The Seastone Chair

Stranded

Week 1 Prompt 1: You’re on a deserted island with another person, a tool, and what else? What happens? ~Story

As deserted islands go, this place was downright pitiful. Jack hid under the shelter of a tree, moaning over the severe sunburn that turned his light complexion to a searing red, as blisters bubbled the surface of his face, shoulders, and arms. How he managed to get them to shore after their small boat hit a rock cracking the wooden bottom, she’d never know.

Carly sighed, looking out over the ocean, wishing she could’ve been more useful, instead of the blubbering disaster he ended up with in this time of crisis. She hated the water, and he practically had to bribe her to venture out for the afternoon with him. He was hurting, and there was nothing she could do really to help ease his pain. She’d give anything at that moment to have a bottle of Aloe Vera to help soothe his skin.

The water lapped at her legs, making them sink deeper into the cool sand. Carly stared down at her feet, wondering how she could scoop up enough and carry it over to him to plaster on his skin. She walked the shoreline, her eyes scouring every inch in search of something useful. A brown object protruded from the sand a few hundred yards in front of her. Carly ran towards it and dropped to her knees. The remnants of a coconut sat before her. She pulled it free of the sand and discovered half of the coconut was gone, but what was left would be enough to help her scoop wet sand out of the ocean.

Grabbing the coconut, she stood and raced back to where she stood earlier. Carly removed her T-shirt and placed it on dry sand. Using the coconut, she began scooping up cool sand and carrying it back to her shirt. Once she had a few good scoops, she took the corners of her shirt held them like a bag, carrying it towards her husband. The closer she got to him, the worse she felt as he twitched and moaned, his back against the tree trunk.

“Here,” she said. “Let’s see if this will relieve a little bit of the pain.”

Jack stared at her, doubt etching the fine lines around his eyes. “We need to find a way off this island.”

“First things first.” Carly knelt in front of him and picked up a handful of the wet sand. She molded it and flattened it, hoping she could make it just the right thickness that it would adhere to his skin. “This may sting a bit.”

With the delicateness of a butterfly, she laid the first layer of sand on his forearm. Jack winced, which sent the sand falling to the ground. “I know it hurts, but you have to try and hold still to see if this will even work for you or not.”

“Says the dark-haired beauty who never burns.”

I smiled, glad that his sense of humor was still intact. The sun began to set as we sat together, wondering what darkness would mean for us.

“We need to find shelter in case we’re stranded here all night,” Jack said standing, the dried-out sand on his arms falling off.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

He smiled, “Yes, thank you for playing nurse.”

He took my hand and together we traipsed across the island searching everything in sight. My feet began to hurt as doubts filtered into my mind and my stomach grumbled from lack of sustenance. How long would we be trapped here? Would anyone even know they were missing?

“Carly, check this out,” Jack called.

He stood a few feet away, pulling something out of a hole in a tree trunk. “What is it?”

Jack turned toward me, holding what looked like a rolled-up scroll. I watched as he unrolled it and turned around in a circle.

“Well?” I asked annoyed. The sun was going down quickly and standing around looking at a piece of paper I knew wouldn’t help us out at all.

“It looks like a treasure map.”

I moved to his side to look. He was right, it definitely was a treasure map, but I still saw no point to it. If it wasn’t something to help us get off this island, in my eyes it was useless.

“I don’t think it would hurt to try and follow it while we still have about an hour of daylight at best,” Jack said.

I knew that look in his eyes. My husband loved adventures, and this treasure map would something he couldn’t pass up.

“I’ll give you thirty minutes and if we don’t find anything useful, we start looking for a place to sleep tonight.”

“Deal!”

Before I could even say another word, Jack was off and running in search of whatever that map would entail. The littlest things seemed to bring out his inner child, which usually made for a lot of fun, but at that moment, I was terrified of what nightfall would bring. I trailed behind, letting him lead me all over the island when suddenly he stopped in front of an enormous rock that seemed totally out of place. He crouched down and began digging.

“Jack?”

“If my calculations are right, there should be something buried here. Come on, help me dig.”

I sighed but did as he asked. Sand flew in every direction, Jack frantic to find something of significance.

I was slower until my fingers stopped on something smooth. “I think I found something.”

Jack crawled over to me, smiled and pulled out the wooden box with markings etched into every side.

“Open it!” I said, excitement at finding a treasure rushing through me.

“Ready?” Jack asked.

He gave me one last long look and then lifted the lid.

WC:961

Work Hard ~ Play Hard!