PEDRO, STAY ALIVE!
Pedro glanced behind. The twenty odd survivors of the plane crash were looking at him from a distance.
''You guys sure you're not coming?"
They nodded in unison[1].
Pedro sighed. No use trying to persuade[2] them now.
They were all tourists from America hitching a ride on an old bi-plane[3] to get a birds-eye view of the Australian outback. An hour into the fun the engine started to choke and they all bumped and tried to stay in their seats as the smoking plane hurtled[4] downwards. A Kookaburra[5] shrieked as it saw a metal bird a thousand times bigger than it is dive towards it. Sticking to common sense it flapped its wings frantically[6] and gave way as the plane crashed into what was formerly its 'good old gum tree’[7].
Everyone survived, but only Pedro knew they were still in danger. Their food was running out and they have no way they can communicate[8] with the nearest cities. In any case, he tried convincing them to get up and try looking for the nearest town or village or whatever has got Homo sapiens[9] living in it.
''But we have no maps! No compass, nothing! We're already lost and getting 'lost-er’[10] doesn't make any sense!"
Okay fine. Do whatever you want, but don't you chickens regret when you're too weak to even dig your own grave.
With a small bag of biscuits and a water bottle, Pedro spun around and marched off into the vast[11] unknown.
Dawn was breaking when he first set out on his lonely adventure. Well, he wasn’t really alone. Along the way Pedro came across some Kangaroos[12] bouncing past. They all seemed to be in such a hurry, they weren’t even stopping to take glance at the poor, miserable bipedal[13] creature. A Koala bear[14] looked at him from atop a tree. Pedro cursed at it.
He stared across the plains, it really is barren[15]. It was so barren you could be seen changing your underwear from miles away, if there were no trees or bushes to block the view. Fortunately, there are a few of them.
Night was falling and still no sign of human life. Yet signs of life were starting to appear everywhere. As Pedro slumped against a gum tree to rest, Wombats[16] scurried past, bats the size of eagles fluttered overhead, a dingo[17] howled in the distance. Being extra careful not to make any noise, he gingerly[18] opened his pack, and chewed on a biscuit.
The howling got closer.
Pedro felt his hair stand on the back of his neck.
And then there was silence.
It became eerily silent. It was like there was a newcomer in the area, and everyone shut up, careful not to attract its attention.
A shuffling of feet startled Pedro. It wasn’t just a few feet. There were many feet. He rotated his head slowly to the left. There was nothing there. He spun his head to the right, nothing there too.
A deep growl forced Pedro’s head back to looking in front.
A dingo eyed him intensely[19]. It was so close to Pedro that he could smell its foul[20] breath. Pedro felt like puking.
The dingo barked, and suddenly bright, menacing eyes appeared all around him. Pedro found himself surrounded by a pack of dingoes. There could easily be of more than ten of them. They looked hungry.
He had to decide quickly. Stay or Run.
To find out what Pedro did to avoid being ripped apart by a pack of hungry dingoes, watch out for the next episode of PEDRO, STAY ALIVE!
[1] Unison/noun a sound or action that occurs at the same time (Author’s Definition)
[2] Persuade/ verb cause (person) by argument etc. to believe or do something; convince (Oxford Dictionary)
[3] Bi-plane/noun an old airplane design that has two wings, one on top of the other (Author’s Definition)
[4] Hurtle/verb Move or hurl rapidly and noisily, come with a crash (Oxford Dictionary)
[5] Kookaburra/noun A species of the Australian Kingfisher bird with a strange laughing cry (Oxford Dictionary)
[6] Frantic/adjective wildly excited; frenzied; hurried, anxious; desperate, violent. Frantically adverb (Oxford Dictionary)
[7] Gum Tree/noun a species of trees unique to Australia; secretes a sticky substances called ‘gum’; an example of the gum tree is called the ‘Eucalyptus Tree’.
[8] Communicate/verb to exchange information with another person, or thing, by sending a message and receiving it at the other end. (Author’s Definition)
[9] Homo Sapiens/noun the scientific term for ‘Modern Humans’ in the Latin Language (Author’s Definition)
[10] There is no such word.
[11] Vast/ adjective immense, huge (Oxford Dictionary)
[12] Kangaroo/noun Australian Marsupial with strong hind legs for jumping (Oxford Dictionary)
[13] Biped/adjective two-footed. (Oxford Dictionary)
[14] A grey, furry Australian Marsupial that lives in trees and eats leaves and shoots.
[15] Barren/adjective unable to produce fruit and vegetation (Oxford Dictionary)
[16] Wombat/noun burrowing plant-eating Australian Marsupial (Oxford Dictionary)
[17] Dingo/noun wild Australian dog; plural Dingoes (Oxford Dictionary)
[18] Gingerly/adverb in a careful or cautious way; adjective showing extreme care or caution (Oxford Dictionary)
[19] Intense/adjective existing in high degree; vehement; violent; forceful; extreme; very emotional; adverb intensely (Oxford Dictionary)
[20] Foul/adjective offensive, loathsome, stinking; dirty, soiled (Oxford Dictionary)
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