One wishing gem

         It started out as a wonderful day with the sun beaming brightly, the ocean glittering brilliantly in the day’s sun, made even more relaxing by the soft humming of the waves. I got to enjoy every bit of this alongside my best friend Emily, while we were making our way excitedly up onto the cruise ship. It was taking us to Hawaii for a week of rest and relaxation. The moment I stepped onto the ship, I was amazed by the luxury and exquisiteness of everything in sight. I stared with my mouth wide open at everything around me, laughing hysterically when I saw that Emily was doing the same thing. Both of our entire life savings were spent on this vacation. We were both really thrilled about it, and when we spun around and saw a poster of Taylor Swift, who was going to sing that night, we could barely contain our overjoyed cries. So without a minute hesitation after checking in, we rushed to our room and got ready to prepare for the night to come.

         It was an absolute mayhem out on the ship’s deck. We had just finished watching Taylor Swift perform when we decided to come and take in a bit of fresh air. However, as soon as our feet touched the deck, our hairs blew out in all sorts of directions. Our eyes began to water as the wind, immensely fast and strong, brought its forces onto our faces. Only a few meters away to our right, we could see the ship’s crews running around hurriedly, speaking to each other in alerted tones. I was about to muse what was going on when the ship rocked sharply sideways, sending us both crashing onto the wooden floor. The wind was picking up pace dangerously fast, and to my horror, so was the water.

         Gigantic waves rose to greet us, bellowing in our ears as it knocked us breathless onto our backs. Not a second was spared when another wave sent us sweeping to the edge of the ship. By this time, I was already choked up with water, and I hadn’t a clue where Emily was. My brain had just commanded my wobbly legs to stand up when I was hit painfully in the chest by more gallons of monstrous water. This time, it sent me flying off the ship; head down, into the ocean below. The water sent shrills to my brain the minute my head crashed into it. I began thrashing my hands and legs in an effort to swim as I tried to fight my way upward. It was all useless as I felt even more absorbed into the water.
         'Amber! Amber! Where are you?' Emily's panicked voice reached me.
         'I'm her-' was all I got out as another round of waves knocked the breath out of me.
         When I surfaced once more, I tried my voice again, but each time the waves kept coming. It was as though it was shutting me up to die. It was doing a pretty good job too. Already, I could feel my conciousness wavering. Every breath I took sent searing pains to my chest. Then, just as I was about to be devoured into the deep ocean floor, I saw a figure swimming towards me. Who it was, I didn’t know. I only knew the last of my strength was gone. I could feel myself slipping away, and not wanting to fight it, I let myself be absorbed into darkness.

         I felt the right side of my body shaken back and forth, awakening me from unconsciousness. I could hear a voice calling out my name. At first, it seemed distant, quiet and soft, ringing comfortably in my ears. Then it grew louder and louder until it rang like a bell. The voice was familiar somehow, and as it became clearer, I recognized it. It was Emily’s voice! I couldn’t believe it! I was alive? After all that had happened, I was alive? Had it all been just a terrible nightmare? A twinge of hope fluttered up inside me. It almost vanished though when I felt the alarm in her voice grew stronger. I opened my eyes slowly to the bright, dazzling sunlight that nearly ached my eyes shut again. As my vision became clearer, I could see Emily’s worried face bending over me. The moment she saw my eyes opened, she cried with relief, almost in tears as she grabbed me into a big hug. I groaned as the first soaring pain shot throughout my entire body. Emily seemed to realize this and immediately let go.
         ‘Sorry! I was so happy I forgot to be gentle.' she said smiling sheepishly. 'You must be in really great pain. Same here. The waves surely beat us bad’.
         So it did happen! Well that completely crushed all hope, but I still grabbed her for a tight hug anyways, no matter the pain.
         ' Woah! Woah! Easy tiger!' She gave a little groan, but hugged me back just as tightly. She helped me up, more gently this time, which eased the pain a little. My eyes first laid on the sand below, and then moved onto the humungous trees in front of us.
         ‘Where are we?’ I blurted out.
         ‘On some island I suppose. I don’t know too. The waves brought us all the way here.' she answered. Then, she went on to explain what had happened after I fell off the boat.
         'The crew got to me and a few others to take us inside. I searched for you there, but I couldn't find you anywhere.' she started off. 'By that time, nobody was at the deck anymore, so I knew you must've fallen in.'
         'What happened then?' I asked.
         'Well, I started to panick, so I ran to tell the crew guys that you fell.' she continued. 'And guess what they said.'
         'What?'
         'They said, well to quote exactly, "Sorry ma'am. We can't help you. It's too dangerous out there. We're very sorry for your loss.", I thought I was gonna slap him! Sorry for your loss? They didn't even try! A bunch of cowards they were!' she shouted.
         I could see the color rising in her cheeks, and I had to calm her down before her throat started buldging twice as much.
         'So, what happened next?' I asked after she was much calmer.
         'Well, what do you think happened?'
         It took a few minutes for the words to sink in, before I realized, with horror, what she had done.
         'Oh my lord! You jumped down by yourself?' I almost screamed the question.
         'Heck yeah! I wasn't gonna let you die. Of course I had to jump!' she said. 'So, I asked the bunch of cowards to give me a life jacket and a rope over there.'
         My eyes moved to where she was pointing, and I saw them. The life jacket and rope, slumped there on the sand. I turned back to her, speechless.
         Emily laughed hysterically at my reaction. 'You looked like you just saw a ghost!'
         Still seeing me speechless, she carried on. 'Anyway, so I jumped down to your rescue, and believe it or not, I reached you. Only bad thing was, the waves hit us by then, and next thing I know I woke up here next to you.'
         My mouth was still gaping open after she had finished. I didn't know what not to believe she could do. I mean, she willingly jumped down to what could've been her death, for an attempt at my rescue.
         'You could have died.' I whispered.
         'I didn't care if I died. I only knew I had to save you' she said simply.
         So many emotions were stirring up inside me that I hardly knew how to thank her. At last, I got back my senses enough to attack her with another hug that made us both groan. Only then did the tears began to come down. I sobbed hard into her shoulder with her patting my back to sooth me. A whisper of 'thank you' was all I could manage.

         It was a true miracle that both Emily and I survived the disaster. On the other hand, we had a new problem. We were stuck on a deserted island with no food or a single idea of where we were on the map. Emily had only the rope and the life jacket that the crew gave her, while I had absolutely nothing, other than a soaked napkin in my jean pocket, which I couldn't see would be of any help. Emily suggested that one of us kept a lookout while the other went out to find some food. I didn’t even feel like walking let alone hunt. So it was agreed that Emily would go while I stayed and looked for any sign of a rescue team. For the hunting tools, we made two spears out of the small branches of the trees- which took two of us to break- and the surprisingly, extremely sharp teethed rocks that emerged from the ground below. Well at first we thought they were rocks, but they were actually crystals that were scattered everywhere on the island’s shore. We could barely hope of giving it a scratch, but as if to our luck, there were a few that had been broken off. Someone must have been here before us. We tied the crystals to the woods with our rope to make the spears. After everything was finished, Emily walked hesitantly into the forest with me wishing her luck. While I waited, I kept an ear out for Emily just in case something happened. Other than that, I began describing everything in sight in my mind just to let the time go by. But again and again, I found myself wondering what had happened to the people who broke off those crystals. If they lived here or left stranded just like us. I pushed the thoughts away, focusing on hearing any sounds of Emily in trouble. However, only a few hours had passed when Emily, with a huge smile on her face, shouted with pride that she had caught four fish. I ran over to help and together we made a fire, with many attempts of course. When the fish were cooked enough to eat, we simply dug in with joy. It tasted so delicious that I quickly finished the first one in a flash. I was about to grab another one when I saw a red, kind of glow from it. I held it in my hands to take a closer look. It was really glowing! I was sure of it. It couldn’t be from the fire, the glow was really coming out from the fish! I tore the fish to look inside, and immediately saw the reason why. There, inside the fish's stomach, was a red glowing gem. It was shining so impeccably crimson that I was almost scared to touch it. Once I held it in my hands, it stopped glowing instantly. I was about to voice what I had found to Emily when the words got choked up in my mouth. Somehow, for no reason at all, I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want her to know about it at all. I wanted it for myself, and only for myself. Strange, I have never felt such selfishness so strong in my life. Without a word, I carefully slid the mysterious red gem into my pocket. I continued to eat casually as if nothing happened. After a great supper, we both huddled against each other to sleep near the fire. Still, not a word was said to Emily about the red crystal. Such selfishness…
         I woke up the next morning feeling weirdly at ease with myself. It was my turn to hunt today. Instead of fear, which I was sure would be the feeling, I was filled with excitement. That was unusual indeed as I’ve never hunted in my entire life, never even knew where to begin. And there I was, getting ready for my first hunt with bursting excitement as if I was going to discover a treasure of some sort. Before setting off, Emily gave me some directions to where the stream was. I tried to lock in every bit as I can, but my mind seemed not to want to pay attention at all. So into the forest I went. At first, I followed the directions well with them fresh in my mind, but then later on, I started to forget when and where to turn. Still, I kept walking with no sense of direction whatsoever. I tried walking along some tracks here and there, but they only led me to dead ends with the trees surrounding me in their circles. After many failed attempts, I stopped in my tracks, just wanting to beat myself up for not paying attention. How I wished things would just appear magically. I was about to start again when a trickle of pain triggered from my right leg. I turned to look and realized that the red gem was glowing once again. When I held it in my hands, I realized that it was glowing quite dimly. I was about to put it back into my pocket when it burnt agonizingly in my hands that I let it fall onto the ground crying with pain. It fell in front of one of the tracks, glowing as bright as it did last night. I rushed to pick it up; thankful that it wasn’t burning anymore, but the gem seemed to want to tell me something. I held it in my hands once again, looking at it curiously as if it could unlock the secret. Without knowing what I was doing, my mouth automatically spoke on its own. I leaned in and whispered, ‘Show me’. And it did. As soon as the words left my mouth, the gem glowed crimson again, and pulled me forward like a magnet. I followed it obediently. I had no idea why, but I felt that I trusted the little gem. I walked on, turning when it wanted me too, and after a while I could hear the sound of water moving. My heart leaped with joy as I rushed forward to see the shining clear stream flowing calmly with time. When I reached it with the gem bright crimson now, I looked down upon the crystal clear stream that was almost like a mirror reflecting my face. However, the gem wasn’t done with its job yet. It pulled my hand forcefully to the right; I followed its guide, questioningly but obediently, as it led me along the stream. The further I went, the narrower the stream became. At last, I came to an arched cave just big enough for me to squeeze in. It was dark and wet inside for the stream still ran into it. Silence crept up on every corner with only the sound of my feet echoing in the cramped passage. The gem was lighting the way and just from around the corner I could see a prickle of light. As I turned towards it, I knew I’ve reached the exit.
         It was like walking into an ancient death scene. I found myself in a large circle with tall and mighty stone walls staring down upon me. What really freaked me out though, were the many human bones that sat around them. My eyes darted away from the skeletons, only to land on a statue that struck me motionless to the ground. Mounted on the stone floor, rising with an almost eerie fierce pride, a statue of a tiger and a snake entwined, rose to greet me. Their icy cold glares and their gray stone eyes were enough to give me a shiver. What caught my absolute attention though was that on both of their foreheads, red glowing gems were shining with intense brightness, just like the one in my hand. I stepped forward to take a closer look. The closer I got, the more the gem in my hand began to burn. As I leaned in to look, I realized the gem on the tiger’s forehead was missing a piece; a piece that I immediately knew was the one in my hand. The magnetic force of the gem stretched my hand, and made it place the missing gem back upon its rightful place. They were like hot fresh magmas, searing my hand with agonizing pain that I let go with a howl of fury. Just as I thought it was over, the eyes of the tiger and the snake burnt bloody crimson. I staggered back with fright as the roaring of the tiger and the cunning hissing of the snake came bellowing in my mind.
         A booming voice erupted, awakening every senses in my brain as it roared, ‘Finally! After hundreds of decades! My missing gem has been placed back into its rightful place!’
         ‘Quiet it down!’ the snake hissed ferociously before turning its attention to me, startling me with its words. ‘Now dear child, we will reward you with a wish. Yes, any wish you like dear, and we will make it come true.’
         That certainly had me taken aback for I was expecting a completely different scenario. Still, it had my mind blabbering with confusion. What wish? I had many, but to choose one, I didn’t even know where to begin. Then, it came to me. To get off of this island of course. How simple!
         I was about to say the wish aloud when a small voice at the back of my mind whispered, ‘But is it really? How about being rich? Traveling the world? Becoming a famous author? Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?’
         It was my own voice, talking to me. Was it my conscience perhaps? Anyhow I knew the answer without even needing to think about them. Of course I wanted them. I spent every day dreaming about those things, and now that I had the chance, why not wish it? Still, what about Emily? I couldn’t just leave her on this island alone. I’m the reason she’s stuck here.
         The snake broke in with its persuasive tone once more. ‘Well, what is it dear child? What’s your dearest wish? Think about yourself dear. You and only you. No other person besides that. This wish is only specially for you. Don’t waste it.’
         It sounded so soothing, so convincing, so tempting. Their red piercing eyes bored into mine. I had no idea what to do. I knew I couldn’t leave Emily behind, but a strange sort of selfishness were growing inside me. I never got anything I wanted; anything that would make me happy. Maybe it’s time I got what I wanted.
         ‘’I didn’t care if I died. I only knew I had to save you’’. The voice of Emily, her kind comforting voice resurfaced in my mind.
         The final answer came to me then. Emily… She risked her life for me. She jumped down and put her own life in danger, and to betray her and keep her stuck on this island alone? Not a chance. I opened my eyes determinedly, and with all the commanding tone I could manage, I spoke my wish aloud. ‘I wish that Emily and I get off of this island!’ What happened next left my memory. I only remembered that I came back out of the forest to see the innocent face of my best friend. And just looming out of the dark, I could see the light of a ship coming right towards us.