Will

When I woke up it was late morning. I spent the better part of the day sitting in the sand with the hat on my head just staring out into the water. Will didn't spend much time talking to me. Instead he ran in and out of the forest behind me picking up stuff. I don’t even know what, and I didn't ask. I wouldn't say that Im in shock… I just don’t know what to do. 

“Come with me.” I look up to see Will standing over me with his hand out. I look at it for a moment and then take it. He helps me up then leads me down the beach. We walk for a couple minutes until we see some debris washed ashore. He points at something dark and round. My pack. I run towards it. Inside my shorts are wet, so Is the shirt Will let me borrow before. But my camera, its dry inside of its waterproof bag. I tear it out of the bag and turn it on. Yes! functional. I breathe a sigh of relief. “Feel better?” he asks. I look up at him and squint my eyes to the sun. 

“Kind of.” I hold up his soaked white shirt. I notice for the first time that his own tank top is ripped down the side. I look down at myself. Besides being dirty and sandy my clothes are intact. He takes the shirt from me. “Anything else important wash up?” I ask.

“Well, we have a couple of water bottles, like three, that wont last us long. I found two blankets, a net, and a bowl. Not the most useful things.”

“Well how long do we need to last? Like we must be close to Acapulco. And  you guys sent out a distress signal before we went down right? We’ll be rescued soon.” I say without reassurance. 

“Dina…” Will closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I don’t even know. And… and the wave came out of nowhere, there was no time to contact anyone. We don't even know where we are. I just know we’re very far. I wasn't prepared for this.” 

I sit for a second and it dawns on me. “Walt?”

“Its just me and you Dina. Get up I need your help.” Will walks away towards the shade of the trees. I get up, wipe myself off and stumble after him. At the tree line Will already has the things he found gathered. He actually did a lot more than I thought. Between four trees… actually they’re spaced apart in a perfect square… Will found long vines and tied them around the trees making a sort of roof. He points towards giant palm leaves laying on the sand. I grab a giant leaf and throw it on top of the vine roof he made. Will nods his approval and walks into the forest. I grab the other leaves and one by one put them on top covering up the holes between the vines. While Im doing this Will travels back and forth dropping off more leaves he found. He also comes back with more vines and begins tying them between the back two tree trunks. I pick up one giant leaf. The leaves themselves are taller than me. With one of the leaves I experiment by threading it in and out of the vines Will tied between the trees to see if it’ll stay. It does. I do this with the rest. After an hour of this, Will and I have a shelter between the four trees with a roof and a back wall. He tied the vines about five feet high among the trees so we wont feel cramped. 

The sun is getting lower in the sky. I sit under our green tarp. Will hands me some water. “Don’t drink it all. We have to limit ourselves until we find fresh water.” I take a sip of the water and put the bottle to the side. For the first time today my stomach growls. 

“You don’t think we’ll be here long do you? How many days does it take for one to starve?” I ask putting my hand to my stomach. 

I finally get a little smile from him. “Don’t worry. Ive got you covered.” He ducks under our tarp and comes back with two orange green fruits. Mangos! “There are mangos on this island.” He says to me. He hands me one and sits under the end of the makeshift tarp. “Tomorrow we can do the sides and make walls.” He says as he peels his fruit. I don’t say anything, just eat my fruit. I still cant wrap my head around what happened. It was such a normal day and it came crashing down on us… literally. I wonder how long until we’re rescued. And if we’re not rescued for a while, how long until my father realizes somethings wrong. I called like every other day… so today he’ll probably call me a thousand times and think I got kidnapped. Perfect. The question is how is anyone going to find us. All of a sudden I think of my favorite tv series, Lost, and how ironic that Im in this situation. I bark a bitter laugh to myself and Will gives me a questionable look. At least I was on a boat and not a plane.

Its getting dark. Will grabs the blankets he had drying on a branch. He nudges me over. Im in the way so I step from under the tarp. He lays one on the sand and motions for me to sit. “Are we…?”

“Theres no time for formalities, we’re sleeping together.” He sits on the blanket and waits for me. I cant say that Im not thrilled. I am exhausted and not up for overthinking things right now. I lay down beside him and he wraps the second blanket over the both of us. He doesn't wrap his arm around me like I expected… or had hoped actually. He turns his back towards me and goes to sleep. 

I on the other hand cannot knock out like that. All I hear are the waves of the ocean crashing. I wait and listen to see if I hear any rustling in the forest like they do in the movies but I don’t. Its quiet. I guess thats a good thing so I don’t get spooked. I think about how I finally got the adventure I wanted after all. I just hope I don’t die. Will did so much today while I barely did anything. He got us shelter, food, water. I sat the whole morning sulking. My mind is made up. Come the morning time, no more useless Dina. It’s warm out, with a cool breeze. I thank god that there is no rain tonight. I close my eyes to see if I can sleep but it wont come. I stare into the darkness and think about Walt. Is he alive? Floating around in the ocean? Is he somewhere on the island? Does Will hope he is? I realize even more how selfish I have been all day when Will lost his father. I turn around and hug my hands to my chest and snuggle up to Will. Ill make it up to him tomorrow. Before I finally fall asleep, it dawns on me, how did we make it to this island? I remember seeing a shadow with a clam shaped mark.

I didn't sleep long. I wake up and Will’s still sleeping. He did a lot of work yesterday. He needs to rest. I take a sip of the water next to me and sneak out of our shelter. I stretch. I don’t know how early it is but its already bright, and hot. I take off my white shirt and tie it around my waist. I grab the bowl Will recovered. “Now where did he find those mangos.” I mutter to myself. I stalk towards the forest. Five minute walk in and theres the mango tree. There are some low enough for me to pick. I grab four, then walk further into the forest. Its beautiful. I still don't hear any sounds of life besides my footsteps. The palm trees giving me shade but theres enough light shining through. Not too far from the mango tree I spot yellow and green fruit hanging from another tree. I get closer to discover they’re bananas. “Score.” I grab a bunch that are still half green but good enough. Before heading back I set down my bowl and walk about ten minutes away to find somewhere to relieve myself.  

Back at the shelter Will is still sleeping. My little adventure only took me maybe a half hour. I put down the bowl of fruit and stand there for a minute taking in the situation. I spot the net Will found. I look at the net, then look at the ocean. I grab the net and head down to the water. Well while I'm feeling productive I might as well. How hard can this be. I take off my shoes and waddle into the water. I throw the net in the water. What am I suppose to do? Do I drag it back or do I wait? I wait a minute then I pull the net back in. Nothing. “Hmm…” I throw it again, wait, and still nothing. I think about nature shows Ive watched at home. How do those people catch fish? I must’ve stood there looking stupid for a while with the net in my one hand and the other hand on my hip. 

I hear a laugh and look up to see Will sitting in the sand, hands around his knees watching me. I smile, trudge out of the water, and make my way towards him. I plop down next to Will and drop the net. 

“Good morning.” He smiles at me and hands me a half green banana. “Your being productive.”

“Well I figured I owed you.” I take a bite. The banana is still kind of bitter but what else is there to eat. 

“Owed me?”

“Well yea. Yesterday you did so much. I need to be more helpful. We’re stuck here together, and until we get rescued we both need to do our part.” 

“Rescued.” He grunted. He grabs the net from me and heads back to the tarp. I follow behind him. He sits under the tarp and I sit besides him. Knees to our chest, arms wrapped around our knees. 

“How long do you think we’re going to be here Will?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hmmm.”

“We’re lost Dina. We just have to prepare for the worst.” We stare out at the water for a bit. Walking across the sand is a little green turtle. First sign of life Ive seen on this island since washing up here. 

“Come on.” He says getting up and pulling me up by my hands. “We have work to do.” We start heading towards the trees and I stop. I see Will’s hands as they sway with his walk, all red and worn from ripping the vines yesterday.

“Will, wait!” I say and run towards my pack. In my little pocket I pull out my knife and bring it to him. He eyes it, then looks at me. “This is useful.” He says then flips the knife in his hand and puts in his pocket. “Lets go.” 

The majority of our day is like yesterday evening. Will cutting vines and tying them between the trees, and me collecting giant palm leaves for our walls.    By the time the sun starts setting we finally finish. We have a shelter with three walls and a roof. Theres so many leaves sticking every which way, its not the prettiest but it’ll do. I look up and see its getting cloudy along with turning dark. “Will we should make a fire. There might not be any moonlight tonight and Id rather not sit here in the dark.”

“Ok fire master get started.”

“Well… how do I make one.” Will gives me a tired grin and reaches in his pocket. He pulls out a c-shaped piece of steel and a piece of flint. “Well why didn't you mention you had that yesterday?”

“Because it wasn't completely dark and I was tired Dina thats why. We didn't necessarily need a fire. Go grab some wood or bark.” I look around and see a large piece of wood down on the beach. I start one foot towards it, “Dry…. wood.”

“I knew that.” I say and turn on my heels towards the forest. 

“Grass, leaves, anything that’ll burn.” Will says as I walk away. Its still light out though the sky is turning orange. I need to hurry up. I grab a long stick I see on the ground. Its about as thick as my hand holding it, and as tall as my shoulder. It’s annoying to hold horizontally so I use it as a walking stick instead. I grab at some long dry grass, and pick up the driest sticks I can find as I walk. 

The forest is quiet besides the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. The sound of the beach and waves gets fainter the further I go into the forest. It’s too quiet so I hum to myself. Don’t know what Im humming but I am. As I walk a headache starts forming. I wince as the crown of my head starts throbbing. Above I hear wind, but the wind starts sounding like whispers. I look up, its getting darker. The whispering wind gets louder. 

“Stranger, stranger.” It says.

“Human, stranger.” It whispers. I look around me. Theres no one and nothing here. I look up and see birds flying away. I’m going crazy. I must’ve gotten sun sick today, and come to think of it I didn't wear the hat. “People, stranger” The wind whispers. I pinch the bridge of my nose. I look at my little bundle of wood and grass. “This is enough.” I need to get back before I start imagining things. I rush back to Will and the shelter as the wind subsides. On my way back I hear the flock of birds land in the tree. “It was wind.” I mutter to myself. 

“Whats wrong?” Will asks me staring at my pained face. 

“Nothing it’s just a headache.” I drop the wood in front of him and sit at the edge of the tarp. I put my head between my knees and throw my arms around myself. I need to go home. 

“We’ll be ok.” Will says. I feel him hovering near me but I don’t want to lift my head just yet. I hear him grab the bundle of wood and start flicking at his steel and flint. Twenty minutes later he finally gets a small flame going. He put the fire just outside of our shelter so it doesn't catch but its close enough where I can feel the heat. I stare at it, a wave of depression settling over me. Its dark now. The end of day two. We haven't seen or even heard any boats or planes. Im starting to wonder just how far did we go on our little day trip. 

“Tell me about yourself Dina.” Will says, throwing a couple of sticks into the fire trying to distract me.

“Im twenty two, Im a girl, I had a job, and a home in New York.”

“City? Your from the big apple huh?” 

“No. Everyone assumes when people say they’re from New York that we’re from the city. There’s other places in New York State besides New York City.” 

“Oh, excuse me. What did you do back home besides work? For fun?”

“I don’t know.” I finally look up. I settle my chin on my hand resting on my knee. “ I just, hung out with friends I guess. Or stayed home and slept.” 

“You sound like the most interesting individual ever.”

I squint my eyes and give him a dirty look. “I can be interesting. Like… well I don't know. Im athletic. Very.”

“Oh. What do you play?”

“Basketball of course. Look how tall I am. I hike too.”

“Alone?”

“No, with my best friend Landon.”

“A guy?” Will stares at me rather intensely. “Boyfriend?”

“No ha! Landon’s gay.”
“Oh excuse me.”

“It’s cool. Everyone assumes that at first. I guess guys and girls cant ever be just friends. We’ve gotten so used to that. Plus it’s helpful, especially when I need to scare away creeps at the bar.”

Will smirks. “Describe Landon for me.”

“Well. Landon is a hottie first of all. I keep him around to make me look good.” I snort to myself. Even if Landon wasn't gay he’d be way too hot for me. “He has the perfect smile. Straight pearly white teeth that go great against his dark skin. The way he talks, he sounds like any girls dream. Like a hunk in the movies or something. He’s tall and built, like a football player. Not brawny but he’s very toned. He’s a serious guy but can be a little quirky.”

“Why didn't Landon come on this trip with you?” Will’s laying on his side resting on his elbow playing with a stick. 

“He went to study abroad in London.”

“Landon in London.”

“Yea yea. I miss him.”

Will looks up at me as I say this and gives me an intense stare. “Will he be looking for you? With your father?”

I avert my gaze to the side and rest my head on my knees and arms. “I don't know. We haven't really talked much recently. Maybe if my father contacted him.”

“Did you guys get into a fight or something?” Will asks. 

“No, its just he got a new boyfriend. Some beautiful brunette or so he puts it. He sounded so happy when he described him. I was happy for him it’s just, we kind of stopped talking as much. I get it. When people meet somebody they care for, they spend a lot of time with them. I just wish they wouldn't forget about the people they knew. Not to mention he’s across the world as well”  

“What of your father? What is your relationship like with him?” 

“My father looks like me, or rather I look like him. He’s a tall skinny fellow. He works at a hospital. He’s the supervisor of something, I don't even know. He likes to pretend to be a tough guy but he’s really a softy. He’s overprotective obviously. And he’s probably worried sick about me right now and…” I start sobbing. I tried to hold it in but the realization of being on a boat, and the worst thing possible happening, and being washed ashore just hit me. I really just cant believe Im trapped on a sunny island with one person. It seems unrealistic, like a dream, or a tv show, but it’s real. Will looks at me alarmed then slowly walks over and sits next to me. I cant stop the sobs coming out of me. He wraps his arms around me and whispers comforting words to me. “It’s not real. We cant really be stuck on a random island. We must be close to Mexico and there must be rescuers looking for us nearby. And… and this damn headache!” I sob some more. Will whispers to me, and shushes me and rubs my head. My headache eventually starts to subside and I grow tired. Just extremely exhausted. 

Will throws the rest of the wood I collected into the fire and comes back to help me to the blankets. We lay down, this time with his arms around me. “Im sorry Will.”

“Sorry for what?” He whispers into my neck.

“For being insensitive.” 

“Insensitive?” He sits up a little and peers at me over my shoulder. 

“Yea. I cried because We’re lost and I miss my father and friend but… you lost yours.” I don’t look at him. He sits for a minute then lays back down without saying anything. He just hugs me closer. I enjoy it. I enjoy his warmth, his smell, and his little wisps of blonde hair tickling my neck. Even though he has an orange tint from the fire, his tanned white skin looks odd but comforting on my darker tone. I can tell he’s not yet asleep but I’m so tired. I drift off. 

I dream a crazy dream. Im drowning and Clam face saves me. Im just barely holding onto his fin as he brings me above the water. The sky is dark, the water is violent. Im coughing and spluttering just barely opening my eyes against the salt water. When I finally do, I see a head of blonde hair about ten feet away. “Will!” I try to yell but I croak. Im coughing too much. I reach one hand towards him but I physically cannot go anywhere. Clam faces turns a little to eye me. Seconds later another bottlenose rises from the water and clam face barks orders for him to save the boy. Wait! Did Clam face just speak words! I cant concentrate. I feel heavy, and cold, my head is throbbing and my lungs burn. The last thing I hear is Clam Face saying “Im taking you there.” In a shaky nerdy voice. Not what I imagined. I close my eyes and enjoy the sensation of me gliding through the water at a fast pace. 

“Where?”

I wake up early. My headaches subsided. There are birds flying overhead singing songs to each other. I yawn, look down, Will’s arm is still around me. I shift around slowly, and take a good look at him. His hair is so crazy. His eyelashes so long and his lips, pink and full. He has a husky voice and a great smile, but very sharp canines Ive noticed. He sounds like he’s giving me a sexy grin every time he speaks, and he drawls some of his words a bit at the end. I smile at his sleeping face and breathe him in. I slowly reach out my hand to touch his chest. I trace the collar of his tank top. My fingers travel to his shoulder and down the muscle of his arm. He’s very fit. I press the skin of his arm and watch it turn white and back to red and tan. I do it again. White people are weird man. “Mmm, having fun?” He has the most attractive sleepy voice ever. I freeze, embarrassed about letting myself get carried away. Before I can turn away Will tightens his arms around me and rolls onto his back so that I end up on top of him. Im frozen, and nervous, and afraid to move. What is he doing? He blinks several times then finally focuses on me. He searches my face for a minute. Will has large deep chocolate brown eyes. I can just barely make out his pupils. He’s growing a little stubble around his jaw. I feel his chest moving as he breathes, his abs underneath his thin shirt, and…. something hard and rather large down there. I blush and cant help myself as my eyes move towards his plump lips. Involuntarily mines part. “We have a lot to do today.” And he rolls me right off of him. 

Will gets up and heads down to the water to wash up. It gets hot so early. I grab a couple bananas and sit and wait for him. First he takes off his tank top, then his cargo shorts and throws them onto the sand. His muscles are amazing. He has a very defined tan and a nice round butt. I squint, very hard actually, trying to spot the bulge but he’s to far away. He jumps in to get his whole body wet. He takes his bun out and his curly hair falls down to his back, approximately his shoulder blades. I watch him dip his hair in, wring it out, twist it then tie it back in a wet bun. He finally makes his way back towards me. “What are we doing today?” I ask as I hand him a banana. 

“We need to find fresh water first of all. And we need to know where we are. I want to look around this island. See how big it is. What’s here.”

“Have you noticed theres not many animals? Or at least I haven’t seen any besides a turtle and some birds.”

“Well we’re on the beach. And most animals aren't going to come out to us.”  

“Yea but if we’re on an uncharted island then they probably haven’t met many humans, so they don’t have a natural fear of us. I would think we’d at least hear a few big things running around the forest.”

“What are you an animal expert?” He asks and grins at me. 

“I watch a lot of documentaries.” I say rather spiffed. Will has insinuated on more than one occasion that I don't know what I'm talking about. I go into the forest to take a quick break before we leave and when I come back Will is emptying my bag. “What are you doing? Why is my camera out?”

“We need the bag so we can carry things. Like food. More water.”

“Yea but my camera will get damaged if sand gets in it.”

“Dina whats more important? Surviving or a camera thats going to die any minute. Its useless.” He puts two empty water bottles in the bag and a half full one, throws it over one shoulder and ducks under and out of our shelter. I stand there pouting for a second. Shake out one of the blankets, and wrap my camera in it. He just doesn't understand. I leave the shelter to see him standing there impatient. I put on my white shirt so I don't get sunburned and we head into the forest. 

Walking through the forest I trip, constantly. Theres branches and vines everywhere. And patches of mud where I get stuck. 

“I thought you hiked.” Will asks walking ahead of me while I struggle. 

“I did, in nice wooded areas with man made paths…” I glare at his back. I think he’s bipolar. He can be so nice and then have such an attitude within a second. My head starts throbbing. I put my hands on my knees and my head down. Will stops and looks back at me. 

“Whats wrong?”

“Nothing its just a headache. I get them a lot. Probably the sun and this heat.” We’re about a half hour into the forest. 

Will looks around, then comes over and helps me sit against a tree. “Do you take medication for these headaches?” 

“No, I probably should though right?” I place my palm on my forehead trying to hold myself in place if that makes any sense. 

“Sit here for a minute. I think I hear water nearby.” He hands me the half filled water bottle, drops the bag with me and runs off. Three minutes later as Im rubbing my eyes, doing weird things to my face trying to get rid of this headache, Will comes back and crouches next to me. He puts his fingers to his lips to shush me. “I found a stream.” He whispers.

“Ok why are we being qu..” He puts his finger to my lips and pulls my hand up. I grab the bag and follow him. We tip toe through the forest and then he pushes me down behind some shrubs. I give him a confused annoyed look. He points over the shrub then motions again for me to be silent. I look and we are on top of a hill. There is a beautiful stream below. Clear water running down between rocks and mini waterfalls. My mouth feels extremely dry all of a sudden. I look to the right to see a large black cat sipping at the water. 

“Panther.” Will barely whispers to me. “We have to wait till he leaves.” We sit there for a few minutes. The heat is getting to me. My head is throbbing, and I'm growing irritable. Ten minutes goes by. Then twenty. Thirty. I look again only to see the panther grazing. I know I should be terrified that the large cat can hear us and pounce on us but being so close to the stream is killing me. Im waiting for fresh water and that panther is napping. The nerve. 

“Move!” I grunt to myself in frustration. Will turns and gives me a crazy look. I must’ve said that too loud. We both look down the hill. The panther definitely heard me. I look straight into its green eyes. We stare for what seems like forever. Im too afraid to move a muscle. Ive seen these things on animal planet. They are ruthless killers. After a few seconds it yawns, stands on all fours, stretches, walks forward a couple steps, sniffs the air then turns and disappears into the forest. 

Will and I wait for a while to see if it comes back. He stands up, looks around for a minute then holds out his hand for me. “We got lucky the panther wasn't interested in us. Lets hurry before it comes back.” We climb down the hill between the trees. Will holding my hand so I don't fall. I should play damsel in distress more often. I cant say I don't enjoy Will ’s attention. We quietly rush down to the stream. Will fills the water bottles while I splash my face with the cold fresh water. I cup my hands and take a sip. It tastes so good, and clean. I don't get to enjoy the stream long before Will motions for us to go. 

The walk back to camp is quiet. I think Will is spooked about the cat. He looks around and behind us every few minutes as we walk. We finally have confirmation that there are large dangerous animals here, and very close. For some reason Im not as bothered as he is. “Why are we headed back? Aren't we going to search more of the island? Its still early.”

“I don’t know if you saw that giant black cat back there Dina.”

“Well yea but.”

“That wasn't even a half hour from our camp. Into the forest. If that panther was that close, then theres more deeper in the forest. We have fruit, water nearby. Theres no reason to go further.”

“Your just scared. All we have to do is be careful.”

“Im right to be scared, and smart.” He snaps at me. He stops and stands in front of me. “What could we possibly attain by venturing the island? This isn't a fun adventure Dina. We’re stuck in a random place. A dangerous place at that.”

I stare right into his face and speak to him sternly. Im tired of him treating me like Im stupid. 

“What if there are people here, across the island? What if we’re not as isolated as we think? There could be man made places here. Someone has had to land here at one point or another! Maybe… maybe theres a safe house or something on this island with a radio or technology. We don't even know where we are like you said. There could be men here. We just have to find them. Theres not many unexplored places on this earth Will!” 

“Theres not many islands west of Mexico Dina, and we weren't close to any of them.”

“It hurts us more to stay in one place not knowing if help will come. Actually you said yourself your pretty sure help WONT come. We should see whats out here. We just have to be careful.” 

Will rolls his eyes at me and turns and starts walking. “Ok good luck to you.” 

I stand there for a second frustrated. Bipolar a*s.  “P***y.” I hiss at him. 

“Excuse me?!” Will stops in his tracks, turns and gives me a shocked and dirty look. I don't care. He treats me as if Im stupid but he's just a scared guy trying to act tough. I don't look at him as I march past him. 

Back at the shelter I waste most of the day pouting. I sit on the blanket scrolling through the photos in my camera. Will doesn't do much else besides sit at the edge of the grass tarp and sulk. He chews on a mango and throws the peels into the sand. “Im tired of fruit.” He murmurs to himself as he gets up and grabs the fish net. When he walks away I put down my camera and watch him. When I met Walt and Will, of course I had a little crush on Will. He was an attractive guy, with long hair and a nice tan who spent his life chilling on the beach and on a boat. I had a crush on a stranger. Normal. Being forced into this situation together though, will require us to have an actual relationship. I sigh and wrap my arms around my knees and rest my chin. I kind of regret resorting to name calling earlier. We really are going to need each other if we want to stay alive on this island or wherever we are. Its still light out so I get up and head towards the edge of the forest to gather some grass, sticks and wood. Will watches me for a second when I get up but goes right back to his fishing. I don't dare go further than the edge of the trees. I can just hear Will now. Yelling at me about the dangerous situation we were just in, and why would I go back into the forest right away. And then he would ignore me for the rest of the night and act like he doesn't care. 

I collect enough dry material and set it up in front of the shelter. I grab Will’s flint and steel which he left and attempt to make a fire like he did. “How hard could it be.” I mumble to myself. To my surprise it actually doesn't take me long to get some of the dry grass to catch. I whoop to myself! “Take that William!” I chuckle to myself. I wonder if thats his actual name. Starting a fire makes me feel so good. I stop to contemplate this. Will really makes me feel so dumb that I was surprised I could start a fire. “Your talented, and smart, and special Dina, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.” I say to myself. Thats what my father would tell me when I started playing sports back in the day. I was so nervous that I would fumble and do something wrong and people would laugh at me. I smile to myself.

“Talking to ourselves already are we? Its only been a couple of days Tom Hanks.” Will walks up behind me trying to sound light, but I can hear the tightness in his voice. In the net he's dragging a fish. I would complain that its only one but its a huge fish!” I eye the fish as I speak. 

“I started us a fire. I knew you’d catch something.” I give him a small smile. His face lightens up as I say this. I forget that men are so sensitive. In order to make up for my name calling earlier I have to give him a compliment. 

He grabs the fish out of the net and holds it proudly. “It’s only one but it’ll get us through the night. Ill easily catch more next time.”  It’s slowly getting darker. Will takes out the knife ready to gut the fish. 

“Can you show me how to clean a fish?” He motions me over. I sit next to him and watch. First he grabs the head and scales the fish. The scales fly everywhere as he drags the knife down the body. Next he cuts under the mouth of the fish and splits the fish open from a hole at the bottom up to the head. He then cuts and scrapes out the insides. The whole thing looks gross and smelly but to be honest Im a little tired of fruit as well. When he’s done we both look around trying to figure out how we’re going to cook the fish. I grab two long sticks and Will cuts the fish in half the long way. We lay the fish over the sticks and reach them out towards the fire, just high enough so that the sticks themselves don't catch fire and burn. 

After what seems like forever the fish looks ready enough to eat. “Be careful of the tiny bones.” Will says to me. He peels off a strip of the fish and feeds it to me. It’s hot and it tastes so much better then the mangos and bananas we’ve lived off of for the past couple of days. I smile at him. He can be such an a*****e and then so cute. It’s hard to deal with him I swear. Hr gives me a beautiful grin then eats the rest of his fancy fish over fire dinner. We don't talk much but the vibe is better than it was before between us. 

“Thank you.” I mutter as I get up. I scoop up the guts in the sand and head towards the water. “We don't want any giant cats smelling this and coming to join us for dinner.” I walk down and throw the fish guts and head in the water. something will eat it I hope. I turn to walk back to Will and the fire. As I look up I swear I can see a pair of large green eyes at the edge the trees. I stop and blink but they disappear. “What the…” I look up into the sky just in time to see a shooting star. “Maybe I am already turning into Tom Hanks. Where’s Wilson?” I laugh to myself at my own joke and make my way back. Will is done with his fish, sitting staring at the fire. “Are you coming to sleep?” I ask in my softest voice possible.

“In a little while maybe.” He says but doesn't look at me. I duck under the shelter and lay down. Disappointed. I was hoping that tonight would be the same as yesterday. Will with his arms around me, or maybe he was just being a gentleman because I was crying. I sigh and close my eyes.