Short Stories

Far Away

A beach is the location, discovery is the theme. A watch is an object that plays a part in the story.

It gleamed in the sand. Reflected quickly from the sun. But it was enough, enough to catch my eye. After I saw the glimmer I broke into a run. I raced down the beach, my feet burning slightly as I raced across the sand. The sun glared down and shone across my skin. My skin was already red and sore, blisters grew on all sides of my body, my eyes were sore of having had many sleepless nights. I dived into the sand and grabbed the thing that had shone to me from a far. It was a watch. I picked it up, wiping away as much sand as possible, blowing it away to try and preserve it. There was numbers on it, and as I stared the numbers changed to a new number. It was working. I felt relief sweep over. How long had I been stuck on this island? How many days had past that I had been by my isolated self. The watch told the time though. I couldn’t tell what time, from what country. I couldn’t tell if it was even working properly. Who would have been stupid enough to drop a watch in the water? It was a heavy watch. How did it manage to get this far out, to an island and not just sink to the bottom of the dark ocean? There was no place for a date on it. I was still in the dark for how long I had been here. I was surprised the watch had fared so well in the water, it must have been highly water proof. I got up from the sand, cradling the watch to my chest and walked into the jungle. I climbed up a tree, still holding the watch. When I had reached the top I strapped it to my wrist. It was my first sign of civilization. I only feared that it might be my last.