FOCUS: Hidden Strengths

Day One (Morning)

Sejal

The sun slowly rose over the horizon, illuminating the bright blue waves and warming the sparkling peach sand. I turned around. There were trees brimming with delicious looking fruit and flowers, their hues ranging from the brightest reds to the deepest violets. Little teal birds filled the air with their pleasant music, awakening the island to a brand new day.

I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing an adorable orange sundress, spotted with lemon orchids, that perfectly complimented my Indian complexion and my lengthy, dark, almost black, hair. I looked back up at my school friends, my classmates, as they came out of their huts to ask me if I wanted to share their breakfast. I shook my head – the scenery was too good to miss; it was almost surreal - and turned back to watch the ocean and let the gentle lapping of the waves calm me.

I walked over to the ocean and saw a body laying face down. It had smooth waist-length hair, and her  – I'm pretty sure it was a girl –  dress was remarkably similar to my own, except there was a brownish-red sunburst coming from the center her back. I turned the body over and saw myself, pale from lack of blood, her brown, hollow eyes staring upwards. I looked closer at the body to see that the center of the dress was ripped with a hole torn into it near her heart.

The other me, the dead body, opened her mouth and spoke in choked-up words. “Be aware of the pill. Be cautious; you are next.”

And then, because I dropped her when she started talking – when did I pick her up? – her mouth filled with water and her eyes closed. She slowly sunk into the clear, bright blue water.

I screamed for her death and for my death, which was yet to come.

Savannah

I yawned, slowly stretching my limbs. Oh, those neighbors need to shut up their bratty kids from screeching in the middle of the night. This is the second time this week this has happened! I need to go have a little talk with them. I'll just – I'm... on a beach? I must still be dreaming. 

I slapped myself on my face in an attempt to wake up. Ow! Wait…. I pinched my arm, still not believing my eyes. I squinted and found myself on a beach next to a hut. A freaking beach! Somehow I don't think I'm on vacation....

I pulled my hair, in the morning a tangled mess of brown and bright red, into a ponytail. My hair was a bit past my shoulders, so you'd think putting it in a ponytail would take care of everything. But, nooo. My bangs always find a way to get in my eyes and annoy me. 

Okay, back to business. So why am I on a beach? The last thing I remember was falling asleep in this dark, cold place. Actually, I don’t remember a lot other than that. I'm pretty sure I didn't get a severe case of amnesia overnight, either.

I looked around, making a mental map of the place-or at least attempting to. There were tropical plants and colorful flowers that were so colorful they reminded me of skittles, my favorite candy.  I saw some berries, too, that the birds were eating. They resembled blackberries based on their color, but they were smooth and about the size of a quarter with a blood-red flesh. Eating them can't hurt if the birds are still alive, right? I popped one into my mouth. As soon as I bit into the skin, a burst of bittersweet juice filled my tastebuds. It tasted like a mix of mango and juju beans. Don't ask how I know what juju beans taste like.

I think I'll go explore a little bit, before I start panicking and forget all rational thought, and get some wood for a SOS fire.  Scratch that; I’ll get wood now and explore (and panic) later. Collecting wood is more important since I have no idea when I will have a panic attack, where I'll start hyperventilating and get all red and possibly pass out. Yay.

I collected some branches, mostly green, from a fallen tree, so when I – if I – started a fire, there would be lots of smoke. I started heading for another tree when I ran into someone. Lizzie? Lizzie Peck? From AP Euro? What is she doing here? And how do I remember her? At least I'm not all alone on this God-forsaken island! (Yes, I just called it a God-forsaken island, because let's face it; this ain't no weanie roast right now, as my Chemistry teacher would say)

“Liz-bear!!” I said, calling her by her nickname.

Startled, Lizzie jumped, before recovering and running towards me. “I told you not to call me that. It’s just so immature.”

“B-but everyone calls you that, darling! Especially Henry.” Haha, she's had an uber crush on him since forever. If I remember correctly, she even started a Henry-fan club, which, surprisingly, contains at least ten known members, with yet more anonymous participants. Hmm… I really don’t know how I knew all these things, but they keep popping up in my head randomly. It's like I knew them once, but now there's a void that's replaced them. But then, only certain things popped up. Why can't I remember anything useful, like how we got on this stupid island? Or..

“Henry calls me that? Really?” Lizzie interrupted my internal ranting, her voice lifting in that hopeful tone. Her eyes were pretty much sparkling now. 

I casually lied to her (no need to crush her dreams), “He started it, hon! Anyways! Help me carry this wood for a SOS fire.”

With a sudden brightness to her tone, Lizzie chirped, “Okay! But that might not be enough wood!”

Maybe she's right. I have to get a move on if I really want to get off this island before nightfall. Which totally WILL happen... right? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. Doubting won't get me anywhere.

“Also, we need to get some food. I found a tic-tac – at least I think it was a tic-tac – but it was really grossly-pink colored. Like shrimp guts. And I don’t think it will last very long anyways.” Lizzie absolutely hated seafood.

Food…. Where have I seen food? Oh yeah! “Berries! I saw birds eating some black berries on my way over here!”

“Haha, good job. We can try feeding them to other birds and small animals, and if they don’t die, we can probably eat them.”

“‘Kay. But I saw some birds eating them, so I'm pretty sure they're safe,”

And so we walked back to my pathetic excuse for a ‘camp’ (where my wood pile was) while gathering some berries and other edible-looking fruits on our way back.