Gareth...Gareth! Wake up already!

Gareth opened his eyes, and realized that it was his younger sister, Camy, who had woken him.

Gareth grunted, reclosing his tired eyes not yet wanting to get up. Still half asleep he asked "what do you want Camy"?

He wasn't mad or anything, just tired that's all.

"It's already 10:30, you said we would leave soon" Camy replied in an almost whining tone.

That's when Gareth remembered where he was.

Gareth, his younger sister and two parents were currently waiting in the lounge of Jomo Kenyatta Intl, Kenya's international airport. They were on vacation, heading for Tanzania.

They wouldn't be flying via an airline though. Gareth, though only 17, had his private pilot's license, and the plan was to rent a small aircraft and for Gareth to fly them to Tanzania himself.

Gareth looked down at his watch, quickly conforming that it was, in fact, already 10:30 PM. "OK Camy, you win. I'm up" Gareth said, slowly rising from the chair he fell asleep in. "yippee!" Camy exclaimed, "I'm gonna go get mom and dad". "Tell them I'm gonna go fill the the paperwork for the aircraft's rental" Gareth said. "Sure thing, man" Camy said, skipping over to their sleeping parents.

Gareth walked over to the aircraft rental kiosk, which was conveniently stationed right near the lounge. He got the necessary paperwork, and sat down to fill them out. Gareth got right to work, calculating how much fuel they'd need to reach their destination, submitting their flight plan (a flight plan is basically the route they'd be flying) and filled out the insurance. After about half an hour the paperwork was complete, the only step left was Gareth's favourite - choosing an aircraft. Gareth flipped through the aircraft rentals' catalogue, which listed all of its available aircraft. The selection was huge, they seemed to have it all. From a small two seater Cessna 150 to luxurious private jets such as the Cessna Citation X, you name it...they had it!

Gareth always loved going through aircraft rental catalogues, knowing he had the "power" of choosing one. Gareth's passion for aviation was almost indescribable, and here he was, again, flipping through pages full of beautiful aircraft, moments away from choosing his families ride for the day.

After a huge mental selection debate between three aircraft, he finally made up his mind and made his choice - a Piper PA-28 Cherokee.

Gareth chose that aircraft often, due to it being very fuel efficient meaning they'd spend less money on fuel, and for the fact it was surprisingly very stable for a light aircraft, meaning they'd hopefully have a smooth flight.

Gareth got up and handed the now completed paperwork to the aircraft rental attendant. "Very good sir" the attendant said, "your aircraft is located in hangar 17b, we will begin fueling it shortly". "Thanks" Gareth replied as he turned around, heading back for his parents who were still in the lounge, waiting for his return.

As Gareth approached his family Camy looked up, and as soon as she saw her older brother, she jumped up wrapping her hands around him. "Well, it's good to see you too, Camy" Gareth said in a joking tone. Camy smiled. "What took you so long?" she asked, "well, you know how long filling out paperwork can take" Gareth answered her. Camy let go of him, and Gareth made his way over to his sitting parents, who both smiled as he approached them. "Hi Mom! Hi dad!" he said walking over to them. "Hi, Son! So, what's the scoop?" Gareth's dad asked, smiling at his son.

"well basically, I filled out all the paperwork, and we should be good to go as soon as I go over the flight plan again" Gareth answered. "Very well" his dad answered, "just don't be long. In the meantime we'll get ready".

Gareth made his way over to the seat that he had fallen asleep in, his backpack was right next to it. He bent down and unzipped his backpack, eventually finding his flight folder inside. He pulled it out of his backpack and sat down. Gareth flipped through the folder's pages, eventually coming across today's flight plan, raising it closer so that he'd get a better view. He studied it closely for the third time that day; It would be a pretty straight forward flight, not too many turns, and the total flight time would take no longer than two hours. Gareth closed his folder, putting it back in his backpack.

He looked up, just in time to catch his sister, Camy, walking towards him.

"Hey bro, you almost done? Let's get going already…" she said hugging him.

"As a matter of fact, we should be good to go. Are you guys ready?" Gareth answered. "We've been ready for like an hour. Waiting on you" Camy said in a joking tone. "Oh come on, Camy. I haven't been that long. Cut me some slack will ya?" Gareth said, chuckling to himself. Camy chuckled, "whatever you say! I'll tell mom and dad that you're ready" she said, running off back to their parents. Gareth sighed as he stared into space, thinking about his families upcoming vacation. It was sure to be an experience - two fun filled weeks in Tanzania. They'd go on hikes, go sightseeing, hang out in the 5 star hotel they'd be staying in, and last but definitely not least, Gareth's favourite, the safari. Since Gareth could remember, he always loved animals, especially anything in the big cat family, his favourite being lions. Lions just fascinated him, for a reason Gareth couldn't explain. It possibly had to do with the fact that lions are the the only true social cats, that fact alone fascinated him.

Time skip 30 min

Gareth and his family were currently inside the massive airport hangar. Meanwhile, Gareth was helping his dad load the remaining suitcases into the aircraft's luggage compartment. After they had finished, an airport maintenance worker approached them, handing Gareth a clipboard which had a document attached that showed the amount of fuel the maintenance had filled in gallons. "We filled your aircraft with the amount of fuel you requested. Please just sign below to confirm that we fueled your aircraft as requested" the worker asked. Gareth, being rushed by the fact that they were behind schedule, didn't exactly have the time to check the document and quickly signed below in the required place, handing the clipboard back to the airport worker. Little did Gareth know that he'd later greatly regret not double checking the fuel payload...

"Very good, Sir. Have a pleasant flight" the worker said, and with that, he turned around walking away to tend to the next aircraft on his busy list.

Gareth turned to face his father. "Ok dad, please get everyone inside the plane. I'm gonna do a walk around inspection. And then we should be good to go" Gareth said. "Very well son, just try to hurry up".

Gareth began his inspection, first checking the landing gear - all three looked good. He then made his way to the aircraft's wings, closely inspecting the flaps and the plane's two piston propeller engines, as far as Gareth could tell, all seemed in working order.

About two minutes later, his inspection was complete. Walking over to the front of the plane, he opened the cockpit door, hopped in and slammed it shut.

Gareth fastened his seatbelt; looking behind him he saw Camy and his parents seated in the aircraft's three passenger seats talking amongst themselves. "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We should be on our way shortly" Gareth said in a joking, muffled voice, trying to sound as if he was speaking into a loudspeaker. His parents and sister laughed and said at the same time "yes, captain!". Gareth chuckled, reaching down for his headset. After he had properly positioned it over his head he clicked the radio button. "Kenyatta tower, Tango Charlie Alpha 11 here, we're ready to taxi to an active runway" Gareth said into his headset microphone. "Roger TCA 11, taxi to runway 24. Contact tower when ready" an air traffic controller quickly responded. "Taxiing to runway 24. Thanks!" Gareth said into the microphone, he then turned his head to face his family. "OK guys, we got the go ahead. Who's excited?" Gareth asked. "I am!" all three of his family members answered in union.

Gareth turned his head back to face the aircraft's many controls. OK let's do this he thought to himself, reaching for the throttle and pushing it forward to taxi speed. The aircraft slowly started to move, gaining speed with every second. Gareth steered the plane out of the hanger and into the taxiway, the full moon's light shining through the aircraft's windshield, instantly filling the aircraft's cabin with radiant light. It was a dark night, the only light sources being the moon and the many LED's built into the taxiway, lighting it up.

The aircraft pushed forward on the taxiway until it reached runway 24's threshold. Gareth pulled the throttle back and the plane came to a stop. He then switched his headset back on and radioed the tower. "Kenyatta tower, TCA 11 lined up, ready for takeoff".

"TCA 11 Roger, cleared for takeoff" was the response he received.

Gareth pushed the throttle forward and turned the yolk (AKA joystick) left, causing the aircraft to turn onto the runway. Gareth lined up, centering the aircraft to the runway and lowered the flaps. "OK, guys. Here we go!" Gareth said, and with that, he jammed the throttle forward all the way. The aircraft's two propellers roared into life, spinning thousands of times a minute. The aircraft started speeding down the runway. Gareth kept his eyes on the speed indicator, and as soon as they reached 110 knots, he pulled back on the yolk, sending the planes nose upwards as the plane quickly left the ground, soaring into the nights sky.

After they had reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, Gareth put the plane on autopilot, and turned to face his family.

"Nice takeoff son. Very smooth" his mom said, smiling at her son. "Well thank you mom" Gareth replied. He then looked over to Camy, she was playing some game on her phone. "Hey, Camy. How was my takeoff?" Gareth asked with a grin. "It was awesome, as always" she answered nonchalantly, still looking down at her phone. Gareth decided it would be best to leave her to her games, and turned around back to the controls. Gareth switched off the autopilot, regaining control of the aircraft. Gareth looked up, and couldn't help but to hear is parents speaking behind him, who were planning out the vacation together, causing him to smile.

Tanzania, here we come! He thought to himself. With that he pushed the throttle forward, gaining speed as the plane soared steadily through the night…

Time skip 1 hour

Gareth yawned, looking down at the plane's GPS, it showed they were now more than halfway there. He then raised his arm looking at his watch, 12:00 Pm, midnight. Wow, we aren't really that behind schedule Gareth thought to himself. His sister and parents were all quietly asleep, looking back at them he smiled. They seemed so peaceful back there. The moment was distributed by a sound, a loud short recurring sound that is. Gareth knew all too well it was, and most importantly, what it meant.

An alarm, to be more specific, the low fuel alarm beeping away, every pilot's worst nightmare. Gareth quickly turned his head around, looking carefully at the fuel gauges. He froze, they were indeed almost dry on fuel. Gareth shook his head, it was like a horrible dream coming true. He cursed under his breath, desperately thinking what to do. That's when he froze for the second time, he knew all too well what was going to happen. Almost every mid flight emergency had a resolution, that is, except this one. No fuel meant no fuel. He desperately scanned the GPS for the closest airport, in hopes of making a safe landing before they completely ran dry on fuel.

The more he scanned the GPS, the more he realized that, unfortunately, there were no close airport.

Gareth looked back at the fuel gage. They now had only minutes left, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. How can we be out of fuel, dammit! How?! He thought, and that's when it hit him. I must've miscalculated the fuel. That has to be the reason. But how? He thought, trembling with fear. If only he had double checked the fuel. If only he had actually spent a minute and checked the clipboard the maintenance worker had handed him, he would have surely noticed the error.

At the exact moment he finished his thoughts - the plan completely ran out of fuel. The plane's two massive propellers stopped spinning, and eventually, the laws of physics came into play - stalling the plane. Gareth cursed again, and with that, the plane's nose dropped, and in seconds they were in a steep dive. The violent force of the dive almost instantly woke up his family. His dad shook his head in confusion. Though it was dark out, he could tell something was wrong. He looked towards his son, who was violents flipping all sorts of switches, and was turning countless knobs. "Gareth, what the hell is the matter?" he asked in a concerned voice. No answer. "Gareth, what the hell is going on?" he asked again, in a sturner tone. Still no answer. "Gareth, answer me dammit!" he finally yelled. Gareth knew he had to answer. In a shaky voice he said "dad, we're out of fuel. I Must've made a miscalculation. We're in a dive. It's all my fault!". "Tell me it isn't true…" he heard his mom ask, pure fear in her voice. "I'm sorry, mom…" he answered. He heard his mom burst into tears, and Camy joined her. Hearing them cry broken Gareth's heart. Suddenly a new alarm sounded in the cockpit - Too low, terrain! Too low, terrain; warning them that they were minutes from a crash landing. Gareth violently pulled back on the controls, hoping to raise the plane's nose, stopping the dive.

It was no use. There was no stopping the dive now, it was simply too late. Looking over to the altitude gage, he realized they were at only 3,000 feet, and losing hundreds more every second. Realizing they were moments before impact, he yelled: "guys! Brace for impact!"

Bang!...silence

Gareth opened his eyes. As he took in his surroundings, he realized that he was laying on his stomach on grass. He tried to get up but couldn't budge. I must've broken my legs he though. Looking forward while still lying down, he noticed the burning wreckage that once used to make up an airplane. He must have been thrown from the plane as it impacted the ground, thus the reason he was meters away from it."NO!" he yelled, realizing his family was still inside. He desperately began to crawl as fast as he could towards the burning wreckage, but just as he was getting close it exploded. The shockwave that was produced violently sent him flying through the air, and hard into a tree. Gareth groaned in pain, his head receiving the worst of the impact. He could feel himself drifting in and out of conciseness. As he lay on the ground, he heard a rustling sound. Looking up, he saw a large dark figure emerge from behind a nearby bush. As it stepped into the moonlight, Gareth could now perfectly make out what it was. A fully grown lioness, who was now making her way steadily over to him. Gareth's first instinct would be to run, but he was quite obviously in no physical condition to do so. Accepting defeat, he rolled onto his back looking up at the star and smoke filled, accepting his fate. I lost my whole family, survived a plane crash only to be eaten alive. Could my day go any better?! He thought sarcastically. The lioness was now almost standing over him, he could tell she was looking right into his eyes. But to his surprise, instead of an agitated, bloodthirsty expression, the lioness's facial features were calm and almost full of concern. "Oh just kill me already. And make it quick, I suffered enough today as it is" he said to himself aloud. But to his utter shock, the lioness opened her muzzle and... spoke!

"Oh don't worry, young one. I'm not going to eat you silly" she said, whilst maintaining her calm facade. Gareth's mouth opened in shock. "D-did..you just..s-speak?!" he said, not believing what he had just heard. "Of course you didn't!" he yelled, "I hit my head, I'm hallucinating!, to think a lioness would speak…" he yelled into the air. But the lioness just maintained her calm expressions and asked "but of course I did, young one. Why are you so surprised?". Gareth had been through major trauma and lost his family, but now having a lioness actually speak to him was enough to push him over the edge. His jaw slowly dropped in shock, as his eyes closed. His head hit the ground with a thud as he blacked out…

A/N:

So guys, what do you think? This is my first fanfic so go easy on me. Please fav, follow and review! You guys are more than welcome to send me ideas for future chapters.

Until next time, Bye!