Page 3 of Stranded

“Alright tuff guy, they’re gone,” I call out to Mo-Mo, who comes swinging down from his hiding spot to sit on my shoulder. We quickly move through the jungle until we finally come out into the clearing at the base of the cliff.

I stand at the bottom and look up at its 200 foot height. “Alright, Cliff. You gonna give me any problems today? Or are you gonna be solid as a rock?” I fight down the fear of falling that’s quickly rising in me and try to think about what waits for me at the top. Eggs.

It’s not exactly difficult to climb, there are plenty of good handholds and footholds, but at the end of the day, it’s still a 200 foot climb straight up with no harness or safety rope.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo hollers before leaping to the ground and running back to the jungle.

“Coward!” I yell after him, shaking my head. I look back at Cliff, the giant rock wall, and rub my hands together.

“Come on Zee, you got this!” I say, trying to pump myself up as I begin to climb. “You can have fried eggs, or maybe scrambled… If there are three, you could have one a day for three days. Or…. you could devour them all today.” My breaths start to get labored as I climb, so I keep my egg-cellent motivational pep talk internal for the next 150 feet.

It’s slow going, as I try to be as safe as I can in this situation, and when I finally reach the top, I pull myself over the ledge and sprawl out on my back, arms and legs stretched wide as I let my racing heart calm down.

Climbing up was the easy part. It’s climbing down that I really hated. Being unable to see where you’re stepping was more than slightly terrifying. I have to keep my body as close to the wall as possible, or I’d risk falling backwards and plummeting to my death. Or worse, I would end up crippling myself. It was a miracle I’d survived this long already.

When I finally feel like I can breathe normally again, I sit up and look around, seeing no signs of Bob or any other seagull. I make my way into the cave behind me and to the side where the nest is. Bob doesn’t usually leave any eggs alone, so I worry my trip was for nothing. But as I get closer, his big ugly head pops up from where he’s sleeping in the nest, making me jump back and get into a fighting stance, McStabby in my hand and aimed in his direction.

He doesn’t move, just sits there glaring at me, so I try to reason with him. “Look, Bob, I get it. Father of the year and all that. But I climbed all the way up here and I’m not leaving empty-handed.” He gives his feathers a little shake and sinks down deeper, clearly not planning on going anywhere.

“Bob, you don’t even like kids. I’ve seen you squawk at the younglings. I’m doing you a favor, really. Think of all the free time you’ll have to do bird-yoga and hang out with the ladies!”

When he still doesn’t move, I slip my free hand into my pouch and pull out Steve. I lift him in front of my mouth as I quietly whisper, “Don’t actually hit him, we just want to scare him a little.” Then I toss him towards Bob, aiming for a spot right in front of his nest.

It has its desired effect as Bob squawks and jumps up, flapping his wings before flying from the cave.

“YES! Team Zeve for the win!” I shout out Steve and my couple name, with both arms in the air as I run around in a few celebratory circles.

With a grin on my face, I reach down and grab Steve, returning him to my pouch before turning to the nest.

“Sweet baby boar, that's a lot of eggs!” I exclaim, seeing four eggs in the nest. Normally, I’d be lucky to get two. “I’m feasting tonight!” I say excitedly as I gently place them in my pouch.

I turn around and walk to the edge of the cave, gazing out at the vast ocean that surrounds me. I wonder how far away the next island is? Or is it a continent out there past that horizon? We were pretty positive we crashed in the Indian Ocean, but I had no idea how far we were from anything. Clearly, we weren't under any flight paths, as I’d never seen a single plane since we crashed here.

I shiver, remembering that terrible day we arrived here. You’d think crashing into the ocean and ending up on a deserted island would be the worst day of your life, little did I know, that was still to come. I quickly try to push those memories aside before they take hold. Those are the ones that bring the nightmares and panic attacks.

Luckily, I’m distracted by a flash of movement in the distance. “Steve, did you see that?” I ask, even knowing he can’t see anything from his hiding place in the bottom of my bag. Plus, you know… he’s a rock.

I narrow my eyes, hoping to glimpse it again. And when I see it, I gasp in shock and fear. “Whatisthat?”

The object starts to become clearer as it gets closer, moving fast across the sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind as it gets lower to the water.

“Sweet baby eggs, is that a… plane?” My jaw drops open as it gets closer and I watch in horror as the plane nose dives into the ocean, at least fifteen to twenty miles away.

I wrap my arms around myself and shiver, despite the blaring humidity. Is that what it looked like when we crashed? Were there any survivors? A ball of fear in my gut starts to take hold. I haven’t seen anyone else arrive on this island in fifteen years. Not since the men who came here by paddle boat, four months after my dad and I arrived.

We thought we’d have a chance to finally get off this island, but the strange men chopped their paddle boat up and used it for firewood. They spoke another language, so we weren’t able to understand one another, but we figured out non-verbal ways of communicating, and soon, we felt happy to have three new men on the island. They seemed eager to help us build our hut and hunt. The likelihood of survival for a thirteen year old and her dad had just increased, three fold.

But something about them was a little off. The way they looked at me made my skin crawl. Dad noticed too, never leaving me alone for a minute, not even to relieve myself, much to my embarrassment. I didn’t really understand what he was worried about… until it was too late.

That horrible day, and the ones that followed, will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. I’m still not entirely sure how I was the only one to survive it, and I’ve never been able to decide if that was a good thing or not.

But as I watch the dark blob of the plane sinking in the distance, I wonder who was on board, and if anybody survived. I’m not sureIwill survive another round of stranded visitors.

Chapter three

Darla

Iwatch the ocean, deciding that if there are any survivors headed my way, I want to know about them and not be taken by surprise. That was an easy way to get yourself killed, or worse.

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