Young Writers Society

Saph

“Guys, climb up!” A boy shouts, hoisting himself into an overhanging tree.
I leap up and grab a hold of a branch, kicking away a rat. What surprised me more than the rats was my own screaming. How my voice managed to get so high is amazing! I rarely scream, but the shock of the large beasts running at us was truly frightening.
As the others climb the branches, I watch as the rats run around, swarming across the ground in a sea of brown and black fur. Glistening beady eyes glint at me, and I shiver. I catch glimpses of sharp, white teeth, and thank the boy for suggesting we climb.
“Keep going!” The same boy shouts, and everyone climbs higher.
The tree we’re in has a group of branches clustered in the centre, and we all sit there, huddled together, shivering and whimpering. I hug my knees to my chest and decide, as soon as the rats are gone, I’m going back to the beach.
“We should rest,” the Mexican boy suggests casually.
I suppress a wave of anger that he can say that like we weren’t chased up the tree by a horde of rats. I lie down and curl up, eyes wide open as I watch the others. No one goes to sleep, and the sun has begun its decent.
“Screw this,” I snarl to myself, getting up. “I’m going back to the beach.”
No one objects, and I climb down to stare at the ground as the rats slowly disappear. I pull out my pocket knife and drop silently to the ground. With a quick glance above me to make sure no one is following. I make my way back to the beach.

Alex

Alex's team had been reduced to only two people. The original number of people he had wanted in the first place. But they were not the two people he had wanted. Still, they were proving useful. Especially Elvis. Alex had started to abandon his plan about leaving them. Before, when there was more people in his group, he might have done it. But he couldn't just leave a couple of teens by themselves, in the wild.

They were talking about food. Elvis and Faith (Alex has started to get to know them better) were doubting if they should go back to the beach, as the Australian had done.

"I mean," started Faith, "They've got food. There didn't seem to be any wild animals that would attack them there. Plus, they're a big group. I think we might have a better chance of survival with them."

Elvis nodded, considering it. But for them, it was probably too late to turn back. They had been walking for most of the day of the crash and a part of the second one.

"You're right," agreed Alex, "they do have food. They are more numerous, and they do have each other. But that is also part of the problem. Soon, they will have no food. They will go crazy. Crazy to the point of killing each other. If we go to them now, they will have the upper hand. They will become the leaders, and once they have respect from the majority from having given them food, then those people will do whatever their saviours tell them to do. I am not willing to get stuck in that place again. I refuse to look up to anyone, ever again."

"But the food-"

Alex cut Elvis off, mid-sentence, "They have food now. They are sharing it. They are spending it the least they can, but they are using it up, anyway. I have a hatchet. We can hunt some animals with it, and we can easily build bows with it as well. If we start to learn hunting now, by the time the beach people finish their food, we will be good at it and it will not be hard for us to get food. And since the beach people will have had food for all that time, they will not have learned to hunt yet, and they will be desperate. And who will have food? Us. And then, they will look up to us, and they will be dependent of us. We will bring them the food, and they will need us. They will give us valuable things, and we are the ones who will survive. Call me crazy, but I am willing to bet on that. I am also willing to go with that plan. So if you disagree with my ideas, I'll be willing to drop you off the next time we go to the beach. What do you say?"

Faith

Was this guy insane? He was talking about this as if he was planning on ruling us all like some sort of dictator! But maybe he was right. I know Elvis can hunt, though I'm not sure about Alex, and I know a thing or two about plants...could we do this?

I looked over to Alex, thinking it over. He was younger than us, and he seemed a little odd...but he may know what he was talking about. Maybe this was the way to go about this. Besides, what could the others have? Peanuts, vanilla wafers, and water?

"Maybe we should stay." I whispered to Elvis.

Elvis eyed me, and I could see him debating to himself. Finally, he turned to Alex and said, "I'll teach you how to hunt. Now, let's go find water, shall we? The others will get thirsty after a while - planes only keep so many, and, well, dehydration can happen quickly."

"Maybe," I said, looking down to see the rats had cleared, "We can figure out a system once we find water. You know, eating, drinking, cleaning and bathing, living."

"Well," I continued, dropping down from the tree, "Let's keep going - it could get dark soon."

Ezra Dexter

I sighed, my butt planted on the suitcase. More and more survivors that were with the Mexican guy had started showing up.
I turned to my counterparts. Darren and Cassie sat up, and Lilly laid back, her head on Cassie's lap, staring at the stars.
"You guys know it, I know it... We're running out of food." I said, finally. I stared deep into the eyes of the others, thinking. "We have the axe. We have a lighter. But what happens when we're out of food?"
Darren's eyes snapped up to my face. "What do you think? Everyone will go insane. They'll kill each other off. But, we have the food. They won't hurt us."
I stared at him. "You do realize what you just said, don't you? WE have the food. If anything, we'll be the firsts to die."
Cassie scoffed. "You have an axe. They won't mess with you."
"I don't have the strength it takes to use the axe."
"Then what you do suggest we do?" Lilly asked.
My eyes narrowed. "I'll tell you what I think we should do! I think-"
"Hello?" A think Australian accent drifted to me. "You have food, right?"
I nodded, standing up and handing her a bag of the almost depleted Gingerbread cookies.
The burnt boy had passed out long ago, and he lay on his stomach by the fire Darren had made when the sun left us. "Thank ya!"
"Wait, what's your name?" I called.
"Saph." She replied.
"You were with the other group?" Cassie asked.
"Yeah, but that Alex guy? He's a nutcase."
I nodded. "So you left. Listen, do you have a weapon?"
"A pocket knife."
I nodded. "You can sit here, or go sit with the others." I offered, as Saph turned to leave.
She shrugged and sat down.
I glanced over at the large group huddled around the other fires Darren had made.
"There are a lot of them." I mumbled. The others grunted or nodded in agreement. "We need to figure out what to do about food."
"We can hunt." Darren suggested. I shrugged.
"An axe and a few knives can do enough. I think we can weave a rope out of the kelp?"
Cassie shrugged.
"We better get some helping hands, then."

Saph

I listen as the group of mostly girls and a couple of boys discuss the little food they have left. As soon as hunting is brought up, I scuffle forward, listening intently.
“We have the forest, and that will have a lot of edible things there,” the girl that had given me the food says. “And the ocean should have plenty of fish and stuff.”
“Spear fishing,” I mutter, remembering a time when I went on a two month camp with some Australian Aboriginals along the coast of my hometown. So little white Australians appreciate the land they live on, and I enjoyed every moment I spent with the native tribe. Traditional spear fishing was a skill I picked up quickly.
“What?” The boy with the haughty attitude barks, and all eyes are on me.
I blush. “Um … spear fishing. I learnt how to fish using a spear. If we got some of the scrap metal, and … and got some branches from the trees, we could make spears,” I explain.
If my English friend were with me right now, she’d say, “Bloody savages, you Australian people.” I try not to snicker at the thought.
“Well, that solves one problem,” the girl covered in kelp says with a bright smile. “But what about …” she flicks her hand in the air, not wanting to finish the sentence.
“I can gut, skin and debone the fish, as well as cook them,” I say quickly, hoping I haven’t grossed these guys out too much. Bringing up my ‘Outback skills’ around my friends is weird enough for them, let alone people that don’t know how Australian Aboriginals live. “I can also dive for oysters and abalone … if there are any.”
The others consider this and nod. “That sounds like a good idea,” Kelp Girl says.
I smile, feeling happy that I’d achieved something. “Um … this may be late, but if you guys didn’t know, I’m Saph,” I hold my hand out for anyone to shake.
“I’m Ezra,” the girl that had given me the food says, shaking my hand.
“I’m Cassie,” Kelp Girl introduces, shaking my hand next.
“Darren,” the haughty boy says stiffly, giving me a small smile. I smile back and shake his hand.
“I’m Damien,” another boy with golden eyes says, “And this is P.J.” He indicates a sleeping boy with severe burns on his back.
I smile and shake Damien’s hands, then look at P.J. His back looks sore and the burns are quite raw. But apart from that, I can see he has nicely toned muscles, and a pair of goalie gloves poking out of the back pockets of his shorts. He is also quite handsome, and I – somehow – get the impression he isn’t an outgoing person. I take an instant liking to him.
“So,” I begin, looking at my newly made friends. “Does anyone know how to distinguish a poisonous plant from a non-poisonous plant?”

Peej


I shook Saphs hand and I couldn't help her peeking at my burns. I smiled slightly at her and focused on how blue her eyes were. She started talking about poisonous plants and somehow her eyes kept drifting off towards me.

" I know a bit about poisonous stuff." I said a bit louder than I usually talk.

"Okay good, maybe you can teach us some." Saph said smiling her Australian ascent ringing throughout the beach. I nodded and picked up a stick that sat off to the side.

I drew out two plants, one with pointing leaves and one with rounded leaves. I pointed out the one with pointed leaves and wrote poisonous under it. Then I wrote safe under the other plant.

I sat back for the others to look and started drawing different types of poisonous plants off to the side. Being in Boy Scouts for 7 years was actually paying off. Everyone in the group studied my drawings and then sat back to wait for someone to say something.

"Okay, we need to send a group out to forest to find more water and maybe some berries or something." Said Saph.

"Yeah, who wants to go." Said Darren, "I mean I know I'm going to go, but we need more."

I raised my hand and so did couple other people. Only about 3 or 4 people didn't raise their hands.

"Are you sure you wanna go PJ, I mean with your burns and all." Asked Cassie. I nodded, stood up and put on my goalie gloves.

I flicked my bangs out of my eyes and started towards the jungle trailing after Darren and Saph who were walking up front. I quickened up my pace to their fast one to look out for anything poisonous that might be in the way. I ran my hand along the trunks of the tree's the feeling of bark along my gloves making my hands tickle. I had the feeling someone was watching me so I dropped my hand and turned my head to see Saph's perfect blue eyes looking down my back. I felt my face growing hot with blush and pulled the shirt that was around my head over my head to cover up my burn.

We kept walking till I came along a small river. The water was clear and I bent down to take a sip to test it out. It was perfection. I gave the group a thumbs up and they all ran for the river and drank. I kept watch while they drank and I'm glad I did because a crowd of monkeys were coming straight for us.

Elvis

The three of us had decided that building housing in the trees would be a better idea than sleeping on the floor, as we were sure the rats weren't the only thing out here. So after we found the river we made a blueprint in the dirt and began building in a tree nearby using wood from trees we found and Alex cut and vines and leaves. We had found the river just where it pooled in front of a cliff, a waterfall dropping off. We were uphill, and thus safer. It looked like the cliff/mountain would be impossible to climb without dying, so we stuck here. It wasn't too bad looking, either.

As I was tying a vine around a chunk of the floor base, my attention was caught by screaming. My head snapped up, and I fell from the tree, running a way down the river to see some survivors being ran at by monkeys.

Putting two fingers in ny mouth, I whistled sharply, getting their attention. When they turned to look at me I lowered my head and squated to the ground. They were probably just curious. If not...well, I'm screwed.

They left the others and approached me, and thusly began to poke and pride at me. I put my hands out and let them hold them. Just as I thought - monkeys are naturally inquisitive. They just want to know what we are. I looked up to let them see my face, and then one started to start rooting through my hair. To his disappointment I was clean of bugs.

I looked over to the others and offered, "I lived in different parts of Africa for a few years, before the trip - they're just curious. My name is Elvis, I'm with the other group, being two more."

I looked at them hesitantly as I held a monkey's hand, some if the other monkeys having lost interest and trickled off. "That water is safe now," I said, as I knew they could get extremely sick if I didn't, "but me and my group found the start of it. We created a system - you know, different levels of drinking and cooking, washing, bathing, et cetra...so within a couple of days the water won't be any good down here. You know...cholera and everything."

The monkey let go of my hand, reached up to my head, and yanked out a few strands, then ran away. I stared after it for a moment, then I stood up, remembering what Alex had said, "So when you guys run out of water and start getting sick from this...follow the river and you'll find us."

I looked at their group, recognizing a few faces from the trip. I took a breath, then finished with, "I guess I'll see you all later, then."

With that, I turned on the heel of my boot and began jogging back to the others - it was definitely faster running than walking, but still pretty far uphill.

Climbing back in to the tree, I said hushedly, "I saw the others, saved them from some monkeys. They were drinking water down river, so I told them we were here and that in a few days time cholera would start if they keep drinking from down there. So...they should be trickling up here soon."

Faith stood under the tree, looking for things to eat for today so we wouldn't have to hunt today. She held up a large palm leaf, rubbing it between her two fingers, and began stripping it. "Maybe we should find a way to, I don't know...section our spot off. Besides, now we'll definitely need to keep watch at night with the others already searching for food and water. She began weaving the palm strips together, then held it up for us to see, "If we find something soft to put under here we can use them as sleeping mats. Plus, we can line the walls with them to keep out mosquitos."

I looked over at Faith and Alex - I guess this really was the best chance of survival. I silently thanked Faith in my head for following Alex and making me follow her.

Ezzie|Beach
Saph, Peej, Darren, and Lilly disappeared into the woods, leaving Cassie, Damien, and me.
"Um, Ezra, was it?" Cassie asked, as the other half of our group left.
"Just Ezzie, if you will." I replied, smiling. "Now, what was it you needed?"
"Should we collect scrap metal?"
I nodded, turning to Damien. "Do you think..?" I started, offering him the axe.
"Collect wood, got it." He said, winking.
After he left, I asked Cassie to stand. She did, and I asked her a few things about how she felt, if she was woozy, what the last thing she did on the plane was, etc. Just to make sure she didn't have a concussion, ya know? Anyway, After I was satisfied with her health, we walked toward the debris of the plane. There were a few good sized scraps of metal laying around. We picked them up, and Cassie looked over to the plane. "Cassie?"
"Hm? Oh, right. The metal."
"You okay?" I asked, smiling at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
I nodded and kept scavenging the sand. "You should wash that kelp off of you," I started. "I have no doubt you scared the hell out of Saph."
Cassie laughed a little and handed me the small amount of metal she had collected. She then walked toward the ocean, entering the water. I carried the metal to our campfire, and sat on my suitcase.
A few moments later, Damien came back carrying a good sized amount of sticks. "Are these good?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
He set them down beside the pile of metal I had thrown on the ground. "What's bothering you?"
I shrugged. "I miss my parents. We all do." I wiped a few tears away from my face. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not a leader."
"I don't think any of us are, Ez." Damien wrapped an arm around my shoulder, dragging me to his chest. "But in a time of need, we all need to do our damnedest to help."
"Yeah." I agreed, my tears staining his shirt with water. He didn't seem to mind, though, and I let more fall. "I'm trying to be as helpful as I can, but it's so hard, I mean, what are we gonna do about shelter? The kids that left with Alex? They came back screaming about rats. "
"We have the ability to make huts." Damien said. "We have wood, there are palm trees, there is plenty enough to survive."
"Then what?" I asked, standing up. "What happens when we grow up? Do we start a civilization?" My cheeks burned at the implication of that.
"We wait."
"For what?" I growled. "A helicopter to come save us all? Dame, we won't survive that long. And you're stupid if you think that we will."

Saph

I watch the boy, Elvis, walk away with contempt, glad to see the back of him. But what he said nags at my mind. Could the water really become that tainted?
“Come on, let’s keep moving,” Darren says a little shakily.
I nod and follow as he crosses the river, making sure P.J. is right behind me. His back has been worrying me since he offered to come with Darren and I to look for plants.
“Hey, what’s this?” Darren suddenly calls, and I realise I was staring at P.J. intently, who blushes and looks away.
“What is it?” I ask, and Darren points to a large plant sporting bright blue berries.
“Are they safe?” Darren asks, and he and I look at P.J. expectantly.
“They’re blue quandongs,” he says, plucking one from the tree. “I think they’re edible.”
At the word ‘quandong’, I perk up. “They’re a type of fruit found in Australia!” I gasp. I grab a small, blue bauble and pop it into my mouth. The two boys stare at me in total shock as I bite into the bitter fruit. I make a face and spit it out. “Urgh!” I cough, my tongue hanging from my mouth.
“What? What’s wrong?” P.J. and Darren both ask worriedly.
“It tastes gross,” I manage, my tongue still hanging from my mouth.
Darren gives me a strange look, but P.J. smiles. I pull my tongue back into my mouth and look more closely at the cluster of berries that look remotely safe. I pick a wild blackberry and stare at it intently. I hold it up for the boys to look at.
“I think this is edible,” I declare.
“You don’t know for certain, Saph,” P.J. says with concern.
I smile. “Only one way to find out,” I murmur, and put it in my mouth.
A delicious flavour bursts across my tongue, and I smile wide. I hold my thumbs up to the boys, and the start picking the fruit.
By the end of it, we have collected large amounts of blackberries and raspberries, as well as the bitter blue quandongs and a few other red and purple berries P.J. said are safe. We make bowls from large leaves, and carry them back through the forest.
With all the courage I have, I walk beside P.J. and smile at him. I quickly think up a question, and he gives me a curious look.
“So … what’s your story?” I ask, and he looks away shyly.

P.J.



“So … what’s your story?” Saph asked.

I looked away feeling super shy and said, "My parents made me go on this trip. They said it would be good for me to get more social."

Saph nodded and said, "You play soccer right, I mean with the keeper gloves and all."

"Yeah I play goalie," I replied warming up a bit more to her. "I can also play forward but Keeper is my favorite."

"Sounds fun, maybe when we get off this bloody island I could come to one of your games."

"Okay, sounds good."

We kept walking in silence as we came back to the beach. We sat down in the sand and started to sort through the fruits we had picked out. I inspected each one to make sure they were safe, and they were. A bunch of the kids came over and me and Saph handed out the fruits as equally as we could to each kid. Soon they were all gone except the few we had saved for our selves. Darren had gone back to Cassie and the others so it was just me and Saph.

We scarfed down the fruits and I finished up the rest of my water sharing some with Saph in the process. I watched the sea rise and fall and all the kids wonder around looking for something to do. The sun was setting and it had cooled down a lot. I noticed Saph shivering and scooted closer to her to warm her up.

"Thanks," She said through clenched teeth. I nodded and wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders.

Darren Holt | Jungle

Darren's day had gone from bad to worse. He had fallen out of the sky, been attacked by monkeys and when they had finally found water, been told that it was off-limits because a load of other idiots wanted to bath in it. This could not be tolerated—water was nobody's private property to foul up as they pleased. Their survival possibly depended on getting enough to drink. He would not have it.

"Those bl-bloody cretins!" he snarled, kicking up sand as he walked over to Cassie and the others. Being a prefect, he had always considered such foul-mouthedness below his status, but this was different. "F-fuck them! Yes, fuck!" Once he had gotten his mouth around the words, they felt very good. He kicked up some more sand, feeling a little more cheerful.

"What's up?" asked Cassie as he sat down beside her. Darren related the story of the water to the group, mashing sand between his fists.
"They can't go around stealing rivers!" he finished.
Cassie frowned. "You're right. I think this is going to turn into some sort of power struggle. I don't like this at all."
"Can't we steal the water back?" Damien asked.
"How do you steal a river?" Ezzie snorted.
"Well, they got it right," Darren growled. "Why can't we do it?"
Cassie looked thoughtful. She had taken off the kelp, and some of the burns had turned pink, giving her skin a mottled appearance. Her lips, along with those of everyone else, were stained dark red by the berries. Darren still could not help noting how beautiful her eyes were. "I think we should first try to find a better water source. All rivers lead to the ocean, don't they? So if we walk along the beach, we might avoid this nastiness altogether by finding another to supply us. And if there's only one, we should get to the source and divert it somehow. You know, dig trenches and whatnot, so it flows closer to us and away from them. We have the upper hand, numbers concerned, in any case. We could overwhelm them easily."

Darren felt slightly pop-eyed at this rationalisation. How had he not thought of this himself? This Cassie certainly had something.
"If they keep trying to undermine the survival of the group, we should kill them!" Darren snarled.
"Or drive them off the island," Damien suggested.
"But first," Cassie said, looking slightly alarmed, "we should try to avoid them completely, and think of our own survival. In fact, let's keep together. We should join the others over there."
The sun had gone down and the twilit beach looked idyllic, like something out of an island holiday pamphlet. The group stood and made their way to the shadowy lump that was Peej and Saph, the annoying Australian girl. They carried the wood and metal they had collected, useless as it was for the moment, in case anyone tried to steal that too.
Upon arrival, they found that Saph had fallen asleep in Peej's arms. He was looking slightly sheepish, but motioned to them to sit down and be quiet. The previous conversation was repeated in a whisper and it was agreed upon that they would set out the next morning to find a better water source, by force if necessary.

"I'm just a little worried," Peej breathed, looking slightly nervous at talking to so many people at once. "It's getting real cold out here, and there's gonna be all sorts of wild beasts coming this way if we don't watch out."
"Fire!" hissed Damien. "We really need something to burn this wood with!"
"Don't you, um, rub sticks together?" Ezzie asked, looking dubiously at the driftwood.
Darren scoffed. "That's rubbish. You're supposed to hit stones with metal. Flint and steel, that sort of thing." He looked around hopefully for a rock.
"Isn't there anyone here who smokes?" Cassie asked.
"We're underaged!" Darren hissed indignantly.
"So?"
"You got any dry grass there?" P.J. asked Damien quietly. He took the hatchet and was fiddling with something shiny in his hands.
"You have your phone?" Darren goggled. "Why—"
"No signal," P.J. answered calmly. "It's no use now."
He removed the battery and set it on a flat log. Holding the grass in one hand and the hatchet in the other, he struck the battery with the metal blade. Instantly, as the lithium was exposed to the air, it set off a whistling, hissing plume of smoke. The group, their attention suddenly caught, jerked back slightly. P.J. deftly placed the grass on the battery and soon the first flames were flickering into view.
"Where did you pick up that trick?" Darren asked.
"Chemistry," P.J. murmured without looking up.

Damien added more small sticks and eventually built up to larger logs. A merry fire was soon crackling in the center of the group. Saph had woken up and, blushing, sat up next to P.J., who seemed likewise embarrassed.
The scheme of the next day was repeated to her and she looked approving.
"We can't have them damn well monopolizing the resources of the island," she said. "Let's race them to find the best of everything first. We've already got fire. We'll need to improve our food sources. Spear fishing is our best bet. The ocean is our best friend. And we should get a good grip on the terrain we're facing. I mean, we don't even know this really is an island, though I think it's not likely to be anything else."
The conversation took a lively turn, with talk of building shelters, carving boats and the best way to make a fishing spear.
"We should carry fire with us," Cassie said. "I'm not sure how, though."
"We could find another way to make fire, now that the battery's gone," Ezzie said, eyes narrowed with concentration.

At this stage, Darren's eyelids fell shut, and he knew no more until the morning, with a chorus of birds and the spray of the incoming tide, awoke him.

Saph|Beach

I have taken off my leggings, so I only have the shorts on. They expose a little too much of my legs for my liking, but I'm just going to have to live with that. My shirt is only singed in a few places, but otherwise fine. I tied the hem around my waist so it doesn't fan out in the water. I've also braided my hair, letting it fall over my shoulder, tied with a piece of cloth.
I have made a spear with the scrap metal and sticks collected by the group, and I made P.J. come into the water with me to show him how to spear-fish. At first he was adamant, so I didn’t press. When I made a few spears, and beds of kelp for the fish, he decided to join me. we tied the beds of kelp around our waists and entered the water.
“What’s this one?” P.J. points to a large cod fish as it swims past.
“Cod,” I watch it intently. “Though I don’t know which one it is.”
We continue walking until we reach a shelf of rocks jutting over a slight drop, with a reef swarming with sea-life. I widen my stance and wait, signalling P.J. to be quiet. The small, kelp beds we have trailing behind us bump into my back, and I freeze.
A fish I can’t identify swims toward us, curious to see what stirred up the sand. I wait until it is directly below my spear, and strike. The metal spear-head goes straight through it’s skull, killing it instantly. I smile and pull it to the surface, dropping it onto the kelp bed.
“Like so,” I say with a flourish of hands, and P.J. gapes at me.
“Where did you learn to do that?” He asks incredulously.
“Oh,” I say without looking at him, sapphire blue eyes trained on the water. “Here and there. I’ve had to go bush a few times camping, and I stayed with a tribe of Aboriginals once, before I moved to America.”
P.J. seems confused, and then his face brightens when he spots a large fish moving toward him. I watch as he freezes, not moving, muscles tense. He raises his spear, and then stabs it into the ocean. Unfortunately, he’d missed the fish, and it swims away in fear.
“Better luck next time,” I say sympathetically.
He blushes. “You make it look so easy,” he admits, watching me as I spear another fish.
I drop it onto his bed of kelp. “Well, if it’s any consolation, the first time I went spear-fishing, I fell flat on my arse, and nearly impaled myself in the gut,” he pales, “and everyone laughed at me for days.”
“For nearly killing yourself because you missed a fish?” He barks, shocked.
I smile and spear another fish. “No … I um … I saw the fish and freaked out, slipping over, and … yeah,” I place the fish on the bed of kelp, blushing. “It isn’t easy, fishing like this. But if you want, I can teach you.”
P.J. nods. “I’d like that. It looks cool when you spear a fish,” he admits, and then blushes.
I smile, and we continue to fish. I give P.J. tips every now and then, and he manages to get at least five fish beside my seven. All the fish are large and should be able to feed everyone.
As we wade from the water, movement in the corner of my eye makes me turn my head. A fin breaks the surface of the water, and I stop, blood running cold. P.J. walks on, oblivious, and I make no move to stop him.
Suddenly, a sleek, grey body leaps out of the water gracefully, and then splashes back into the waves. I gape in astonishment. I’ve never been this close to a dolphin before, and it looks like the beautiful creature is swimming toward us.
“P.J.!” I call.
P.J. turns around, and then spots the dolphin as it swims toward us. He wades back, and we watch it do tricks before disappearing. I laugh along with P.J. as more dolphins follow the first one, though the pod doesn’t come as close to us.
“Wow!” P.J. breathes. “They’re so amazing!”
Smiling, I look at P.J. and our eyes meet. He smiles back, and my gaze drops to his lips. I quickly avert my eyes and look into his, blushing slightly. He smiles shyly, blushing also, and I clear my throat.
“We should um … get back. The group will be … will be hungry,” I stammer with a humorous smile.
P.J. nods, trying not to blush. We wade back to the shore, and take the fish over to a small fire Ezzie and Cassie are guarding. They give us both curious glances as we put down the fish.
“I think I’m going to go for a swim,” I say to them. They nod, and I walk away.
After a few seconds, I hear the sound of feet moving in sand, and I know someone is following. When I reach the water, I clear my mind of everything, and dive in, letting the cool water cleanse my body and hair. Now this is what I call a bath!

Faith ¦ Jungle

"I think it's going to rain tonight," I yell up to Elvis and Alex, handing them another palm frond panel. They had surprisingly gotten far.

Elvis took the frond and looked up at the sky, "Maybe, but we thatched the roof with mud, so it shouldn't get in."

I looked around, leaning against the trunk of the tree baring our little clubhouse. I had collected a proper amount of plants and berries to eat for a few days and washed them - after all, we cpuldnt just take them all at once and mess up the balance the island had. There was also some fruit up in the trees, but I'd rather Elvis, who seemed to by monkey-friendly, deal with that and took only from our tree.

"Maybe we need a water conservation system." I said up to them.

"What is it with you and systems." I heard Alex mutter, but chose to ignore him. I was learning that he just liked to make remarks like that that hold no meaning.

"Rain water, I mean." I clarified, "We should save it."

They stopped working for a moment to look at me, and I heard Alex mutter, "That's not a bad idea," but he said louder, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Smiling, I suggested, "Animal skins. Leaf bowls. Hollowed trees. Even in the ground, if we line it. Take your pick."

I looked at our club house, and offered, "We could even collect it on the roof...or have it slid off and in to an area below to collect it. Don't you think?"

P.J.



I watched Saph walk back into the ocean after helping me drop off the fish. I sighed and stuck 3 fish onto a stick. I placed them over my newly made fire and turned them slowly to roast them. A couple others has found a seat around the warm fire. The fish soon turned a gold brown color and now all of the kids still in our group and Saph had returned to my side.

I passed the fish over to her to split them up in equal pieces. I watched her careful hands split them then reach out to hand them out to the kids. I smiled to myself and started making another batch of fish.

"Thanks for taking me fishing." I said to Saph as I passed her another fish to split up.

"It was my pleasure." She replied her blue eyes shinning bright in the fire light.

I finished cooking the last fish and gave it to Saph. Everyone had eaten a good amount by now so it was just that last fish.

"Here," She said handing me half of it.

"You have it, you haven't gotten enough to eat yet." I replied shaking my head. I wasn't hungry anyways.

"You sure?" She asked tilting her head to the left.

I nodded and handed to fish back to her. She shrugged and dug in.

I watched the fire die down slowly till it was just sparks. I sighed and got down on my hands and knees and blew beneath the logs. The sparks flew into the air and the fire perked up again. I sat back and sighed. I flicked my hair out of my eyes and sat back next to Saph. I looked at her scarfing down the fish so I took the time to take off my shirt. I've never been super confident with my body, its not like I thought I was fat or something, I've never really just been into showing off. I threw the old shirt into the sand and poured some water over my head letting it trickle down my back soothing my burns. I let out a sigh and I found Saphs eyes staring at me.

I blushed as her eyes wandered down my stomach and around my arms and back. I felt her fingers reach out and trace the muscle outline down my torso and forearms. I let out breath I didn't know I was holding in and felt her fingers wander away from me.

I slowly lifted an arm and she slid right under it. Her head lent into my neck and her fingers reached up and intertwined with mine. I watched the fire crack and pop as she slowly fell asleep once again on my watch. Her fingers dropped from mine as she fell into her deep slumber and her head slid onto my lap. I hooked an arm under her legs and carried her bridal style over to a empty spot on the beach not far from the fire. I laid down next to Saph and hooked an arm around her waist and snuggled into her back. I kept an eye on the fire as I also found time to sleep.

Alex

They say God's greatest gift to the Humans was fire. In cold times, fire gave them heat, and helped them cook their food. But then fire also burnt them, destroyed their homes and lives. I think God's true gift is water. Everyone needs water. Water works in cycles and never ends. Water is what people truly deserve.

As Alex climbed up the steep hill, it started raining hard. The stones were slippery and the rain pounded Alex in the back, but he did not mind. He had grown up loving water, and working with it if needed.

Earlier in the day, he had split from his group. Temporarily. He would come back to them, obviously. He hadn't thought at first how valuable they would turn out being. He imagined they would be useless and just slow him down. He was wrong. They both had brilliant ideas, and they were good at doing them. They had started working on their "hut" in the trees and the whole water system, which was also a great idea. Then they had also started working on their bows, and they had built one for each person with a piece of wood and a strip of cloth from Alex's shirt, which he had decided to rip. His shirt was a lot more helpful to him that way. It worked as the string of each small bow, a strap to attach the hatchet to his back, and a bandage for some cuts he'd had.

Now Alex was only wearing pants and a bandana on his head, as well as his trekking shoes, which were still pretty intact. The bows were working out fine, not having a very good reach but very powerful. He had already killed a couple of small squirrels, that were attached to his belt.

Him and his group had decided that it couldn't hurt if Alex left for a while so he could scale the mountain and get a bird's-eye-view of the island.

Alex arrived to the top of the mountain, exhausted. He was in the very tip, likely to fall if a small gust of wind pushed him off his feet. He was not afraid. If he died, it would not make any difference. So there was no point in not taking any risks. He had a perfect view of the island, he could see everything if he did a three-sixty turn.

The very edge of the island was all beach, except for an unexplored expanse that made the ocean meet the island in a danger zone of jagged rocks and long death-drops. There were some clearings from the jungle, and Alex could easily distinguish some animals, were they pigs? Or were they boars? He could also see his group of two friends working on their hut in the trees. Then he looked all the way to the beach, were the wreckage still lay. Several groups of people were just standing together, or wandering the beach meaninglessly. A couple lay together in the sand, sleeping. Alex thought he recognized the Australian girl.

They still think they're on a happy holiday. They think that love will keep them alive. They're dreaming and they don't see that soon their little happy dream will become a nightmare. Pathetic.

Next to the couple, a couple of spears lay on the ground next to a fire, and people seemed to be eating something. Alex was guessing it was fish. From the sea.

They don't realize that the fish in the shallows will either be depleted after a while, or will learn to stay away from them. The only reason they could fish those fishes was because the fishes were curious. Soon their will be no fish in the shallows, and they will have to move out further into the sea. They will have to build rafts, but the water is not calm enough there. Either it will destroy their rafts or take them out further to sea. I'm willing to bet that someone will lose their life by going out too far and not being able to come back.

All of this Alex calculated in a moment, and his eyes kept skimming the beach.

There.

A bit apart from all the other groups, there was another group. The group. They were looking to the jungle and talked as they waved their hands angrily towards the direction of Alex's camp.

The legion prepares for war. I'm guessing they think I mean to start a war with them. That's not true. I rather we live in harmony, and even though they will need me and my gang, I don't mean to rule them.

After another quick scan of the island, Alex descended the cliff and went back with his friends. He told them all he had witnessed, as well as the plan that was starting to form in his mind. They would go talk to the beach people, and try to find a way to soothe their anger. The beach people thought there was only one water source. That was wrong. There were several, and Alex was sure there were enough for everyone.

As the three of them walked towards the beach, the rain just intensified. They reached the beach and its habitants, and Alex smiled madly. He had always seen rain as a good sign. Maybe his stay in this killer island wasn't as bad as he had originally thought...