Salvation or Bust

The harsh wind blows against my makeshift shelter of palm leaves that keep most of the rain from my bare back. My eyes scan the horizon and again see nothing there but hundreds of miles of ocean, causing my stomach to drop in desperation. Surely somebody has to be looking for me, right? It’s not like I am a drifter; I have a family, a son, even a dog.

I let my mind drift and think of what got me here in the first place. A need for exploration, something that I had never done before; and after this, something I’ll never do again. A fucking kayak ride in the ocean, how stupid was I? The thought of rip currents and waves never entered my mind, I just wanted to get away from everything for an hour or two. Now because of my ignorance and inability to think things through I’m stuck on some desolate island in the Pacific Ocean.

Looking around I see that it’s not exactly an island, more of a clump of dirt with a few trees and enough room to build a tiny shelter. The wind shifts, causing the wind to fly straight into my face. Unable to do anything about it I simply turn around and let it smack into my back instead of my face. The sun sets as I drift in and out of sleep while the stinging rain beats against me.

The morning comes after the longest night of my life, and with it finally some sunshine. My happiness is short lived however once I feel the humidity that has come with it, every breath is like I’m swallowing water. Walking to the ocean I let myself sink into the soft sand while my eyes scan the distance hoping to find a sign of others. The cool water feels good on my bruised body, the wave that had crashed my kayak had damaged my body more than I had initially thought. The adrenaline flowing through my body had masked it for the most part yesterday.

My mind continues to shift back to my son, waiting for me to come home. I wonder what his mother is thinking, and him. Although my ex wife and I didn’t work out romantically we still care deeply about one another, and our son comes before anything else. I was suppose to pick him up this morning and have never missed a pick up before, so this is something that will cause her to worry.

Hopefully she will call the police first thing and they will send out search teams for me soon. I need food and water. Knowledge from random things I have read and heard come back to me, easing my tension some. The human body can live a number of days without water and food, water only a few though. Which means I need to work on creating fresh water, as there isn’t a high likelihood that there is any natural streams on this tiny island.

Fire, I need fire. This will prove difficult as I’m not a survivalist and almost everything on this island is waterlogged. My only hope is the same voices that came into my head about the food and water; just things I have read or seen on television. Standing up out of the water I strip off my shorts and lay them on the ground, keeping my boxers on to protect my most sensitive parts from the burning sun.

Finding a few somewhat dry sticks, and using pieces of my torn shirt, I try my best to create a bow drill. To my surprise I am able to get smoke and a few black spots to start fairly easy. After what seems like hours I still have no fire and decide to rest a bit.

Looking up I see a small boat on the horizon headed directly for me. Hope floods through my body and I begin to jump up and down while waving my arms like a manic, all thoughts of energy preservation abandoned I only want to be seen by the people on the vessel.

They see me! Their direction shifts slightly and their bow is pointed straight at me, I’m going to be saved! I’m going to see my child again, my family, my pup! My legs seem to stop working and I fall to my knees while tears stream down my eyes. Pure happiness continues to course through my veins as the boat draws near.

Exhaustion takes over me and I fall to my face, but something seems wrong. The boat has turned away from my spot now, like they want to avoid the island. Their speed increases, and I see the person on skis behind them. The driver’s head is turned back towards his friend now that he has turned to avoid the island; and everything on it, including me.

The last thing I see before my eyes close is the faces of the four kids laughing and smiling as their boat passes a hundred yards from me, taking my hopes of salvation with them…