The Island

Overview: The island is the product of a recent volcanic explosion, one of the largest in history. A scientist has made it his research headquarters. His research involves dinosaur cloning from unfossilized bones which he found in Alaska, some even with red blood cells still inside them.

Chapter One
Thunder crashed, and bright flashes of lightning streaked across the blackened sky. Torrents of rain were blown across the ocean, which was wild with the monstrous crests of huge waves. The wind and rain buffetted a single, small life raft. Inside the life raft was the single survivor of a terrible plane wreck. His clothes were torn and burned, his hair was partially singed, and he was practically unconcious. As his raft rode up on a wave, his I.D. card fell out. On the card was printed the name "Ray Parker".

Suddenly, the raft struck something hard. Ray was jolted back into wakefulness, and he looked up to see a monstrous black mass in front of him. It was a rock. "Land," he managed to say. "Land!" He felt the rock, and climbed slowly out of his raft and onto the top, dragging the raft with him. Finally, exhausted and gasping for breath, he collapsed.

He was awakened by a fresh, cool wind blowing on his face. He opened his eyes, and quickly shut them again. The sunlight was too bright for him. Then he heard the crashing of the surf nearby, and knew that land was near. He slowly reopened his eyes to allow them to get used to the light, and then faintly saw a sandy beach in the distance. "I have to get over there," he said to himself, trying to stand up. He saw that he was in a large bay, and that a series of big rocks, one of which he was on, were sticking up from the bottom of the bay. The island was very attractive; a white beach was in the immediate front, backed by large palm and coconut trees. The rest of it was hidden by thick forests, stretching up towards a tall mountain with a volcanic cone at the top. "That's funny," said Ray to himself. "I never remember that island ever showing up on the satellite before. How could they have missed it?"

But it wasn't the time to ponder such things now. He was fortunate to have come across such an island, and now his goal was to get across the bay. He placed the raft into the water, then lowered himself into it and started paddling toward the shore. It looked quite a bit farther now, since he had had a high view from the top of the rock. But he continued pushing against the water.

Suddenly, he saw something on the beach. A small, dark shape was walking across the sand, close to the treeline. Ray squinted, but the creature suddenly darted back into the trees. "Good," he thought. "There'll be food on this island!" Little did he realize that he was soon to be the hunted.