Hubris: A Narrative Fiction

“Clarkson!” John yelled from the front of the copter, “Clarkson the damn blades are jammed!”
“I’m on it!” He called back. Clark grabbed his tool kit and ran outside of the copter. As he left, he heard John yell to David, “We were fools to land here!” He jumped into the water, which was already up to his knees. He climbed up the side of the helicopter, onto the top of the vehicle. He could instantly see why the blades were jammed. Large pieces of debris and rubble from the Temple of the Sun were lodged in the mechanism. He quickly opened his tool box, taking out his hammer and chisel. The ground shook, and he had to quickly grab the sides of the copter to prevent from falling. His toolbox fell into the water below, but he was too frightened to care. He could see the water was pouring into the landing pad. He began to chisel out the debris, as fast as he could. The rock gave way easily to his chisel. The ground shook again, and the chisel slipped, cutting his hand. He didn’t let it bother him, and finished dislodging the first piece of debris. The blades moved slightly, but Clark paid no attention, moving onto the next piece that was even deeper.
“Clark! Hurry up!” David called to him, “John says if we aren’t off the ground in the next minute, we won’t be leaving this island!”

I’ve almost got it,” Clark yelled angrily back, “Let me just-” Suddenly, as Clark dislodged the final piece of rock, he realized he never reset the mechanism. He allowed the motor to stay wound up, and he just allowed it to unwind. Time seemed to slow down for him, but in the next second, he felt the edge of the blade cut into his back. He could feel the vertebrae of his spine being dislodged. He didn’t even have time to scream. David watched as the graduate from RPI was sliced. First in two, then increasingly more pieces. Clark’s legs, which were still intact, fell off of the helicopter, and into the water