It all starts with a divorce and a summer

holiday….

Brian kept thinking about the ugly word. Divorce. The big split. The split had come, and then

the divorce, all so fast. The court had left him with his mother except for summers and something the judge called “visitation rights". So formal. Brian hated judges and he hated lawyers.

In the summer Brian would live with his father. In the school year with his mother. A summer in the Canadian wilds with his father would be a welcome break.

Brian Robeson stared out the window of the small plane at the endless green northern wilderness below. It was a small plane, a Cessna 406 – a bush plane- and the engine was so loud, so roaring and consuming and load, that it ruined any chance for conversation. In five minutes they had levelled off at six thousand feet and headed northwest. From then on the pilot was silent, staring out the front.

The sea of green trees that lay before the plane’s nose and flowed to the horizon was spread with lakes, swamps, and wandering streams and rivers.

It was a vast Canadian wilderness.

The Hatchet

When they were finally at the airport, Brian’s mom reached over the back of the seat and brought out a paper sack. “I’ve got something for you, for your trip.”

Brian took the sack and opened the top. Inside was a hatchet, the kind with a steel handle and a rubber handgrip. The head was in a stout leather case that had a brass-riveted belt loop.

“It goes on your belt.” His mother spoke now without looking at him. “The man at the store said you could us it. You know, in the woods with your father.”

Dad, he thought. Not my father. My dad. “Thanks,” Brain said, “It’s really nice.”“Try it on! See how it looks on your belt.”

All of a sudden, Brian's life changes completely.

It seemed to happen out of nowhere.The pilot’s mouth went rigid, and he jerked

a series of short spasms into the seat, clutching his chest. He looked as if he was in terrible pain. The pilot swore and hissed, “Chest! Oh God, my chest is coming apart!”

And then he knew.The pilot was having a heart attack. The pilot’s right leg jerked, pulling the plane

to the side with a sudden twist and his head fell forward and spit came from his mouth. His eyes rolled back until there was only white.

Brian’s mind could not take it in at first.

The ground was rising too quickly. Everything happened at once. Trees

suddenly took on detail, filled his whole field of vision with green, and he knew he would hit and die. With amazing luck, a lake rose in front of him.

There was great wrenching as the wings caught the pines at the side of the lake. Dust and dirt blew off the floor into his face so hard he thought there must have been some sort of explosion. He was momentarily blinded and slammed forward in the seat, smashing his head into the wheel.

Stranded all alone in the woods and lost…

All Brian has is his hatchet and the clothes on his back.

The darkness of night was thick and for a moment he started to panic. Too see, he thought. To see was everything. To see is everything and Brian couldn’t see .

He was in all-over pain. His legs were cramped up and drawn up, tight and aching, and his back hurt when he tried to move. Worse yet was the throb in his head that pulsed with every beat of his heart.

Brian looked around in the dark at night shapes.He realized he was terrified.

Lost in the Canadian wilds.Nobody knows where he is.He doesn’t know where he is.No food. No warmth.

Brian isn't sure how and if he can survive…

About Hatchet:- An easy read : 180 pages- Fast paced and full of adventure- A story of survival and will power

- Has a sequel- Is from an author with a large

line of books about survival and wilderness

How will Brian

survive?

Will he be rescued?

How can the

Hatchet help him?

Audio clips and picture credits will be put up on slideshare and our moodle page!