Leviathan
Sometimes survival is a question of getting from one moment to the next. You don’t worry about whether you’re jumping into the fire, you just want out of the frying pan. When storms wrecked the Sonja Jessop, there was no time to think about supplies. It was every man for himself and it didn’t take long before the lucky few who found themselves adrift in the lifeboat began to wonder whether they’d been so lucky after all. Lost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, countless miles from the nearest land with precious little food and even less water, all they had to look forward to was a descent into madness before dehydration and exposure claimed them.
“I'm going to say what we’re all thinking,” Adam said. “We’re doomed. Might as well dive into the sea and feed the sharks now.”
“If that’s what you’re thinking, you can speak for yourself,” Bill retorted. “I’ve got no intention of feeding anything. But if you want to end up in someone’s belly, I can think of a fair few people who are more deserving than the fish…”
Adam gulped as the other men eyed him greedily, his hand reaching for the knife he kept at his belt. “Come on lads, I wasn’t being serious.”
“Still, it’s a fair point Bill makes,” Clive observed. “One man could see the rest of us through a few days and I’m all for that. It would be for the good of the crew.”
“But not me,” Adam said firmly. “I’m the smallest. It would make no sense to eat me when you’d get more meat from David or Ed.”
“Are you calling me fat?” David growled menacingly, rising up aggressively, his movements making the boat rock alarmingly.
“Calm down, Dave,” Bill told him, reaching up to pull him back down to sitting again. “Nobody’s calling you anything. But it does seem to me that Clive’s idea is a good one. The only question is who’s going to play chicken?”
“Rock, paper, scissors?” Adam suggested. Everyone looked at each other for a moment.
“Stuff this - I say we go for the scrawny kid!” David lunged at Adam.
“Wait - land! Land!” Adam pointed behind them as he fell back trying to get away in a tiny boat with no room to hide.
“You’re not going to fool me.” David had his hands round Adam’s throat and was squeezing as hard as he could.
“Wait, Dave - the kid’s telling the truth!” Clive grabbed David’s shoulder pulling him round to point at the smudge that could be seen on the horizon.
“Well I’ll be…” David slowly pulled himself up, leaving Adam to brush himself off and scuttle back as far away as he could get, which wasn’t all that far.
“I thought there was nothing around these parts?” Ed said.
“There’s not supposed to be,” Bill told him. “But there it is anyway.”
“And there’ll be better eating there than there is on me.” Adam was quick to point out.
“We hope,” Bill muttered. “Right lads. Best get paddling if we’re to make it before nightfall.”
As they drew nearer, they could see that the island was a rough circle shape with a line of hills running through the middle. Greenery draped the land and the sounds of exotic birds drifted across the water to them.
“Looks like it really is chicken for dinner!” Bill exclaimed as their boat drew up to the shore.
There was no obvious easy access point - the incline up from the water was quite steep all round - but eventually they managed to find a spot close to a tree and with a bit of teamwork and luck, the five surviving crewmembers were back on dry land again.
“Will you just look at this place?” David exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anything like it! Look at those trees - every single one of them, stuffed full of meat! We’re saved. There’s enough to keep us going until we’re rescued and then some.”
“Not so fast,” Clive cautioned. “We haven’t found water yet and we don’t know if there are any nasty beasts lurking in wait. Let’s save the celebrating until we know for certain what we’ve found.”
As they talked, a large, turkey-like bird came waddling up to them. Placing its head to one side, it looked up at them and squawked.
“Just look at him! He’s practically begging us to eat him.” David reached down and picked up the bird, which happily nestled against him as he scratched its head. “All we need to do is build a fire and dinner’s ready and waiting - and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
Ed had already been gathering firewood and the men swiftly had enough wood laid out to roast the bird over. Clive still had his flint and a few sparks later saw fire.
The men cheered as the blaze took hold. “Right lads,” David said. “You go off and see what else you can find. I’m going to wring Gertie’s neck here.” ‘Gertie’ cooed and looked up at him lovingly.
As the men moved to search through the trees, the ground shuddered, knocking them off balance.
“What the-” Gertie spread her surprisingly large wings and took to the air, joining the thousands of birds that had flown off in unison. As the sailors watched, they all flew up a way then stopped, circling the air.
“I don’t like this lads. Let’s get back to the boat,” Clive ordered. Nobody felt like arguing, but as they turned to run, the land shifted underneath them again, moving to the side and washing their boat out to sea. Up ahead, something rose out of the water, something that turned round to look at them. The monster on whose back they’d landed opened its mouth and roared.
“Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no no,” moaned Adam, but it was too late. The creature dived, putting out the fire they’d been foolish enough to light, dragging them all to their graves. The birds waited patiently overhead, knowing that their home would come back soon enough. It always did.