Quicksand

> 'As soon as her foot hit the quicksand, Ella knew she was doomed.'
>
>

This is the page for the first story in 500 Minutes of Danger: Quicksand

## Summery

Ella's trapped in quicksand. Will she escape before one of the jungle predators finds her?

## Characters

* Ella
* Uncle Ray (Mentioned)
* Ella's Mum (Mentioned)
* Ella's Dad (Mentioned)
* Jasmine (Mentioned)
* Ella's Science Teacher (Mentioned)

## Plot Synopsis

Ella was in the jungle looking for her lost Uncle Ray when she got stuck in quicksand because of a distant boom. Her uncle told her to check the ground with a stick but she tripped into it. Both her feet were in the sand and a submerged vine tangled around her ankle. She begins to sink deeper into the sand. Ella worried about all the creatures and plants that could kill her and then the reader finds out that Uncle Ray was looking for the bones of a creature spotted by a convict in the 19th century. No one else believed the monster existed but Ray was a conspiracy theorist unlike Ella's mum. Ella had given him a bull whip for his last birthday as a joke. When he was gone for four days, Ella was the only one worried. Her Dad said he'll be fine. Ella couldn't help trying to save him, what if he broke a leg? What if he was stung by a bee (he was allergic)? What if he was attacked by the monster? Ella told her parents she was going to Jasmine's house for the weekend and packed food, water and a small tent. She rode her bike to the forest and followed Ray's footsteps. She got trapped after two hours of looking.

She called out to her uncle for help but no one responded. She brushed away a mosquito because Ray told her they kill more people than any other creature. Ella kept sinking. She wouldn't sink the whole way and instead get stuck and dehydrate. It would take her parent a few days to find her. There was a distant snarl and the birds went silent. Ella got scared. It sounded like something out of a monster movie. Ella's backpack weighed her down so she took it off and looked for something to help her. There was nothing to use. She reached for her phone in her pocket and got her arm stuck. It reminded her of when they did an experiment in science class. Only one arm and her head was free. Ella felt sick from claustrophobia. There was another, closer, roar. Ella decided to try and catch onto a branch on the tree above her with her bag. She tried once and failed, then tried again and succeeded, but now her bag was out of reach. The ground rumbled and Ella sunk deeper. She remembered that some clay turns liquid in earthquakes. She tried to remove her arm but it was still stuck. Ella was never scared, not even when her Dad's car crashed, not until now.

Ella was sweating. Another mosquito came and she couldn't shoo it away. Then she saw a dingo watching her. She remember seeing pictures of dingo attack victims. She tried to scare it away but couldn't. It ran before stepping into the quicksand. There was a bigger rumble and the tree above her was about to fall. Ella submerged into the sand before it fell to get out the way. She got stuck in the sand. She got her hands above the quicksand but couldn't reach anything to get out. The vine was still stuck to her ankle and Ella had an idea. Ella put her hands back into the quicksand to grab the vine. The quicksand was looser the deeper she went. She grabbed it and tried to get out but the sand formed a ceiling above her. There was another earthquake and the sand loosened enough to let her get her hands out. She swung the vine in hopes of catching onto something but it didn't. Ella tried again and succeeded. She pulled her upper body out and crawled to the 'shore' of the sand. She got out and looked at the quicksand. She then realised the vine wasn't a vine, it was a bull whip. Ella collapsed and cried, assuming Uncle Ray died.