"Great" Ant beamed "and don't worry Dec,we're going to get home,I promise you"

Dec wanted to believe Ant,but he was scared,terrified in fact.

Of course he desperately wanted to go home,but two middle aged men,pedalling a small plastic boat out into the deep,wide ocean?how could that ever end well?

But Ant was right,they at least had to give it a go,or die trying.

Staying on the island was like dying a slow,miserable death anyway,this was the only solution...no matter what the outcome may be.

"So when are we doing this?" Dec enquired "tomorrow?"

"No,not tomorrow" Ant laughed "it'll take a couple of days at least to prepare,collect enough supplies and all that"

Dec nodded thoughtfully.

"Don't worry Decs" Ant smiled as if reading Decs mind "we'll be fine,come on,let's get some sleep,then we can get started in the morning"

Neither of them got much sleep that night,the truth of the matter was that Ant was just as terrified as Dec about what this journey would hold,but he tried to keep his fears hidden for Decs sake.

The next morning they set to work collecting all the supplies they would need and ended up with an abundance of avocados and mangoes,although it took the best part of the day to fetch and pile them all up near the pedalo.

"I don't see how we can collect water" Dec frowned as he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"I've been thinking about that" Ant smiled.

"Go on then" Dec grinned "dazzle me with your bright idea"

"Well" Ant continued "we just keep all the shells from the mangoes and avocados we eat,then fill them up"

Dec immediately saw a flaw in Ants plan.

"Er Ant" he frowned "do you really think they won't leak?"

"Not if we're careful when we eat them" Ant beamed confidently.

"Yeah" Dec continued "but surely even if that worked,all the water is going to be slopped around the boat once we start moving?"

"I've thought of that too" Ant announced proudly "we just secure them into the boat"

"What?" Dec laughed "how?"

"Well" Ant replied "we can put things around them to keep them in place,like pebbles or something"

"As amazing as that idea sounds" Dec said sarcastically "that still won't stop all the water spilling out"

"Maybe not" Ant smiled "but it will stop SOME of it spilling out,so as long as each shell still holds a couple of mouthfuls and the sea isn't too rough,then we'll be grand"

"That's a big if" Dec sighed,he really couldn't see this idea of Ants working and it was very likely that they would both die of thirst out at sea.

Ant ignored Decs negativity "you know what else I thought?"

"What?" Dec asked.

"That we could empty the contents from the first aid kit out and fill it with water,I think that might work" Ant pondered.

"Worth a try I guess" Dec smiled "but there's actually very little space on this boat for storing anything,that's not what they're built for"

"We'll just squeeze things in wherever we can" Ant shrugged "into every little nook and cranny we can find"

"Had enough of all this for one day" Dec announced "I want to do something fun and relaxing now"

"Really?" Ant laughed "you have the energy to do something fun after all our hard work today?"

"Yeah" Dec nodded "why not?"

"What do you want to do?" Ant enquired.

"Dunno" Dec replied "build a sandcastle again...ooh,I know,why don't you bury me in the sand?"

"That means I'll be the one doing all the work then doesn't it?" Ant pointed out.

"Don't be a boring old fart" Dec giggled "come on,I'll help you"

Dec immediately lay down on the sand,nuzzling gently into it to make a Dec shaped outline.

"Alright then" Ant laughed and started covering Dec up.

"Not my face" Dec ordered.

"Obviously not your face" Ant shook his head despairingly "I'm not stupid"

Dec closed his eyes and enjoyed letting Ant do all the work,he obviously never had any intention of helping him.

Once Ant had completed his task,he was very proud of his masterpiece.

"Finished" he announced proudly.

Dec opened his eyes and glanced down at his body.

"You've made me into a sand person" he laughed.

"A sand mermaid actually" Ant grinned.

"Complete with boobs" Dec noted,placing his hands on his fake breasts and laughing raucously,causing the sand to crack around him.

"I couldn't resist" Ant smiled "you're looking pretty sexy there Mr Donnelly"

"Shut up,you idiot" Dec replied "help me up"

"But you'll spoil my mermaid" Ant teased.

"You'd rather I just slept here all night?" Dec asked "like this?"

"Great" Ant giggled "thanks for offering,maybe I'll get a decent nights kip without you snoring in my ear"

Dec playfully threw a handful of sand at Ants back before rinsing himself off in the sea and making his way to the shelter,with Ant close behind.

"There is something I've just thought of" Dec stated suddenly as they lay side by side on the blanket.

"What's that?" Ant asked curiously.

"I don't have a shirt" Dec frowned "I know my skin has got used to the sun now,but I spend a lot of time in the shade here,I can't do that out at sea"

"Shouldn't have destroyed it then should you?" Ant remarked unhelpfully.

"Yeah alright" Dec nodded "let's not bring that up now"

"Get up" Ant ordered and suddenly sprung to his feet.

"What?" Dec asked surprised.

"Get up" Ant repeated,gripping hold of the edge of the blanket and practically tipping Dec off of it.

"Hey" Dec protested "I was comfortable there"

Ant didn't say a word,but got the scissors from the first aid kit and started cutting the blanket in half.

It was a pretty laborious job as the scissors were fairly blunt by now,but Ant was determined to succeed with the task in hand.

"What are you doing?" Dec asked shocked "why are you cutting our blanket up?"

"You'll see" Ant answered.

Dec watched intrigued as Ant cut through the thick fabric,before proceeding on to making a smaller hole in the centre of each half.

"There" he stated proudly,as he held one piece of material up in front of Dec.

"Umm...what exactly?" Dec mused.

"Lean forward" Ant said.

Dec obligingly did as he was told and Ant pushed the hole of the garment over Decs head.

"What the hell...?" Dec laughed "what is this?"

"A poncho" Ant grinned proudly "it'll keep the sun off you won't it?"

"Ant,you're bloody brilliant" Dec laughed and placed his hands either side of Ants face and planted a big,sloppy kiss on his forehead.

"Ugh yuk,get off me" Ant laughed.

"That's us sorted then" Dec grinned "just need to fill up the shells with water and we're ready aren't we?"

"Yep" Ant nodded "we'll do that first thing in the morning,after having something to eat,then we can set off"

"Wow,we're really going to do this aren't we?" Dec asked.

"Yep" Ant nodded "now get some sleep"

The boys were up bright and early the next morning and after having their fill of fruit,they pushed the boat into the water and filled it with the supplies they'd collected so far,including everything they kept in the shelter.

Ant decided to take the water bottle and first aid box to the waterfall as they held more than the avocado and mango shells.

He left Dec behind to do the last bit of stocking the boat up,but was soon back with the water.

He filled the shells that Dec had placed in the boat and surrounded by pebbles,up to the brim,before returning to the waterfall.

After the boat was rammed full of supplies,Ant and Dec stared at it thoughtfully.

"That's it then" Ant announced "we're ready"

"Yeah" Dec nodded nervously "barely any room for us with all this stuff though"

"We'll squeeze in" Ant smiled "wonder where Piccolo is?would have liked to say goodbye to him"

"I doubt he'll care" Dec shrugged "probably won't even notice we're gone"

"Course he will" Ant smiled "he's loved snuggling up to us and keeping us company these last few weeks,I feel bad leaving him here alone"

"You wanna bring him with us?" Dec winked.

"Don't be ridiculous" Ant laughed "just might miss him a little bit,that's all"

"Big softy" Dec grinned and nudged Ant with his elbow,before noticing a small movement out of the corner of his eye.

"There he is" he beamed.

"Hey,little guy" Ant smiled,as he leant down to stroke the small animal that had actually become a pretty important part of their lives.

"Me and Dec are setting off on an adventure" he continued "so we won't be around anymore,thank you though,you've made a difficult situation just a little bit more bearable,I'll miss you...you gonna say goodbye to him Dec?"

"Er,yeah" Dec mumbled while feeling slightly self conscious "bye Piccolo"

"Give him a cuddle then" Ant teased.

"Er...no" Dec laughed.

"But seriously" Ant added "I do hate leaving him here alone after all this time"

"Ant,he's a wild animal" Dec pointed out "he'll be fine"

"Yeah" Ant nodded sadly "oh my God"

"What?" Dec asked surprised.

"Look" Ant pointed over to a cluster of bushes at the edge of the forest.

"Oh,wow" Dec exclaimed "there's another one"

There standing nibbling on a tasty leaf,was another Quokka.

Piccolo immediately hopped over to it without a glance back at Ant and Dec.

"He's got a partner" Ant smiled,almost tearfully "he's not alone"

"Aww,that's cute" Dec smiled "he's got a girlfriend"

"Or boyfriend" Ant replied.

"Yeah" Dec nodded "either way,he's not alone,so you can stop worrying about him,ok?"

"Ok" Ant laughed.

"Just thought" Dec grinned "what if it wasn't Piccolo who's been with us all along?could have been either of them"

"Ha" Ant laughed "or there could be a colony of them somewhere"

"You never know" Dec smiled.

He waved at the two animals,who casually made their way back into the forest,never to be seen again.

"So..." Ant paused for thought "we're ready"

"Yeah" Dec replied "we're ready"

"Did you pack the ponchos?" Ant asked.

"Obviously" Dec rolled his eyes and pointed to the garments neatly folded up on the back of the boat.

"You don't want to put one on then?" Ant asked concerned.

"Not yet" Dec shrugged "too hot"

"Let's get in then" Ant said.

The two men climbed into the boat as gently and carefully as was humanly possible,desperate not to lose too much of the water that they had collected in the shells.

Of course a fair amount of it did spill,but they expected that and weren't too worried about it.

As they sat quietly staring out to sea,feet poised on the pedals for the long voyage ahead,having no idea where they might actually end up or even if they'd get there alive,neither of them had much to say.

Ants following blunt statement said it all.

"There's no going back now" he muttered.

"Let's go!"