In Times Of Struggle

She looked up at him and then turned, looking around him. She knew they complained about water as if there wasn't enough of it, but they had more than enough, and they all needed to be drinking it generously. Dehydration out here would be nightmarish, and it was the last thing any of them wanted or needed. "Pay them no mind, you need to be drinking a lot. Especially considering you're probably still growing, which is astounding," She said, shaking her head slightly.

"And yeah, he was right. It's a Lychee, but you were right to check. Don't eat anything you're not sure about, but I know you know as much." She said to him. "Have you ever had one? I don't think I have, but I don't think they're very appetizing either. I'm dying to find more pinapple though, and macadamia nuts. I love those, and I'm really happy they grow here." She smiled a little.

She turned, heading down the beach so they could walk toward the mountain. "I do want to look for some leaves, see if I can figure something out. I was never one for herbal medications, but I guess theres a first time for everything." She shrugged, walking into the trees.

---

"I was going to ask you about that," He said, standing up off the rock he was sitting on. "We might need to figure out new sleeping arrangements for everyone, because a lot of people are complaining about the pain they're in. But aside from sleeping on the sand, what else could we do?" He asked her.

"Do you have any ideas? Naomi said she found some wild flax, that could be made into blankets. Maybe we could also use it to make cots, if we suspended it between some bamboo poles?" He suggested. "Plus, it's been getting really cold at night, we might need to make the fire bigger, or buld something else." He added.

"Yeah, seems it might take longer to find us," she murmured softly as she thought about it then wet her lips, "Making cots is a good idea but then there is the issue of cold air under and on top of us, I'll need to draw up some plans. I really hate to use up paper but I'm going to need to, thankfully we have pencils," she only used the paper when she had to, and lately drawing floor plans was harder to do in the sand. A couple of the older men in the group were getting restless, and taking it out on everyone around them. There'd be a couple times where she'd told them to take a nap and shut the hell up - she couldn't deal with the confrontation of scared people. It took everything out of her to not cry herself to sleep, the first night had been the hardest then it got easier... almost a week now, and with it being pretty cold at night she knew it would be hard to keep everyone happy.

Talia looked at Jackson then sighed, "we need houses," she said to him softly as she thought about it... five feet off the ground would protect us from unusually high tides if it rains, and it'd keep the winds out, and with the flax fabric we can line the inside of the house for insulation," she said to him lightly as she thought about it; if anyone looked at her they could see her gears were turning.

---

He nodded a little,"Maybe we can find something to ease the tension around here, something useful could definitely make the morale go up with everyone... maybe then people will stop complaining so much," he said snorting a little as he followed her then pushed a hand through his hair before sipping more of his water. "Do you think it'd be good mixed with water... like flavor for it?" he asked curiously as he looked at the berry before putting it back into his bag. "Maybe I can test that out later, if its good it'll be like tea, and I'm sure it has some medicinal quality to it," he shrugged.

She nodded. "It's really useful, and healthy. Pull out the seeds, we can dry them out and plant them. We'll need to start a plot to grow things," She said as she walked. "It might be good with water, let me know how it is." She said as she walked. She stopped at a bunch of flax leaves and leaned down, using her knife to cut it loose. She used a rope and tied it together, shoving it into her bag.

"We'll need a lot of it, theres so much to do. Once I get closer to the water, I want to look at the leaves, and see what I can find." She murmured. "But how have you been feeling? Any better?" She asked. "i know the older people can be annoying, they're constantly asking questions I can't answer, and it's frustrating."

---

"Houses? It'll depend on how many are in it, but we can double or triple up." He said to her. "How can I help? We'll all need to help out with it," He said to her. "Maybe we can ask Naomi to keep making sheets of the flax, it'll help with building everything right?" He didn't know much about it, but he wanted to help. Plus, Talia knew a lot more than everyone else so she was the person to default to. He had heard a few of the older people complaining, but he knew it was them being afraid. Everyone was afraid, but they hid it worse than others.

He nodded, "Sometimes they talk so fast I can't understand them, I don't think they know english is my second language that I'm still learning," he said with a sigh then began to help her collect the flax and looked at her, "But I answer them the best I can, it's really hard though and it just makes them more upset," it was a bit disheartening when all he wanted to do was help. He'd spoken to Jackson about it but there wasn't much that could be done about it.

---

She sighed a little then nodded,"Lining the inside of the houses will help if we do the outside as well as an after fact once it's build it'll keep us warmer when it gets chilly," she told him as she picked up a notebook and a pencil then began to sketch something out, "It's not very big, but it's big enough for two people," she offered as she looked at him then continued to draw. "We need to go check the plane soon, it might have beached by now then we can get the stuff out of the bottom without worry,"

The sketch wasn't very good, in fact it was rough and the lines weren't straight but the basic idea was there, "Remember when we went to the other side of the island by the water - there was bamboo over there," she said to him, "A lot of it, we could cut some and use it for the walls and the structure for the roof then use leaves and flax, set the leaves on the flax mats so we dont get bugs inside or spiders," she shuddered at the thought.

"Its all you really can do," She said to him sighing a bit. "But your english is really good, considering it isn't your first language, and they're just handling stress badly. Don't let it get to you. You're the youngest person on this island, you don't look it, and I think thats part of why they forget. You're only eighteen, they can't expect you to know everything. They can hardly expect me to know everything as much as they wish I did." She sighed, finishing up with the flax. "Come on, lets see what we can find over here." She said, adjusting her bag as she walked.

---

He nodded. "When do you want to start? We'll need to get a few people toghether to bring it over, so we'll need to dedicate some time to walk over and bring it back." He said, looking around. "Maybe 10 or 15 people? Shouldn't be too hard. How much material do you think we'll need? And we'll all need to double up then?"

He nodded a little bit then smiled, "Well I'm doing the best I can and I've been speaking english almost non-stop since we got here," he said to her as he added to the bag and continued to cut the flax in large chunks, "I miss my bed... and hotpot,' he said as he thought about it, "I miss performing, and dancing," he said with a small smile as he thought about it then frowned. "The fans must be so worried,"

---

She nodded a little,"Yeah thats more than enough," she said to him lightly then wet her lips, "see this is what I had in mind," she said as she showed him the paper, doubling up we'll need about twenty nine shelters, we can even make little covers for the windows when it rains so water doesn't get inside, luckily there is enough blankets for everyone to have two per person," she sighed, "Which is fortunate, only one pillow per person which sucks cause I usually have two," she laughed a little.

"You can still dance, though it'll be hard. You won't have any music, but I'm sure you could still practice. And I'm sure they're looking for you. I'm positive. If we're being honest, it's your status as a celebrity thats probably leading the search efforts. They'll probably look twice as hard because you are among the missing." She said, taking more flax. "I miss my bed too. It was warm and comfortable and I'll sleep so well once I get back to it."

---

He nodded as he looked over her shoulder. "You're really impressive, you know that? You did that in less than ten minutes, thats incredible." He said with a smile. "You should be proud of yourself, you're going to be a great architect."

She smiled a little as she shrugged, "Being on tight schedules is something I've always been kind of used to, lets just hope they have something other than luggage under the plane cause that way we can use what they have down there.. I'm positive they won't mind," she laughed a little as she thought about it. "Then with the stuff from the people who passed I'm sure they won't mind if we use their things as well, I'm just excited to get my hands on some shampoo, my hair is so oily right now,"

---

He nodded a little, "Maybe once we're better off I can get Talia to build a small stage, nothing crazy just something flat to dance on," he said to her thoughtfully as he continued to pull flax.

She nodded. "I don't think she would have a problem with that," She said as she pulled more flax out of the ground. "I'm hoping we get found sooner rather than later, theres so much I miss. Like my family, my parents, younger siblings." She said softly. "Im sure once you get back, you'll get even more of a vacation, since this isn't what your managers had in mind."

---

He smiled a lilttle. "Hopefully by tomorrow it's beached, if not, we can see how deep it is. We don't want to do anything dangerous, but we need to get what's on the plane. So then, should we start gethering now? Or should we wait until the plane is beached?"

"I'm sure when they said have fun they didn't mean get stranded on an island after a plane crash," he said laughing a little, "but I'll make due with what I've got, but once we get back...I don't know what I'll do.. probably spend a lot of time with my family," This was something he tried not to think about a lot, because he really did miss being home, as it was he didn't see his family very often and now it seemed like they might think they were dead if they didn't find them soon. He didn't want to have to imagine his mother having a funeral without a body, a funeral for a son that wasn't dead.

---

Talia sipped her water, "Lets see how close it is then make a decision.. I really don't think it's too far now," she said to him as she thought about it then rubbed the back of her neck, "and I'd like to get in there today if I can, before it was far but now it should be less than a day from being completely stationary,"

"I'll walk down there with you if you want, anything to get away from the others," He said, shaking his head. "We could get so much from the plane, I wonder how much of it is intact, if it's floating, it's probably still in decent shape." He murmured. "We could probably make use from it, pull it apart. There should be tools on there too."

---

"Yeah, I get that." She said to him. "For right now, the people around us are our family and its amazing how quick some people are to tear each other apart." She said, shaking her head. "We're all we've got right now." She said and then smiled a bit. "Have you tried the wild pinapple? Somehow its sweeter than pineapples I had back home." She said, looking up in the trees for them. "They're amazing, I could eat them all day if given the chance."

"Let's hope so," she said to him laughing a little, "Alright lets take a walk then cause I'd love to get my stuff off the plane," she hoped it was beached but she'd wade through a bit of water in order to get what she needed, it was a lot harder than she anticipated. When she woke up to the familiar feeling she knew there was only one thing it could be.... her period. She had been so certain that with the lack of sleep and the high amounts of stress she wouldn't start but she did. It came with a vengeance as well, it was heavier than usual and she had cramps like you wouldn't believe.

---

He nodded,"I'll have to try some with dinner tonight then," he smiled a little as he thought about it, "I'm actually dying for some iced tea right now," he admitted quietly, "anything but this plain water," he made a face as he looked at it. The flavorless beverage was getting to him. "At least when we get on the plane we can get our tooth paste out of our luggage," he offered as a perk.

"That is a perk," She smiled a little. She had been using the rough fabric of her washcloth to brush her teeth and she was desperate for her toothbrush. "I'll be nice to have," She said and sighed. "Come on, I want to see what else is this way," She said, standing up and securing the flax. "I'd give anything for a hot shower too, it would be great." She said with a sigh.

---

Jackson began walking, carrying his bottle of water with him. "Where are you from? What was your home like?" He asked curiously. He missed his own family, though he rarely saw them anyway. But he also cared about the people around them, he had got7 to fall back on. A lot of the people who were on the island didn't have that.

"I'm from Colorado so it's always cold, there are hills everywhere, and mountains," she said to him smiling a little as she walked with him in the direction of the plane, "My dad had our house built before I was adopted," she said to him as she walked sipping her water. "I was their first kid they adopted, once I was three they adopted twin girls from our church they were two," she explain and sighed a little as she looked at her hands. "Then we adopted our brother, who was a new born, born to a drug addict in the area now he is studying to be an engineer, the twin girls are both studying interior design, we're planning on opening a company together. I built the house and they help landscape and decorate the inside,"

---

"I'm secretly hoping we find a hidden stash from a grocery store," he joked, "Maybe they delivered food to the wrong place, and we're in luck," of course that was never going to happen, just one day without having to cook would mean they'd all feel it the next day.

She laughed. "Or maybe they'll drop mcdonalds from the sky to feed us," She grinned. "But if that was the case, I'd just rather they pick us up instead."

---

"Thats a big family," He said softly. "No wonder architecture is so important to you. It's almost a family business."

"Yeah, we all get along pretty well but I'm fairly certain my grandma has it out for me. I wouldn't put it past her to be the reason this happened," she said with a small smile on her face as they made it to the beach where the plane would take root. "Well it's what... fifteen feet out?" she said as she looked at him, "There is a drop there though, it's probably twenty feet deep. I'm a good swimmer but right now the last thing I want to do is get my cltohes all wet," she said nearly pouting.

---

He nodded,"Any kind of processed food would be good right about now," he admitted as he thought about it for a moment, "I miss chicken, and beef,"

He nodded a bit. "It does drop off. But we can just come back tomorrow, it's not worth it." He said, turning back toward camp. "Doesn't make sense to risk for something we can always come back for." He said as he waited for her to follow.

---

She sighed a little. "Yeah," She agreed, looking through the trees and walking along the rocks. "Can you rock climb? I wanted to see what was up there, but if you can't we can walk." She smiled a little. "I see steam, and I'm curious."

"Are you sure we couldn't go? I mean, would we die?" she asked as she looked at him then back at the plan, she was more worried that a storm would come and sink the thing then she'd never get it back or any new clothes for her to wear. She had good shoes in there as well her sandles weren't really cutting it lately, "I mean, it's really not that far," there was then the problem that the bottom might not be intact- what if everything was scattered across the bottom of the ocean.

---

He nodded, "I can climb, do you want to go up first?" he asked her curiously as he looked at the steep climb ahead of them .He was curious too.

She nodded a little and adjusted her bag, making sure both of her shoes were tied tightly. She lifted her knee and put her foot on the first rock, pulling herself up to the next one. The climb couldn't have been more than 40 feet where they were, because the rock gradually grew until they could no longer see the top. She used to rock climb all the time back at home, but usually with mats below her or a harness. Being on the island was the first time she got to climb freely and it gave her a new look on it.

"You okay down there?" She called, lifting herself further up. She was about halfway up the rock when she looked down to see how he was doing. She wondered if maybe he should have went first, though if something went wrong and he fell there was almost no way for her to catch him because he was so much bigger than her.

---

He shook his head. "It's not worth it, the drop is too deep, and if there is a hole under the plane, you swimming under it would damage whatever air pressure it has. If the plane went down, so would you." He said seriously. "Its not worth it. We'll come back tomorrow, it should be beached entirely by then."

He turned away from the plane and to her. "Come on, we'll get whatever it is tomorrow." He said to her. "I don't want you getting hurt. Lets go fishing instead," He said to her. "We can see if we can catch more of that Mahi Mahi. Naomi made it really well, remember? You really liked it. If we can catch two big ones, we can all have a feast, especially with the fruits we've found."

She nodded a little and turned to follow him away from the wreck, "Alright, might as well occupy myself," she murmured as she caught up to him, "I'll have to use some of the same bait as last time the really liked whatever that stuff was. Catching that big fish was really a fluke to begin with," it had been a long day when she'd caught it everyone had been kind of cranky, it was hotter than usual and there had been a lot of dark clouds around the island they were on making people anxious. When she came to shore struggling with the forty pound Mahi everyones moods seemed to lighten up.

---

He nodded, "I'm fine," he said as he waited on her to make the next move then follow suit he was a lot stronger than people gave him credit for. Despite being the youngest he was probably the strongest in the group due to having so much backing his strenth.