WriCha update

So, I started my WriCha project thinking, " 2,000-5,000 words; piece of cake! I'll have this done this weekend." Oh how wrong I was.
First of all I realized something about myself. I like backstory and describing things.
Secondly, did you know that 5,000 words is only about 16 pages double spaced TNR type?!? Ummm, that's too short for me!
I'm now completely freaking out.
I wrote the initial scene, which is always the hardest for me; and I was very surprised to discover that I loved it. I then decided to go back to do a bit more character development and wrote four beautiful (condensed) pages that lead up to the plane crash that's the first scene. I still have to write over 3 months of future events and I only have 12 pages to do it in - MAX!!!
Sigh. This really is a fun project, but it's frustrating because I've never done a challenge before and I've never had limitations set on my writing. It's exciting and annoying all at the same time. I may keep the back story in there for the time being and then cut it all out at the end. I just hope you care about what happens to the characters without really knowing too much about them. I've already passed my min word count, we'll see how much I have to cut to meet the guidelines.