Going To Be

Chapter Nine If You Ever Come Back - Jackson/Amber POV

I threw the deflated boat over the roof of my stick shelter. It hadn't rained since I'd washed ashore, but I didn't want to risk waking in the middle of the night saturated. It had been a week since the crash and there had been no glimpse of a ship in the distance, no sound of a plane nearing. I was completely alone, and more than just in a physical sense.

I had lit a fire using the zippo lighter my father had given me as a good luck memento. It had been passed down from his grandfather. It was running low on lighter fluid, and though I was apt in starting a fire with sticks and friction, I was beginning to weaken from the lack of food and water.

The lighter wasn't the only thing running low. My phone had one bar of battery left. The first two nights I had spent most of my time crying and looking at Amber. I regretted it now, because soon I wouldn't be able to see her at all, soon she would exist only in my memory.

I picked up an almost eaten coconut from beside me and teared at the meat with my teeth. I was past the taste of both the meat and coconut milk, but my attempts at fishing had been less than successful. However the sun was going down, the evening breeze was beginning to cool me and I needed sleep.

Sleep was a joke though, because as much as I tried I couldn't get the life I had left behind out of my mind. It consumed my every waking moment. The darkness on the island took hold quickly. The light of the moon shone down on the water, reflecting off it like a spotlight. For the first time since I had been here, I allowed myself to see beauty in my surroundings. I stared up at the star littered sky and smiled. The universe was vast and seemingly never ending, but earth wasn't. I had to keep hope.

Exhaustion forced my eyes closed, and without much trouble I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up the sun was shining down on me, and I felt more rested than I had in a week. The sound of my stomach's hungry rumble served a reminded as to how grim things could get however.

I forced myself out of the hut and searched the jungle behind me for fresh water. It didn't take long to find, finally luck was on my side. I filled the one bottle I had and walked back to my camp. I made a spear from a stick and a sharp edged rock, tied together with a ripped up shirt.

I waded into the clear water and stood as still as I could, there were rocks to my left, and I had seen fish swimming around them, but without a weapon they had evaded me. Like a stealth ninja I stood, waiting for movement. Sheer hunger drove my reactions, the moment I saw the slither of a silver fish I moved. The spear went into the water and as I drew it up, it was almost with relief that I saw the fish on the other end.

I walked from the water, holding the spear. I stoked the embers of the fire and threw a small log down. I hadn't been fishing since I was young, and even then we had almost always thrown the fish back, yet still I remembered how to prepare them for cooking. I fell into a sort of sedative trance as I watched the food cook. It was therapeutic and for a few moments I was pulled away from the realities of this situation. My stomach growled in protest, waking me from my mind and I inhaled the food once it was cooked.

There had been too much time to think while I had been here. What if I was never found? Would Amber move on? Even though it hurt me to think about it, the thought of her pining after me forever hurt more. Feeling inspired in a seemingly uninspiring situation I pulled out a book from my suitcase. I felt the pen between my fingers and placed the ballpoint on the paper.

When I said goodbye

Didn't think it was end for you and I

When I walked away