Survive

One

   Darkness surrounded me. I couldn't see my hand trembling not even an inch in front of my face. My senses were completely shot. I felt nothingness, numbness even. Where was I? Was this what it felt like to die? The last I remember was a searing pain in my arm, and that was after...after....the wreck. At least, I think it was a wreck. It wasn't our fault, that much I recall. Mason was in charge of...something, and Cole, he was supposed to be in charge of food. Food. I'm so hungry. I don't remember how long it's been...
   I woke up the next day on the sand, next to the crashing waves of the ocean.  The smell of the salty sea air filled the surrounding shore. Close by to the campsite lay a jungle of entwined branches and drunken trees that hunch over each other in an eternal embrace. Occasionally a caw or murmur would arise from the canopy and raise a somewhat alarm from the three of us. I rubbed my eyes to clear the sand and looked around. Cole and Mason were still sleeping, more than likely for another few hours or so. Trudging to the ocean, I walked far enough out to where I was at my shoulders in ocean. A cold rush ran through all my nerves and shocked my body awake as I submerged myself. I love the feel of the water. The way it just flows with me, like it feels the way I do. It's freedom and the possibility of anything, all right there by camp. I would guess an hour went by, so I swam back to camp and started the fire. Waiting for the boys to wake up, I poked aimlessly at the flames, watching them dance around and whisking away. Finally Cole started to stir and awoke.
"Well good morning Sleeping Beauty, guess you finally decide to join the party." I whispered.
"Har har, so funny, Willow. You know, even though we've been here for, four weeks, you're still such a smart ass." Cole recited as he counted the notches on his sticks.
"You know, instead of chopping up sticks maybe it'd be more useful to, I don't know, build a raft?" Cole shrugged and went stumbling into the ocean to refresh himself. Sometimes he could be a smart ass too, so it was fun to dish out what he served up. Not soon after Mason woke up too.
"Jesus Christ, can't you two shut up for once? I'm trying to sleep." Mason was always one to have a temper in the morning. He wasn't easy to piss off, it was only if he was provoked. He isn't much for rude awakenings either.
"Alright, Mason, we're sorry, but in all fairness that's what you get for staying up all hours of the night."
"That's an inaccurate statement. Who else would ensure that we're not torn to bits by whatever's in there?!" He pointed a shaking finger towards the jungle behind us.
"Drama kid." I scoffed.
"Oh shut it, you're a drama kid too. All three of us are." He shot back. It was a fair point. Cole came back from the water and glanced between the two of us.
"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" He mocked in a high-pitched British accent.
"No, why can't we look freely at our friend? We've gotta memorize your face when the rescuers come looking for us. But that wouldn't matter, we'd kill and eat you first." Mason said jokingly.  Cole and Mason went back and forth bickering for the rest of the morning with little to no chance of stopping them.
   By the time they stopped it was the middle of the day. I had made my way down to the shore and sat staring deeply into the horizon. Always hoping there was a chance a ship would sail by, I watched every day, determined to never miss the chance. It doesn't feel like four weeks. Some days it feels like everything happened yesterday, or that it was just a bad dream and I'd wake up to Sophie licking my face, telling me she needed to go outside. I miss that dog. She always knew what to do when I was down, but now she's thousands of miles away, like my life. Now I'm stuck with those two jokers, the only family I have now. No matter what I did, I always felt my heart sinking deep into my chest with guilt. I felt like the wreck was all my fault. If I hadn't suggested that sketchy cruise, we wouldn't be here. The next I knew a hand clapped my shoulder and the sand on either side shifted as the boys sat next to me. It's like they knew what I was thinking and feeling.
"Willow, it's alright. We're gonna make it through, ok?" Cole managed.
"Yeah, we've made it this far. How hard could completely rebuilding society be?" Mason said. All I could do was stare blankly out to sea. I didn't have the strength in me to respond in any manner. I didn't want to tell them that they couldn't say anything to change the way I felt. "What if we never go home?" I muttered.
"Well, I guess this would be our happy home." Cole answered.
"This isn't home. This is an island." I said.
"It could be a home, but you're right. It's not our home. We're still figuring out how to get the raft in order for all three of us, ok?" Mason tried encouraging me, but it didn't work, it made me feel worse.
"...ok..." I didn't feel like arguing at this point. I never imagined I'd live my life alone and isolated on an island. Our families had to know we were somewhere, right?