Young Writers Society

Moira, on the other hand, hadn't quite proved herself to be a survivalist exactly. The only thing she'd demonstrated was that she could sing really well which was certainly not a bad thing but unless they were stuck in a fantasy island where they would need to sing a tree into a boat, that wasn't going to help them much. Susan then immediately proceeded to feel bad for thinking that about Moira.

Judging by the look that had been on her face earlier, she'd definitely lost someone too, and it wasn't like she'd been any more helpless than Susan herself had been. Besides, she was an adult. She probably knew how to do things like cook and sew, wheras Susan herself could just about boil water. She was probably only seeing her in such a bad light because of her snappish comment to Eliza earlier.

Thinking about such things didn't seem to getting her any closer to sleep so Susan closed her eyes and tried to get her mind to stop racing. Eventually she fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. It had been a long day.

Week 6 --- Post 5.4/5 --- 186 words

Susan stirred in her sleep. She blinked several times as the world slowly came into focus. She had somehow managed to actually nod off that night, despite the crazy thoughts running through her head. I was probably just exhausted from the day. It was quite a crazy afternoon. She heard the sounds of light whispering. Someone else must have woken up already, or possibly everyone else. Susan wasn't exactly known for being a morning person. She lay there for a bit, not quite wanting to get up. She'd somehow rolled around enough that she was in a fairly comfortable position and she didn't want to get up just yet. She closed her eyes in case someone peeked around to check if she was awake.

Week 6 --- Post 5.5/5 --- 125 words

The sound of the waves lapped into Eliza's mind as she slowly woke up. Her eyes were still closed, and her mind was still sleepy.

How much longer until we get to shore? she thought. Eliza heard light whispering behind her. That would be Martha. Any minute now she would poke me.

Not wanting to be attacked, Eliza opened her eyes... and found herself face to face with a crab.

"Yeugh," she muttered, drawing herself up. The crab stared at her then scuttled into the bushes.

Eliza rubbed her eyes, wondering why she had been sleeping on the sand.

"Oh," she said, as the memories resurfaced. She twisted her ankle, survived the sinking, she was spooked by a ghost, and Martha was buried across the island. Pins and needles prickled her foot, and her foot throbbed with new pain.

Eliza drew in a sharp breath and gingerly rubbed her foot. "Shouldn't have slept on it," she muttered.

Jack was getting coconuts, and she watched him jump up and try to grab them.

Eliza snickered at the sight, still bitter about last night's events, but she had to let it go. Don't fight, she reminded herself.

A fresh wave of pain throbbed, clouding her mind, so Eliza laid down on her back, taking deep breaths.

She'll find something to do... after she could think clearly again.

Week 7-- Post 1/5-- 230 words

Susan heard someone muttering near her followed by heavy breathing. It sounded suspiciously like Eliza and it sounded almost pained. Susan took a deep breath of her own. She'd been lying their on her side, awake but inactive for long enough. She slowly turned around to see what was going on. Susan could see Eliza on her back, looking like something was definitely paining her. Maybe its the foot. She did do so much with it yesterday, maybe its all caught up to her finally. Deciding she might as well get up and try to help her, Susan sat up. She quickly crawled over to Eliza and knelt by her side, giving her a smile.

"Is your leg bothering you?" she asked, "you don't look too good."

Week 7 --- Post 1/5 --- 128 words

"Is your leg bothering you?" asked Susan, kneeling beside her. "You don't look too good."

Eliza opened her eyes. "Yes, it hurts like hell!" She groaned and propped herself on her elbows until she was sitting all the way up. Eliza delicately massaged her leg.

"Of all the times to get a twisted ankle," she muttered. She sighed as the pain slowly went away. Eliza licked her dry, cracked lips, finally noticing how parched she was.

"I haven't drunk any water all day," she said, rubbing the sleep from her face. "Hope Jack can get those coconuts soon."

Eliza turned around and grabbed her walking stick. "We'll need to figure out where and how to find fresh water and food."

Week 7-- Post 2/5-- 122 words

Eliza opened her eyes.

"Yes, it hurts like hell!" she groaned. She propped herself up on her elbows and struggled to her feet. Susan almost moved to help her but before she could convince herself to commit it, Eliza was already up and massaging her leg.

She muttered something to herself, then licked her lips. Susan realized just how dry her own throat was. They would have to find a way to get some water even though ironically they were literally surrounded by it. Salt water, salt water, how would they drink that?

"I haven't drunk any water all day," said Eliza, rubbing her eyes, "Hope Jack can get those coconuts soon."

Susan nodded vaguely, her mind already elsewhere. Maybe there was a way she could actually be useful.

Week 7 --- Post 2.1/5 --- 129 words

Eliza turned around and grabbed her walking stick. "We'll need to figure out where and how to find fresh water and food."

Susan nodded slowly again. She was getting a faint recollection of an old project she'd looked at during a science fair.

"I think we can use the water that we have," she said, pointing towards the ocean, peeking from around the trees. "I mean I'm not suggesting that we drink the salt water, that would be a very bad idea because not only does saltwater taste horrible, its also horribly bad for you because the salt can draw water out of your cells and cause them to get all shriveled up and make you even more thirsty and oh my god, I'm sorry, I just went on a bit of a roll there."

Week 7 --- Post 2.2/5 --- 135 words

Susan smiled sheepishly at Eliza, hoping that she hadn't just made her want to run away from her. She somehow never seemed to be able to stop herself when she got narrating something to do with the subjects she loved. She shook her head.

"Anyway, so what I was trying to say is that we somehow find a way to use all that free saltwater out there and put it to good use," said Susan, " I mean we could probably do a lot with coconuts if we can pluck a decent number of them but it takes a lot of effort to peel that and crack it open so I don't think we should just rely on that, it's so much work for not that much water."

Week 7 --- Post 2.3/5 --- 127 words

"So you know we should come up with something else to help us get a little more water," said Susan, "and I think some way of getting that ocean water would be the easiest way, and obviously we'll have to get rid of the salt and the dirt in it and the...." Susan trailed off as she realized this water was quite possibly contaminated from the dead bodies as well. A shudder ran through her at that thought. There was no way something as violent as a shipwreck was not going to leave blood in the water.

She dead her best to forget about that and focus on the idea that was now starting to surface finally. It wasn't going to be easy to do on an deserted island but it was worth a shot.

Week 7 --- Post 2.4/5 --- 135 words

"So anyway like I was saying, there's a lot of stuff in that water, and the only way that we're going to be able to drink that water is if we can distill it," said Susan, and for that. She walked a few steps and turned as if she was about to announce the main point in a business pitch meeting.

"So, umm...yeah we need to think of a way to do that, if we pull that off properly, we'll have all the water that we could want, well...sort of, distillation is kind of slow even when you have like proper lab equipment, and we'll obviously have to just use the sun so might be a day or so before we get water but then after that." She did a quick flourish with her hand.

Week 7 --- Post 2.5/5 --- 135 words

"Alright, sorry if I rambled a bit there, I just wanted to explain why we had to do this," said Susan, "because this might take us like half the day to properly set up. If I can even remember the full setup." Susan murmured the last part under her breath. Before Eliza could ask about that, Susan continued.

"So anyway, I was thinking we should build this device that's called a solar sill, nope solar still, that name also gets me somehow, weird right...anyway this thing,..is aaa...umm...condensation trap, moisture trap, something along those lines and its used to well distill stuff using the sun which is exactly what we need. It is kinda complicated to build but hopefully we can make it work somehow."

Week 7 --- Post 2.6/5 --- 126 words

"Anyway, so that's what this whole speech was leading up to," said Susan, letting out a nervous laugh. Hopefully, Eliza wasn't mad. At least she hadn't tried to stop her speaking, slapped her or run away yet. Those were all good signs. She walked back towards Eliza, she'd somehow managed to end up going quite the distance with how excited she was getting for this. Hopefully Eliza was going to say yes and help her out. There was absolutely no way that she was going to be able to do this alone.

Susan took a deep breath. "So, what do you say. Should we go for it? Its fine if you haven't heard of this before, I think I can remember the basic structure pretty well. We just need to source the right stuff from this forest and the wreckage."

Week 7 --- Post 2.7/5 --- 140 words

Eliza gaped at Susan. It seemed like she hadn't stopped her breath at all.

"I've never heard so much under one minute before," said Eliza. "And, no, I've never heard of a solar still before."

Eliza looked down and dusted off some sand. She had been thinking of boiling the water to kill off bacteria, but they didn't have any pots. Susan's idea could work, though. Making up her mind, then she looked back at Susan, smiling widely.

"Susan, that is absolutely brilliant!" said Eliza. "We should totally go for it!"

In her excitement, Eliza made a move to get up, but pain laced up her leg.

"Ow,ow," she muttered, settling back down. "Give me a minute, and I'll be up in no time at all."

Eliza licked her lips again. "So, Susan, what should we do?"

Week 7-- Post 3/5-- 138 words

Eliza's mouth was open as she stared at Susan.

"I've never heard so much under one minute before," said Eliza. "And, no, I've never heard of a solar still before."

Susan smiled and released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Eliza was not mad. She smiled at Eliza who looked like she was doing some internal debating. After a few seconds, Eliza looked back at Susan, smiling widely. That was a good sign.

"Susan, that is absolutely brilliant!" said Eliza. "We should totally go for it!"

Eliza made a move to get up, but she sat back down suddenly, looking in pain.

"Ow,ow," she muttered, "Give me a minute, and I'll be up in no time at all."

She looked up again after a few seconds. "So, Susan, what should we do?"

"Let's start by making our way towards the beach," said Susan, offering a hand. "I'll do most of the walking I think. Even with that walking stick, you don't want to make your leg worse."

Week 7 --- Post 3/5 --- 170 words

"Let's start by making our way towards the beach," said Susan, offering a hand. "I'll do most of the walking I think. Even with that walking stick, you don't want to make your leg worse."

Eliza silently agreed, grasping Susan's hand. She grunted as Susan hoisted her up, putting on hand around her waist. Eliza slung her arm over Susan's shoulders as she held her walking stick in the other hand.

"We better tell the others," she muttered. Eliza waved to Jack and Moira. Raising her voice, she said, "We're going to build a solar still. See you in a bit."

She gestured to the beach, and she and Susan headed down there.

They walked slowly, stepping over tangled vines and rocks. Feeling the silence get to her, Eliza asked, "So, where did you find the idea to build this?"

Week 7-- Post 4/5-- 140 words