Stranded (Frerard)

Chapter 2: Mistakes

A hollow pain in my general stomach area wakes me, that paired with the freezing cold enveloping my limp form. Realizing that as I was sleeping I  had snuggled up close to Bobs body to try and preserve heat, I quickly push myself away, my frantic movements making dents in the sand that just fill with more sand. Again I am aware of my hunger, stronger than Ive ever felt it before, I need food, but it's dark, and woods are scary at night. But it's colder than I would have thought possible, and the bugs are swarming, I need a fire, and to do that I have to face my fears. I stand, wiping my hands on my pants to rid them once again of the grainy sediment. Im shaky but not shaking, that's good, its the difference from being tired and being exhausted. I collect myself, trying to lock my fear-riddled thoughts away somewhere I shan't find them until later, and take my first step towards the jungley trees. The term forest sounds too deciduous, but the term jungle seems too rainforest-like, what's before me consists more of palm trees routed so close together that they are nearly on top of each other. I walk along the trees edge, collecting fallen palm leaves and dead tree stumps that had toppled some time ago, making several trips back to Bob, laying the wood near him when the weight became too much to bear. Eventually I decided that my pile has grown large enough to sustain a sizable fire, but I then realize a problem the size of Hawaii, I don't know how to make a fire. I thought the fact that I had seen every season of Survivor would help, (seasons 13, 16, and 23 multiple times, (what Ozzy's cute okayyy?)) but they always have a crutch; flint and machetes, neither of which I have. Although in season 14 Yao-Man was able to make fire without the use of those materials, he had glasses and sunlight, neither of which are at my disposal either. I could always rub the sticks together to try and start one with the friction but everything's wet, Fucking rain. Im screwed, what the hell am I supposed to do? Ill get fucking malaria or maybe even yellow fever if that's still around with the way the mosquitos are coming at me, if I don't die of starvation first. Actually, I once read that dehydration kills within 4 days, whereas it takes almost 2 weeks for hunger to kill you, and its so cold I wouldn't put hypothermia out of the equation.
I pull my arms into the body of what's left of my shirt and shiver. The weather was supposed to be really nice and sunny so I didn't think to bring anything warmer than my usual band Tee-shirt, at least this one was long- sleeved.
I should find some coconuts, they hold a drinkable substance that is the milk and provide an edible substance that is the meat, it's the best of both worlds. Again I make my way around the edge of the jungle forest thingie and search for fallen coconuts, and when I find them I realize that they aren't how they are depicted on Gilligans Island, or how you buy them in the stores, they're green, and they have a shell over their shell, and once again the absence of a damn machete is a problem. I search the beach for a sharp rock, which there seems to be an abundance of, but there seemed to be a shortage of ones that I could actually use. After what feels like years later I finally find a rock that is small and sharp and can be used to get the green stuff off, I work at it for quite a while and am able to peel the layer off exposing a harder, thinner, shell. I put the sharp edge against it and take a larger rock and using it to pound the sharper of the two into the coconut, and it splits, not neatly, and Ive lost all of the milk and the meat is slightly sandy, but I have food none the less. I use the sharper rock to dig out the meat and eat it without even scraping off the sand that stuck to it. I continued this until I was no longer eating the edible part and had started to gnaw at the shell, and by this time the sun had begun to rise, the light beginning to chase away both the mosquitoes and the shadows that had scared me out of the forest the night before. I thought the rising sun would bring heat as well, but the sun was nearly completely above the horizon and it was still well below warm, but my exhaustion was beginning to win me over with the new absence of mosquitoes, and I basically collapsed right there in the sand and just slept.