I yawned and swished a fly away. It was a hot summer afternoon and my friend Hannah and I were listening to Professor Burn's boring talk about planes.
When the bell finally rang for recess, Hannah dragged me to a corner of the playground and said, "Madeline, what do you think about trying out the new plane that Professor Burn invented?"
"I think that would be a great idea!" I said. We ran to Mr. Burn's lab and saw a small plane that he managed to stuff into the room. "Let's push it out," I suggested.
"No, I have a better idea," she said. "Come with me."
We climbed into the plane, Hannah at the controls and me in the seat next to her. She randomly pulled back a lever, blasted a hole through the wall, and we were off.
"Do you know how to work this thing?" I asked as we flew towards the ocean.
Hannah shook her head. "How do you go back?" she asked nervously.
"Don't tell me you are planning to crash in the ocean," I warned her.
She frantically pushed buttons and pulled back levers. Black smoke belched from the back of the plane. Uh oh.
"Ahhh!!" we screamed as we tumbled to the ocean. Wham!! The plane gave a jerk as it crashed into something surprisingly solid.
I woke up, tried to sit up, and winced. the first think I noticed was the blood on my shoulder, then Hannah standing up and leaning against the wall. "You okay, Hannah?" I asked, for she looked awfully pale.
"Yes, except for a twisted ankle. How about you?" she asked.
"Just a gash on the shoulder," I answered. She suddenly frowned. "What's the matter," I asked.
"How come we are not bobbing up and down? We are on the ocean aren't we?" Hannah asked, mystified. I rushed to the door and saw a view that made my jaw drop open.
Trees and wilderness surrounded our crashed plane. It was just full of life. Colorful birds ruffled their wings and chirped their songs, bees hummed as they worked, monkeys hooted as they danced in the trees, squirrels leaped gracefully branch to branch, tree to tree, and the gentle steady sound of running water could be heard from a distant stream.
Hannah broke the silence, well it wasn't exactly silence. "Let's go find the creek. You can wash off the bloodstains, and I can soak my foot in the water," Hannah suggested.
"I think it's a great idea, and it will also give us a chance to learn about this island," I said. However, something told me this piece of land that we were on was much more than an ordinary island.
We headed towards the sound of the creek. "Hey wait a minute. What if we can't find our way back to the plane?" I asked.
Hannah stopped and looked around. "Aha! See those red berries?" She pointed to some brush that had tons of bright red berries attached to it. "We can use the berries to mark our track," she said.
"We can stuff them in our pockets and drop them as we go," I said. Once our pockets were full, we started again to the creek.
I examined the trees as I followed Hannah. One kind had fruit the shape of large, white disks. Another had a nut of some kind growing on it. "Look! There's the creek!" Hannah pointed to the creek.
The water was a vibrant turquoise. It was more beautiful and bluer than water in the ocean. I started to run to the stream, Hannah hopping on her good foot as fast as she could after me.
Suddenly, one of the vines growing on a tree unraveled itself, flew at me, and wrapped itself around my waist.
"Madeline, No!!!" Hannah screamed.
I was too stunned to move or scream. Hannah hopped to a nut tree, plucked one off, and hurled it at the vine. The shell cracked and blue filling oozed on to the vine. Almost instantly, the vine froze and shattered and I fell on my bottom, dazed.
Hannah hopped to me and hugged me. "I'm so glad you're alive," she said.
"Me too," I replied. "Now let's go to the creek." I walked and Hannah hopped to the creek.
I gazed at the water. Hannah said, "Let's take a bath." We took our clothes off and I helped Hannah in. We dipped our feet in the water. The moment we did, one spot in the water hissed and bubbled until a brown piece of paper floated to the surface. I reached for it, and it surprisingly wasn't wet. I held it in the middle, so Hannah could see it too. This is what it said:
Welcome to Sonsole. A new species of vines and killer trees have invaded Sonsole. The number of native species are lowering. The stones in the pouches will help you. Please help. Speak to the water and I will answer you. My power is waning. The task is up to you. Just remember what I am must remain a secret. Thank you.
Blue = goo of the dontellio nut
Red = the fire the chuckanola fruit
"What pouch?" I asked.
"I don't know that, but I do know that we are not on Earth," replied Hannah.
