"Which direction?" Dec asked as he started pedalling furiously.

"Straight ahead I guess" Ant replied "and slow down will ya?we need to pace ourselves,slow and steady"

"Oops,sorry" Dec grinned.

They set out to sea,glancing back occasionally at the island that had become their home over the last few weeks...or months...however long they had been there...as it got smaller and smaller,until it was totally out of sight.

"Goodbye shitty island" Dec said.

"All things considered" Ant replied "it was actually a very good island,kept us alive didn't it?"

"I guess so" Dec shrugged "why didn't we ever give it a name?"

"Dunno" Ant mused "I guess you called it shitty island so often,that we didn't need to call it anything else"

"Fair point" Dec laughed.

They carried on pedalling for what seemed like hours,so decided to take a break for something to eat and to give their legs a rest.

"Can't wait to eat something other than fruit and fish" Dec stated as they set off again.

"Me too" Ant laughed "I'm never eating fish again,unless it's covered in batter and got a huge pile of fat chips next to it"

"And mushy peas" Dec quipped.

"Yeah and mushy peas" Ant nodded.

"Can't bloody wait" Dec grinned "gonna stuff my face as soon as I get home"

"Yeah,cos that won't make you at all ill will it?" Ant rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Well,no harm fantasising about it" Dec smiled.

"Go on then" Ant replied "what else do you want?"

"Cheese on toast" Dec replied "marmite sandwiches,sausage and mash with loads of gravy,a roast dinner,shepherds pie,macaroni cheese,spaghetti bolognese,a big mac,a full English breakfast,pizza,Chinese,a curry,steak..."

"Alright stop" Ant interrupted "stop torturing me,you're making me bloody hungry"

"Sounds great though doesn't it?" Dec grinned.

"Yeah it does" Ant agreed "and all your usual healthy food choices too"

"Well,I might chuck in the odd carrot for good measure" Dec giggled.

"Idiot" Ant laughed.

"Well,what are you looking forward to eating most then?" Dec enquired "there must be something?"

Ant thought for a moment.

"A Greggs sausage roll" he announced proudly.

"Oh my God,yeah" Dec laughed "good shout,how did I forget about those?"

"Cos you were too busy filling your head with thoughts of steak,pizza and the like" Ant pointed out.

"Ah well" Dec smiled "was fun for a minute"

"You know in reality Dec" Ant stated "they're probably only going to allow us a few sips of some disgusting protein shake every hour or something"

"Who's they?" Dec queried.

"Doctors" Ant shrugged "we'll need to be checked over I guess"

"Well,that would be mean" Dec frowned.

"That would be sensible" Ant replied "you know to build us up gradually and make sure we don't get sick,like I did with you when you...when you...er..."

"Yeah alright" Dec snapped "no need to bring that up again"

"That's not the only thing I'm looking forward to" Ant announced.

"Oh yeah?" Dec beamed "what else?"

"Getting a bloody hair cut" Ant replied,while pointing to his head "look at this mop"

"At least it covers your forehead up" Dec giggled.

"Shut up you fool" Ant shook his head playfully "I look like Dudley Moore in Arthur"

"It's not that long" Dec laughed.

"I need a wee" Ant announced,quickly changing the subject.

"Well,there's only one place to go" Dec observed.

"Back in a minute" Ant replied,before making his way to the small area at the back of the boat and relieving himself over the side.

"That's better" he grinned as he returned to his seat.

"Good" Dec laughed "but what about when we need a number two?"

"What about it?" Ant shrugged.

"We gonna do that in the sea too?" Dec frowned.

"Well,would you rather do it on the boat?" Ant enquired.

"Of course not" Dec replied "bit gross though isn't it?"

"Declan" Ant laughed "we've been shitting in a hole in the ground for weeks,I think we passed the point of worrying about grossness long ago"

"I guess" Dec sighed.

"And anyway" Ant continued "the ocean is already full of shit from all those sea creatures"

"Well,that's just nature" Dec noted.

"Yeah and nature is disgusting" Ant grinned "have you ever seen what a dung beetle gets up to?"

"Yeah" Dec laughed "thank God there's none of them in the sea"

"I dunno" Ant smiled "they might be quite handy"

"Yeah,very handy until they drown" Dec laughed.

"They might have water dung beetles here" Ant grinned "like they have water spiders"

"Ugh" Dec shuddered "can we please talk about something else now?"

"Alright" Ant smiled "but seriously Dec,don't stress about these things ok?"

"Ok" Dec agreed.

"We've been pedalling for hours now" Dec stated "what do we do once it's completely dark?"

"Keep pedalling I guess" Ant shrugged.

"What about sleeping?" Dec frowned "where are we going to do that?there's no space to lie down"

"Guess we sleep sitting up then" Ant replied "it'll be ok,we can take turns,one pedals and one sleeps"

"Won't we just go round in circles if only one of us is doing it?" Dec frowned.

"Of course not" Ant laughed "these things aren't made like that,we're not in a rowing boat"

"Just checking" Dec smiled,feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You tired Decs?" Ant asked "it's getting dark and cold now,why don't you try and get some rest first,then we can swap?"

"Yeah,good idea" Dec agreed "it is getting a bit chilly,I'm gonna put my poncho on"

He took his feet off the pedals and after putting the warm garment on and chucking the other poncho to Ant,slumped further down in the seat in a futile attempt to get more comfortable.

"You want something else to eat first?" Ant asked concerned.

"Nah" Dec replied sleepily "maybe when I wake up"

Dec did his best to fall asleep,but no matter how hard he tried,he couldn't nod off for more than a few minutes at a time,he was desperate to roll over onto his side,but of course that was impossible.

Ant was quite happy just riding out into the moonlight,he found it incredibly peaceful and tranquil,with no sound except for the water lapping against the boat and the pedals turning.

"So beautiful" he whispered to himself.

"How long was I asleep for?" Dec asked later,as he startled Ant by sitting up abruptly.

"Couple of hours maybe" Ant replied.

"Really?" Dec asked surprised "felt like a couple of minutes"

"You ready to take over then?" Ant asked.

"Yeah" Dec nodded "just straight ahead still?"

"For now" Ant replied.

Unlike Ant,Dec didn't find the feeling of being alone out in the deep,dark ocean at all peaceful,he found it scary,threatening and lonely.

"Don't sleep too long mate" he mumbled under his breath.

That was unlikely to be an issue as Ant was an insomniac at the best of times,having always had trouble getting to sleep in his own bed,let alone anyway else,although he had somehow managed to sleep a little bit better on the island.

Dec pedalled and pedalled,wishing the night would hurry up and turn into daylight,before deciding to sing to himself to pass the time and more importantly,comfort and distract himself from where he was.

"Let's get ready to rhumble,let's get ready to rhumble,get ready,get...no Dec,shut up" he scolded himself sternly,that was definitely not an earworm he wanted right now.

He started humming another familiar tune,before launching into the lyrics wholeheartedly.

"It's nine o'clock on a Saturday

Regular crowd shuffles in

There's an old man sitting next to me

Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says 'son can you play me a memory?'

I'm not really sure how it goes

But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete

When I wore a younger mans clothes"

Dec stopped and smiled to himself at the happy memories the song was conjuring up.

The times he'd sang it at parties,bars and even weddings,when the bride or groom had cajoled him into singing his favourite karaoke song.

Not that he ever needed much cajoling,forever the attention seeker,he was only too happy to oblige.

He suddenly snapped out of those thoughts,only for them to be immediately replaced with sadder ones.

Would he ever get to sing it again?to his friends?his family?his loved ones?

"Stop it Dec" he ordered himself,fighting back the tears.

The odds were already stacked against him and Ant,they may not even get out of this situation alive,so getting maudlin now,wouldn't help anyone.

So,he carried on singing,as loud as he possibly could,giving very little thought to Ant,who was still desperately attempting to get some much deserved sleep.

"Sing us a song,you're the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well,we're all in the mood for a melody

And you've got us feelin' alright"

"La-la-la-de..."

"DECLAN" Ant bellowed out suddenly,making Dec jump out of his skin.

"What?" Dec asked sheepishly.

"I was trying to sleep" Ant replied annoyed.

"Sorry" Dec mumbled "I was just a bit...you know?"

"No,I don't know" Ant snapped "you were a bit what?"

"A bit scared" Dec mumbled "it's really creepy out here in the dark"

"It's peaceful" Ant argued.

"To you maybe" Dec protested "but not to me,it's freaking me out,singing was distracting me at least"

"Ok" Ant sighed,sitting up straight in his seat "I'm awake now anyway,what were you singing just then?"

"Piano man" Dec grinned.

"Of course you were" Ant laughed "come on then,let's have a jolly old sing song"

"Can I snuggle into you?" Dec asked "even with the poncho,it's still bloody freezing out here"

"As if you need to ask" Ant beamed "come here"

Ant pulled Dec in towards him and placed a warm,comforting arm around his skinny body.

"How's that?" Ant smiled,rubbing his hand up and down Decs arm to warm him up.

"Better thanks" Dec nodded.

So,the two best friends,together out in the wide,lonely ocean,launched into an array of songs,that took them well into the dawn.

"It's getting light" Dec announced relieved.

He glanced around "still nothing but sea"

"Don't worry Decs" Ant smiled confidently "we've got to be getting close to somewhere now,we've been out here a whole day and night"

"Yeah and don't I know it" Dec sighed.

"What do you mean?" Ant frowned.

"Oh,nothing" Dec replied "just my feet are sore and my legs ache from all the bloody pedalling and I can't even move around in this damn boat to stretch them properly"

"Let's go for a quick dip in the sea" Ant suggested "the cool water will soothe them a bit and we can..you know?"

"What?" Dec asked curiously.

"Have a wee" Ant grinned "then we can have something to eat afterwards,we need to eat some of this fruit before it goes off"

"Yeah,ok" Dec agreed.

"Come on then" Ant got up and jumped into the sea.

Dec followed immediately behind and after a gentle swim,Ant and Dec couldn't resist messing around in the water with their usual energy.

Dec was taking great pleasure in dunking Ants head under the water continuously,although Ant,being the stronger of the two,was actually letting him do it,although he would never have admitted that,he was happy to let Dec think he'd got the better of him,Decs delighted giggles that were loved by a nation,were enough to keep Ant happy.

The boys were having a lot of fun and for an amazing few minutes,they completely forgot about the predicament they were in.

Although they had also forgotten to keep an eye on the boat as it drifted further and further away!