A helicopter crash leaves the main character stranded in the desert with few supplies. While wandering through the desert heat, he begins to hallucinate due to dehydration - seeing birds carrying spoons, talking mushrooms, and oasis with trees and water. After collapsing, he awakens in a mental hospital, where a doctor tells him he will need to stay due to the traumatic experiences and hallucinations he suffered in the desert.

1. Mystery Writers Choice
By Ella, Joseph and PJ.
Illusions
It was Tuesday 22 of July, 1995.
I was so happy we were almost home. I looked out of the helicopter window
beside me, seeing all the smoke and fire underneath the chopper, I new we had
won.
As I sat in the helicopter, I realised I had a very sore back and cramp in my legs.
All of a sudden, I heard the pilot yell “Mayday, Mayday, were going down”. The
alert button next to me was flashing red, and knew it wasn’t good sign. The
chopper was going out of control as it shook furiously. It seemed like an anchor
was grabbing hold of the helicopter and jerking it towards the ground.
I woke up. I was only inhaling the smoke from the burning petrol, as I breathed
heavily. I rolled onto my side seeing the wreckage falling apart. Beside me, I
spotted my friend Simmons lying with his head against the sand. As I looked at
his face I saw blood trickling from mouth, and that was when I knew he was
dead. His pale white skin and his lifeless body brought tears to my eyes as I
walked away from his limp corpse.
Everyone around me was dead apart from the pilot who I found moaning with a
broken neck in the remains of the crash. I tried all I could to help him but as the
flames grew bigger, I knew he wouldn’t stand a chance. I felt rotten about leaving
him but I knew I had to get out of here. I ran as fast as I could away from the
destroyed chopper, trying to forget what had just happened. The big explosion
behind me made me trip over and land face first into the sand. I picked myself up
and kept running.
The only thing I could see was the sand dunes all around me, Making me feel
drowsy.

2. “Oh man, how am I gonna get out of this one” I said out loud,but then in the
distance something shiny caught my eye.
As it got closer I began to see it more clearly. The greens and yellows were
making a vibrant rainbow, then I began to think. A bird? Whats a bird doing all the
way out here? The bird then dropped something on my head. It must have been
the shiny object that I saw earlier. It was a spoon. My head was throbbing so
hard I didn’t realise how strange it was for a bird to be flying with a spoon in it’s
talons.
I was exhausted. The scorching hot sun brought pain to back as though I had just
been shot. Luckily I had my backpack with me, but it carried less than I needed. It
contained two bottles of water both half empty, a compass full of sand and
various bolts just in case the chopper broke down, but I didn’t need them any
more so I dropped them in the sand and kept going.
I saw various mirages as I trudged, but as I ran up to them, I found that they were
just fragments of my imagination. The sun was getting to my head, and maybe
that’s where the budgies came from.
“Oh no I’m gonna die out here with no water”, I complained to myself, but as I
wiped the tears of my nose, I saw something else in the distance. This time I was
convinced it was real and not an illusion. As I ran up to it, it was almost like a
dream come true. A big pool of sparkling water filled my vision as I jumped in. I
was happy to have the shade of the oasis trees, but even more cheerful about
the water. I filled both my drink bottles up to the brim, but then felt a sudden
dizziness that made me drop to knees. As i did I spotted these amazing looking
mushrooms on a near by tree trunk. I reached out to grab them and then got an
enormous fright. Something yelled “ Hey, Don’t you put your dirty hands on me”. I
realised it was the mushrooms talking. “ What greatness. Talking mushrooms.”I
said as I grabbed them and scoffed them down.
I decided to leave the oasis, and try and find some civilization. As I though I saw
a building in the distance, I started to sprint towards it. While doing it, I tripped
hard and smacked my head on a rock.

3. As my eyes began to open, all I could see was the blank walls around me. A man
in completely white clothing strolled through the door. He peered down at me and
said “ You have been through quite a lot so we are going to keep you here for a
while.”
“No!” I objected. “ There were birds and spoons and. and mushrooms...”I
muttered.
“ There there. You have been through quite a lot for one life time and I think you
will need to stay here with us at the National Mental hospital.”
Oh know. I think the illusions have taken over.