Shipwrecked (A short story.)

Shipwrecked Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Unable

As I lay there in the dirt, a great shooting pain ran through my left leg as I tried to move. I screamed in pain and clutched my leg. It was unbearable, it felt like my leg was on fire.

I was still laying in the place where I fell, but Dan - after feeble protests on my part - had repositioned my arms and legs so that I wasn't in a dodgy position. It was about lunchtime and the forest was beginning to wake up. The trees were swishing from side to side and there were noises echoing around. Sounds of birds calling to chicks, flying from branch to branch, enjoying their day.

'Caroline, you must have fell really strangely on your leg. I'm going to carry you to your shelter - I don't care about the stupid line - and I'm going to look after you until it heals. Otherwise you will die. And then you can go right on hating me.'

And then Dan scooped me up into his arms and carried me back to my shelter just like he said he was going to. And then he left me there whilst he went into the forest to get some food . . . And came out with about 5 mangos, all of which looked extremely appetising.

We ate and sat in silence for about half an hour. When I say silence, I was silent, but Dan would. Not. Shut. Up. I mean it. He kept asking me questions about my home life, how old I was, whether my family was nice. And then he started telling me about himself. He told me that he was 15 (my suspicions were correct) and that he was on his way to an amazing holiday when the boat sank. It was right then that I was saved by a sudden wave that came up onto the shore and brought with it 2 things.

One of those things was helpful, one sinister. The helpful one was a wooden bucket that we could collect water in. But as we were looking at the bucket, we both saw what was just behind it.

'Stay here,' Dan said in a quiet voice. As if I could have actually moved anywhere. 'Ill go check it out . . . Prepare yourself.'

He got up and walked slowly towards the thing that was laying motionless in the sand. When he had gotten to it, he bent down and turned it over. I heard him gasp from where he was and he quickly hurried back to where I was.

'Caroline,' he said in a scared tone 'There is a dead body there on the sand. Do you want me to carry you to see if you can identify it, or do you want me to put it out to see so that you don't have to look at it?' He asked slowly. He obviously didn't know who this person was, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to see if it was any of my family, but the urge was just too strong.

'First one,' I said, barely making a whisper.

'Are you sure?' He asked me, 'That body is pretty young. What if it is someone that you know? It might . . . Disturb you too much.'

That definitely made my mind up. 'Take me to it.' I demanded, my voice growing stronger, but my confidence being drained out of me.

'Okay,' It seemed as though he had finally decided to give me what I wanted. He carefully lifted me up and slowly started walking. As we got closer I saw that the body was that of a young boy. But as I got closer, I nearly fainted when I recognised the body as . . . . James.

I started sobbing my eyes out. That was my brother laying there. My brother, dead. Why not me? He had the rest of his life before him. He was 5 for crying out loud! I remember Dan saying something, but I wasn't processing anything at that moment in time. My brother . . .

My brother . . .

Dead.