Castaways

16::Hannah Eat the Lobster

October 20 3:12 PM

I practically held my breath as the group of people walked by, guns and all. Totally unnecessary to not breathe, but it felt fit for the moment. The men were huge, I noticed, and their arm muscles were as big as my head! The first guy was the only one I paid attention to, because he was talking to Crazy Lady and he had the most scary gun. He was bald, with thin blonde eyebrows and a hue jaw. Clad in a suite and fancy black dress shoes, the gun made him seem like James Bond, only the doppelgänger. He towered over Crazy Lady who towers over me, and that just seemed to add to the scary effect that this man can snap me in half like a tooth pick.

As soon as they had passed, I counted to twenty and stood up, running in the direction they came from and I didn't look back. It was nice to be able to run with clothes on, but the heat was inevitably there and so was my lack of hydration. I don't remember the last time I drank water or ate, but that was number two on my To Do List. First priority is to get to Andrew.

I broke free of the forest an out into the open sand, noticing the low tide and overcast sky. The wind snapped my knotted hair back and forth, and I figured it was about time I find myself a hairbrush of some sort. Now number three in my list.

I wasn't sure which way Andrew was, either left or right, but my gut told me right so I went. I ran on the hot sand, my body flapping around due to the uneven surface, and I could feel the map in my back pocket, almost as of it were burning me. Whatever was happening on this island, that map is the key.

I was ready to collapse by the time I was two-thirds around the island. Obviously my gut was wrong, and it would have been easier to just turn left and run for five minutes rather than go right for thirty minutes. But nonetheless, I saw him just up ahead of me and tossed the idea of passing out aside in my brain.

"Andrew!" I shouted, waving my arms. "Andrew!"

He was shirtless, his overgrown hair a flop of dark brown on his head and a pair of dark khaki shorts hung on his hips. He was staring at me in shock as I ran towards him. He was standing up, shielding his eyes from the brutal UV rays as he mumbled something that I obviously couldn't hear. After a movement passed he yelled, "Hannah! Look out for-"

But it was too late.

I completely forgot about the giant hole he had dug for us, and by the time I remembered i was already in mid air falling face first into the sand. My right foot connected with the ground painfully as my torso hit the edge of the hole. The air in my lungs was literally knocked out, and I fell back roughly against the sandy wall of the hole. My eyes were shut tight from the sand inside them, and I coughed and spat multiple times. My head had felt very dizzy, like those times where you get up so fast and you're momentarily blind.

I started laughing after I did a mental check to make sure I was okay. It was so typical of me to screw up or do something embarrassing, and running right into a big hole was certainly embarrassing. How could I not laugh at myself? It lightens the mood.

Next thing I know Andrew is jumping in the hole dramatically, as if this is Aquamarine and I had just fallen off my bike.

"Holy smokes Hannah, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you laughing?" Andrew asked me, grabbing my face with his soft yet calloused hands and checking me for injuries. He crouched down in the sand and looked me dead in the eyes. His face seemed to have gotten tanner, and I noticed that his bottom lip was split and the top of his nose was peeling slightly.

"I fell in a hole," is all I said before I giggled again. "I've always wanted to be Alice."

He rolled his eyes and helped me up, but I became light-headed and leaned into him for support. "Hannah I'm so sorry," he began, "I should have never accused you of being selfish. If anyone, I am. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why do you look so tired? I told you that you need to start working out. As soon as we get back-"