Island in the Sun

Community Challenge - 48 hours - Aug 6, 2026 - first draft - blog entry {entry:1234567}

The waves lapped against the rock—a steady swish with a steady spray of water. Salt scents and seagulls' cries assaulted Matt as he sat on the rock. Around the rock, his best friends stood and argued. Kelly and Horice debated the value of trees, again. Marshal and Felix shouted about the color of Felix’s shirt. Marshal hated it. Felix loved it. Soon they would tell each other to leave them alone, that they never wanted to see each other again, stomp away, but later that night, when the stars arrived, they would huddle in tears, make up, and cuddle together through the night.

“Does the water look higher today?” Matt asked, like he did most mornings. Beside him, the empty plastic water bottle bumped against his thigh, pushed by the pleasant breeze.

Tiva, the quiet one, answered for the group, “Yes, but only a bit. You can still see the mark I made on the rock.” She pointed to the small scratch just below the waterline, just above six other scratches. More scratches disappeared below the waterline. Tiva clenched her pocket knife, a gift that Matt gave on her eighth birthday, something she hated until it became one of the last objects from their sunken house.

Matt, with a frown and a nod, said, “No, yeah, but does it look higher? It looks higher.” His skin above his squint had cracked, and a bit of blood had formed at the edge. Salt crystals sparkle and shine in his hair. He loves the bleach blonde appearance, something he always wanted.

Felix broke first today, threw up his hands, and pushed through the crowd to get away from Marshal. Janice put her arm around Marshal’s shoulders. Everyone knew, except Marshal, about Janice’s crush.

Matt pointed to the horizon, “Do you think that spray is a whale? Or just a wave against a rock?”

Isabella, who hated Matt and took every opportunity to tease him, said, “Moron, it’s a rock. Like it’s been a rock yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, as it will be a rock tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.”

“Would be cool to see a whale though,” Matt said and put his chin on his arms that lay across his knees. He needed to get breakfast soon, before they stopped serving, but he didn’t want to give up the rock. Byron or Marcus or Jade would steal it.

Behind them, a fight broke out: shouts, pushes, screams, accusations about the sign again. Matt didn’t care as he debated the merits of listening to his stomach and soaking up more sun. Sweat rolled down his back and beaded on his arms. He would need to get water soon, but to hell with breakfast; he decided to stay on the rock.

Yannik, Matt’s younger brother, pushed through the small crowd to tell Matt the news, “They are gonna burn the sign. No more wood, so they have to. Do you want to watch? Come on, let’s watch.”

Matt slumped more on the rock and wondered which would kill him first: the sun, the water, lack of food, or his annoyance with the people around him. Yannik shook Matt’s arm to get him to move, but nothing short of a rogue wave would get Matt to move this morning, and even that might not work.

Tiva put her arm around Yannik and said, “I’ll go with you. I want to see.”

Matt waved them away. He didn’t want to see the sign for Mount Fairweather, Elevation 15,266 ft, go up in smoke. He didn’t want to think about the supply boat not arriving yesterday. He just wanted to stare into the ocean, to look for a whale, because that would be cool.