Honeymoon

Sunny Holidays(SH) is a small group of islands in the Bay of Bengal.
It's a great place to relax and rejuvenate. The beaches still look
golden and the waters blue. There is a scuba-diving institute on the
biggest island, Port Fair. SH College of Oceanography is well known all
over South Asia. But the economy of SH is entirely dependent on
tourism. The islands are filled with hotels, resorts, theme parks and
restaurants of all kinds. There is one or more to suit every kind of
budget. Those who do not run hotels are in the car rentals business.
There are shops where products made from molluscs are sold. The tourist
season commences in January and continues till September when winter
sets in. The greatest rush is in March when it is neither hot nor cold.
That is also the time when the honeymoon crowd comes. Most of the
people come by ship from Calcutta. Some lucky people are able to hire a
plane for themselves.
Mona is the daughter of the most famous lawyer in Calcutta. She has a
degree in catering and works for a big hotel. She got married recently
to Roger Sen. Everyone knows Roger Sen. He is the most popular actor in
the country. Though he stays in Bombay he is originally a Calcutta boy.
He often visits the city for public shows and during one such event he
met Mona. They got on very well and after about a year decided to
marry. The wedding was shown on television and naturally received a lot
of publicity. The couple chose SH for their honeymoon primarily because
it is so far from Bombay. To ensure complete privacy Roger decided to
charter the best plane in India. It was decided that Mona's brother
Jolly would accompany the couple to Port Fair. A man called Gogo would
be their bodyguard all the time. This was in addition to the security
provided by the government of SH. The plane would be flown by Flyer,
the most able person in the aviation industry. The journey was to start
on March 9.
However the plane carrying the five people-Roger, Mona, Jolly, Gogo and
the pilot Flyer left Calcutta airport on March 8 just before sunrise.
The weather was good with no storms predicted. The flight was supposed
to take three hours to reach Port Fair. But after an hour of flying
both engines developed problems. Then, a storm appeared out of nowhere.
The tail caught fire thereafter. Flyer spotted a small island in the
distance. He informed Roger about the circumstances they were in. Roger
asked Jolly to beat him up but realized that it would serve nobody's
cause. After nearly an hour the plane landed in a clearing on the
island. Jolly was the first one to step on the ground. Well, almost. He
landed on quicksand and was drawn in little by little. As the others
looked on in horror Jolly drowned. The other four managed to escape
though.
The island was smallish. You could walk around it and come back in an
hour. The pilot said that cargo ships passed this island once a week.
The next ship was due in four days. With the help of leaves and
branches two shelters were created. The pilot and Gogo inhabited one of
them. The other belonged to Roger and Mona. They had food with them
that would last about seven days. But even after a week there was no
sign of any ship. By this time Mona was beginning to lose interest in
Roger. Roger was good at talking, singing and dancing. But these
talents were of no use on the island. In fact he was so used to being
served and pampered by others he expected that his orders would be
carried out here too. He offered no help in the creation of the
dwellings. He ate most of the food. So, when there was no food left
Roger was rendered useless. Mona became friendly with Flyer. Flyer had
been in crises before and was familiar with distress signals. With the
help of his instruments he sent signals to any boat that passed by. But
these boats and their occupants did not come to help. They were now
eating fruits about which they knew nothing. They ate to kill hunger.
Nutrition was far from their minds. Roger did not venture out of the
dwelling and showed little interest in gathering food. Mona began to
notice that Gogo spoke little. He climbed trees and brought fruits. HE
had made the dwellings along with Flyer. One day when all of them were
sitting on the beach, they saw a ship moving in the distance. Everyone
tried in turns to attract its attention. However, it was the swaying of
Gogo's hands that made the ship move towards them. When it was near
enough the vessel suddenly turned and went away. Mona had learnt her
lesson. From then, Gogo was her man. She asked Flyer to move in with
Roger. She began to stay with Gogo. Mona felt that the two of them, she
and Gogo could find a way to leave the island better than the others.
And they did. A week later a small cargo ship was moving by. Mona
climbed on Gogo's shoulders and began flashing a mirror at the sun. In
an hour the four of them were on the way to Port Fair.
They were welcomed with great pomp in Port Fair. The pilot went back by
an evening flight. Gogo was paid for his services and allowed to go
home. The government of SH felt privileged to host the famous film star
Roger Sen and his bride Mona.