Author Games: Tempest

Task Two Entries: 9-16

Elliot Baris

DID NOT HAND IN

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Adrian Lovett

            Feeling returned to me first in my hands. They felt strange, and distant, definitely still in existence but weirdly disconnected from the rest of me. I grunted, and felt small bubbles of air brush against the side of my face. I tasted salt as water slosh up into my mouth. Automatically, I spat at it, trying to move my face away. The smooth slide of water turned into a rough drag on sand.

I flung my eyes open and found myself blinded by the shiny white colors immediately in my face. Great, just great, I cursed as I rapidly blinked trying to be able to see again. It took a few more, infuriating, tries but I could manage a squint against the bright colors.

With wobbling arms, I was able to sit up and look around at where I was. I was lying on my side, halfway pushed up onto a white sand beach. The salty ocean water still lapped at my left side, annoyingly pushing my leg up towards the rest of my body. With a huff, I tried to move it and got no response. Furrowing my brows, I tried again, with no more success.

No need to panic, I thought to myself. My leg probably just fell asleep, it's not a big deal. Really. I took a finger and poked at my thigh. I felt it, so maybe my leg was awake... but could only mean. I poke down at my calf, and felt a searing flare of pain shoot up my leg, locking it into place via muscle spasm. I choked back a scream.

Today was really not my day.

So, I opted to army crawl, placing my arms forward and dragging my lower body across the rough sand. The little grains dug into my skin, and stuck to my everything. Once I was fully out, and away, from the water, I took a break. It shouldn't have been that difficult, and yet I found myself out of breath.

From my new vantage point I could see farther down the way. The beach stretched on a good while on both sides, before curving away behind a tree line. Ahead of me, the beach was just a bit farther, ending in the same tree line. The brush was thick, and untouched. It looked dark and unwelcoming, straight out of a dark forest fairytale. A shudder passed over my spine. Though, the hot sand and blazing sun here on the shoreline wasn't exactly paradise either. I could already feel the growing tightness on my facial skin, I was burning.

With a grunt, I pushed myself farther towards the trees. It was a half-scoot, and half-crawl on my part, favoring my right side. I would kill anyone if they could see me like this, then probably kill myself of embarrassment. Finally, the nearest tree was in arm's reach. Pushing myself up using its longest root, I settled myself against its trunk in the cool shade. Since exiting the sun's fiery vengeance, the temperature dropped at least ten degrees. With a sigh, I rested.

Time passed. Some amount, I'm sure, but I couldn't bring myself to care. My mind was racing, with no thoughts in sight. It was trying to piece together what had happened but came up with only two facts.

1. The ship had somehow crashed.

2. I was now on this island, seemingly alone.

No doubt these facts were connected, but the best I could assume was that I was now stranded on this island. Which would perfect, and exactly where I wanted to be. With a grunt, I opened my eyes and stared out towards the ocean. The endless blue sparkled and shifted. There was no sign of the ship, and only sparse pieces of cargo here and there. A few even ended up not too far from where I had woken up.

A small smile broke out on my face. If I was lucky, if I was really, really lucky, there would be food in one of those. As if on cue, my stomach growled. Well, at least I knew what I was going to be doing first.