Alone in the Wilderness

I sat down in my seat my mom right next to me waiting patiently for the plane to take off. We sped down the runway and as we took off I felt a rush of adrenaline and then once were flying flat, I got ready for the five and a half hour flight to California.
I was sipping my Sprite and watching the in flight movie Madagascar as the pilot turned the radio on. The pilot spoke in a very nervous voice as he talked into the microphone, he had murmured that our engine had broken down and he was going to try to land safely in a pasture. I looked out the window and saw the plane flying over a forest, I knew this was bad. I hugged my mother almost squeezing the breath out of her. I held tightly to my seat as we careened down to the ground at full speed. I could hear the pilots arguing as to what we should do. Then as we hit the ground the plane became engulfed in flames. I could see the dead bodies through the heat of the burning remains. I felt a sharp pain in my hand and my head as I stepped out into the forest. The air smelled of fire and blood. I couldn’t see my mother but I was praying she had survived. I called my mothers name. No response… once again I called her name, nothing. I began to cry. I had nothing to live for. I had no dad and now no mom. My dad had died in a car accident when I was about three and he left to live with my mom.
As I wandered around the woods I noticed a creek out of the corner out of my eye. I knew I would be coming here a lot so I kept it in my mind. I saw lots of berry bushes but they all were dead and shriveled, but it was all I had.
After wandering around for hour after hour I found a cave. It looked like a good shelter but it was tiny. I crawled in it and it was actually much roomier than I thought it was. I was really tired and I didn’t really feel that good so I just tried to sleep.
The next day I woke up and went to the berry bushes again and began to pluck them. They tasted like lemonade with no sugar, but it was all I could eat. So far these woods weren’t giving me very much forgiveness. Last night I had basically relived the plane crash I watched my moms death over and over again until I woke up. I began to wander around the forest. I saw plenty of squirrels and rabbits. It made my mouth water, just thinking about eating my mom’s barbeque and her homemade apple pie. This only made me more homesick.
I had always kept a pocket knife in my backpack and now it might come in handy. However it might have been destroyed in the crash. I thought I might as well check for it. I was wandering around and soon enough I found the plane and I began to rummage around. I was looking through all the debris and I found my backpack and then there it was, my knife, glimmering in the light. This was how I was going to survive. I picked it up and walked back to the cave.
I knew I needed to make a weapon, like a spear or a bow and arrow. I went out to find a stick for a spear and a rock that I could carve down to a sharp point. After I found a stick near the cave, I went out to find a rock. I was looking in the creek when I found a thin rock near the creek that would be perfect for carving. Then I remembered I would need to have something to tie the rock and the stick together. So I went back to the plane, I found some of the string from the oxygen masks. I returned to the cave and began to work. I soon figured out I would have to get the wood carved down to a very cone like shape. After hours of work it was finally ready. I went out to try it. I saw a rabbit sitting in the brush. Thud, it hit the ground about ten feet away from the rabbit. The rabbit quickly scampered into the woods. To master this technique I knew I would have to practice. Because I didn’t know how to use the spear I would once again be eating berries for dinner.
The next day I was practicing throwing my spear and soon after I went out to test my skill. I had been practicing a lot and I felt I had improved. I saw a squirrel near a large oak tree I cocked back the spear and threw. I was right on; I had it right in its stomach. I felt so excited but at the same time I knew there was something wrong. The problem was that I couldn’t exactly eat a squirrel without cooking it. And I would need fire to cook it. Fire seemed easy to make but I really didn’t know how. I knew I could make friction by sparking the knife and a stone together. So I went back to the cave squirrel in one hand spear in the other. I went out to find fire wood it took a while but it was worth it. I found my knife and a rock. I laid down the fire wood and I began rubbing my knife and the rock together and the sparks were beginning to fly. Almost immediately I had small fire going.
I didn’t really know how to cook a squirrel so I just roasted it like I would if I would if I was grilling hot dogs at boy scouts. I had taken of the fur of the squirrel with my knife so it just looked like a giant blob of meat. I took a bite of it and it really didn’t taste that bad. It almost tasted like grilled chicken. I wolfed it down and wanted more but it was now dark outside and I would have to stay in or else some wild animal might find me. So I laid down on my backpack and tried to sleep.
The next day I went out and tried to find an animal to kill for breakfast. I saw a rabbit, and next thing I knew I was carrying it back to the cave. The rabbit was essentially the same as squirrel. I didn’t really know what to do so I just laid down and tried to sleep. Then I remembered a survival kit in the plane. I went to take a look. I crawled through all the junk and reached what I thought was the cockpit and then out of the corner of my eye I saw the survival kit.
I walked back to the cave with survival kit and was looking through it they had probably a months worth of meals that you could cook in the pan, matches, and best of all, a radio!
I immediately turned on the radio and tried to make contact. Once again I tried it, I heard a faint voice, it got louder and louder. Soon I could make out what they were saying “who is this?” it asked.
Instantly I responded “This is Axel Bodley, I’m lost In what think is the wilderness of Montana but I’m not sure.”
“Don’t worry kid we can tell where you are from the signal of your radio, we’ll get there as soon as we can,” it said.
“Okay.” I said in awe. I dropped the radio and just sat there patiently waiting for a plane or helicopter to come rescue me. I began to get impatient so I just laid down on the new cot I had acquired from the survival kit and fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up to the sound of a helicopter landing carefully on the grass floor of the forest.
I immediately ran over to it. “Whoa!” the man said looking at my tattered clothes and muddy arms.
I said nothing. I just stepped into the helicopter. We took off and I felt a rush of adrenaline as we glided through the blue sky.
When I landed on the run way at JFK airport in New York, there was no one there to greet me but the paparazzi. I didn’t really know if I was going to an orphanage or what. But then I saw my Aunt Sally struggling through the big crowd of people around the heicopter. She gave me a big hug and took me through the paparazzi and to her car.
“So how’s it going?” She said
“Lets just go home,” I said relieved to be home.