recognised it instantly as being his friend Cascy. As he saw him he threw himself unconrolably to the ground beside him, and yelled in fear of him not being alive. Tears were spreading down his cheeks again. Cascy lay motionless in the grass. His face had remnants of plaster on it, and above his right eye was a long, deep gash. There was a stream of blood obscuring half his face. His hair was wild with plaster and dirt. His T-shirt was still stained red and torn acCarlson the middle. Mitch choked over Cascy's body as Carlson jumped into sight. His mouth was wide open and he leant down to inspect Cascy. He put one hand out to his chest, then he felt his neck to find a pulse. He gave an astonished nod. His eyes were widened and he and Mitch continued to stare in disbelief.

Darkness had fallen upon the land that the three friends were in. "I need just a couple more pieces." Carlson exclaimed, "We need more firewood than this if it's going to last us all night." He was marching around a small cave entrance, not far from the spot where they had found Cascy.

"K. Carlson, I see some." Mitch was carrying a small pile of about six branches in his arms. He added them to a bigger pile near the cave entrance. Inside the cave, Cascy was resting. They had managed to carry him there that morning, and it had taken them nearly all day and nearly all their strength. They hadn't seen Cascy awake in all that time. The cave was only small, and could hardly be called a cave, as it was merely a hollow in the side of a cliff-edge. It was barely big enough for one man to lie in. When enough wood was gathered, Carlson took a few attempts at lighting a fire with some sticks but failed. He eventually got it right. "Well, not so stupid I took up being a boy scout now is it, Mitch?" He mused at the rise of his own achievement. Then Mitch laughed, "You said it boy scout!" in an attempt to steal his dignity.

Later that evening the three of them lay side by side in the grass, their eyes gazing as they merged deep into their thoughts. Mitch and Carlson just thought, and Mitch turned to his right to look at Cascy, "I wonder what Cascy's thinking." Carlson simply nodded. "He could be thinking really terrible things, he could be having nightmares..." Carlson looked now,

"Or, he could be dreaming of happy things, like.. eating... pizza..."

"Yeah or like how he likes to watch TV and drink beer..." Mitch laughed.

"Or...or how we would all sit and have long talks about...stuff..." Carlson added. Then the two of them fell silent again.

"I miss those times." Mitch said quietly.

"Good night, Mitch."

"Good night, Carlson...and Cascy..."

"Good night."

Cascy was conscious that morning, he looked to his two sleeping friends and then at the burned out fire. A thin stream af smoke was growing from the centre of it. Cascy watched it for a while and breathed in the sweet smokey air. It was mixed with the scent of rich grass in the morning dew. He listened to the birds singing in the sky above him. He spread out his arms on the ground, he was feeling hot and sticky. He put one hand out infront of his face, his hand was dirty and red. He touched his side with it and shifted slightly on the sand. he felt a surging rush of pain. He lay still and felt his forehead which was pounding. The blood had dried up into a thick crust which had matted some of his hair. He closed his eyes again and thought. Where the hell am I?

Then Cascy heard the others begin to stir. Mitch sat up, he could feel a splitting headache coming on. He saw Cascy stirring a little and smiled, "Casc, you awake?" Cascy opened his eyes to confirm, he smiled at Mitch, "Yeah." Then he started to look concerned, "You hurt?" He noticed the scratch on Mitch's head and his sun-burned, tired face. "Oh, no I'm not hurt bad...neither is Carlson..." Mitch said assuringly.

"So we survived, huh?" Said Cascy. Then Carlson too started to stir, "Guys? Cascy! You're awake!" He smiled with glee and came over to pat him on the shoulder. Cascy patted him back, "This ain't New York, guys." He laughed. Carlson thought, "No. This is...Africa I think."

"WHA--?" Mitch shouted in disbelief, "Africa? You're crazy, Carlson!"

"Yeah, Africa is like...miles away!" Cascy added. Carlson folded his arms in disappoinment, "Guys, see those trees over there?" He pointed, "And that mountain over there?" The friends looked. There was indeed a blue, grey coloured mountain on the horizon. It looked unreachably far. Mitch stared at it, "It's so big..." He thought out loud. Carlson nodded, "It's definatley African, I'm thinking mount kilimanjaro but I could be wrong." he smiled smugly. "But how did we end up here?" Cascy yelled loudly. Mitch felt a joke coming on, "I see, Dr Geller's theory could be wrong!" He toyed. Carlson frowned at Mitch, "I'm basing this on what I know are common facts." He added. Mitch laughed and Cascy smirked. "Laugh all you want, but could you have made this fire without me?" He pointed at the steaming pile of branches. Mitch looked deliberately at the pile, indicating that there clearly was no fire. Carlson stamped his foot in humiliation. Then he turned, "I guess you're probably hungry, huh?" He grinned. Mitch rolled his eyes, "OK Carlson. We geddit..." Carlson continued to grin, "And..." he added expectantly. Mitch sighed, "...And, Carlson knows best." Mitch said monotonously. Carlson felt pleased with himself and laughed at Mitch's embarassment. "I'm guessing around here the best way to get food is in the ground." He lectured. "We should dig near a tree to find yams. I saw them do that in a survival documentary." Mitch accepted the statement, "OK, but since you're the best, shouldn't you be the one doing all of the digging?" He said craftily. Carlson frowned again, "I'm clever Mitch, but I'm not stupid." Cascy began to feel uneasy, "Hey you guys don't fight." They turned to Cascy who had been listening to their argument. "I wanna help get the food..." He said as he began to pick himself up. Mitch and Carlson quickly gestured for him to sit back down again, and Carlson pushed gently down onto his shoulders, "You will stay right here, Cascy." Then Mitch said, "We could take it in turns...I'll stay here with Cascy...while you show me from a distance how to dig for jams."

"Yams." Carlson corrected. Mitch shrugged and rolled his eyes, "Yams."

"OK. I guess that's fair." He looked at Cascy, turned and left for the nearest tree. Mitch sat down next to Cascy and waited expectantly, he could barely see Carlson through the tall grass, but could just make him out several metres away, his back was bent forward near a tree where he was digging carefully with his hands. Lying down, Cascy was having difficulty in watching Carlson, he strained his vision so he could see his feet and everything that was just beyond them. Mitch tapped his fingers rhythmetically as he sat, "I am so hungry." He was still staring in the direction of Carlson as he exclaimed to Cascy. Cascy was thinking the same, "Tell me about it. I dunno what this yam food is, but I tell ya I could eat a bucket load of that right now!" He laughed out loud. Cascy nodded as the reminder of food poked into his stomach. He could feel a sickening surge of emptiness inside of him, not just in his stomach, but also in his mind.

Carlson returned with a small armful of what Mitch thought looked like some sort of reddish potato. Their faces lit up with the sight of food, Carlson was also smiling confidently, "OK..." Then his smile suddenly turned into a grimmace, "Mitch! Why didn't you light a fire? " He shouted angrily.

"Oh...I didn't realise you needed a fire to eat yams." Mitch shrugged in a sarcastic mannor. Carlson made his lips look like they were pinned together when he spoke, "Well if you want to eat raw vegetable potein matter, fine!" His voice was loud and antagonising. "But I'll just be lighting a fire so I can eat mine cooked!"

He lit the fire frustratedly but improved on his skill. He then rubbed the dirt off one of the yams.

"So what now, we put them on little sticks and hold them to the fire like marshmallows?" Mitch teased. Carlson was beginnig to tire of Mitch's jokes, "Not that you would know any better but marshmallows are cooked that way because they melt." He picked up a second yam and began to rub at that too. Mitch opened his mouth to say something but Cascy interupted, "How do we cook 'em?" he asked Carlson. Carlson cleared his throat as he put down the last yam next to the fire. He thought for a moment, "I don't know." He said quietly.

"why don't we wrap them in leaves and then put them in the middle of the fire?" Cascy said enthusiastically. "That's what they did on 'Days Of Our Lives' in the extreme wilderness episode!" Mitch listened, and responded with a confused glance.

"OK. We have a cook here people!" He yelled as if a live audience were watching them. Mitch rolled his eyes so Cascy could see, but Carlson saw it too.

That evening the friends continued to talk and sit whilst eating their roast yams, and Mitch thought it had been the longest day he had ever experienced. He had the unfamiliar after-taste of yam in his mouth. He hadn't eaten as many as the others, and still had some left by the side. He was rolling them around in the leaf Carlson had prepered them in. Carlson was leaning relaxed onto his elbow and picking his teeth with his fingernails. Mitch was sitting up and poking at the embers in the fire with a stick. He stared intensely; his mind was elsewhere, lost in the red curling heat of the fire. As he stared he saw the flames begin to curl harder and faster, and the sound of the crackling wood became louder. He tried to look away but couldn't, and he felt the heat of the fire on his skin becoming hotter as he gazed into it. Still the crackling became louder, and other sounds began to merge in with it, 'Mitch...' A familiar voice inside his head, mixed

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