Destiny Island (editing)

Chapter 5

The next few days were scorching, and Amber and Jade were forced to ration their water, but it wasn't long before they had nothing left. Still, the sun continued scorching and making them wish for at least a drop of water, anything. It was ironic that water surrounded them, but they had no water to drink.

They were still in the middle of the sea with no idea where, and since they had run out of water, panic settled into their small life raft, making their predicament even more unbearable. They barely spoke to each other since neither of them was good company.

Amber was quietly singing to herself as a distraction from all the dark thoughts that flapped their wings in the back of her mind. Mostly pirate songs such as "We are wolves of the Sea" and similar. Singing had always been her way of dealing with stress, but Jade wasn't happy about that.

Besides being scared to death, Jade was also extremely annoyed by Amber. She could barely contain her anger because she knew that if she let the anger win, the situation would become much worse. So she bit her tongue and kept quiet, but she would still give Amber murderous looks from time to time, which Amber failed to notice. They spent half of their time flopped in the boat, trying to find at least some reprieve from the sun, and half of the time looking around for any signs of salvation.

As they were lying down once more, thinking about their lives, the soft splash against the life raft drew Jade's attention. As she sat up, she suddenly froze in surprise. For a brief second, all she could think was: "Land! Land! Land! " Weak as Jade was, it took her some time to gather strength to speak out loud.

Jade jolted Amber back to reality harshly when Amber was on the verge of sleep. She croaked out something that in Amber's sleepy head sounded louder than a siren. As she was about to snap at Jade for disturbing her, as there was clearly nothing worth talking about, the words became clear to her sleepy mind. The magic words she was so thrilled to hear.

"Land! Land! Land!" Jade yelled louder and louder.

As Amber sat up, she saw it too, some distance away. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. They both started chanting together, "Land! Land! Land! We are saved! We are finally saved!"

And then they started laughing and crying at the same time like crazy. It was as if their brains couldn't process their luck and didn't know how to act now that the possibility of salvation was in their grasp. It was confusing and overwhelming, but the predominant feelings for both women were joy and relief.

The island wasn't far away, but they still had to steer the boat towards it, which wasn't the easiest task for two people who knew so little about the ocean, steering or even rowing a boat.

They started using their hands to paddle since they couldn't find the oars, which they assumed were lost during the storm. Though they put in a great effort, fatigue hindered their progress. Then, suddenly, the boat started moving straight towards the island and at a considerable speed. It seemed as if it was magnetically pulled towards the island.

As they got closer to the island, they started realizing that it wasn't just a regular island — it was unique. Something about it was strikingly different from any other islands they had seen. As they approached, a palpable mystery buzzed in the air, stirring a powerful desire to unveil its secrets.

Just like that, they were on the shore, and only then did they notice something moving away from their boat, making small waves in the water. Something that pulled their boat to the shore? They didn't know for sure. Jade remembered the splash she had heard before she had seen the island and wondered if what seemed to her like a magnetic force was just something pulling their boat. A dolphin, perhaps?

She had heard the stories of dolphins helping people who were drowning, but she hadn't heard about anything similar to what had happened to them. While Jade was pondering, Amber's eyes scanned the surroundings, the grandeur immediately taking her breath away.

The island was definitely not an ordinary island, which was clear to Amber from the first thing she saw, and that was the breathtaking beach. The color of the sand was mesmerizing — it was glimmering pink, unlike what they expected. They had heard of some pink beaches, but the one they saw on the island seemed more beautiful than anything they had ever heard of.

It seemed as if the sand was moving in slow but persistent waves. Amber was staring wild-eyed with a huge grin on her face, dazed by the fascinating sand. Without taking her eyes off the sand, she reached out to alert Jade to the beauty that was before them. However, Jade was so deep in thought that Amber's hand on her shoulder startled her.

"What?" Jade yelled impatiently.

"Look!" Amber replied, and then they both stared at the sand for a minute.

Soon enough, the thirst and hunger overwhelmed them, breaking them out of their daze, so they got out of the life raft to look for some water, knowing that water was more essential for their survival. However, how they were supposed to find fresh water on an unfamiliar island was beyond them.

That is when they noticed the beach wasn't the only amazing thing about the island. A few meters from it, they could see the most remarkable trees they had ever seen. They were caught in the strange and charming transition between summer and autumn, which seemed impossible since some trees looked like evergreen ones.

Clearly, they were not the same as the trees the girls knew of. From some branches, they could see golden-green ivy twisting itself around the trees and then down the highest branches till it touched the ground. It resembled a curtain, which was hiding the rest of the island from their curious glances.

Suddenly, Amber thought she heard a splash behind them, but when she turned around, all she could see was the vast sea and a glimmer of something. She wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a shiny golden tail of a ... fish? No, she didn't think it was a fish, but she was clueless about what else it could be. Then she was brought back to reality by Jade's excited voice.

"Look! Water!" Jade shouted in joy.

At that moment, they both ran back to their life raft, where they could see two huge seashells filled with the precious liquid. As they took a cautious sip, tempted by its crystal-clear appearance, they realized it was not seawater but refreshing freshwater.

Near the seashells, they could also see some unfamiliar fruits. Without thinking about how and where it came from, or whether it was poisonous, they started devouring the fruit and drinking the water as fast as they could manage without choking.

What they would do next or what it all meant didn't even cross their minds because all that mattered for the time being was satiating their hunger and thirst. The rest could wait.