Tide

The Island

Jolono
I woke up, floating. I looked around, saw a decent-sized piece of wood, and dragged Phaedra to it. I took out my backpack, searching for my journal then wrote:

7/17/2028
It's been three days, surviving on saltwater and live fish. When I woke up the first time, I thought we had drowned, but I had seen Phaedra not far from me and held her close, like otters. I only just found wood large enough for 2 people. The sea is harsh and unforgiving. I hope we last...

Phaedra was waking up now. I put the journal back in my backpack.
"Finally, something solid." Phaedra murmured. I looked around seeing something large in the water.
"Hey, what's that?" I asked.
"What's what?" She said, looking in the direction I was pointing. "Probably just some piece of trash." She said, looking around again.

Time Skip - 2 hours later

Phaedra was sleeping. I sighed, looking around for something to do. All of a sudden, I was in the water. I had also fallen asleep, I realized. I had fallen overboard and Phaedra hadn't heard. As I looked down, I saw scales, glistening royal blue. Then, I realized with a start, I wasn't drowning. I swam up to the raft, as soon as his skin touched the wood, the scales melted away. Phaedra, just waking up, looked over the side.
"Jolono! What are you doing in the water? What happened?" I could tell she was worried sick.
"I'm fine, just fell asleep." I said calmly "You know I move around. I'm just surprised I didn't wake up after falling in." Phaedra looked at me suspiciously.
"I'll take it for now," she said. "But not for long, kay?"
"Alright." I looked at the small pile of wood we had. "Let's see if we have enough wood to start a fire." As I reached for the wood, stones, and grass, Phaedra slapped my hand.
"Wait. Think!" When I stared at her blankly, she rolled her eyes. "Our raft is made of wood! If we start a fire, we're treading water again, unless you can get plastic..." Just as she finished, plastic floated by. I lunged for it and I almost missed it, but my fingers felt it and held tight but my forward momentum brought him into the water again and I felt water fill my lungs.
Next thing I knew, Phaedra had pulled me out. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"I'm fine," I answered.
"Looks like a storm is coming," Phaedra commented. "Can you get that fire going soon?"
"Of course," I muttered.

The storm was almost over. It lasted a couple of hours. They had to keep watches to have the fire going. I was just waking Phaedra when I noticed something in the distance. "Phaedra! Wake up! I think I see land!" That got Phaedra up.
"What...?" Then she sat up with a start. "Where?" She asked as she wiped the tiredness from her eyes. I pointed toward a dark smudge on the horizon. "There. At first, I thought it was a cloud, but now I see a small mountain." Phaedra stared at it. Then she switched her gaze to me. "Jolono, do you know what this means?" She glanced at the ocean around them. Then she stared at the island again. "Real food, shelter, supplies, freshwater. We don't have to live on a raft anymore."
As we approached the island, we saw it was much larger than we had previously thought. It was about 3 hours before we made it. I stretched, groaning with pleasure. "Ah. So much better to be on solid ground."
"No kidding." Muttered Phaedra. She picked up 2 stones and a stick almost as long as her. "Do you remember survival camp?" She asked, studying their surroundings.
"Yes, why?" I said.
"Because it is in situations like this one that mom and dad..." Her voice cracked, and she tried again. "That mom and dad sent us to that camp. So we could survive in this savage world." She stooped down and grabbed some seaweed and went to a part of the beach that was dry.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Making a spear. We might need it, say if a bear comes along." A beefy arm came around me, holding my mouth closed. I felt something cool press against my neck. Phaedra looked up and froze. For about 30 seconds straight, she just stared at him. "Dad?" She whispered so softly, I thought the man might not hear. He let go of me slowly and fell to his knees. His knife dropped from his hand, and he whispered back. "No, it can't be. Jolono? Phaedra?"
He hadn't even finished the sentence when Phaedra launched herself at him, knocking him over completely. Suddenly a commotion was everywhere as other men and women came out of the bushes. "No! It's ok!" Rehan yelled over the noise. "These are my children!"
Everything went quiet. "Are you sure? I mean, the boy has your facial features, and the girl has your eyes, but are you completely sure?" A woman with dark red hair, a little darker than Phaedra's, asked.
"I have never been more sure in my life." My father commented. "Let's go back to camp."