Stranded-(Paused-Accepting)

Kara North

Everything is dark, so dark that I can't even tell which way is up anymore.
Then another wave crashes on top of me and I realise that I'm actually still alive, but I won't be for long if I don't do something soon.
I kick as hard as I can manage in the direction I think is up and swear that I can almost see light until another wave sweeps over my head and sends me back to where I started.
I keep trying to reach the surface, my lungs feel on the brink of collapsing and just when I am about to give up my foot touches something solid.
I kick out at it and push myself to the surface.
Another wave slams me into a rock and before I'm swept back out to see I grab hold of that rock.
Pain flares in my ribs but I push it aside (mostly) and keep holding onto that rock.
Then I see land in the distance and it registers in my mind that 'that' is where I need to go.
I let go of the rock and I'm not sure how I do it but eventually ( I don't know if it was five minutes or five hours) I reach the beach that I saw in the distance.
The sand fells smooth under my bruised feet and quickly stumble up the beach and away from the waves that threaten to sweep me back out to sea.
Once I am far enough away I stop and stare back at the ocean.
A part of me wants to collapse right then and there but the smarter part of my mind yells at me not to.
I cannot fall asleep on some random part of an island.
Maybe there are people on this island.
Maybe If I find them I can get out of here.
I stumble further into the island and look around for any other inhabitants.
It seems unlikely, from what I can tell so far the island is deserted.
That's when I notice a single person wandering around in the distance.

Josh Newman

"WALTER, WALTER" I screamed on the top of my lungs, where could that man be? My own chauffeur doesn't know how to do his job. I pouted and sat down on a rock with my hands crossed.

I sat there for some time but then I saw it something moving in a distance and shot up and called "WALTER IS THAT YOU" the thing looked at me and I realized it wasn't him, when it started walking towards me and not limping.

Richard Puller woke slowly. His back was sore, his sinus' hurt and his head was splitting. He pulled himself into a sitting position.
"Must have been a hard day at the offi-."
He broke off when he realised he was on a beach, with crystal clear waters stretching into the infinte before him. Turning, he saw lush tropical rainforest reaching up towards the cloudless blue sky.
"Hellfire."
He stumbled towards the forest, noticing a small trail leading from the beach.
Trail=animals. Animals require water. Ergo, trail leads to water.
He limped along the trail, getting slapped across the face by leaves every few paces. He was already perspiring heavily due to the hot, humid air even though he had barely started walking.
A sussuration caused him to pause, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. It passed quickly - however - and he continued on his way. Eventually reaching a large pool in a clearing, fed by a small waterfall, he tenderly climbed in. He stood under the waterfall, letting the pounding water ease his back, before examining the cliff the water was falling from. It was too steep and smooth to climb, so he resigned himself to staying where he was for the time being.
What will there be to eat around here? His stomach was growling loudly

I began to set up a tent with the evening gown. I was surprised to see someone else stagger up the beach. She, Veronica as I soon learned, began to help me set up the shelter. It wasn’t very good, but it would do for the two of us. I lit a small fire with friction. Once I had tended it until it was blazing, I set up a wooden structure to hold the pot over the fire. Fortunately, we had found a small river of fresh water close to our camp. I filled the pot with water then poured in the rice.
After I let it cook for a while, we shared the pot of steaming rice. Darkness settled in and I put out the fire. We crawled into the makeshift tent and lay down. Veronica fell asleep fast, yet I could not sleep. I crawled out of the tent and went to where I had stashed the crate. Rummaging through it, I found what I was looking for, The large knife from in the crate. I crawled back into the tent. I lay down yet again. My last thoughts before I fell asleep were “Now I have a way to defend us, just in case...”

~Veronica~

She had helped Margret stretch the evening gown apart, far enough for it to be a decent enough cover for the time being. She muttered under her breath at the final outcome of the tent-like structure she had made with all of her cashmere blankets when she was younger. "This pales in comparison to my mansion back in Manhattan."
Veronica wandered around aimlessly, looking for twigs as she was instructed to do, cringing each time she added a wooden log to the pile in her arms, running back to Margret, smiling slightly at the sight of the orange iridescent glow from the fire, handing Margret the tree limbs, feeling proud of herself as the fire roared from her addition.
Veronica pounded her palm against the back of her iPhone once again as she raised the device into the air, pleading the stars that hung above their heads for others to be on the island, and for a cellular service to be near by. She pouted as she ate the rice and fish, unaccustomed to the style of living she assumed "poor people" lived by day by day.
She sighed, laying down on the sand beneath them, exhausted from working for the first day in her life. Veronica murmured softly, looking over at Margret's body that laid awfully close to her. "You know, Margret? I wanted to say thanks."
For once, the words had sounded sincere. Foreign, but sincere.
"For?" Margret had said, looking at her.
But Margret had remained without an answer, due to Veronica falling asleep on the spot, and out for the duration of the night, with flickering images through her mind of starving to death on this dreaded island, to being on daddy #4's helicopter back home, her blonde hair blowing in the tropical breeze, a Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino made with skim milk and no whipped cream in hand.

Kara

The figure I see in the distance starts walking towards me.
“WALTER! WALTER? IS THAT YOU WALTER?” he yells in my direction.
I stop dead in my tracks, when I stop he does to.
I see smoke from a fire rising in the distance.
I figure I have more of a chance if I go there, but first I have to figure out who this person is.
He might be able to help and even if he can’t I wouldn’t just leave him wandering around.
It sucks being alone on an island.
I start walking again.
The sun is setting in the sky.

Spoiler

Sorry if it's a bit short. I will try and write more next time.

Josh Newman

My heart rate was dropping almost as fast as the setting sun. Fear taking over my body, I wanted to run how cold there be another life form on this Island other than him and Walter. "Unless" I whispered "unless it's a wild ling, of course it's a wild ling". I tapped my palm once on my head, "But why is it wearing modern clothes?" my eyes shut open in fear "It's here to kill me and eat me, and when it's done it'll take all my things and use it for it's own pleasure" I was just about to run when it grabbed my arm. I looked at the hands owner and then everything went black.

Kara

The boy starts talking to himself as I approach and I wonder if he’s okay.
He doesn't look older then 12. For some reason he seems scared of me.
“Are you Okay?” I ask him but he seems not to hear. Just as I reach him he turns to run but trips over his own feet, I reach out but It doesn’t really help. He collapses and I lean down to check for a heart rate- extremely grateful to all the medical courses I have taken. Overall he seems fine, maybe just a little pale. I stop to wonder who he actually is. The clothes he has on seem fine and kind of expensive even if soaking and covered in mud. Maybe he washed up just like me… It’s kind of comforting to know I’m not the only one. The sun sets in the sky and I remember my plan to get to the fire, we have to go soon… The guy is starting to stir… he squints as he opens his eyes, as if he is in pain. “Hey,” I say and try to sound comforting not just scared like I am, “are you okay?” He looks a little shocked, “Who… who are you?” he asks. “I... uh, my name’s Kara, Kara North, I was kinda washed up on this island only a little while ago and I guessed that you were too…” I stutter, not sure what else to say, and by now the cold is really getting to me.
“You’re the only other person I’ve seen on this island so far,” but I think that maybe there are others,” I tell him and explain my plan about walking to the fire.
Then something strikes me… “Wait, who are you anyway?”

Josh Newman ~

"Me, I'm Josh Newman. I was on my way to see my parents when my private plane crashed" Her eyes got a little bigger when I said "Private plane" but I was used to it. I looked around finally realizing how dark it was getting. "Wow it's getting cold" I said feeling my teeth chatter.

I looked at her for a moment "How old are you?"

Two things drew Michel's attention. The first was a dying glow on his right, and the other was a set of footprints going in the opposite direction, into the jungle. The glow seemed a better bet to him, seeing as it appeared to be going out. Reviving a fire, if it was a fire, could be a good way to become introduced to whatever was living on this hunk of rock with him. Besides, any light gives heat.

At a slow jog, Michel arrived at the dying fire, it was a fire, and saw the strangest thing. At first it appeared to be an oddly shaped tent, but upon a closer inspection, it turned out to be a huge dress. Inside this makeshift tent were two girls, asleep, and one with a knife. The fire was smoldering away and would soon be gone.

There wasn't much in the way of fuel close by, at least nothing that would revive a fire, so he ran to the tree line and began to search for something, anything, that was dry. His clothes weren't, so they were no good. The grass under his feet, however, grew dryer and dryer as he walked along the line, until he felt it would be good for a fire. Grasping large fistfuls of it, he ran back in the direction he had come from.

He was not a moment too soon;the fire had turned into an almost unrecoverable goal. The grass would last only a short time, and then the fire would die, but it first would give the fire a small leap of energy so that the flame was visible.
A wooden crate caught Michel's attention next. The bottom was still damp and waterlogged, but the very top was dry enough to burn. Michel ripped two boards off the lid and returned to the forest, laying the first board on the fire as he passed it, and the other one nearby.

The woods were dark seeing as the sun had gone down, and Michel decided to use some more lively branches as fuel until he could see to collect the dead stuff that would doubtlessly be lying on the forest floor. As he snapped branch after branch off, he thought of all he could possibly do to survive. Obviously fire was important, but what else?
When Michel realized that he had taken to dropping the branches he had broken onto the ground so he could break the larger ones off, he reloaded his arms and headed to the fire once again.

"This is going to be a long night," he said as he fed the second board to the fire.

And he was right.

Kara

“Me?” I’m Josh Newman. I was on my way to see my parents when my private plane crashed,” he says and Inwardly I gasp- this kid doesn’t look old enough to be on a jet alone.
Then he looks around- “Wow, it’s getting cold.”
He turns to me, “how old are you?”
Just as I am about to answer another icy breeze of wind sweeps by.
I shiver and then I say, “I’m 17 and you don’t look over 12, but right now let’s go.”
He just nods and I try to navigate us through the forest back to where I saw the fire.
When we approach it I stop dead in my tracks.
The is an oddly shaped tent that appears to be made out of some kind of expensive gown hanging over two people and a fire.
Sitting in front of the fire is a boy who looks about my age and about as tired as I feel.
"This is going to be a long night," he says just as we walk up to him, but then he must have hears us and spins around and looks over us warily.
“Who are you people?”

I woke up with a start in the middle of the night. I heard voices coming from outside the tent. I gripped my knife tighter and listened in. I was surprised to hear them all speaking English.
“Hello?...” I whispered, my heart skipping a beat.
“Who was that?” came a voice from outside the tent.

~Veronica~

Awoken from her nightmare by the sounds of voices, Veronica's eyes widened, first with a glimmer of hope that they were there to rescue her. But when she noticed Margaret beside her, sat up in fright clutching a knife, she knew that this would be no rescue. Veronica slowly sat up, cautious of her surroundings for the first time in her life.
"Who's there?.." she said slowly, as if it were a scene in some cheesy horror flick.
She listened closely, as she flashed Margaret a "what-do-we-do" look, wishing that she had a plan. For, she knew that she herself didn't, because she had never had to depend on herself. Back home, she could always use Daddy's money to buy her way out of a problem, and the moment, she had no money or idea of what to do, other than to approach the voices from the other side of the gown-tent.

Veronica stirred beside me and sat up with wide eyes. I held my finger to my lips, signaling to her to be quiet.
“Show yourselves!” came a commanding voice from outside the tent. I motioned to Veronica to follow me. I slowly crawled out of the tent to gaze upon several faces, knife still in hand.
“Who are all of you?” I asked, knife pointed warily towards them. I didn’t want to kill them, but I would if I had too.

Josh Newman

I hid behind the girls as soon as the woman with the knife showed herself. She had this crazed look in her eye I was sure she would kill us if she had the chance. Keeping my eyes on the knife woman I didn't realize they were two. "It's all right we aren't going to hurt you" The I used as a shield said. She took one step closer to the woman holding out her hand "I'm Kara" She kept walking towards her slowly the eyes fixed upon the knife. Suddenly the woman lifted her knife and put it against the girls throat. I started to shake of fear, making a loud gulp. The woman looked at me as she was actually seeing me for the first time. Her hand slowly went down,