1 Chapter

The Smith family is rich. They had gone to nearly every iconic tourist place in the world and had ridden in some of the most expensive airplanes. Oliver stepped into the plane, and scanned his surroundings. The plane he and his family were riding on to vacation was a Airbus A380 which was a double decker airplane. He looked at his plane ticket. His seat was in the second floor, in the front. The plane was flying from Dubai to São Paulo in South America. They had previously visited the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

"What are we going to do in São Paulo?" Oliver asked his parents, who were sitting right next to him. His father was tall and blond and he wore glasses. Oliver's mother was also blond and a head shorter than Dad, but both has striking blue eyes. Unlike them, Oliver had brown hair, but still had the same blue eyes.

"We're going to an art museum and to the São Paulo Zoo. We'll see after that," his father replied. "It's going to be fun!"

"And São Paulo is a beautiful place and it's gorgeous," Mom added. "We'll be there in about four hours." Oliver wishes he could look out a window, but their seats were in the middle of the airplane, nowhere near the windows. The plane was luxurious, but it still got boring at times. Oliver didn't notice he fell asleep until his mom shook him awake.

"What?" Oliver said groggily. His mom pointed to the screen on the back of the seat in front of her.

"We're nearing South America!" she exclaimed. "And then—" The plane shook violently. It twisted to one side, then the other. The pilot's voice came through the speakers.

"We are having some difficulties. Please stay calm. One of the engines had malfunctioned. Do not worry, but we may have to make an emergency landing—" Something made a loud noise at the right side of the plane. Oliver looked across the aisle and out someone's window. Not one, but two engines had exploded, enveloping the whole right wing in fire. Streams of flame were trailing through the clear sky. Anyone under the airplane would see something that looked like an airplane on fire, which it was. Oliver's mom woke up his dad.

"Yes honey?" Dad said. "Why is everyone screaming?" The pilots call to stay calm did not work. Everyone was yelling and some were crying.

"The engines on the right wing malfunctioned, and the wing is on fire," Mom quickly explained. Dad sat up quickly and looked out the nearest window.

"Oh my goodness," he said. "There is no way this is happening right now." Dad took some deep breaths in.

"And the pilot said we might have to make an emergency landing," she added. The plane suddenly dropped into a nose dive. The screaming intensified as the A380 barreled down closer into South America. Oliver closed his eyes and hung onto the seat in front of him. He heard a crash and an explosion before he blacked out.

———

Oliver woke up to birds chirping and a sudden roar of flame. When he realized what situation he was in, he bolted upright. He was lying on the floor a few meters away from the destroyed A380. The nose of the plane was completed obliterated, and most of the rest was in flame. He could see a few other people lying on the ground, but he couldn't tell if they were dead or unconscious.

"Mom! Dad!" Oliver shouted. No one answered so he decided to have a look around himself. He was beginning to lose hope until a familiar voice called him from behind.

"Oliver?" his mom asked. Oliver turned around and saw her by a thick tree with his dad, and they were both very much alive. He ran over and hugged them as hard as he could.

"Where are we?" Oliver asked. He took his phone out of his pocket. It was broken. Oliver looked around. They appeared to be in a rainforest. The only rainforest he knew in South America was the Amazon. "I think we're in the Amazon rainforest, which is bad. The rainforest covers about 2,586,884 square miles. The only people who live here are indigenous people, I think." A wail rose from behind them. They turned around. A girl, about the same age as Oliver (13), was trying to get something from under a large piece of debris, which had broke off of the plane when it crashed.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked. The girl was grabbing a hand from under the debris. There was someone under it.

"My mom is stuck under this chunk of metal, and I can't get her out," the girl said sobbing. We offered to help, and slowly, inch by inch, we were able to heave the debris off of her. They then helped the woman up and they looked for any other trapped survivors. Something rumbled by the huge, murky river next to the crashed plane. Then, out of nowhere, a huge wave flooded the river, pushing everything and everyone out of its way.

"Ahhh!" Oliver shouted through mouthfuls of water. He hit his head on a hard surface, and he blacked out for the second time that day.

———

When he woke up, the first thing he did was check his head. A makeshift leaf band-aid was tied firmly around his head, stopping the blood from getting anywhere. Who bandaged him up while he was unconscious? Oliver heard leaves crunching by him. He turned towards the noise. The girl from before walked toward him, her eyes red from previously crying.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Oliver nodded. "My name is Emma Jones, what's yours?" Her voice was smooth and and soft.

"Oliver Smith," he replied. "Do you know where our my parents and your mom is?" He looked around, but all he could see was trees and leaves. She shook her head.

"That flood was huge, and the Amazon rainforest is millions of times bigger," she replied. That confirmed his suspicions. They were in the Amazon rainforest for sure. "We'll search after you get some rest. Your head is bleeding a lot." After a while they searched. Hours went by with no sign of the adults, and now their main priority was survival. The sun was setting fast. They made a makeshift tent out of sticks and leaves. The tents should provide shelter from the weather and from animals roaming throughout the night. Emma's tent was located right across from Oliver's. He twisted in his leafy bed, trying to sleep. After about ten minutes, his eyes closed and he fell asleep. They would continue searching in the morning.

But little did they know, he and his parents were getting farther and farther away from each other every minute.