Return to Gorilla Island, Chapter 4
Submitted by Starla Anne on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 16:59
Return to Gorilla Island
"Hope for the future"
By Starla Anne Lowry
Chapter 4
Early the next morning after proper introductions, the two men and one of the women, along with Mary and Linda, started out into the jungle to prove the existence of prehistoric animals.
The man who did most of the talking the day before was Andrew (known as Andy), the other man's name was Jeffery (whom they called Jeff). The female explorer was Laura and the other woman, who stayed behind with the children, was named Cindy.
The men held the two 30-06 rifles that Mary and Linda had found, while Mary and Linda each carried two single action 357 revolvers and Laura had a double action 38 revolver.
So, the men thought they were well prepared. However, Mary and Linda had their doubts, thinking about how large prehistoric creatures could be. They had also brought their bows and arrows. After all, Lizzie Jane's archery equipment was her main weapon along with two spears she had confiscated from the savages and she had survived very well -- even killing a T-Rex. The thing that bothered Linda was that they did not have any spears, which Lizzie Jane used to kill the huge dinosaur.
They did not have any problem finding the narrow valley through the mountain, but a detour had to be made along the side of a steep hill, bypassing a mountain of stones that Lizzie Jane caused that separated the savages.
Mary and Linda had encountered the stones the first time they came through the valley, except this particular time they discovered three spears the savages had dropped in their narrow escape from the avalanche. Even though Mary and Linda had heard about the spears coming apart in the center so they could be carried easier in a quiver, they were still amazed at the savage's logic in preparing such a simple way to carry a weapon. Mary put one in her quiver and Linda kept the other two.
As the group entered the jungle from the valley, they immediately spotted some strange looking animals. Although they were huge, evidently the creatures were plant eaters. Passing by some huge snakes, they worked their way to a clearing and viewed a shocking sight.
There was a T-Rex nosing around a wrecked airplane as if it was looking for something.
Mary whispered, "That must be the plane that Granny was on when it crashed and the dinosaur is looking for more food. It must have been what caught the pilot and the other man and is hungry for more of the same meat.
"Yeah," replied Linda. "Granny had written that neither she or the girls looked back when the men screamed."
"I have seen enough," said Andy. "Let's get out of here before that thing sees us."
The group made a quick depature, continually looking back over their shoulders and they mostly ran through a path in the jungle. Linda was suprised that they did not run up on something that might be a flesh eater.
"We were very fortunate," said Mary as they arrived back at the cave.
"I don't know. I kinda like to think that Granny Lizzie Jane is in Heaven, watching out for us," answered Linda. "I don't think it was any accident that we escaped harm."
Mary smiled and replied, "Me, too."
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Andy, seemingly to anyone who would answer.
Mary spoke up, "You came through time in a fog -- just as my great, great grandmother did. She lived here for a year and finally left in another fog. She and the other two girls found themselves back in their own time at the identical moment they orginally entered the fog'.
"So, you might look for a fog and tavel back through it, but the question is, are there different fogs for different time periods? Since my great, great grandmother lived here a year before getting back, will the correct fog to transport you back to your time period show up about a year from now? Could a different fog take you to a different time period?"
"You talk a lot about your great, great grandmother -- I think Lizzie Jane was her name?" inquired Andy. "Is she the reason you came here?"
"Yes," Mary bagan to explain. "She had made a promise to her little gorilla friend, George, that she would try to return and she knew that he would be looking for her. From photos of the 1950's, Linda looked a lot like Granny, so we thought George would think it was her -- and it worked! Now, we are stuck here like you with no idea of how to get back to our time. We had planned to go back after finding some way of making it easier for George to accept it. Granny and George loved each other like siblings."
"I see. How old was your great, great grandmother?" asked Andy.
"She was nine years old when arriving here and ten years old when she got back home. There was quite a confusion about the physical changes due to her aging, though."
"I can imagine," answered Andy. "So, this side of the moutain must not be dangerous if a nine-year old girl could live a year here."
"As long as the children are with George, the wild animals will leave them alone because of being associated with Momma Gorilla. After awhile, it will become natural for the animals to leave the children alone. They are afraid of Momma Gorilla."
Well," replied Jeff. "I would be, too."
"The danger we have to look out for are the savages. That is why Linda and I looked for shipwrecks that would have some guns and ammunition. That is where our weapons came from," replied Mary. "My suggestion is that we keep a guard posted at the entrance to the cave at all times and be sure that Linda is armed when the children go out to play."
"We can't let our children out there to play," said Cindy.
"Now, you are not going to keep a children from playing. They have to do that to stay mentally stable and happy. Besides, George and Linda will take care of them," insisted Mary. "Besides, George will teach them survival in the jungle and, as they grow up, that will help teach them how to stay safe. In fact, after the year's stay, my great, great grandmother went to the other side of the mountain, killed a T-Rex and rescued her friend from the savages -- all through the knowledge she had learned in the jungle."
"Then -- we may never get back?" asked Laura. Shocked, she continued,"Oh, what will happen to us?"
"What will happen to us? Why, make the best of it. We can start a society. Form a government. With our weapons of protection, this side of the island may be like paradise. I am guessing that you are a married couple? Well, our children will become adults and, in time, we can populate the island with civilized people," said Mary. "My great, great grandmother might still be here if she and the other girls had the weapons we have. When they escaped, they were expecting to come back to the island after the savages left the shore line, but that was not meant to be."
Andy said, "You know, that makes sense. We can watch out for other survivors who may arrive through a time warp and there be more weapons. What could we name our government?
Linda spoke up. "Well for now, how about naming it "Gorilla Island?"
-- To Be Continued
Copyright 2008 by Starla Anne Lowry
All characters and places are fictitious and any resemblance to places or persons, living or dead, are coincidental.
Gorilla Island
I like the logic used in this chapter and can see how things will turn out if they stay. But I wonder where Poppa Gorilla is? Is he still around? Are there other Gorillas?
May Your Light Forever Shine
Gorilla Island
Lizzie Jane and the other two girls figured out that Poppa Gorilla must be dead and, for the protection of her baby, Momma Gorilla moved over to the side of the mountain where she abides now.
The valley is too large for dinosours to go through, but the giant savages can make it. Momma Gorilla is assumed to have come over the mountain.
There are other giant gorillas on the same side as the savages. If you remember, a giant gorilla hand was seen when Lizzie Jane went over to rescue her friend. It appears that the savages eat gorillas as well as humans.
Love,
Starla
Nice start
The bit about which fog to try and escape though makes sense.
Do you automatically return to your own time or does that opportunity only appear once per year and so on. The people from 2006 could easily end up going back or ahead in time if they choose wrong. That is if that theory is right. We know so little so far.
My hope is since the father was sent ahead in time, he wil save the future and find a better, future time machine to come back and rescue his family and any others they have rescued. And the peple who yanked him away from his family have much to answer for.
Will they also save the kindly giant gorillas and even the savages and other animals in this hodgepodge of overlapping times? As dangerous as the island is it is a treasure of history, a time capsule/living museum of sorts and deserves protection as do the unlucky people who wander into it's trap.
John in Wauwatosa
P.S. Like the little snippets of Lizze we are learning from her decendants. The prequill sounds nice too. Lizzie comes from a long line of plucky, good hearted heroines.
Nice Start
Like I have often stated, I don't know what is going to happen, but there may be some surprises. For instance, why was there not any record of the father coming back? (That is only one thought floating around.)
Another question: According to the account in the story of Lizzie Jane leaving the island, there must be thousands of savages. Can a small group fight effectively against thousands? The door is open for the story to go in any direction (or nowhere -smile-).
The theory about the various fogs are that they are portals to different ages.
One thing I am tossing about in my mind could be an unusual event which might be stories of different views in "Big Closet" and "Fictioneer", but yet the same. If it happens, it may be a "Big Closet -- Fictioneer" first.
But, there may be one very sad moment to make the story come out like I am thinking.
Love,
Starla