Stranded Deep

Day 3

I haven’t managed to sleep much yet. It has been the longest two days of my life. I am so thankful to be alive, everything that has ever happened to me, all the regrets and bad decisions I’ve made over the years, are all becoming very present and real right now.

I can’t believe I took it all for granted for so long, I can’t believe I took her for granted for so long. I’m an idiot. Maybe, just maybe, if I play my cards right, I might be able to get off this bloody island and make it all better, maybe I can actually make something out of myself, prove myself wrong, that I am worthy of love.

Yesterday was the worst one yet, I was so tired after paddling here that I couldn’t much make sense of anything. I came to my senses lying on the sand as the sun broke the horizon and the crabs and creepy crawlies scurried over my frail corpse.

My thirst was unbearable, thankfully the night before I pulled the raft up onto the sand away from the rolling tide, inside one of the containers I found some rations of water and a few food items. There was not much, but it saw to my thirst and allowed me a moment of respite before all the realizations kicked in.

I knew what I had to do. I’ve played enough survival games and watched enough shows to know I had three things to prioritize. I have no skills in this area, simply some knowledge I inhaled as I moved through life. Now it is time to see if this knowledge can become practice and if that practice can save my fucking life.

I started by walking the perimeter of the two islands I had woken up on. Thankfully, the tide was low so the sandbar between both islands was accessible. As I crossed it I could see a steep run-off down some 30 or so feet towards a blanket of coral, this blanket made its way around the entire island and my assumption was it was the foundation of all four of the micro islands that made up my surroundings.

I’ve always been a lucky sonofabitch, it is something of a superpower. You might think that this is a strange time to think about how lucky I am, considering I ended up crash-landed on a bloody island alone in the middle of the ocean, but let me continue before you presume my sanity has already left me.

As I walked, I gathered, and as I gathered, I realized how few and far between these islands must be. Coconuts lined the trees, some ten coconuts huddled at the top of each trunk, and some twenty or thirty coconut trees per island. Yucca plants coated the foliage, just like the one I have at home, had at home, I’m not sure which one to put, had, or have, I guess only time will tell if what I have will remain.

My fear for water started to subside for the time being. I know the coconuts along with the rations I already have will keep me going for a while. Until I build some form of a water still, I’ll need some plastic tarp to do that though.

There are very few times that you hope for the best that mankind’s plastic pollution has made its way to some micro islands in the middle of nowhere. This is one of those times.

My fear of food died down as I moved, again, the coconuts will suffice for a while, along with the few rations. If I can form some sort of fishing spear or harpoon, and I am able to get into the water and collect some fish then I will be able to last for a while.

I picked up a few heavy rocks and threw them up towards the coconuts, I managed to knock a few off, collect them and bring them to what was now becoming my home.

It wasn’t much, a few larger driftwood logs pulled further up the beach towards where the sand meets the grass. I broke a few palms off one of the trees and laid them down for bedding. The raft beside me holding my vital possessions, the few I had.

The sun said goodbye, light faded away and darkness sank in. I was scared, to be honest, terrified. I was also thankful, grateful. There were no beasts here that could devour me at night. So long as I don’t wake up in the ocean, I should be okay. Tomorrow, I will make a list of everything I have, tomorrow I shall organize, tomorrow I will strategize.

So here we are, day 3, still hardly any sleep. Tomorrow I may try sleeping in the raft. The bugs keep me up all night, and the crabs pinch at my skin. It is time to continue as I said I would, my energy is low but it doesn’t matter, I do not get to rest now, I have to get to work and I know far well the importance sunlight makes here.

If there was anything pleasant about the night it would be the cool air, the waves, and the endless cosmos that comes to greet me as the sun fucks off. I have never in all my life seen something so beautiful, so awe-inspiring, I make a note to myself that when I am off this island I will make every effort to see the stars like this again. I never knew they could ever look so good.

Now I progress, I gather all the items at my disposal, I remove everything from the containers and the emergency supply kit inside the raft and the items I found along the beach, I line them up one by one across a flat bank of sand and make a note of them;

Water x2 Gallon, food ration x12 (protein bars, dehydrated meals), multitool (I told you I was lucky), whistle, bobby pins, pencil, paper, flashlight, batteries, coconuts, paddle from the raft, the raft itself, waterproof storage containers x2, duct tape, matches, tarp, my own clothes consisting shoes, the laces from those shoes, pants, underwear, shirt, bead bracelet, rope necklace, flare gun, flare cartridges x4

And as I turn my gaze out towards the two extra islands that are my neighbors, I notice something strange sticking out of the water, something unusual, something…