Shipwrecked (A short story.)

Shipwrecked Chapter 7

Shipwrecked Chapter 7: Grieving

The days passed. I lived. Just. I was functioning on auto-pilot. I didn't want to live, but I knew that James would have wanted me to. I was doing it for him. On the fourth day after our . . . Discovery, I finally snapped out of it. It was in the morning (I don't know specifically what time) and I was washing in my side of the ocean. The sun was shining (as usual) and Dan was watching me with a sad look on his face. 'What are you looking at?' I asked rudely.

'You,' he began. 'You're practically dead. In fact, why don't you die? At least then I would have all of your food and space. You need to figure it out Caroline.'

I flipped my head around at him. 'What?' I questioned slowly.

He just turned around and walked into the forest. I was angry, furious even. How dare he? HOW DARE HE? I then realised something; I had actually shown SOME emotion for the first time in four days. Four whole days. I hated to admit it, but Dan was right. I hurried into the forest after him, hoping that he was near the stream. My thoughts were correct. He was there, with his hands cupped in the water. He was getting a drink. I caught him mid-slurp, he looked at me, dropped the water and just stood there, looking at me like I was Tyra Banks or something. I smiled guiltily. At first I started walking, but then I got faster until I was running. I forgot about the stream and just ran straight through it. The tears were streaming down my face, and I was slipping on wet rocks, but I didn't care. I met him in the middle, and we hugged, and I cried, until I was all dry. 'Ssshhh . . .' Dan cooed into my ear. 'Its okay. You're finally grieving. Let it all out . . .' I sobbed into his torn, mud-covered shirt, and I actually felt better for it.

'Thank you.' I managed to choke out 'Really, thank you.'

'And here I was, thinking that you didn't like me, what happened to that?' He was joking, of course, but I managed to get a good kick to his shin. 'I grew out of it,' I mumbled.

'Well I hope that you don't grow out of anything else, if that's the treatment that I'm going to get . . . That hurt.'

I actually laughed out loud at that. 'Oh I'm ever so sorry your highness, want me to kiss your boo-boo better?'

'Actually, yes, that would be nice,' He said rather annoyingly. I whacked him hard in the stomach, and he doubled over in pain. I turned round and began walking back towards the beach. I didn't reach the beach, however, as two strong arms closed around me and spun me round in circles until I was screaming. 'Put me down! Dan! Stop!' I yelled, but, even though it didn't seem like it, I was enjoying myself. He set me down and my sight was moving from side to side. 'Thanks,' I breathed, feeling rather sick. 'Your welcome,' He replied, and the smirk on his face showed that he was enjoying himself too. We walked the rest of the way to the beach. I washed and, for the first time, noticed that the swimsuit that I was wearing - the only item of clothing that I had - was filthy. I went up to my shoulders in the ocean, and peeled of my costume slowly, making sure every two seconds that Dan was still eating the fruit that we had saved from rotting on the floor the day before. I swirled it round in the water a few times, and rubbed at it, trying to get rid of some of the dirt. It hardly worked, but it was better than nothing. Putting the swimsuit back on, I waded back to the beach, hoping that Dan didn't see anything. 'Hi,' I said, as I strolled up to him. 'Hello Carrie.'

That's what he had been calling me to annoy me; Carrie. Even though my normal name was stupid enough - Caroline Alice Michaels - I didn't like nicknames.

'Its Caroline,' I grumbled. I sat down in my own little make-shift shelter. Even though mine was okay, Dan's little creation was WAY better. It was huge, big enough to fit two easily. I had my supper (a sort of orange-ey colour fruit - thing) and just sat there, admiring the sun set.

'Can I ask you something?' I felt rather that saw Dan staring at me.

'Um . . . . Yeah. Sure. What is it?' I was curious now. Dan took a deep breath, and then started talking.

'Why didn't you like me . . . A-at first?' I noticed his stutter, and wondered why he was nervous about asking me. 'Well . . . I guess . . . You just looked like a jerk, is all. Im sorry.' I really meant it. He had saved my life in many different ways, not just in the beating heart sense. There was a slight pause in our conversation, and then he replied. 'Its okay.'

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