Island Rush (13 page)

He raised the curled leaf up to his dry lips and dipped his head into the bowl. His face was buried, and it gave me a perfect visual of his hair. It was greasy, and I’m sure full of sand or dirt. Yet, that made him even better. Before we got stranded, he was too neat, too perfect, too much. Now, he was licking the bowl clean, desperate for more.  It was then that I saw just how badly he longed for it, just as much as me.

He lifted his head, pulling back to show his skin was wet around his lips.  It was a nice sight and even more so when he smiled kindly at me. He was happy for the both of us and knew that we didn’t need to worry as much now.

We discarded the empty curled up leaf and put our focus on the shell that had a hole in it from where we broke it.  I ended up grabbing it when we stood up and headed back to the trees where it wasn’t as windy and cold.  He sat down against the same tree as we had earlier.  The man gestured for me to sit beside him and when I did, he took the soft shell from me and tore it open more.  To the point where it was in smaller pieces. 

At the sight of it, our stomachs went ballistic, and we jumped in, each taking a piece and holding it to our mouths.  We could taste the water still there but even better was actually being able to eat something. We ate the white flesh hugging the inside of the shell. With how many pieces he broke it into, I was able to scrape it off with my teeth.  Raw hunger took me over after so long without food. 

“What you did to get the coconuts was amazing,” he said after we both weren’t in need to shove it all in at once.

“You mean getting above it? I felt stupid because I couldn’t get the coconuts down from being just underneath them.”

“That was brave. What I meant though was that it was amazing that you did it without falling. I felt my body shut down with exhaustion, and that’s why I fell.  We were tired, starving, thirsty, and dead on our feet. We were getting sick. Yet, you made it. You are strong and amazing.”

I wasn’t very comfortable with compliments since I really never felt worthy of any praise, but he was just being very nice, and I appreciated that. “Well… thanks, I guess,” I said awkwardly.

We finished eating the flesh from the coconut, our stomachs at ease. He looked thoughtful and after finishing off his last piece, he asked, “You don’t get compliments often do you? Or ever show your thanks?”

He was spot on, and I had no idea how. Had he just read my mind? It probably had to do with me being easy to read.  I hesitated for too long following his words. He knew they were true. “I give my thanks whenever someone deserves it. I don’t thank many people though because there aren’t many that do much for me. Same with compliments.  It always sounds foreign.”

“That may be one of the most depressing things that I’ve ever heard,” he whispered. I’m sure there was something worse if he knew everything else. I snorted, and a harsh smile crossed my lips unintentionally.

“Yet you wanted all the details of my life. Now I know you couldn’t handle it if that’s what’s getting to you.” I didn’t think about my words before they were out. I was feeling more immature each day and less smart.

“You’re telling me things are worse than I could imagine? Than what you have already told me?” he asked.

“No. They
were
worse.  My life back there is gone, and I don’t see the need to revisit memories I would rather avoid. It’s all irrelevant anyway,” I said, and before I could blurt out something else, I put the last of my pieces to my mouth and peeled the deliciousness off.

He didn’t say anything else by the time we finished. I jumped at the subject that seemed to be crossing my mind more and more. “So… we can stop and rest for the remainder of the night, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we are safe from starvation and thirst for now. But God,” he said, shaking slightly. “We should move back further in the woods where it isn’t as windy and cold.”

“Remember that fire you promised quite a while ago?” I asked.

He gave me an ‘are you kidding me’ look. “Yeah. Then you took off. Plus, it’s too windy, and the sun should be up soon enough. We will be fine.”

I followed behind Mr. Rush closely until we were covered by the trees. It helped, just not as much as I would have liked.  It was so freaking cold! Colder than any other night. That seemed to be a pattern.  As the nights come, so does an even colder temperature.

The outline of his figure finally stopped ahead of me, and he guided me more to the right, then straight back. A few steps later landed us against another big tree. After setting our four last pieces of heaven on the ground, I slid down the huge trunk until I reached the ground. I folded myself between many of the roots that peeked out from the ground. Mr. Rush slid down next to me, closer than I expected.

His skin remained warm, and it was the best thing I have felt in a while. Well, not including finding coconuts. But as my head rested on the harsh forest floor, it was perfect. I found myself relaxed from its effect. I didn’t know how tired I really was until then because that was when my eyelids started to get heavy. Without giving myself permission, I moved closer to him; my right cheek no longer felt the cold as I pressed it against his arm.

It was wonderful, just to feel that heat in the middle of this weather. What made me blush was that I now remembered that this was my teacher. I needed to be careful around him – about having feelings for him. When he didn’t instantly move away, I knew he was enjoying the warmth too. I didn’t dare move any closer, though.

I started to drift away when his voice reached me in a small whisper. “Good night, Janice.”

I tensed. It wasn’t just his words; really, that had nothing to do with my heart skipping a beat. It was the way he delivered it. That voice was beautiful. So quiet and calming, so rich and… affectionate?
Maybe? I wasn’t sure.
All I knew was that his gentle and caring words were nice enough to pull me into sleep after I whispered goodnight to him back.

Chapter 10

Considering how late we went to sleep, I wasn’t surprised to see the sun high in the afternoon sky when I woke. I also wasn’t surprised when I felt the sweat already collecting at my back and making me uncomfortable. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the sun. I turned my head to see that Mr. Rush and I were laying away from each other. Though slightly disappointing, how else were we suppose to subconsciously act when the sun beat down on us?

I sat up and stretched. Unlike last night, I was happy to be shirtless and in just a bra. It was a slight help, but I was still very hot. I ended up walking out to the ocean from where we were sleeping since it wasn’t far away. I felt the cool water against my toes and stepped in until it was up to my kneecaps.  At that point, I stopped and cupped my hands together, filling my palms with the salty water.  After splashing it over myself, I ran my wet hands through my gross hair until it became damp.

I straightened myself afterward and looked out. The waves curled over as they came closer, curving and turning white at its crest. The sound would have been relaxing; it was to an extent.  However as minutes passed and it hit my ears more, it also hit my chest in a swirl of emotions. It was turning into a teasing reminder that that sound would always be surrounding us, in warning and recognition. Leaving this place was impossible and hopeless.

As I looked across, it
finally
hit home. After days of blocking it out… I was facing it now.

The sight before me held a beautiful and endless blue that seemed so powerful. With no end and no hope, it would ever end. This ocean — this place — was too big for us to beat. It was so cruel despite the beauty of it all. I sank into the realization that we will never leave this place, which was fine with me and my life. But my father and brother would never pay since I was the only one who knew they killed my mom. I was planning on one day proving that they were guilty of it because my mom deserved that justice.  She was always there for me, and I owed that to her.

Then there was the other tragedy of it: Mr. Rush would never have the life he deserved. He deserved his future wife and children.  He deserved to have a chance to pick what he would want to do for the rest of his life.  Now I knew that would not happen.  For some reason, Mr. Rush not living his life and dying here killed me as much, if not more, as the thought of my dad and brother going unpunished.

That last thought led to what I have been trying to avoid this whole time. It wasn’t just me, my family, Mr. Rush, and his future that changed after the crash. Every single person that was on that plane… their lives actually ended.  Their families’ lives are what changed. Though it was hard knowing that we were stuck here, it was a blessing compared to actually losing our lives. I grew up with some of those kids.  Grew up and went to school with many of them.  Not just students lost their lives, the pilots, flight attendants, chaperones, and other teachers. Every single one of those people had lives, unique to them and their personality. Each of them had family and friends that loved them. Each of them had futures from which they were taken from.  

I don’t know how long I stared at the suffocating blue. I realized it must have been for a while.  When I noticed there were tears streaming from my eyes, I realized that they had gone cold by now.  This world was so cruel and beautiful. Cruel and beautiful. That seemed to be something that was crossing my mind more and more.

I turned around and headed back up the beach. When I got back, I took in Mr. Rush, who was now awake. He sat up from where he rested and looked around until his eyes fell on me. He gave me a small smile that instantly dropped as I came closer. “What’s wrong?”

I thought for a minute about what to say. Then I settled on acting as if I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Nothing. Why?”

His face darkened as he stared into my eyes.  That gaze penetrated my confusion at his question.  “There is no reason to hide things from me now,” he stated simply.

I snickered. “Why is that?”

“Because I know you believe we are never leaving this place despite the cling of faith we tried to hold onto. You think that if they didn’t find us by now, they might not ever find us. Maybe you’re right, so why keep hiding it if you think there is no returning to it?”

No flipping way. I wasn’t sure why but I couldn’t answer him and those eyes. Instead, I turned and swiftly walked away. I strode back out to the beach, and my feet didn’t stop when I hit the hot sand.  I started walking in the direction we did yesterday.  He wasn’t going to have that just yet, though. 

I heard him race up behind me, and he clasped my arm, stopping me. I sighed, turning around and staring up at him.  He didn’t say anything for a long moment. His eyebrows were lowered, and his gaze showed me deep concern until he finally spoke.

“Why won’t you let me in? Why can’t you tell me?”

This was more than just telling him about what bothered me earlier. This was about everything I was hiding in general. I couldn’t tell him about what happened back home or how I was feeling knowing he was stuck here. I understood his words were right and that it was unlikely we were leaving this place. But I couldn’t get any closer to this guy than I already was. It was wrong to feel things for him, a man who gave his heart to someone else.  Even if he doesn’t see her again, it was unhealthy to want him. He is much older, and the bottom line is that he wouldn’t want me. If we are stuck here forever, I will hurt more if my feelings grew and he didn’t feel the same. 

The silence between us became uncomfortable. I had to say something. “It’s irrelevant, my problems. You’re nice and kind and understanding…  Trust me though when I say it’s better if you didn’t know. I know you care,” I said, and it made my chest hurt because I saw it was true.  What I was about to say would hurt even more.  “It really doesn’t matter, though. You have no business being involved in my life.”  I hated those words that I said and hated that I wanted the complete opposite.  But he needs to back off if he wants me to not hurt. It was worse to know he cared.

He said nothing to me on the subject. Instead, he got the hint and put on a stone face.  Eyes numb, his voice sounded neutral. “We should go back, have some of the coconuts, and start moving. We don’t have as much daylight as we did yesterday.”  It was all he said before he turned around and walked back towards where we slept last night.  I followed after him, feeling terrible for blocking him out. All I knew though was that the closer I get, the more I will hurt.   

“So you didn’t see anything at all while up in the tree?” he asked after we were far into our walk.

Before we left, we decided to drink from and eat the last four coconuts. It was debated whether we should save one but we both were feeling greedy. Plus, we wanted to feel full and completely satisfied.  We wanted to actually go a while without craving more. It was an amazing feeling to have.  Both of us were full of water and the white flesh from the coconuts.

We were walking now under the shade and along the trees instead of the beach. It was too hot for comfort to say the least.  I had to endure washing my cut out in the ocean again.  It was almost healed but the salt stung. Having him tie the belt back on me hurt too. Not to mention that my period didn’t help things either. The moss I ended up finding when parting to take a bathroom break was something that would take a while to get used to. It was a strange feeling. That is why talking like we were… it was a helping distraction for us all day today. 

“No,” I answered him. “It sucks to say this but… the island is bigger than we thought, which means it could take a while to reach the creek,” I said, not at all happy about that.  I was worried. What if we can’t make it in time?

I glanced up at him. Staring back down to me, he must have seen the defeated look on my face.  “We are going to be fine. There must be more coconut trees along the beach. We have grass to catch the dew. We have an ocean filled with fish… We have food and water, no matter how little. This will be fine, at least for a while until we reach the stream. However, it will take us much longer if we aren’t lucky with how massive this island is.  All it means is we have to use our time wisely.”

I looked around and saw the sun getting lower in the sky.  He was right, and I had an idea when I looked back up to him.  Getting there was important but since it would take a bit, we should take care of a few other things. “We should stop now then. We have a few things to focus on.  Today that could be fire.  We should be able to make one, especially if we now have the time to do it before dark.  Then tomorrow, we can have time to figure out what to do about fishing.  All it will take is time and daylight.  Plus, with being as refreshed as we are now, resting might help even more.  These past few days with that amount of walking have slowed us down.  I think we should start taking more breaks along the way. Having a bit more energy would really help us.”

He smiled after raising an eyebrow at me. “That’s good thinking. We need extra time if we are going to be working on making a fire and somehow making a spear.”

Yes, we were upset that we probably weren’t as close as we thought.  At least we knew we would live to get there.  Mr. Rush turned to me and, with a deep breath, spoke. “We could start looking for some sticks for a fire right now. Like you said, just deal with the fishing issue tomorrow. By the time it gets dark and we get a fire going, we will need to get some sleep. Hopefully, then we can wake up early enough to get the dew.”

I nodded, quite excited about this. This would be a great step for us if we can get a fire going.  I personally would feel more confident; if we can accomplish getting a fire started, who knows what else we could do. 

We walked through the trees, collecting sticks and dry foliage before we found a good spot for the night. We were away from the ocean, but still close enough to hear the waves. Our spot was among an area of tall grass.  Before it opened up to a small field, we settled on the edge, where trees started to take over in a packed brush.

Mr. Rush took a minute to look around when his eyebrows suddenly rose. He smiled slyly at me as if he had the secret to everything. From the expression on his face, it made me instantly interested.  The guy had some idea on his mind. 

When the brightly smiling man walked past me without a word, I followed. Followed him until we were back on the beach. He didn’t stop walking when he reached the edge of the water.  I stared at him as he moved to where a stretch of large boulders rested in the shallow water. His feet broke the water without stopping until he stood on the rocks.  I raised a brow as he began to climb up a few, wondering what he was doing.  Then he stopped and started looking around in the cracks that formed from the rocks piled together. His hand flew down when something caught his eye and it rose with a shiny brown and black stone.

He jumped down and came back up the shore to face me, smiling to me. Mr. Rush held the stone up to my view.  “Do you know what this is?”

I know what happens to those who are isolated for a long period of time. Depending on the circumstances, they can go insane. Was that happening to him?

I stared at him for a second.  “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because you’re acting too weird over a rock.”

He laughed softly. “It’s not just a rock.”

What was he talking about? My eyes moving from him to the rock he held, I examined it more.  The color and the texture was unique… I blinked a few times before I felt my chest jump. I realized what it was. “This is flint!”

His smile grew automatically, and he nodded, surprised that I actually knew that. “It sure is!”  I felt the excitement he did a little bit ago. Flint was a stone that could actually cause a spark. I’m just glad I could recall what it looked like too which was how I guessed right.

“How did you know this would be here?” I asked him.

“It hit me that these rocks were here when we passed them.  I’ve been to places before where I’ve seen flint.  We got lucky that somehow I remembered that.”

Yeah, I felt we got really lucky with that. What were the chances that he would remember what these rocks looked like randomly – and as we are preparing for a fire? “Guess you won’t have to worry about using sticks to start the fire,” I smiled but ended up lowering my eyebrows in thought. “How do we do this, though?  Do we just strike it against something hard?”