Abandon Ship

The cruise was a blast. Swimming, dancing, fine-dining, everything that four freshly-graduated students needed before going off the college. It was a gift from Kate’s parents, a well-to-do couple of their small community. One week traveling on a fancy cruise ship through the brilliant Caribbean, but now that was coming to an end.

“Get on the lifeboats!” Crew members shouted at the dazed passengers who were attempting to follow orders, but were getting nowhere. The crew members themselves were trying their best not to panic as smoke seeped from the starboard side. The ship was on fire. There was no telling how long it would be before it sunk.

“Come over here!” An older crewman, who had experience with this kind of disaster, pulled the four friends, trying to escape the burning ship, toward an empty lifeboat. He instructed them to get in; orders they were not going to ignore.

“Lower away!” The older crewman shouted. Without a second thought, the ropes were released and the lifeboat jolted before slowly dropping them toward the ocean below.

“But can’t you fit more?” Kate demanded to know. There wasn’t even a crewmember to help them row the boat.

Her question went unanswered and soon they hit the roaring ocean. Wind tossed the boat to and fro, and the two boys, Will and Josh, grabbed an oar. Kate and Ali did their best to navigate as well as keep the boat steady, and once the boys got tired, the girls took over. After about twenty minutes, they looked around and could no longer see the great cruise liner—there was nothing but a raging ocean for miles. How could they have gotten that far away in so little time? They continued searching the horizon, but it went on for miles and miles of lonely ocean.

“Do you see anything?” Ali asked in a whisper, barely audible over the growling of the ocean.

Kate squinted her eyes into the distance. “Yes! There’s something over there.”

The other three could not see what she was looking at, but, since they could think of nothing else to do, they rowed where she directed. For some reason the rowing became easier. What once was a fight against a roaring beast became a dance with a submissive partner. After a while, they stopped rowing, realizing that they were not doing much, and let the ocean carry them right where Kate had pointed.

Soon the rest of them saw it too. It was an island; a green island surrounded by a turquoise ocean. A gem laid in blue dirt. Emerald green shown brilliantly off the trees, and frightened though they were, they could not help but feel safe at the sight of something other than the sea.

They pulled the lifeboat onto shore, feeling the warm sand embrace their exhausted feet. Wet from pulling the lifeboat in, each of them collapsed on the beach. Kate beside Will and Josh beside Ali. They had been two couples for almost a year now, best friends since childhood. Who would ever have thought that they’d be stranded on a deserted island?

Will sat up and glanced at his girlfriend. She lay in the white sand, her eyes closed, the sun reddening her pale cheeks and making her long dark hair look red against the ivory sand. To him, she was perfect. Her body was perfectly curvaceous, her lips wonderfully round. He loved looking at her when she didn’t notice. He had hoped to be with her for the rest of their lives, but she had chosen a college on the other side of the country, obviously not feeling the same way. Now, stranded on this island, maybe he had a chance to be with her—at least once.

“What are we going to do?” Ali asked in a shrill tone, shivering from the cold. Josh moved from his spot on the shore, and wrapped his arms around her.

“It will be okay.” He whispered in her ear.

Will watched them in disgust. Why couldn’t Kate be that way? He could comfort her quite well, if only she would let him, but she was too strong for that. Sometimes he resented that strength because it was so much more than his own, even when her sister died in a car accident six months ago, she had been strong. Not that she hadn’t cried, but it was not for herself. It was for her mother. For some reason, Kate understood things that he could not. First of all, she did not fear death. When the alarm rang on the ship informing them of the ship’s fate, Ali, Josh, and he had freaked out, but she remained calm, leading them toward the boat deck and the lifeboat.

She had gotten them on the cruise ship. She had kept them together. She had found the island. What else couldn’t she do? She was amazing. In fact if it wasn’t for her constant clumsiness, he would think she wasn’t human.

Kate sat up, looked in the sky, and said, “We need to find shelter.”

She was right. The sky was darkening fast. Will stood, took her hand and pulled her up. He wanted to keep holding her hand, but she let go and walked ahead of them in search for something.

It didn’t take long before they found the perfect lean-to. The makeshift shelter was already built—as if someone had been there before.

“Do you think someone still lives here?” Josh asked.

Will glanced around. The fire pit was dry, very few ashes remained where the fire would have been. “Nah. I think it’s been abandoned.”

“That must mean that someone else is here,” Ali observed.

They stood in silence for a moment, listening for any sign of another life, but aside from the screeching of animals and purr of the ocean, they heard nothing.

“Whoever it was, they must be long gone.” Josh wrapped an arm around Ali, who cuddled closely to him. Will followed Josh’s example. Kate did not turn away, but she did not by any means cuddle closer to him. An annoyed scratching sensation filled his chest. Why wasn’t she responding to him?

Before he could think about it more, Ali began to cry.

Kate moved away from Will and went to her friend. Josh led her underneath the lean-to.

“We have nothing,” Ali said. “Not a blanket, or matches, or anything.” Tears flowed freely and her sobs echoed in the lonely wilderness.

“Sh,” Josh cooed. Kate brushed the hair away from her friend’s face.

“We’ll be alright,” Kate promised.

“How do you know?” Ali asked between gasps for air. Her little sobs were becoming giant squeaks.

Kate paused for a moment. How did she know? “I don’t know… Ali, I just…” And then it hit her. She may never see her family again. She may never live to see her wedding or have any children. She might not even see next month. She collapsed to the ground beside Ali, willing herself not to cry. Instead, she just gazed ahead, mulling over and over in her head how they could survive. It was her idea to go on that stupid cruise in the first place, and now it was her fault that they had boarded a lifeboat without anyone else only to be separated from all the other lifeboats. How they had been separated she did not know, but she realized that it had to be her fault. Everything else was.

She put her face in her hand, ignoring the nagging feeling that they would be okay. How could they be okay? They were four spoiled teenagers stranded on an island with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Fingers began tickling her back. She knew it was Will, and guilt plagued her. He was trying to make her feel better, but she didn’t deserve to feel better. The tickling felt nice, and soon it turned into a massage. She wanted to pull away and make him stop, but it was calming.

His hands moved up and down her neck in a gentle motion that produced welcome comfort, and soon she was relaxed. He massaged every part of her back before moving to her arms. She would miss this when she went to college—college! Perhaps she would never see college or experience anything there. She had planned to break up with Will after the cruise so that she didn’t feel attached when she left home for a new life, but now what was she going to do? She couldn’t break up with him. He was the only other person on the island besides Josh and Ali.

She pulled away and glanced around, hearing Ali murmur something. She was thirsty.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: What do you think of the beginning? Please read and review. I will do the same for you!

PS I am not quitting on Days of Rain. I’m having a little bit of writer’s block with it, but it will be continued shortly.