ship bumping so violently? Had they hit a rock? Were they all going to sink?
Just then, a giant creature erupted out of the water. It was a bit like a dark blue, more streamlined crocodile with flippers. It flew over the boat, the people on it watching in terror with their mouths agape.
The giant creature splashed down on the other side of the ship, creating such a splash that everyone on board was drenched.
There was silence for a moment.
Then screaming.
People ran around crazily, shouting and yelling their heads off, waving their arms everywhere, occasionally hitting other people and making them scream even more.
The jaws of the enormous sea monster exploded out of the water and clamped down onto the side of the ship. The people on board threw themselves to the other side of the ship, screaming their lungs out. The creature flicked its head and tore out a huge chunk of the ship.
The sea monster descended back into the depths of the ocean.
Now there was a massive hole in the ship, and it was rapidly sinking.
A giant tail flew out of the water. It leaned dramatically to the left, and gave the ship an almighty WHACK!!
Andrew fell backwards and hit his head on something hard, and then everything went black.
Chapter 3
Andrew heard voices. Strange, faint, disoriented voices. His eyelids fluttered and flickered. He groaned. Wanda Wye was leaning over him. “Andrew? Andrew. You awake?”
Her glasses fell of her nose and hit Andrew in the face.
“Ow!” Mumbled Andrew as he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head.
“Alright. Good. You’re awake.” Said Wanda, standing back up.
She helped Andrew back onto his feet, who began to survey the scene around him.
They were on a sunny beach. The ship had made it ashore before it sank and carried its passengers just a few more hundred meters to the shore, which was good.
It looked like somebody had pushed it up onto the beach, and was now stuck there, and had quite a few bite marks and holes in it.
On the beach, there were many survivors. All but a few had survived, and were now either standing to attention, lying down, moping around, eating, or throwing up saltwater.
Andrew could only spot a handful of vehicles. The others must have all sank to the bottom of the sea or gotten eaten by the sea monster.
Everyone looked completely soaked with water, along with all the vehicles and the ship. If everything was wet, that meant all the radios and communications were dead, so they couldn’t call for help.
The beach actually looked quite attractive, like a sunny, tropical beach should, but behind it, inland, there was a dark, dense forest. It looked quite menacing. The giant leaves and vines and trees looked like they could hide an elephant.
“Alright, men! Barked an offical looking high-ranked soldier. A commander. He was a bit short, and had a lumpy, pink nose.
“We have laid explosives in the jungle. We will detonate them and blow the forest apart to drive out any nasty beasties, as well as clearing an easy path for us all. And if anything dangerous appears, we are going to BLOW IT UP!!”
The crazy man spat.
He began punching the air.
“Blow it up! Blow it up! Blow it up!” He chanted.
Eventually, the other soldiers joined in.
“Blow it up! Blow it up! Blow it up!” They all bellowed, waving their arms around and marching into the forest.
Andrew sighed and shook his head.
“This plan is doomed to fail.” He said.
“I couldn’t agree more.” Muttered Wanda beside him as the soldiers detonated the first bomb, blowing the first part of the forest apart, and began complaining that the bombs were making them deaf.
Andrew and Wanda jumped and they heard gunshots.
A loud, menacing roar rang out, seemingly filling the entire island.
The ground began to shake as terrible, thundering footsteps approached. A few soldiers burst out of the tree line, taking random shots with their rifles and yelling in fright.
A few seconds later, a massive creature burst from the trees. It was a scaly green monster, with a brightly coloured face a bit like a mandril. It was quadrupedal, with its front arms and hands much bigger that its legs, a bit like a gorilla, and had its razor-sharp teeth bared in rage. Its behaviour and appearance slightly resembled that of a very angry gorilla, but there was no mistaking this creature for an ape. Just on all fours, it was about 7 meters tall, and it had mid-green scales, and a sharp horn on its head, which it seemed to be using as a machete and a battering ram.
It simply plucked the soldier off the beach with its mouth, not even stopping, and swallowed the soldier whole. Wanda gasped as Andrew grabbed her and they bolted, through the foliage they ran, occasionally nicking themselves on a sharp leaf or stick. A few other people running from the monster joined with Andrew and Wanda, and soon they were all standing breathless in a clearing of the forest. Just a few meters away from them was a massive gouge in the earths crust. A ravine. There were a bunch of long, thick vines hanging down above the layer of thick mist that was obscuring the ground.
Andrew flopped down.
“Thank god.” He breathed.
“I think we lost it.”
An earsplitting, ferocious roar only a few meters away from him begged to differ.
Chapter 4
All heads turned quickly towards the source of the sound. It was the creature from before. Its gums were bared and it was growling viciously. It opened its mouth and its lower jaw widened, revealing a mouth crammed with teeth. Andrew’s stomach lurched when he spotted what little remained of the creature’s victims stuck between its teeth.
Suddenly, something crashed through the trees, making a loud noise. It was a military truck! The creature barely had time to finish its comical double-take when the front of the truck slammed into the creature, sending it hurtling into the ravine. It roared with fury as it fell. It crashed through the vines, until eventually it got so tangled it stopped falling. It wriggled and kicked and roared, but it couldn’t get free.
The door of the truck opened and Andrew went over.
“Thank you. You saved our li-“
“You’re welcome, Dad. Don’t mention it.”
Said Kelly Ospengance.
Andrew stood there staring at his daughter with his eyes wide. He rubbed his eyes and blinked, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Kelly?!” He panted finally.
Kelly put her hands on her hips.
“Wot?”
“Kelly what are you doing here!? You are in so much trouble young lady!” He yelled, shaking his hand with every word he said.
Kelly crossed her arms. “Don’t call me “young lady”, dad. I may be one, but I do not appreciate your tone.”
“This is your daughter?!” Asked Wanda, incredulous.
“Yes, yes she is.” Andrew replied, brushing her off.
Wanda still had “what the heck” written all over her face.
“She shouldn’t be here.”
Andrew shook his head.
“Dang right she shouldn’t be here!”
He said angrily.
Wanda opened her mouth to say something else, but then a twig snapped audibly. Everybody jumped.
“What…was…that?” Somebody asked.
The foliage rustled, and they could hear footsteps coming.
The soldiers had their guns up and ready to shoot whatever emerged from the bushes.
Just then the leaves were pulled aside to reveal…
A human.
He stopped and looked at our terrified faces in confusion.
“All right?” He said in perfect English.
Chapter 5
Nobody said anything. They just stared in amazement at the person. He was a native person of the island.
He definitely wasn’t one of them, as he had a completely different skin colour. He wasn’t black, like most of the other native people of the world; he had sort of a… green tinge to him.
He was wearing a dark green shirt with leaves stuck on it, and brown pants with no knees and had a ring of decorative leaves around the leg holes. The clothes seemed to shimmer as he moved. Camouflage. He also had a tattered, red headband tied around his forehead.
Andrew stepped forward.
“Ummmm… Hi. Me,” He said, pointing to himself,
“Andrew. An-dr-ew.” He pointed back at the native man.
“You?” The man looked confused. “Can you speak English?” He said. Andrew, and everyone else looked shocked. “You speak English?” He asked, surprised.
Now the man just looked confused. “Okay.” He said.
“I asked you, “Can you speak English.” And, you responded to me, in english, asking me if I spoke english.” He spread out his arms. “So… I guess we both speak english.” He looked across at the group of strangers. They were just staring at him, mouths open, in amazement.
Just then, Kelly spoke up from the people and strode confidently over to the man. “My name is Kelly Ospengance.” She said, shaking the man’s calloused hand. “And we all speak english.”
The man nodded. “Good, good.” He said.
“My name is Guashino. Welcome to our island.”
Kelly opened her mouth to say something else, but then somebody burst through the trees, making everyone jump.
“Aargh!! Huff, puff, huh, puff.” He huffed.
He was a short, squat figure with a ruddy nose and a long moustache that connected with his sideburns. He was dressed in a military uniform, with medals plastered all over his chest, holding a big rifle. He looked like the
He kept panting. It seemed he was running for a long time, as he was so breathless he couldn’t talk.
“I’ve… got a… a… sti…a… stitch!” He wheezed.
“Are you alright, sir?” Said one of the soldiers.
“Yes, yes, i’m fi… fine.”
The moustache guy batted the soldier’s hand away from him. He got up and surveyed the group, as if sizing them up. Then he noticed the green local staring at him. He yelped, as if he was stung by a bee and pointing his rifle square at the Guashino’s chest. Guashino obviously did not appreciate this gesture at all, and he suddenly whipped out a decorated bow and arrow in less than half a second.
Both stared eachother down, weapons pointed at the ready.
Andrew stepped between them.
“Woah, woah, woah. Break it up, guys.” Guashino lowered his bow slightly, but kept his eyes on the soldier.
“Who is this green idiot?” He growled at one of his soldiers.
The soldier spoke hesitantly.
“Sir. Commander. This is Guashino. He is a local native person that lives here. When we met him, he came in peace. He poses no threat. His bow is no match for our guns…” His voice trailed off as Guashino gave him the most withering look that a human face was capable of.
The General lowered his rifle. “Guashino.” He scoffed.
“What a stupid name.” Then he sniffed in a sort of cross, arrogant way.
The native man and the military commander had only exchanged a few words, and already clearly disliked eachother.
The commander turned to the soldiers.
“Right men.” He barked.
“We are now stuck on this island. We must find the survivors, and make sure we survive as well.” He clicked his fingers at Guashino.
“And we will use the natives as tools to help us survive.
And…” He said, his face darkening with anger. His voice raised into a shout.
“WE WILL FIND THAT GODFORSAKEN CREATURE AND DESTROY IT!!”
Suddenly, there were a series of roars coming from the ravine. Everyone rushed over to the ravine and looked down.
The creature, the one the commander was talking about, was having a blast. It was swinging and jumping from vine to vine, roaring and whooping in delight. It had evidently forgotten about its lost meal.
Guashino smiled.
“Aww. Look at that.” He cooed.
“Taushenjoonga is having a blast.”
Everyone looked at Guashino with bemused looks.
Before they could say anything, the commander yelled.
“THERE IT IS!!”
He fumbled in his pockets for a moment and pulled out grenade. He was just about to pull the pin, when…
As quick as lightning, Guashino reached into his quiver of arrows and pulled out a different arrow, a blue one.
He took aim and fired and the commander. The arrow streaked through the air, eventually finding its mark, diving into the commander’s leg.
The commander suddenly stopped everything. He stopped yelling and his facial muscles relaxed, and he dropped the grenade. It fell down harmlessly into the ravine without exploding. Before the commander could follow, Guashino lunged forward and grabbed the commander, and hauled him back onto the ground. He laid the commander down, and delicately pulled out the arrow.
Instantly, the soldiers all pulled out their rifles and pointed them at Guashino.
Guashino remained relaxed.
“Actually,” He began,
“I saved your leader. That silly little exploding object was just going to anger Taushenjoonga, and he would leapt up here in seconds and then eaten everyone. I temporarily put your commander to sleep to stop him doing so. When he wakes up, he will be much calmer.”
The soldiers looked at eachother. The crazy green guy had a point. They lowered their guns and regarded him with suspicion.
“But why save the creature? It attacked us. It even ate some of us.”
Guashino fixed the soldier with a look.
“Excuse me, but if a bunch of crazy weirdos march into your house, yell at the top of their lungs about killing things, and then begin to drop bombs on it, you have no choice but to retaliate. Especially if you’re a wild animal.”
He looked at the soldiers with one eyebrow raised. It was clear that he knew there were no comebacks to that.
And there weren’t.
“Right.” Said Guashino, hoisting the disgruntled commander over his shoulder,
“Follow me. I’ll take you back to camp.”
Everyone stood up and followed.
“Camp?” Asked Andrew Ospengance.
Chapter 6
“Here we are!” Exclaimed Guashino as the group came to a wall. The wall was about 3 meters tall, and made out of natural-looking bricks, and were decorated with natural paint. On the top of the wall were a few wooden spears. Wanda Wye, however, was more interested in lingering at the back of the group trying to pick as many plant samples as she could. She saw an interesting leaf float down from the tree canopy. She bumbled over to it, rustling in the ferns, trying to find it. She didn’t.
“Never mind.” She muttered to herself.
“I can get a fresh one from the tree it fell from.”
She straightened and looked up.
A pair of yellow eyes were staring back at her.
She opened her mouth to yell, but she couldn’t talk. Blood flowed to her legs to turn and run. But she couldn’t run. She was frozen in fear. The yellow eyes drifted down from the canopy. The owner of them was a giant snake, which had scales that were a primary colour of muddy-dark green, and a diamond shaped dark yellow pattern running across its back. It descended from the tree. Its body arched and moved but her eyes stayed locked with Wanda’s. It flickered its tongue.
“Pollyanna!” Came a call.
The giant snake’s eyes flicked over to Guashino, who smiled broadly, approached and patted the snake on its head. It tilted its head and almost seemed to purr.
“Everybody, meet Pollyanna. Sorry if she gave you a scare, Wanda. She’s just a bit curious.”
He rubbed Pollyanna on the cheek.
“Anybody want a pat?” He asked.
Everyone took a step back, except Kelly, who smiled broadly and marched confidently over to Pollyanna.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Growled Andrew through gritted teeth as he pulled his daughter back.
When Pollyanna had slithered off, they continued walking along the wall until they came to a large decretive arch. It was covered with banana leaves.
“Welcome to home.”
Said Guashino as he pushed the leaves aside.
Inside the wall was a very small village. There were several houses made out of wood, and Andrew could have sworn that there were these huge bones making the skeleton of the structure. (Hahahahaha. Get it?)
They had no doors, instead having those banana leaves.
In the corner, there was a large pond. It had several lily pads floating on the surface, as well as a carpet of duck weed. There was a big log in the middle, completely covered in moss.
But the most striking things were the giant, vivid green frogs swimming and splashing about.
They were like green tree frogs, except they had a low, long red dorsal fin flowing down their backs, a stumpy little tail, and a strange little bulb on their heads. The bulb glowed a warm yellow colour. The creatures came about knee height to Kelly. Guashino noticed everyone’s eyes bulging out of their heads as they watched, and chuckled.
“Oh, you’ll love these cuties. These guys are a special type of giant frog. We call them Bulbits. They usually live here in the shallows, just hanging about, but when they go to hunt they dive down into these underwater caves. They catch fish by attracting them with their glowing bulbs.” He began pointing at them one by one. “This one’s called Frank, He’s called Nigel, and she’s called Sonja.”
The Bulbits all perked up and looked to Guashino when their names were called out.
“Everybody else,” Guashino continued,
“Just left to go hunting in the caves. These guys didn’t go because they’re a bit young. The others will probably surface in about half an hour.”
Kelly thought they were cool.
“Cool!” She said.
She crept up to one.
“Hello little cutie.” She said in a baby voice.
The Bulbit, Nigel, turned and edged towards her.
“Kelly.” Said Andrew in a warning voice.
“I don’t think we should touch it.”
Being a classic 13 year old girl, Kelly chose to ignore him.
“Do you want a pat?” She asked.
Nigel did want a pat. He slowly waddled over.
Kelly scratched him under the chin. Nigel closed his eyes and his stumpy tail wiggled.
Kelly reached up to pat him on the head.
“There. Aren’t you a cutie. What a funny little thing you have on your head-“
Nigel’s eyes snapped open, and he opened his mouth wide, revealing a terrifying set of needle-like teeth. He lunged forward, hissing loudly.
Kelly yelped, quickly jumped away from the now nasty Nigel.
Guashino chuckled. “Don’t worry. He didn’t mean to hurt you,” He said, scratching the now nice Nigel on the chin.
“It’s just that when something touches a Bulbit’s bulb, it will lash out, as the bulbs are very sensitive, and used to attract prey. So if you are attracted by it, the Bulbit sees you as prey.”
Everybody in the surrounding area shuddered.
Suddenly, the snoring commander’s eyes smacked open, and wobbled around wildly.
He did not appreciate being slung over Guashino’s shoulder, and started kicking and yelling.
“Stupid native idiot!” He yelled.
“Put me down, you green Gumby!”
Guashino immediately let go of the commander, sending him falling flat on his face.
Andrew smothered a grin.
“Where the ruddy hell am I?” He bellowed, looking around.
“This is my village.” He said.
He swivelled around and noticed the Bulbits.
“And what are these disgusting things?!”
Guashino frowned.
“This is Frank, Nigel and Sonja, mind you, and they are not disgusting things.” He growled.
The commander shook his head in disgust, muttering something under his breath.
Wanda tapped Guashino on the shoulder.
“Excuse me for asking, but…” She hesitated.
“Where did you learn to speak English?”
Guashino laughed.
“A few decades ago, these three strangers came to the island. They had these flying metal birds called planes. Anyway, they stayed here, probably because they were stuck, and they taught us English.”
They must be some of the people that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle! Thought Andrew.
“I see.” Said Wanda, as she made a note of this in her notepad.
Kelly asked something.
“How many people live here?” She asked.
Guashino thought for a moment.
“I would say nearly about fifty.”
“Fifty?!” Asked Kelly incredulous. “Fifty people live in four houses?!”
Andrew stepped in front of Kelly with a weak smile.
“Sorry for my daughter’s rudeness. It’s just that she’s 13 and she’s so stubborn-“
“No, no, it’s perfectly alright.” Interrupted Guashino.
“Fifty people live in fifty houses.”
Kelly shoved Andrew out of the way.
“But where are the extra 46 houses?”
Guashino smiled and pointed upwards.
Everyone looked and gasped. Around 10 meters above their heads, an intricate network of bridges and swing vines connected around 46 houses. A few people were gathered on the bridges, looking down upon the newcomers with curiosity.
“Everyone lives up there so we can be safe from predators. These buildings on the ground are warehouses and shops, and because they were so big they were too heavy to build up there.” Explained Guashino.
The grumpy commander sneered.
“This will be easy.” He muttered.
“What was that?” Hissed Guashino.
“Oh, nothing.” Said the grumpy commander innocently.
“Just admiring your… handiwork.”
Then he laughed a cold, evil chuckle.
Andrew shuddered.
It seemed like the Commander was hiding something…
Suddenly, Kelly yelped, making everyone jump.
“What was it?” Asked Andrew.
Kelly pointed a finger over to a corner where a children’s play area was situated.
“The playground moved!” She quivered.
“I swear, I saw it wobble.”
The commander muttered something about a girl drinking so much rum she was seeing things.
Guashino looked over to where Kelly was pointing.
“Hm? Oh, that would be Jay Jay.” He smiled.
He crouched down and began punching the ground to a specific rhythm.
Suddenly, the children’s playground began wobbling and moving. There was a loud CRACK and the entire playground was raised out of the ground. A giant tortoise’s head poked out from underneath it. The tortoise sleepily turned its head towards Guashino.
“Introducing Jay Jay.” He said. “Jay Jay is a ginormous type of tortoise that buries itself in the ground when it sleeps.
It sleeps in the day and goes to feed at night. He is completely deaf; but he can feel vibrations through the ground. So even while he is asleep, he knows exactly where something is a long as it is moving and connected to the ground.”
By now Jay Jay had tottered over to Guashino who gave him a pat.
“When he’s asleep, he’s like a dormant volcano, and we set up a little jungle gym for the kids on his shell. Hence his name, Jay Jay. He doesn’t even notice it’s there.”
Wanda spoke up.
“Umm… You do know that “Gym” is spelt G-Y-M and not J-Y-M.”
“Is it?” Said Guashino in surprise.
“Yes. So really his name should be Jay Gee.”
Guashino shrugged as if to say “I don’t care.”
Then he looked at the sky.
“Hm.” He muttered. Then he turned back to the newcomers.
“Right, everyone, its late. You can come up here and shelter with us. We’ve got a few spare rooms.”
Guashino climbed up the ladder, beckoning for everyone to follow him, which they did, reluctantly.
Guashino led Andrew and Kelly into their spare home.
The walls were made out of a fine coloured, solid wood, but there were also these giant bones seemingly holding everything together.
But the most noticeable thing was the carpet. It was damp, and was softer than you could have believed.
Kelly bent down and looked at it.
“Hey.” She said.
“This carpet is made of moss!”
Guashino smiled. “So what? Moss is nature’s carpet.”
Andrew smiled and went to his bed. It was small, but comfy and quite warm. Guashino blew out a candle as he walked out.
“Nighty night.” He said.
Andrew rolled over, shut his eyes and stayed still.
Then rolled over again. It was quite comfortable here. Except he was lying on his arm and it was getting numb. After repeating this for what seemed like hours, he finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Guashino burst into the room, kicking the door open with a bang.
His eyes were wild and panicked.
“What’s wrong?” Asked Andrew.
“The soldiers are gone, along with some of our weaponry!” He spluttered.
“They’re going to kill Taushenjoonga!”
Chapter 7
Guashino, Andrew, Wanda and Kelly set out to look for the soldiers, or find Taushenjoonga and protect him.
They walked for a while in silence.
Wanda was lingering at the back of the group picking as many of the native plants as possible.
About an hour passed.
Suddenly, Guashino yelped and ran over to something hidden in the undergrowth.
He was cradling a giant snake’s head in his hands.
It had been shot several times.
“Pollyanna.” Whispered Guashino.
The snake was breathing.
Taushenjoonga did not like the visitors. So far, all they did was shoot him, yell about blowing up his territory, and make several attempts to kill him and the other creatures in his territory. But these visitors were different.
The other visitors were wild, vicious and had no respect for life. But these ones seemed to be honestly concerned for the long, scaly one.
They offered it food. One even went down to a stream to get water.
He silently crept down from the branches.
Wanda was stroking the giant snake, trying to reassure it, when she yelled in fright.
Guashino and everyone else came running back.
“What’s wrong?” Gasped Andrew. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Taushenjoonga staring at him.
“Get down!” Yelped Guashino.
“No eye contact! No sudden movements!”
Taushenjoonga leaned closer to Kelly, sniffing her all over. Kelly’s face scrunched up when she smelt the giant predator’s terrible breath.
Andrew lunged forward to try and grab Kelly, and yank her away from Taushenjoonga.
The monster growled at him, and fixed him with a stare. Andrew stayed in his spot.
Kelly slowly lifted up her hand to Taushenjoonga‘s nose.
Andrew screamed internally as his daughter reached up and began patting the nose of the creature that had tried to kill them on more than one occasion.
Taushenjoonga leaned closer. He almost seemed to purr.
But Taushenjoonga was confused. Why did these visitors show submission, respect, and even affection to him if the others only wanted him dead?
Taushenjoonga‘s train of thought was shattered by a loud explosion.
He roared in fury as he leapt back up into the forest canopy and leapt from tree to tree toward the source of the sound.
“KELLY!!!” Raged Andrew.
“WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!”
Kelly looked at him with a stare.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!! GOING UP TO A WILD, MAD CREATURE AND POKING IT ON THE NOSE!! DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!”
Kelly reached up and poked her father on the nose.
Chapter 8
Guashino, Kelly, Wanda and Andrew hurried through the forest. Guashino had his bow drawn, and at every noise he snapped his head in the direction.
They came to the clearing. It was the same place where they had first met Guashino, and when Kelly barged Taushenjoonga off into the ravine. Taushenjoonga was growling ferociously at the commander, who was smiling quite smugly. His men were at a dynamite detonator.
He waited until Taushenjoonga was right at the edge of the ravine. “DETONATE!!” He bellowed. The edge of the ravine exploded, and Taushenjoonga was sent tumbling down into the ravine, only to be caught by the vines again. “FIRE!!!” Roared the commander again. All the soldiers began firing and shooting at Taushenjoonga, who roared furiously. Most bullets missed, while some found their mark and burrowed deep into Taushenjoonga‘s flesh. Poor Taushenjoonga bellowed in pain. The soldiers then lit several fuses of dynamite, and threw them down. They exploded mid air, snapping the vines that Taushenjoonga was holding onto. Taushenjoonga howled as he fell out of sight. There was so much smoke and dust nobody could see a thing.
When the dust and smoke finally cleared,
Taushenjoonga was gone.
It was a quick, clever and fearsome plot meant to kill.
Guashino drew his bow and began madly shooting at the soldiers, who opened fire with their guns.
For Andrew, the following events seemed to happen in slow motion. A soldier fired. The bullet flew out of the barrel of the gun, mercilessly flying straight towards…
A small boulder, missing Andrew by a good 2 meters. But then the bullet ricocheted straight off the rock, burrowing deep into Andrew left leg. Andrew yelled in agony and clutched his leg as it folded beneath him, sending him falling down onto the ground.
In his unbearable pain, he heard somebody shout, “Wheee! I hit somebody!”
Before he was dragged away by Guashino.
Andrew awoke back in one of the treehouses of Guashino’s village. He moaned as the pain of his leg being moved rippled through his body.
Guashino was standing over him.
He stuck three fingers in his face.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” He asked hurriedly.
“Um, four?” Replied Andrew, still delirious.
“Maths isn’t your strong suit, then.” Muttered Guashino.
He poked Andrew in the leg where he got shot.
Andrew yelped, but then stopped.
“Hey, wow, it doesn’t hurt that much.”
Guashino nodded.
“Mm. I rubbed some of our healing cream on it. Wanda also took out the bullet while you’re asleep.”
Andrew rubbed his head and tried to sit up.
“You’ll be alright. The bullet didn’t go in too deep.”
Just then, Kelly burst into the room. “Um, guys! We got company!”
Guashino swore in a native language and began to help Andrew up.
“Quickquickquick, we gotta GO, GO, GO!!” Shouted Wanda from outside.
Andrew eventually, with Guashino’s help, made it down the ladder and onto the ground.
They were just about to rush for freedom, but something cold and metal pressed against their head. It was a gun.
“Well, well, well.” Said The Commander.
“Fancy seeing you again.” He sneered as he ordered his men.
“Tie them up.” He barked. But before they could do that, a downpour of arrows flew from above. The villagers were fighting back! But the commander was quick to respond. He aimed his gun and fired at a rope bridge. The rope bridge collapsed, sending the people hurtling down onto the ground. Some clung onto the rope bridge, and some stayed where they were, but most ran off into the forest.
There were a series of short, sharp CRACKS and then several bodies slumped to the ground.
Oh.
Kelly screamed and looked away.
“STAY STILL AND SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!!” Yelled the commander, not sure if he was yelling and them or the locals.
Guashino was not going to give up without a fight. While the commander was busy shooting his people, with his hands tied behind his back, he rubbed the ropes against his belt, feeling around for something. Finally, he found it. It was a sharp blade, made from a particularly vicious looking claw. He had forgotten exactly where the claw came from, possibly one of the giant eagles that flew around up in the mountains. He rubbed the rope against the blade, and eventually it was cut in half and dropped off. He struggled and kicked free of the soldiers holding him, and lunged over to the commander, who was now busy rounding up his village.
“LET THEM GO!!” He screamed as he crash-tackled the commander to the ground.
The commander landed on the ground with a pitiful yelp.
But before Guashino could do anything further, he was lifted up and put in a headlock by one of the soldiers.
Chapter 8
“So this is how it ends.” Growled the Commander, looking quite pleased with himself.
“When I get home, you won’t be with me.”
“You people.” He pointed at Guashino, Wanda, Andrew and Kelly.
“Dead. Didn’t survive. I tried everything I could to save you. But you died.”
He chuckled.
“Boo hoo hoo.” He added.
“You green idiots.” He pointed at the locals, who shuddered.
“Some new slaves!”
“Hang on.” Interrupted Wanda.
“The government won’t let you do that!”
The commander chuckled.
“The government won’t be there.” He smiled viciously as he explained his plan.
“Before we came here, I was already preparing for a large-scale coup. But then, this island thingo came into play. And I figured that on most islands, there are natives, so there might natives here as well! And because natives are always so primitive, I knew I could just take them in and they could be my slaves-“
Croak.
The commander was interrupted by a soft croaking noise.
Croak.
He wheeled around, to be face to face with a Bulbit.
“Croak.” Said the Bulbit.
“NO!” Yelled Guashino.
“Don’t hurt Emerald!”
The commander’s nose wrinkled in disgust.
“You name these repulsive things?” He growled.
Guashino opened his mouth but the commander yelled at him that it was a rhetorical question.
“What’s a rhetorical question?” Asked Guashino.
“You seriously don’t know what a rhetorical question is?”
“YES! That’s why i’m asking you!”
“SHUT UP! That was also a rhetorical question!”
Guashino rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, the commander felt something on his leg. He looked down.
The disgusting toad thing was rubbing his leg!
The commander yelped and shot Emerald point-blank in the head.
Then, the pond that she emerged from seemed to burst into life.
Bulbits poured out, frills and dorsal plates opened out wide, their monstrous teeth bared, hissing wildly.
They were not happy.
The commander screamed and began taking random shots at the bulbits.
Guashino’s eyes filled with tears as he watched them slump to the ground.
“GO, GO, GO!!!!” Yelled Andrew.
“NOW’S OUR CHANCE!!”
The commander looked over his shoulder.
“Don’t you idiots go anywhere-“
Then he screamed hideously. A bulbit had latched onto his leg! He shot it dead, but more and more kept coming, as Guashino, Kelly, Andrew and Wanda disappeared into the jungle. Eventually, they burst out onto the beach. To their surprise, there were helicopters and boats and soldiers.
A rescue team!
The group raced out onto the beach. The soldiers instantly trained their guns on them, but then lowered them when they saw who they were.
One soldier stepped forward.
“Have you seen Commander Hector?”
Wanda opened her mouth, but Guashino interrupted.
“You mean the crazy, insane, rude, racist, murdering cuckoo guy with the oversized moustache? Yes, I’ve seen him.”
He pointed to the jungle.
The soldier looked confused.
“Commander Hector is a murderer?”
Kelly jumped in.
“YES! He just took a native in to be his slaves, and he told us about how he was planning a coup!”
The soldier looked very shocked.
“He’s planning a coup?!”
Just then, the commander in question exploded out of the forest in a flurry of madness, anger, and swearing.
“RIGHT, YOU IDIOTS! STUPID CHILD! CRAZY GREEN GUMBY!!! PREPARE TO BE THE FIRST VICTIMS OF MY NEW COUP!!!”
That’s when he noticed the baffled-looking soldiers.
“Oh…” He moaned.
The soldiers walked up to him and tied the commander’s hands behind his back.
That was when the sand seemed to move.
“What was that?!” Spat Kelly.
Andrew spun around.
“What was what?”
“That!”
“What’s ‘That!’?”
“The ground moved!”
Suddenly, a giant creature erupted from the sand. It was a scaly green monster, with a brightly coloured face a bit like a mandril. It was quadrupedal, with its front arms and hands much bigger that its legs, a bit like a gorilla, and had its razor-sharp teeth bared in rage. Its behaviour and appearance slightly resembled that of a very angry gorilla, but there was no mistaking this creature for an ape. Just on all fours, it was about 7 meters tall, and it had mid-green scales, and a sharp horn on its head, which it seemed to be using as a machete and a battering ram.
“Taushenjoonga?” Said Guashino in amazement.
Taushenjoonga roared in fury and made a beeline for the commander. The commander squeaked as the giant creature roared with such force it knocked him over. But instead of eating him, Taushenjoonga lined up his fist with precession at the commander. When he was sure he had gotten it right, a finger burst out of the fist, sending the commander flying.
In other words, a giant, scaly green monster had just flicked his arch nemesis into the ocean. The commander landed around 400 meters away with a quiet “plip!”
Then he floated to the surface, coughing and yelling and screaming.
Then the sea monster that had destroyed the boat and left them stranded in the first place came and swallowed him.
Everybody stared in silence for a while, except Taushenjoonga, who burst into a sires of short barks and roars, like he was laughing.
Finally he stopped, looked around, and realised how many helicopters there were.
He roared and lunged at one, bashing it against the ground. It exploded in a ball of fire. Kelly jumped into a nearby helicopter with her father. Taushenjoonga continued rampaging around. Finally, the helicopters lifted off and flew into the sky.
Taushenjoonga bellowed a roar of victory, and then retreated back into the tunnel he came out of.
Andrew smiled. Then he laughed.
“We’re going home!”
This sentence was soon declared false by the giant sea monster that had just devoured the commander leapt clean out of the water. Its fearsome jaws crushed the tail of Andrew and Kelly’s helicopter, narrowly missing them.
The helicopter immediately stopped flying and splashed into the ocean. Luckily, it wasn’t that high above the ocean, but it was still high enough to shatter.
Kelly floated to the surface of the waves. She looked around desperately for her father, and then saw. He was lying with his back underwater, but he was breathing.
She swam over to him.
“Dad!” She said the word like a prayer.
“Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad!”
Slowly, Andrew opened his eyes.
“Who’s dad?” He asked.
Chapter 9
Kelly looked at him incredulously.
“You’re dad! Andrew Ospengance!”
Andrew nodded slowly.
“Uh huh. Who…who are you?” Kelly looked at him, confused.
Then, a piece of helicopter fell on top of her.
Kelly woke up. She was on the beach, and Guashino was leaning over her.
She sat up with a jolt. She stood up and ran over to the shoreline, just in time to see the helicopters disappear over the horizon.
“Dad…” She whispered.
“Don’t worry.” Said Guashino.
“Your father just has a bit of amnesia. He was picked up by the helicopters.”
Kelly looked at him.
“How do you know?”
Guashino sighed.
“I swam out to rescue you. Last time I checked, they were telling eachother that you were dead.”
Chapter 10
The past faded back into the present as Andrew sat crumpled in his chair, his chest heaving as he took his daughter’s story in.
“A few months later…”Said Kelly’s voice,
“I recorded this story onto an old audio tape I found, discarded by the commander’s expedition.
I stuck it in a container and sealed it as best as I could, and pushed it out to sea.”
Andrew rubbed his temples where a headache had just blossomed.
“It’s not actually that bad here. It’s quite fun. Me and Guashino have helped the local people rebuild after the disaster of cuckoo commander.”
Andrew sighed.
“And now I have to go, Guashino’s calling me.
I hope we meet again.
Love, your stranded daughter.
Kelly.”
The computer beeped as the recording finished.
And suddenly, Andrew could remember everything.
Chapter 10
“Mmmmm.” Said Andrew appreciatively.
“This cake is delicious.”
Andrew, Wanda, Johnathon Meddle and a few other people were gathered around a table eating a cake.
On the cake it said: Bon Voyage.
“So, where you planning to go, Andy?” Asked Wanda cheerfully.
Andrew swallowed his cake.
“Hmmm. I’m not sure yet.”
“I remember when I went to Hawaii for a week. It was perfect. Lovely weather. You want to go there?”
Andrew smiled and shook his head.
“No. Not in the pacific…”
He looked up and smiled.
“How about a certain group of islands in the north Atlantic?”
The End.
(∩🌔 ͜ʖ🌔)⊃━☆ﾟ.*