Paradise

Stranded

I was dreaming about my first time climbing a tree when I was seven and my sister was nine. We snuck outside at around 6:50 in the morning before our parents woke up for work. Our parents were in the process of making a tree house on one of the huge palm trees in our backyard.

My sister was the first to climb. Her tiny hands hugged tight against the hand made wooden steps while her legs swiftly propelled her to the top. I watched her admiringly. She was into the outdoors instead of fashion; camping instead of makeup; fishing instead of boys.

"Come on Cleo! Quick get up here." Steph whispered. She sat on one of the planks that jutted out of the side of the tree.

I looked up at the palm. It was tall, the leaves loomed over our bedroom window. Tiny green coconuts were growing at the top.

"O-okay." I said hesitantly. I began to scale up the side of the tree.

"Don't look down!" My sister called out.

Halfway up, my fingers started to lose their grip on the wooden ladder. I inched closer to the tree bark. I gripped the wood tighter and I could feel splinters starting to form. As a reflex I pulled my hand away and almost slipped. The ground looked miles away and I began to panic.

"Cleo!" Steph whisper screamed. "Cleo are you alright?"

"S-steph, I can't go any further. " I replied scared. The wood underneath my blue bedroom slippers began to give. Before I could take another step, the wood ripped out of the bark from underneath my feet and I fell straight to the ground.

"Stephanie!" I screamed. I could see the fear in my sister's eyes as she watched me fall. A loud thud ringed in my ears before everything went black.
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I woke up with a gasp. My eyes felt heavy as I tried to force them open. My lungs were filled with water and I felt a sharp pain as I tried to inhale. Alarmed, I choked and gagged; coughing out the liquid to grasp any air. I began to take deep, slow breaths until the cool air filled my lungs once again. My lips tasted salty. My clothes and hair felt wet and gritty. Everything felt hazy and I was sluggish and worn out.

As I slowly sat up, the ground underneath me began to sink. I immediately sat up right and noticed that I was surrounded by sand. The sound of waves crashing one by one onto the shore began to ring in my ears. As I looked around there were patches of palm trees and a jungle looking forest behind me. Everything else was quite, except for the sound of me breathing and soft crashing waves. That's when I realized that I was on an island. The sun was shining bright in the sky and there was no one in sight. I jumped up in full panic mode.

How did I get here? When? Am I dreaming? What happened to the jet? Where is my sister? My friends? The pilot? The family? Businessmen? Elderly Couple? Where is everyone?

Fear, confusion and anxiety snaked its way through my body.

"Hello!!?!!!" I attempted to scream but my throat burned. I looked around a few palm trees.

"ANYONE!!!" I croaked at the forest. Everything was silent. There was no reply. I began crying and my legs buckled making me crash back into the wet sand.

My body was shivering under my soaked clothes. I looked up at the sky and could see the clouds disappearing.

'Where am I?' I thought to myself.

I sat under one of the palm trees. Coconuts littered the sand beneath it. I cracked one open using a sharp tan boulder that jutted out of the sand. The coconut water tasted sweet and spilled over my chin as I gulped it down. I knew I had to stay hydrated and get out my wet clothes. I sat against the trunk of the tree eating the jelly out of the coconut. Something hard poked my hip from on my pocket. It was my phone. I tried turning it on but with no use. The water must have damaged the circuits and ruined the battery. I chucked it onto the sand with a huff.

Then something caught my eye.

Washed up on the shore was a a shadowed figure. The water lapped up around it, pushing it further onto the sand. I dropped the coconut and ran fast straight into the water. It splashed up around me and I was getting closer to the object. That's when my heart sank.

It was a body.

The pilot's body.

I screamed in horror and disgust. His face was blue like the sky and swollen. He was dead for sure. I ran back towards the tree. And had to steady my breathing.

"No...no.no.no.no!" I repeated.

The pilot, me waking up on the island...

That's when it all clicked. The plane must have crashed when I took a nap. Which means everyone else is either dead from the impact or possibly washed up somewhere on this island.

No plane means no going back.

I'm stranded.