Lost

Chapter 2, Dawn

~Small blood warning~

What was the saying again? Calm before the storm? No... this, this is the storm before the hurricane. There is no calm, there was never calm. 

The ocean waves lapped hungrily at the shore, just out of reach of a figure stretched out in the sand. The sun had risen high in the sky, and clouds drifted by lazily- and as the day wore on, nothing stirred. Nothing dared make noise, not with a strange creature on their shores. Dark hair was matted and dark with blood, covering up the freckled face half-submerged in sand. Sharp blue eyes blinked open, and the girl sat there for a few moments. 

Wait, why we're they on a beach?

Pushing themself up slowly, muscles screaming in protest the girl eyed their surroundings. Ahead, trees swayed gently in the breeze, dew sparkling amongst the fragile leaves. Two trees leaned against each other for support, and the girl blinked, it reminded them of an elderly couple after years of happy marriage. Behind them the deep rolling blue stretched well beyond the horizon, the faint call of seabirds alight in the air. 

They attempted to recall what happened, desperate- they couldn't remember. What happened? Why were they here, who.. who are they? 

A heavy sigh, and they pushed themself to their feet, a sharp pain springing through their leg as they fell back to the sand with a thump. They groaned softly, grabbing a handful of sand, and tossing it somewhere. Because damnit their leg hurts. They pushed themself up again, steeling their nerves. Something caught their eye, a bright red backpack with black edges was hanging loosely on a branch, was that theirs?

They edged towards it slowly yet surely, keeping as much pressure off their leg as they could. It wasn't broken, but it still hurt. They reached up, looping the backpack off the branch and brought it down, opening the latch to peer inside. Some food, two water bottles, a notebook, a few pens and pencils, and a multitude of books were stored inside. The bag was wet, and the books and notebook were damaged, so it would be hard to even read what was written inside anyways.

Their stomach growled loudly, and they grabbed the bag holding a half-eaten sandwich, quickly downing it with a gulp of water. Their thoughts paused, reminding them they would need to save the water. Nodding an affirmative to no one, they closed the latch of the bag and looped it around their shoulder, staring further into the woods. 

A low fog covered the ground, and nothing made a noise, it was weird. Like they were on some sort of alien planet and the only living breathing creature was themself. Another heavy sigh, and they stepped back towards the warm sunlight, deciding to not dare the creepy forest, and rather chose to walk along the beach. Occasionally they found a few pieces of driftwood and tucked it under their arm- it could be useful.

The wind carried the fresh smell of salt, ruffling through their knotted hair. The sting felt hot against the cuts on their face, and they raised a hand to wipe away the dried blood. They forgot about that.

With the wind carried something new, yet familiar. Smoke. They raised their eyes, finally catching the faint rise of the thick black smoke in the distance. Brows furrowed, the girl decided to investigate, hoping it could be some sort of wreckage. If it was, they could salvage any food or what not, maybe even find a working phone.

Yeah no, that last one was just hopeful wishing. 

They neared the site, the smell of the smoke much stronger now. They paused, coughing and let their eyes trail over the area. Not a wreckage of some sorts, but defiantly a wreck. Blades of grass shriveled away, heavy ash settling around their feet. Burnt trees fallen to the grounds, a few flickering flames still alive, reaching weakly towards the sky, as if praying to some sort of God to give them more to devour, to scorch. 

They stomped out an ember near them and picked through the destruction. It was hard to breathe, and soot clung to their ragged clothes. It wasn't long till they reached a point where they had to turn back, the wildfire had covered to much area for them to explore, and they couldn't do anything in the heavy smoke. 

They observed the area around them they hadn't been burned away, ultimatly decided to set up camp here for the night, as the sky had been turning a red gold as the sun melted into the sea on the horizon. 

They used some of the driftwood and a variety of other things they found while exploring the edges of the fire and began to strike rocks against each other. Soon enough they had a small fire going, lighting the cold dark around them. 

The girl had cleared away any debris near the fire, and sat down, staring into the heart of the small flame. They were so tired, and for what? They woke up on an unknown island, and they couldn't even remember their own name, let alone what happened. 

Sleep betrayed them, as their eyes grew heavy and they leaned over, using their backpack as a makeshift pillow. They would worry tomorrow, when they woke up. For now, they were tired.

Its sleep time.

~897 words~ Woo! Most of these chapters will be anywhere from 750-2k words, and MAYBE if I feel like it, I'll give y'all a little extra.

Hope you've enjoyed chapter 2! I've had a lot of fun writing this so far, and I'm looking forward to continuing this. I'm kinda playing around with a new style of writing, so I'm looking for feedback on if you like it or nah, and I hope you continue to read this!