Tanner's P.O.V.
Three days we've been stranded in this ocean. Three days we've been floating along aimlessly on these never ending waves. Three days we've been lost, hungry, hurting, and scarred. Three days I've been stuck with this girl, Megan. But on the bright side of it all, I managed to gather enough stuff to make a fishing rod, a bandage kit, and a lil cup thing, so at least I'm not dead! Although, it's hard to not want to be. Ever since we got stranded out here I've been striving for survival. All Megan is worried about is finding other humans. But I'm not. I mean, I love people, but it's hard enough taking care of us two. I couldn't imagine helping in a group of more than six! She doesn't seem to be able to catch that though.
"Tanner!"
I rubbed my dreary eyes and looked behind me. Megan of course.
"Tanner, we need more food! We only have six fish left! That's what, three each? One for each meal of today, but what about tomorrow? We also need to find some sort of holder device for these fish. They stay alive for a long time, you know!"
I whimpered, then sat up. We were both in a kayak. A kayak barely big enough for everything we had and needed. It had enough room for me to be in the back and her up front, enough room for a small fishing rod to lay beside our legs, enough room for a few fish to lay around, and attached to the kayak was a little storage. Oh yes, and of course, we were forced to make room for the ors. It was tight.
"Tanner! Are you even listening to me?"
Megan's nagging went on and on and on. It was obnoxious! I mumbled a reply under my breath, then grabbed my fishing rod. The thick bamboo made a nice rod, while a fishing line we'd found in the kayak worked just fine. The kayak also had a few hooks in it, so that worked out well for us.
I grabbed a piece of salmon and attached it to my hook. The hook made a small 'bloop' when it fell into the water. Then I got to sit there. I felt like a prune by this point. The sun was beating down on my tanned skin, burning what it could, while the waves tried to keep me cooled off. Treacherous is the word I'd use to describe it all. I was just glad that it wasn't raining.
For what I'd guess was three long hours, I sat there with my hook in the water. I had only caught five measly fish. I didn't want to fish anymore, so I started to put my fishing rod away. Megan noticed me putting my fishing rod away with only a few fish in the kayak. Oh boy.
She scowled at me, "Seriously?"
I sighed, "What this time, Megan?"
"Six fish? That's the best you could do after like, oh I dunno, three or four hours? That's pathetic!"
"Megan, I am trying my best. I don't have proper bait, I can only catch the fish that care for their own, and it's hard when we are constantly being tossed around by waves."
"You could at least try a new bait or something."
I gently set my pole down, then rubbed my tired eyes. I was not in the mood to fight with a woman, more less Megan.
"Forgive me, Ms. Megan, but I don't have a different type of bait. If I did, I'd be happy to try it out."
Megan just rolled her eyes, grabbed one of the not-so-fresh fish, and started eating. I looked off the side of our kayak, my blurred out reflection looking back at me. I was tired. No, not tired, exhausted. I hadn't slept since this whole thing started. I would just row for hours while Megan got her sleep. I don't even know why she needed sleep. She didn't do much anyway. After all, I'm the one who'd row, fish, row some more, get nagged at, and then row even more. She didn't do anything! But yet, I'm not going to complain. At the least, not to her.
I secured my fishing rod in it's place, then grabbed one of the ors. I left the other one in its spot. That other or had yet to be used. The waves decided to be extremely choppy. That made it terribly hard to paddle. I'm not used to having to work so hard to paddle. When I was about sixteen, I'd paddle boat and kayak everyday for hours without end! Even as I got older, which I'm now twenty one, it wasn't that hard. But right at this moment, my muscles were crying out for mercy.
Megan started nagging me again about how I needed to row faster, and how I needed to catch more fish before we die of starvation. Personally, I think that the few fish we had could last us a day or two. She didn't. She also wanted me to find land and said that there is probably land to the east. I shrugged and paddled to the east. But she didn't stop talking.
I wiped some salt water from my face, then looked at her as she nagged. Her curly, light brown hair bounced around as she flopped her head back and fourth. I could also tell she had a sunburn on her lower arms. I didn't really think about sunburns. I'm pretty tan and don't burn easily, but Megan had fair skin that could easily burn in this sunlight. Too bad we didn't have sunscreen nor an alternative.
"Also Tanner, keep your eyes open for any survivors. You never know who all survived that crash. And maybe they can help us. Like get us food! We need more food!"
"Then why don't you do us both a favour and try fishing. I can show you how if you'd like."
"Me? Fishing? Heck no! You can keep dreaming, but I am never, ever going to try fishing! Ever!"
"It's not that bad."
"Not that bad? You stab small, alive worms or bait onto a spear shaped as a hook, where you drop the bait down into the water, so if it isn't dead yet, it will drown, and once it's down there, you sit for hours in the heat, only to catch a measly, little fish! I don't know about you, but that's not my version of not-so-bad!"
"Well, hen you put it that way, it does sound pretty bad. But that's just the pessimist way. I like to think of it as sticking a piece of meat onto a hook, dropping it into the water, then sitting there, absorbing the warm sun as I wait and relax, hoping for a fish to catch onto my hook!"
"That doesn't sound to glamourise either."
"We are stuck in the middle of the ocean, on a kayak, with no land in sight nor a way of knowing where we are, and you think that fishing isn't glamourise? Nothing out here is considerably glamourise."
She just let out a small scoff, rolled her eyes, and mumbled the words, "whatever!"
This was not how I envisioned spending my summer. Especially not the first week of it! I continued paddling East, slightly pleased at the fact Megan had finally shut her mouth. No offence to the girl, but she needed to contain herself. My thoughts were interrupted by Megan's loud shouting.
"Tanner? Is that what I think it is?"
I looked off to where she was pointing. I could see someone off in the distance. My jaw dropped.
"Holy crud."
