Fighting for Life

Chapter 12 (FINAL)

My eyes fluttered opened and the sun hit my face. My mouth was dry and my head was dazed. With limp legs and an unfocused body, I forced myself to sit up. How long had I been asleep? Small grains of sand blew from the cracks in the ground, making the place have an eerie feel. I was dehydrated, starving, and was on the verge of death. Although I kept on telling myself to use a rock or a tree branch to end my misery, there was a voice in my head telling me to keep going. Even though the voice was rather small, it had a significant impact on my actions. I walked and walked, the orange sun began to set, and the silence of night set on the barren island. My feet carried on, until I began to hear a pounding in my head. "Here it comes", I thought. I stood still for a few moments, bracing myself for the impact of my body breaking down, but nothing happened. The noise stayed with me, oddly. I squinted my eyes into the distance. Water. Water. Waves and waves of water. I could smell it in the air now. Salty sea water. The ocean. I had never been to the ocean, but I had heard so much about it. The one thing that came to my mind: escape. I hobbled along, getting closer to the pounding waves. The sand began to turn damp, and cold, as I got closer to the shore line. There it was. The ocean stretched out miles and miles towards the horizon, and on every side of me. I can get out of here. I can go home. I thought of mom and dad in my house. I thought of their loving and confident faces as they gave me my final goodbye. And with one last warm memory, I turned away.

        I walked back towards the few trees that sat near the shoreline, desperatly soaking up any water that they could consume. There. I spotted a thick branch on the far tree, and limped over to it. Using all my might I tried to rip it off the trunk, but I was weak, and in pain. I used the rocks at my feet to chop away at the base of the limb, until it was frayed enough that I could yank it off. My upper arm ached, my head pounded, as I dragged the branch towards the ocean. I was crazy. I threw it into the water and hopped on top. It wasn't nearly big enough that I could fit entirely on it, but it was just wide enough so I could sit and dangle my feet off the edge. I paddled out to sea, the island slowly growing smaller as I drifted farther and farther away.

        I woke up the next morning, feeling worse than I did the day before. The voice in my head was gone. I no longer cared what happened to me, as long as it was painless. I still sat on the wet log, drifting up and down through the endless waves of blue. Days and nights passed, I hadn't eaten in ages. After 5 days, my eyes began to blur. A tear rolled down my cheek, forming a small puddle in the creases of my neck. Another bright light. My parents. My house. My childhood. Goodbye.

Bang. Am I dead? Bang. Where am I? Bang. The log continuously hit against a rock embedded into the sand. I opened my eyes once more. I was on a different island. Should I even bother? I rolled off the log and into the water, barely able to stand up. I crawled onto the shore and layed down. I slightly moved my head to the right and left, examining my surroundings. Mountains, and hills, grassy plains, few trees. It can't be. Nashian. I was home. I sat up, pushing myself off the ground and began to run up the grassy hill. I was right. A small city was neatly displayed beneath me, almost like it was welcoming me home. I ran down the hill, my legs about to give out. Down a street. My eyes began to blur again. Past my neighbors house. My breaths became heavy. And up my steps.  My head pounded. I rang the doorbell. My parents opened it, and my mother almost yelped at the sight of me. I couldn't blame her. I probably looked awful. I smiled. My stomach growled. My heart stopped. My eyes went blank and I toppled over. A small white twinkling light emerged from the corner of my left eye. My parents rushed to my side. The white light became bigger. My father ran into the street, yelling, while my mother cried. The light overcame everything. I was put to rest. I had died that day in the arms of my loving mother. The same mother who opened the door to find her wrecked daughter, right before she collapsed and died on the front steps. I didn't care that I died that day. I had done it. I had done the impossible. I was banished to an island after failing my tests, grieved by the death of a woman who had helped me survive, and I had escaped on a tree limb out in the ocean. I made it home. I saw my family one last time. And as my brain began to shut down, the litte voice inside my head that had encouraged me to keep going, was silenced. I was finally in peace. And it was the best thing I had ever felt.    

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I hope you guys enjoyed this story! Sadly this was the final chapter :(

Thank you guys so much, I recieved a lot of reads for the overall stroy, inbox messages, and a few votes for this story!