The Island

We didn’t have the room or energy to bury Devin, so we cast the body out to sea. I wished we could have buried him but Kyle seemed to have no regrets about it. It was just the two of us again. I couldn’t take much more of this. What was the point of living? The only thing that prevented us from killing ourselves was each other. That makes it sound really bad, but nobody could survive on this island alone. It was hard enough with just the two of us. There’s no way I could make it alone. So again, we stuck to our routine and whenever we had spare time we would talk. We talked about movies, Disney, our families, pets, anything we felt like really. It passed the time and brought us home.

A few days passed without any events until Kyle pulled a really stupid move. He decided that while he was hunting he couldn’t wait until he got back for some water. So he drank it without boiling it. When he told me I was so furious and scared that I could barely talk.

“Kyle! What the hell were you thinking! Why would you do that?” I was practically screaming at him but he didn’t seem very concerned.

“What’s the big deal?” He asked lightly. “So I didn’t boil it first, what difference does it make?”

I went off again “Ugh, really? Do you even know why we’ve been boiling the water this whole time?”

He gave me a blank look. “Oh my God. You boil the water to kill any bacteria in it! So you don’t get sick from it. I haven’t been boiling it just to make tea from it! Really, I thought you were smart.”

Then he got really indignant “What’s the big deal? I feel fine. You don’t need to scold me like a five year old! I’m 16 years old, I can handle myself!”

I took a step towards him “No, clearly you can’t! You don’t seem to understand what you’ve done. You could die! And then I’d be alone and-” I felt the tears leak out of my eyes and had to stop to compose myself. “You could die, and I will not have that. So you better not get sick.” And with that I walked back to the laundry.

The next day my worst fears were realized. Kyle was on his knees, bent over the ocean vomiting. The vomit wasn’t normal though. It was white and very watery. I couldn’t boil water fast enough to keep up with how much he was losing. For the whole day he laid by the water, throwing up until he dry heaved. I tried to be strong while I was around him but when he couldn’t see me I would cry. This is exactly what I had been afraid of. I barely slept that night, the noises of Kyle’s suffering echoed in the wind.

I guess Kyle hadn’t slept that night either. When I saw him his eyes were red and puffy. His lips were cracked and bleeding. He must have lost about five pounds already. I boiled more water for him but when I brought it over he pushed it back towards me. I tried to force him to drink it but he refused.

“Niki,” He said weakly “Don’t waste the water on me. You’ll need it to survive.” I felt tears creep into my eyes but I blinked them away.

“Don’t be stupid, without water you’ll never get better.” He put his hand on mine, gripping it lightly.

“You’re going to be fine, you just need water and rest.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t lie to yourself. We both know I’m not going to make it. I won’t have you wasting energy and water on a lost cause. You need to be strong and live and get home. Someone has to get back and tell everyone what happened. Otherwise all this will mean nothing.” I started to protest but was silenced by the look he gave me. And try as I might I couldn’t get him to drink a single drop of water. He continued to deteriorate until two days later when he called me over to him.

“Niki, we need to talk before I’m too far gone.” I nodded, already knowing what was coming. He sounded so weak. His voice was barely above a whisper. I felt his hand rest on mine. “I know I told you that you needed to make it home, but I’m not sure now. I just don’t know. We’ve been here forever and nobody has saved us. And now it will be just you.” The tears spilled over as I nodded. He had just spoken my worst fears.

“I love you.” As he said it I broke. I let out a choked sob and grabbed his hand tighter.

“Oh God, I love you too. Of course I do. I love you so much…” I leaned over onto his chest. I could feel his ribs as I cried over him. “Please Kyle, I don’t know what to do. I can’t go on without you, not by myself. I’ll never make it. I love you! Please you can’t leave me here by myself!” At that I broke off and started sobbing. After a minute I gathered myself enough to realize that he had stopped breathing. After that the signs were obvious. His hand was limp in mine, his chest was eerily still, and I couldn’t hear his heartbeat anymore. When I looked up his eyes were closed and his thin face was pale.

It didn’t hit me like it should have. I simply couldn’t go on without him. Now that he was gone the solution seemed simple. He had always talked about an afterlife. It only seemed logical that he was waiting there right now. I was never going to get rescued, I knew that. And even if I wanted to go on living on this damned island I wouldn’t last very long by myself anyway. There was nowhere else to go, nothing else to do except die. There were a few small mountains on the far side of the island. I could walk there, climb up one, and jump off.

Now more determined than sad, I walked through the forest with longs strides. I felt almost hopeful. I would see everyone again soon. Carrie, Kyle, maybe even Devin. Maybe if he was there he would be different. How he used to be before the island drove him mad. Finally after a couple of hours I reached the foot of the biggest mountain. Well, it wasn’t really a mountain. IT was more like the entire island slanted upwards until it dropped off in a sharp cliff. Jagged rocks lined the bottom shoreline. For a second I thought about going back, but my thoughts then jumped to the alternative death. Starvation or dehydration. Maybe killed by an animal. Compared to those this death seemed quick, painless. I would close my eyes, fall forward, and meet the others on the other side. I stepped right up to the ledge, closed my eyes, and fell forward. A scream escaped my mouth before I hit the ground.

I jerked awake in the seat of the plane and gasped. I looked around frantically. Everyone was there. Tiffany, Brittany, Brian, Tim, everyone. “Niki? Hey are you okay?” It was Carrie! She was sitting there right next to me, concern filling her bright eyes. I was so happy! I couldn’t believe it.

“Carrie!” I said, throwing my arms around her. She laughed.

“Um, yes? I’ve been here the whole time. What happened to you?” Then I told her everything. The entire story, which had apparently just been a dream. I told her about how we were stranded and how we lost everyone. How she died and how I killed Devin and how Kyle died. Oh God that’s right, Kyle! I searched the plane, looking around until I found him a few aisles back, talking with Cole.

“Kyle!” I yelled. He looked over and blushed slightly when he saw me. I couldn’t help it. I got out of my seat and ran over to him as fast as I could. Boy did he look confused but I didn’t care. I sat down in the empty seat next to him and threw my arms around his neck. He laughed but responded, hugging me tightly. Pulling away slightly I saw his face. He looked so confused and he was about to ask me a question before I silenced him. I leaned forward and kissed him gently. When I pulled away I started laughing and he joined me. Only then did I remember where we were. Everyone had gathered around us to watch. I blushed bright red and looked at Carrie. She was grinning from ear to ear and gave me a thumbs up. I then looked at Cole, who was right next to us. For once he seemed speechless. That only made me laugh more.

“So Cole, you wouldn’t mind if I sit here right?” I said with a grin. Everyone laughed and he said it was fine, of course. Finally Kyle seemed to recover and spoke.

“So, not that I’m complaining, but why did you do all that?” He asked with a smile. I told him about the dream and the island. Overall he seemed to respond pretty well. He blushed when I talked about us, cringed when I talked about death, and almost couldn’t listen when I talked about Devin attacking me. But when I was done we talked some more and just got to know each other. After a while the conversation died down and I fell asleep on his shoulder. When we arrived in France we were practically inseparable and as we stood there, holding hands by the Eiffel Tower I couldn’t help but think of my dream, and how even though it wasn’t real, the island had helped me discover who I was. And even though at times it was hard and horrible, I would always be grateful.

Epilogue

When we got back from France Kyle and I officially started dating. Brian and Tiffany got together in the middle of junior year. Alec asked Brittany to the junior prom and they’ve been together ever since. Cole and Carrie became best friends and were dating by the end of junior year. Vanessa switched schools after the trip, not by her choice. Tim was so upset after that. Derek became his best friend after Vanessa moved and it brought out the real Tim. He was sharp tongued and witty but also very sweet. It turns out he was a fantastic artist.

At the beginning of senior year I talked to Devin. I told him everything from my dream and he broke down, telling me everything. He felt betrayed because we never officially broke up. We went on a few days and it was obvious that we weren’t right for each other but he just couldn’t understand that I didn’t like him anymore.. Then he was upset because I was dating Kyle. But eventually we worked everything out so that there were no bad feelings.

When senior prom rolled around Kyle asked me and I, of course, said yes. I wore a gorgeous, one shoulder midnight blue dress with silver rhinestone detailing and beautiful silver heels. He wore a suit in the same color and picked me up from my house. My mom teared up and took pictures. When we got there we met up with everyone else from the trip and we all talked. Even Devin was there with a nice girl from his Spanish class. I slow danced with Kyle and afterwards the whole group went out to a late dinner.

I spent the whole summer with Kyle and the others, but as August approached I got really scared. Soon we would be going to college. I was going to Green Bay, Wisconsin, but Kyle hadn’t told me where he was going. This made me nervous. We told each other everything, so him not telling me could only mean that it would be bad.

The day I was leaving he came to say goodbye, but he brought a letter with him. It was his college acceptance letter. When he handed it to me I was apprehensive but opened it. It was from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. I could hardly believe it.

“No, are you serious? This is crazy! I can’t believe this! This is amazing! But how did you- Oh nevermind, it doesn’t matter! This is insane!” I was so happy that I nearly jumped on him. He hugged me tightly and we loaded all of our stuff into his truck and we went on our road trip to Green Bay. Five hours later we settled into our dorms and had dinner together. As he walked me back to my dorm I thought about the future ahead of me and smiled. And I knew right then that I would never be alone.