Chipwrecked

by Perdita Finn

  “I think he’s going to agree with me on this one, Dave.”

  Dave wasn’t listening. He was pushing the hang glider to the edge of the cruise ship.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” demanded Ian. He dropped the pelican head and pulled on Dave’s arms.

  “Let go!” screamed Dave.

  “You let go!” screamed Ian.

  Dave was holding on to the hang glider, and Ian was holding on to Dave, when a huge gust of wind swept the hang glider up into the air and far out across the surface of the water.

  “Don’t let go!” screamed Dave.

  They crash-landed in the ocean. As they bobbed to the surface, the cruise ship sailed away.

  Chapter 11

  The chipmunks clung to Theodore’s chocolate-covered doughnut like a life raft. The wind had finally died down, and the kite had dropped them somewhere in the middle of the vast, empty ocean.

  “I don’t think I can make it much longer,” whimpered Theodore. “I’m so hungry.”

  No one said anything.

  “Just one bite,” he pleaded.

  “No,” said Simon.

  “A nibble?”

  “No nibbles,” said Simon.

  “Maybe I can just lick the glaze?” suggested Theodore.

  Simon snapped. “The glaze is what’s keeping us alive! Its high fat content is creating a waterproof barrier that should allow us to float for days.”

  “Days?” said Theodore, alarmed. “I’ll starve to death.”

  “Actually,” said Jeanette. “There are many other things that will kill you before starvation. Dehydration, sunstroke—”

  A gasp from Brittany interrupted her. “An island!”

  At first, Jeanette didn’t realize what Brittany had said, and she continued her lecture on ocean survival. “Mmm, no … an island wouldn’t kill us. In fact, it would probably be helpful. So if you see one, you should definitely say something.”

  Brittany rolled her eyes and pointed at a palm tree–studded island. “Um, Jeanette?”

  “Oh!”

  All the chipmunks, clinging to the doughnut, started paddling toward the white crescent of a tropical beach.

  Eventually the waves washed them ashore.

  “We’re alive! We’re alive!” squealed Eleanor, grateful to feel the sand beneath her paws.

  “Good,” said Brittany with a little shake that sprayed water on everyone else. “Because now I’m going to kill Alvin!”

  Brittany threw herself on Alvin like a wild animal—hitting, kicking, biting, and scratching. Simon tried to pull her off.

  “C’mon, no one’s killing anyone,” he said to her. “No matter how much they deserve it.” He glared at Alvin, who was still struggling to catch his breath.

  “Thank you,” said Alvin, straightening his shirt. He stepped into the middle of the group, ready to take charge as usual. “Look, guys, we’ve got nothing to worry about. Dave knows we’re gone by now; he probably has the whole Coast Guard looking for us. Meantime, why don’t you all just relax and have a bite of that doughnut…”

  Theodore was licking his fingers sheepishly. He had just popped the last of the chocolate-covered doughnut into his mouth. He had eaten the whole thing. It was a little salty from the ocean water, but still delicious.

  “Oh,” Theodore said, embarrassed. “Did you guys want some?”

  They didn’t have any other food. And who knew if there was food on the island? Or how long it would take for them to be rescued?

  Of if they would ever be rescued at all?

  Because despite Alvin’s confidence, all the chipmunks knew that there was a good chance no one had seen them fly away—and no one knew where they were.

  Chapter 12

  Ian’s pelican suit had filled with air, and it bobbed along the surface of the water like an inflatable life raft. Dave was clinging to it. Every few minutes Dave scanned the horizon, frantically looking for the chipmunks. The sun was lower in the sky. It would be night soon.

  “Alvin! Simon! Theodore!” screamed Dave. His words drifted across the vast ocean and disappeared. “Can’t you kick any faster?” he begged Ian.

  “It’s been two hours, Dave,” whined Ian. “Thanks to thrice-weekly Pilates classes, I have legs that just won’t quit, but they do slow down.”

  “Why don’t you take off the webbed feet of your costume, then, and let me use them? I’ll kick better with them. They’re like flippers.”

  “They don’t come off,” sneered Ian. “This is a complete suit. No quality mascot suit has removable feet.”

  “Then just take the suit off!”

  “I can’t,” said Ian.

  “Why not?”

  Ian paused, embarrassed. “Because I’m not wearing anything underneath.”

  It was bad enough being lost at sea with Ian, but this was a little too much information for Dave. He felt seasick.

  “Look!” shouted Ian.

  “No, no, it’s okay,” said Dave at once. “I believe you.”

  “No, I mean, look!” Ian pointed a wing toward the horizon.

  Dave saw the barest outline of a palm tree. Maybe the chipmunks had washed up there. He could only hope. He began kicking as hard as he could.

  When they finally reached the beach, the sun was setting. There was no sign of the chipmunks, but Dave had seen a mountain and figured that if they climbed to the top of it, they’d be able to get a better view of the whole island. And maybe they’d find the chipmunks before nightfall.

  Ian, dripping wet in his pelican costume, was rubbing together two sticks.

  “What are you doing?” asked Dave.

  “Making a fire. This can’t be that hard.”

  “Forget the fire. We’ve got to start hiking.”

  “It’s getting dark, Dave,” complained Ian. “It’s getting cold. We’ll go in the morning.”

  “No, we’ll go now,” insisted Dave. He was worried about the chipmunks. They just had to be here.

  “Jeez, Dave, are you always such a pain? No wonder those fur balls would rather fly off the ship than spend another day with you.”

  “They didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident. They’re just kids.” He stared off into the darkness of the trees, worried. “I don’t know how long they can survive out there.”

  Chapter 13

  On the other side of the island, six chipmunks were dragging their feet through the sand to make letters. They were sweating and exhausted, but they’d managed to write out SOS! But the letters weren’t much bigger than they were. No one was going to see them from the sky. Only they didn’t realize that.

  “It won’t be long before a rescue plane sees our message and gets us out of here,” said Alvin, collapsing in the sand.

  “I don’t hear any planes,” said Theodore. “Or helicopters. You think Dave is coming in a hot air balloon? ’Cause those things are really quiet.”

  “Theodore, it is highly unlikely Dave will be coming in a hot air balloon,” said Simon, wiping sweat from his cheek with his shirt.

  “But he is coming, right?” There was more than a little fear in Theodore’s voice. The sun was going down, and soon it would start getting dark. He didn’t like to be alone without a grown-up nearby.

  “Of course he is,” said Alvin reassuringly. “Just … maybe not today.”

  “Alvin’s right. We should prepare to stay the night,” said Simon.

  Brittany was flabbergasted. “What? You guys expect me to sleep outside?” Her fur was already a mess from the perspiration. She needed a hot bath and a warm bed with clean sheets.

  “Last I checked, Brit, we’re chipmunks.” Alvin laughed. “We’re used to living in the wild.”

  Brittany tossed her head and made a small snorting noise. “No, we used to be used to living in the wild.”

  “C’mon, it’s just one night,” said Eleanor.

  “One cold night,” Brittany grumbled.

  Alvin was not going to waste this opportunity to im
press Brittany. It was time to show off. “We’ll make a fire,” he announced confidently. “We’re always setting things on fire accidentally. How hard can it be when we put our minds to it?” He began gathering up stray pieces of driftwood washed ashore on the beach. “All I gotta do is light it.”

  Simon was standing back, shaking his head. “And how exactly are you intending to do that?”

  “I will create a spark by striking this rock with my pocketknife,” he explained. He’d seen it done on a television survival show. It didn’t look that hard. He put his paw into his pocket, but it was empty. “The knife that Dave took from me.”

  Simon laughed at him.

  “Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea, smart guy?”

  “Actually, I do,” said Simon. He took off his glasses and held the lenses toward the setting sun. “As you can see, the lens concentrates the energy of the sun, thus giving us fire!”

  Simon couldn’t believe it. He’d actually done it. He’d made fire! At his feet, sparks had begun to light. Simon had managed to set his own furry feet on fire! He frantically brushed the sparks off his paws, and they landed on the pile of driftwood that Alvin had collected. The pyre burst into flames.

  “And that is how it’s done,” said Simon, pleased with himself.

  Happily, the chipmunks huddled around their blazing fire, drying off and warming up.

  “See?” said Alvin. “We’re warm, and if a rescue helicopter comes by, they’ll see us because of the fire! Everything’s gonna be fine.” He was always optimistic that things would turn out all right.

  It grew darker, and the chipmunks grew sleepier.

  “Good night, guys.” Jeanette yawned.

  “Good night,” said Theodore. He picked up a handful of sand in each paw and threw it onto the fire. It went out. They were plunged into total darkness.

  “Theodore!” yelled a chorus of little voices.

  “What?” said Theodore, confused. “Dave always turns off the light after saying good night.”

  Simon groaned. “That fire was kind of keeping us warm.”

  “Can’t you just relight it?” asked Theodore.

  “How?” said Simon.

  “With your glasses. And the sun!” explained Theodore. But the moment the words were out of his mouth, he realized his mistake. “Oh.” There wasn’t any sun anymore.

  The chipmunks settled in for a long, cold night on their deserted island.

  Chapter 14

  The sun rose on six very hungry chipmunks.

  Alvin ripped some bark from a nearby tree and handed it out, humming an upbeat tune to lift everyone’s spirits.

  “And what is this supposed to be?” said a disgusted Brittany.

  “Breakfast!” chirped Alvin.

  “No, it’s bark,” corrected Brittany.

  “For breakfast!”

  “I can’t eat bark,” said Brittany, turning up her nose at it.

  “Sure you can,” said Jeanette in her soft voice. “I bet it’s very good.” She smiled sweetly at Alvin and took a tiny nibble from the bark he’d given her. Immediately she spit it out. “No it’s not!”

  “It’s been eighteen hours since our last all-you-can-eat buffet on the cruise ship,” Simon pointed out. “Perhaps it’s time we got off this beach and started looking for food.”

  They shook the sand out of their fur and, with Alvin leading the way, headed into the dense jungle. Strange birds called out. Tangled vines caught at their feet. The sun barely shone through the thick fronds of the trees.

  “If I know my horticulture—and I do,” said Simon smugly, “this is a grove of mango trees.”

  “Then where are all the mangoes?” asked Alvin, looking around.

  “Maybe Jungle Monster Four ate them all!” Theodore was trembling.

  “Monsters aren’t real,” said Simon. “They’re like the tooth fairy.”

  Theodore gasped, horrified.

  Simon instantly realized his mistake and hurried to explain himself. “Except the tooth fairy is very real, and jungle monsters are not.”

  Meanwhile Alvin had scampered up a nearby tree, raced along one of its branches, reached the very end of it, parted the leaves, and revealed a giant mango.

  Alvin, his nose twitching, inhaled its sweet aroma. He had opened his mouth to take an enormous bite when Brittany scurried up the tree and sat down right beside him. “You were planning on sharing that, right?” she said, one eyebrow raised.

  Alvin was busted. “Of course,” he lied.

  “Oh, good. ’Cause it looked like you were going to eat it all by yourself.”

  “I would never do that,” said Alvin with mock seriousness.

  “I don’t believe you!” chirped Brittany. And she snatched the mango out of Alvin’s hands and skipped across the branches to another tree.

  “Hey!” yelled Alvin.

  The race was on!

  Alvin leaped after her, and the two chipmunks began chasing each other, swinging from vines, up and down tree trunks and across leafy branches. The mango in her paws, Brittany looked over her shoulder. Where was Alvin? She’d lost him! Suddenly, Alvin appeared out of nowhere and took a flying leap to a branch above Brittany. He grabbed the mango with his feet and dismounted the branch, landing on the ground like an Olympic gymnast. He twirled the mango with his paws like a basketball.

  “Sorry, but I’m going to take my talents to South Beach,” he taunted Brittany.

  He had begun to scurry away when a giant stick shot out of the underbrush, tripping him up and sending the mango flying. Brittany tossed the stick aside, snatched the precious fruit out of the air before it landed, and took off triumphantly through the jungle.

  But Alvin didn’t give up that easily!

  Appearing like Tarzan on a vine, he swung by Brittany and swiped the mango out of her hands. “I’ll make sure to save you the pit!” he yelled as he made his getaway.

  Brittany swung after him in hot pursuit, trying to avoid the obstacle course of trees growing close together. She was just about to catch up to him when her vine looped over a branch and caught her. Alvin was sure of his victory! He looked back at her in triumph … and smashed right into the trunk of a tree. The mango flew out of his hands yet again.

  And this time it landed right at the feet of Theodore. He was stunned.

  “Way to go, Theodore!” said Alvin “C’mon, we’ll split it!”

  “Don’t listen to him,” said Brittany. “He’s gonna eat it all by himself. I’ll share it with you.” She fluttered her eyelashes at Theodore.

  “Yeah, right! She’s trying to trick you,” said Alvin.

  “No, you’re trying to trick him,” said Brittany.

  “No, you’re trying to trick him by saying I’m trying to trick him,” said Alvin.

  Theodore looked at Alvin. He looked at Brittany.

  “He’s lying, Theodore,” said Brittany.

  Theodore took a deep breath, held on to the mango for dear life, and ran! When it came to food, nothing stopped this little butterball.

  Brittany and Alvin couldn’t believe it, though. They chased after him, scratching and clawing at each other in their rush to get close. Theodore ran as fast as his chubby legs could carry him. He ran and ran and ran through the jungle until a vine, stretched like a wire across his path, caught his foot.

  Wipeout!

  “Theodore, I am so sorry,” said Jeanette seriously. She let go of the vine and grabbed the mango, which had fallen out of Theodore’s hands.

  With a quick toss, Jeanette threw the mango to Eleanor, who was ready to catch it. Except Eleanor wasn’t a very good catcher, and the mango went sailing over her head.

  All the chipmunks dived for it.

  Paws wrestled and scrambled, and at last Jeanette emerged from the scuffle with the mango held high over her head. “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” she yelled at the others. “Look at us. One day on this island, and we’ve become … animals!”

  But the other chipmunks weren’t l
istening to her; they were frozen in place with terror. They had just heard twigs snapping and leaves rustling. A strange noise was coming from the jungle. It was coming to get them.

  “What was that?” said Brittany, terrified.

  “Jungle Monster!” Theodore said with a shudder.

  The terrified chipmunks quickly assembled a makeshift catapult out of a vine and loaded it with the mango.

  The bushes in front of them parted.

  All the chipmunks screamed at the top of their lungs. Alvin launched the mango.

  Splat!

  The mango slammed into the face of the monster with a sickening thud.

  “Ow!” cried the monster.

  Chapter 15

  Theodore was hiding his eyes, terrified. “Please don’t eat us, Mr. Jungle Monster,” he begged.

  Only the monster wasn’t a monster. It was a girl. And she was rubbing her head. “Uh, the name’s Zoe, and I’m not a monster. I’m just a girl—” and she stopped midsentence and stared at the chipmunks. All of a sudden she realized she was talking to six small, furry animals. “A girl who’s been on this island so long that I’m now imagining squirrels can talk,” she said to herself.

  Simon looked offended. “We’re chipmunks!”

  “Alvin and The Chipmunks,” said Alvin proudly.

  Zoe was rubbing her eyes and shaking her head like she was trying to get out something that was stuck in her ears. “Who?”

  Brittany did a little dance move and fluttered her eyelashes. “I’m sure you’ve heard of The Chipettes. We’re kind of world famous. Maybe this will help.” She started singing.

  Eleanor and Jeanette immediately started singing backup and dancing. Alvin couldn’t resist; he joined in, too. In an instant, all the chipmunks were performing together.

  But Zoe just looked confused. “Okay, okay, I’m gonna stop you right there. No idea what you are talking about.”

  The chipmunks were chattering; they couldn’t believe it. Brittany was stunned. “Um, exactly how long have you been on this island?”