Young Writers Society

"Mission accomplished," Jack repeated back with a smile, slowly setting Moira back on the ground before stepping off the crate. He looked off to where the coconuts fell. Maybe if they fell on concrete, it would have cracked. But the sand cushioned the impact and it didn't seem to even make a dent on the hard exterior shell.

He walked over to it and picked it up, lightly shaking it to feel and hear the liquid trapped inside. His lips and tongue were chapped dry, but he was practically salivating of the thought of the sweet coconut juice that could also provide a decent amount of calories.

"I don't suppose you remember how to crack one of these open from your class?" he asked, looking back at Moira. "I'm thinking we need tools, or at least something hard to smash it against. Perhaps a rock..." He trailed off, glancing around.

Week 8 -- Post 4 -- 150 words

Eliza stood there blinking for a few seconds making Susan question whether she'd understood a word that she had said. She always seemed to talk way too fast.

"Well, I think we should look for a tarp or something first before we try the flamingo float," she said. Eliza lowered herself to the ground.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," said Susan," we don't want to lose that float if we can help it."

"I'll start digging the hole," said Eliza, burying her fingers in the sand. "One question, though: how do I make that funnel thing out of the twigs?"

"Uhh...well there's this angle thing you have to do and this formation you need to place things in, its a little complicated to just narrate, lemme just go get some twigs and once we start building it I'll explain it properly. So you okay with that, I'll get the twigs, you dig the hole?"

Week 8 --- Post 1/5 --- 155 words

Moira listened to Jack's question.

She tried to think. She remembered the beach. The guide. His cargo shorts, light blue button down, and his thick Caribbean accent.

"Call me Fred," he'd said as he had shaken everyone's hand and told them to stand around him in a semi-circle.

They'd been in the center, Moira standing with Anya to her left and Jill to her right and the other four people in the group at their side.

She remembered Fred cracking open the coconut, telling them all the different uses, and then...

Nothing.

Coconut milk this way, coconut water that way, shredded coconut the other way... then he'd allowed everyone to have a taste.

"I don't remember," Moira said sheepishly. "But something to smash it with sounds good." She felt so utterly useless right now. "We should be careful because we don't want to ruin these. Where's google when you need it?"

Week 8 -- Post 5 -- 132 words

Eliza saluted Susan.

"Aye, aye, captain... and thanks," she said, crossing her good leg under her. As Susan went to collect twigs, Eliza busied herself with digging the hole. The tedious task was relaxing, and she found herself childishly scooping the sand up and letting it fall through her fingers.

It was a small sense of normalcy in this strange time they were in. As the hole got deeper, Eliza wondered if her parents knew. If there were any other survivors, they could have been on lifeboats and picked up by a passing ship. The captain must have sent an emergency distress call or something.

Her parents probably thought she was dead. Eliza had never envisioned her own funeral before, but she could see everything as if it was right in front of her.

Eliza couldn't live on this island for the rest of her life.

When Susan returned, Eliza finished digging the hole, her fingers caked with sand.

Week 8-- Post 2/5-- 159 words

"Right," Jack said with a strained laugh. Any kind of resource to crack open these coconuts would be useful. In fact, this was the first time he actually even held a coconut. The UK wasn't exactly close to the tropics, so it wasn't like they were regularly stocked in a grocery store.

He firmly grasped a coconut and started heading towards the rocky part of the beach. "Let's try smashing it with a rock, then," he said to Moira, beckoning for her to follow. In the distance, he could see Eliza and Susan talking and scavenging -- and, er, digging? -- but he was determined to at least crack these coconuts open before returning to them.

They reached a rocky area and he found one in particular with a jagged surface. Jack lifted his arms up in the air, holding the coconut. "Stay back," he warned Moira as his arms flew down, smacking the coconut on the rock.

But nothing happened.

He did it again, and again, and again, each time letting out a cackling noise, but still, the shell would not crack.

He was starting to suspect that it was taking more energy to open this damn thing than it was worth. "Sure you don't remember anything?" he said to Moira nervously.

Week 8 -- Post 5 -- 212 words

Eliza saluted Susan.

Susan returned the salute with a brilliant smile. She hadn't felt such a camaraderie with anyone other than her sisters in a long time.

"Aye, aye, captain... and thanks," said Eliza.

"No problem," replied Susan and turned to head back into the woods.

She went a bit deeper looking for fresh branches and twigs that were hopefully not covered in ants and other creatures. It wasn't a very hard task because there seemed to be a piles of twigs everywhere and it was just a matter of finding a few that were relatively the same size which would make their job easier.

Soon she'd managed to find a decent amount that would hopefully be enough and she made her way back. Eliza had already finished digging the hole.

Week 8 --- Post 2/5 --- 131 words

She was lying exactly where she'd left her, the only difference being that she looked a bit more relaxed and her fingers were absolutely caked with sand.

"Hey, how's that hole going?" asked Susan, " I think I find enough twigs. So um, I should probably go look for a tarp or something. You think there'd be something like that out there? I can't think of a place where a tarp like that would come from, unless it was a cover for one of the lifeboats or something. Or maybe in a passenger's luggage for some reason." Susan let out a small laugh and shrugged. "You got any thoughts on where a tarp might be on a cruise ship; so that I can be on the lookout for something specific."

Week 8 --- Post 3/5 --- 129 words

"You got any thoughts on where a tarp might be on a cruise ship; so that I can be on the lookout for something specific," asked Susan, setting the twigs down in front of Eliza.

Eliza smiled at her in gratitude and rubbed her cheek. "I'm not sure where a tarp might be on a ship," she said slowly, "and it might have gotten torn up during the storm."

Eliza spotted Jack and Moira up ahead, trying to do something with a coconut they found. "However, I think a tarp could be tangled up somewhere on the rocks or on the beach. Probably not on this part of the island, since we could've seen it."

Eliza bit her lip. "Sorry, I'm probably not much help." She started setting up the twigs in the position that Susan had wanted them in.

Week 8-- Post 3/5-- 140 words

Eliza smiled at her and rubbed her cheek. "I'm not sure where a tarp might be on a ship," she said slowly, "and it might have gotten torn up during the storm." She went on to talk about how a tarp could have flown off the ship and got tangled somewhere in the rocks around the island.

Eliza bit her lip. "Sorry, I'm probably not much help."

Susan smiled. "Hey, that's alright. I'll try to find something. You've helped me so many times already, helped all of us. I'll just walk along the beach a bit and see if I can spot anything. We'll just take it as it comes. Who knows, we might just end up having to use that silly pink flamingo thing."

Week 8 --- Post 4/5 --- 125 words

Susan smiled. "Hey, that's alright. I'll try to find something. You've helped me so many times already, helped all of us. I'll just walk along the beach a bit and see if I can spot anything. We'll just take it as it comes. Who knows, we might just end up having to use that silly pink flamingo thing."

Eliza smiled back at her. "We just might," she said chuckling. She raised her arm to stretch it, but she accidentally knocked down the sticks. Eliza stared at it. "Dang it! Okay, I'll start over and finish setting up the solar still and wait for Jack and Moira to come over. Good luck."

Week 8-- Post 4/5-- 111 words

"We just might," she said chuckling. She raised her arm but she accidentally knocked down the sticks. Eliza stared at it. "Dang it! Okay, I'll start over and finish setting up the solar still and wait for Jack and Moira to come over. Good luck."

"Thanks," said Susan, "I will be back shortly, hopefully not empty handed." She smiled. "Good Luck with those sticks."

Susan wandered across the beach, scanning the area around them, hoping she wasn't going to accidentally run into a dead body. There didn't seem to be as many bodies as there had been yesterday, probably washed here and there by the tide. She made for the rocky area of the beach like Eliza had suggested, keeping a sharp eye out for anything that looked like a tarp.

Week 8 --- Post 5/5 --- 131 words

"Thanks," said Susan, "I will be back shortly, hopefully not empty-handed." She smiled. "Good luck with those sticks."

"Thanks," said Eliza, chuckling. She watched Susan head toward the rocks, scanning the ground for a tarp. With a sigh, Eliza turned back to her failed sticks. "Okay, let's try this one more time." She rubbed her hands together.

]As she set up the sticks again, Eliza hummed to herself. It was tricky work, seeing as she had never done this before, but she followed Susan's instruction the best she could. Out of the corner of her eye, Eliza spotted something small and moving.

"Oh, hello, little crab," she said, holding the last stick. "Have you come to admire my work?"

The crab just stared at her, or so she thought it was. She didn't think crabs could tilt their heads. The creature moved toward the hole, but Eliza gently pushed it away with her walking stick, or staff, as she decided to call it.

"Sorry, buddy, but I don't want to do this again," she said. The crab, unbothered, walked away. Eliza added the last stick, and she leaned back.

"All done."

Week 8-- Post 5/5-- 191 words

Moira closed her eyes and tried to think. They didn't have google on the island, but she was sure that she could remember.

And then, she did, remembering Fred with one hand on the coconut and a hammer in the other.

First, he'd gotten out the water with a screwdriver.

"We need tools," she said. "A screwdriver and a hammer."

Obviously, they didn't have either of those things, but maybe...

It would mean having to go back to the wreckage. Unless the girls knew how to to make tools. But wasn't the redhead an engineer?

Maybe making such things would be easy for her.

"He got out all the water with a screwdriver, and he tapped it with a hammer until it cracked. And then..." She trailed off. "I think we're going to be on our own as far as figuring out what to do with it. But I could probably figure out how to make something if you give me time." She laughed nervously. "I'm afraid I've never been much of a survivalist."

Week 9 -- Post 1 -- 171 words

Jack sighed. They would need tools. Of course they did. He would love to have his tool box, among other things, here on this island. If someone were to ask him, "What two things would you bring if you were stranded on a desert island?" then the answer would probably be his wife and toolbox.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of bringing whatever he wanted to this island.

"That's okay," he said to Moira through a silent sigh. "See if you can find something, then. I'll stay here and try to figure this out."

He nodded at her before she slinked away, off to find whatever tools. He glanced back and saw Eliza and Susan in the distance. He didn't want to let them down.

Week 9 -- Post 1 -- 126 words

As Moira walked away, Jack thought of a plan. Instead of smashing the coconuts on the ground, what if he smashed the rock on the coconut? He was no scientist or engineer, but he certainly knew the power of gravity.

Jack set the coconut between a crevice on two rocks, careful not to slip on the wet surface of the rocks. When he first woke up on the island, he had one shoe. Since then, he's been going barefoot. He made a mental reminder to add 'shoes' on a list of items they needed to forage, but first -- water. They desperately needed water.

After setting the coconut still on the rock, Jack looked around and found a dense rock about three times his head. He sauntered over to it and picked it up with a grunt.

This will do.

Week 9 -- Post 2 -- 140 words