Scenario Description: Three friends on a hiking adventure are lost in the Sahara Desert due to an unexpected sandstorm that threw them off course. Dee has just been through a harrowing experience and is still a bit shaken. Dez and Elly have not told Dee that they are lost, so Dee’s fragile psyche has been spared from this additional shock so far.
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| Narrator | Three friends on a hiking adventure are lost in the Sahara Desert due to an unexpected sandstorm that threw them off course. Dee has just been through a harrowing experience and is still a bit shaken. Dez and Elly have not told Dee that they are lost, so Dee’s fragile psyche has been spared from this additional shock so far. |
| Dez | Okay, Day 4. We’re on the second leg of our journey heading southeast. Our food supplies are still adequate. |
| Elly | Agreed. We should be crossing the river again in a few hours. We can camp there and replenish our water supplies. That’s starting to get a little low. |
| Dee | Oh, God, please let that river be close! (She crosses herself.) |
| Narrator | They travel for two hours, four hours, six hours, and still no river in sight. Dee looks at the map and begins to realize that something is very wrong. |
| Dee | According to this map, if we’re where you say we are, Dez, we should have crossed the river about four hours ago. (She stares at Dez, her eyes pleading with Dez’s eyes, “Please don’t tell me we’re lost.”) |
| Dez | (Looks down at her feet.) Yes, we’re…lost. I have no idea where we are on the map. The sandstorm blew us off course and our compass became damaged, and we’ve just been “guesstimating” our headings since the sandstorm passed. |
| Dee | (Closes her eyes tightly.) Oh, no. Not this! (She breaks down and begins sobbing hysterically.) |
| Elly | (Walks over and puts her arms around Dee’s shoulders.) Don’t worry, Dee. We won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll get you out of this mess, won’t we, Dez? |
| Dez | Absolutely. We wanted adventure, and adventure’s what we got! We can do this! This is what we do extreme sports for – to see what we’re made of, to test our mettle. |
| Elly | You’re right. That’s always been our purpose, our motivation. Nothing’s changed except the challenge is a little tougher this time. I recommend we get four hours’ rest and begin traveling by night to conserve our water supply. |
| Dez | Good idea. Let’s do it. |
| Narrator | They rest for four hours, wake up in the dark of night with a clear starry sky, take a bearing on the North Star, and head southeast as best as they can estimate. |
| Dee | Dez, where do you figure we are? What are our chances? Please, be honest. Tell me the truth. |
| Dez | Well, Dee, we completely lost our bearings during the sandstorm, but one thing is for sure. We didn’t cross the river during the storm, so we have to be north of the river. If we keep heading in a southeasterly direction, then sooner or later, we have to hit the river…and water. |
| Elly | What do we do once we reach the river? Do we follow it upstream and hope we get back to Mhamid? Or do we stay put and camp on the riverbank and hope someone comes along to rescue us. Our food supplies are getting low. Water may not be a problem, but food will be. We didn’t bring along any fishing equipment. |
| Dee | In the Girl Scouts I learned how to make a spear and how to spear fish. Perhaps I can catch enough fish to keep us alive while we head upstream towards the village. I’d rather do that than sit in one location for help that may never come, or that may never come in time at least. |
| Dez | Elly, your vote? |
| Elly | I agree with Dee. Hit the river, then head upstream to the village and hope her fishing skills are up to the task of keeping us alive. |
| Dez | Done. That’s our plan then. Dee, we’re depending on you to keep us fed and alive long enough to get home. No pressure. |
| Dee | Gee, thanks. (But she smiles weakly, glad to have an important role in their survival.) |
| Narrator | After another day and a half of travel, their food supplies run out. The next day their water runs out. They are hungry and thirsty and getting thirstier by the hour. Their spirits are very low and they’re dragging their feet from exhaustion. |
| Dez | Well, my watch tells me it’s midnight of the seventh day. We’d better hit that river soon. |
| Elly | Have faith, Dez. We chose the best course of action that we could. |
| Dee | Wait! Listen! I think I hear water! |
| Narrator | Dee runs towards the sound! After a few minutes, Dez and Elly hear a scream of delight! Yes! They’d reached the river at long last. Now they had a chance at survival. They set up camp at the riverside. Come dawn, they get up and start scouting around the area. Dee comes up with the idea of sharpening one of their wooden tent poles to make a spear. They tie some string to the spear so it won’t get lost floating downstream. Dee rolls up her pant legs, wades out into the water aways, and stands as still as an oak tree. |
| Dez | Elly, do you think she can do it? I’m awful hungry. |
| Elly | Me too. Let’s hope so. I’ve never been so hungry. I’m starting to get stomach cramps. |
| Narrator | After a moment, Dee’s arm begins snapping at lightning speed. A miss!… A miss… a miss… a miss… a hit!… A miss… a hit!… A hit!… A hit! A scream of triumph and joy fills the sky! |
| Narrator | A few hours later, they are all sitting around a campfire eating roasted fish. With full bellies, they finally start to lose some of the mounting sense of terror that had been starting to take sway over their minds. Their sanity begins to regain control as hope begins rising up from the depths of their previously burgeoning despair. |
| Dez | Dee, you’ve very likely saved our lives on this trip. |
| Dee | Darn right I did! And next adventure, I get to choose what we do. |
| Elly | What’ll it be then? |
| Dee | Hm, maybe something a little safer, like hang gliding through the Grand Canyon. |
| Dez | Uh huh. (and everyone starts laughing) |
| Narrator | In the next two days they travel upstream and finally reach the village of Mhamid, spend a nice night in a clean hotel with hot running water and a large bathtub, perfume themselves generously, and enjoy the best night’s sleep they’ve all had in a very long while. |
