Night Skies

My eyes flickered open to an unfamiliar sight. My mind matched the foggy atmosphere I had woken up to. Last I knew I was on the flight home from the best vacation I had ever had. My crisp tan lines marking my delightful stay remained on my sunkissed body. Slowly, coherence crept back and I came to the realization that I was alone. My mind jumped to many the horrific possibilities: what would become of a sixteen-year-old girl in an unknown place, deserted and confused? I could already imagine the chilling headlines. The adrenaline of this realization kept me awake and moving, but it was also the root of my anxiety. The only logical thing for me to do was scour for more signs of life.

It must have been miles and throughout my walk, I only encountered multiple suitcases. There were no traces of a plane or people. My legs felt like they were going to snap, and my skin cracked from the heat. As the night drew nearer, I decided to rest on the nearest rock. The atmosphere of the night contrasted with what I felt earlier that day. The cooler temperatures calmed my chaotic mind, filling it with images of the night sky. The stars danced between the waving palms. Soon, the enjoyable breeze influenced me to sleep along with the rest of my surroundings.

Eventually, I could feel the oppression of the sun, and knew it was time for me to compose a plan. I opened my eyes to people. Specifically, heads teeming over my sprawled-out body debating whether I was alive or not. They were so enthralled in their bickering that none of them noticed me waking up.

“Can we just leave her here? We need to keep moving.”

“No! We could use as much help as we can get.”

“Fine, I will wait five more minutes then I'm done”

“Hey guys, she’s alive.”

The young man that noticed my coherence first was the tallest of the bunch. The sun peeking behind his dirty blonde hair highlighted his sharp features. His tone conveyed a sense of dominance over the group causing everyone's eager eyes to pan towards me.

The only girl of the group quickly snapped to the boy next to her, “See I told you we should wait.” She turned back to me with a sympathetic grin, “Hi my name is Katie. What’s your name?” It took me a minute to form the words, “Hi. My name is Victoria. Where are we? Is there anyone else?”

“I know you are confused Victoria, but we can figure this out.”

“Figure what out? What is going on?”

“Here’s the deal, our plane crashed on this island somewhere on the way home. We did not get far in our flight so we are stuck on a tropical island. We have been searching for survivors hoping we would stumble upon someone that knows how to get out of here. And here we are with you!”

My mind once again became as hot as the sun. As I looked around at the group of children, I was stuck, the chances of survival seemingly nonexistent. There were a total of four adolescents around me. Curiously I turned to the two that had not introduced themselves to me yet. The one to my right was impatiently scanning his surroundings and tapping his foot. He appeared to be the oldest of the group with a burly physique and unruly facial hair. To my left was what looked like the youngest of the group. His eyes reflected how I felt, filled with a sea of fear and anxiety.

The burly boy abruptly turned to me with the most insensitive voice, “Are we just going to lay here like we have nothing to do? Get up and start walking. We will not accept slackers.”

The dirty blonde boy came over to me to help me up, “Hi I’m Caleb. Don't mind Bryce he has his own agenda and believes that it should always be followed precisely. You have already met Katie, she's nice and all I guess. Over there, that lanky kid, his name is Liam. I guess he’s the shy type. I don't know. He has only spoken once.”

I was there with four strangers wandering through a forest. Somehow, while I walked, I felt the same calming breeze I felt that night. I guess I saw hope on the horizon, eating from the thousands of banana and coconut trees, praying for our rescue.