*Magnify*
SPONSORED LINKS
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/campfires/item_id/1120347-The-Last-Year
Rated: 13+ · Campfire Creative · Script/Play · Drama · #1120347
story of a girl and her friends strugglig through what may be the last year of their lives
[Introduction]
This story is about people struggling shipwrecked at sea. For all they know this could be the last year or even day of there lives.

Please in your first addition please add a bio that includes a deep description about your own made up character.

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Apperance:
Unique Qualities:
Other:

RULES:

1. Refrain from cursing too much.

2. You are can explain things as detailed as possible

3. HAVE FUN!


Person 1: Katinthehouse
Person 2:GoldenHope**WorksMagic
Person 3:Angeless_dontSKIPme
Person 4:Glamgirl12needs70420giftpoints
Person 5:Agent-409 (Not in right order)
Name: Sammantha Gainer

Age: 18

Gender: Female (DUH)

Apperance: five, five in height.Dark brown hair to shoulders with blue eyes. Usally wears a t-shirt with caprees. Pretty!

Unique Qualities: Finds a good pearson in everyone. Knows when to butt out. Has a way with people.

Other: Has a cat named FurrHead, loves to draw,and hates boats.
A Non-Existent User
Name: Trisha Quait

Gender: Female

Appernce: About 5'6 with dirty blond hair with a natural curl. She usually lets it flow freely. Hazel eyes with a creamy complexion. Loves skirts but will where shorts or caprees when she has to. Ususally wears brightly colored shirts with lots of accessories.

Unique Qualities: Is a big people person but can be quite random at times. Just by looking at a person she gets a sense of who they are. Has a gift for knowing when somethings wrong and can sense danger from far away.

other: Lives with her mother and younger brother Caden in the country, but is more of a city girl. Very trust worthy and she has never told a single secret anyone has told her in her entire life.
Name: Angelica Eloise Genevieve Nantuck

Gender: Female

Appearance: Angelica is tall and spindly, with a very slim figure (her mother made sure of that) and long black hair tha flows past the middle of her back. She has large, icy blue eyes that are always done up elegantly in makeup. She is tan in complexion and has extrodinary facial features and long legs that make boys drool. Her tiny, cute nose it turned up most of the time.

Unique Qualities: Angelica is the richest girl in her town. Her dad and mother are the social elite, and know everyone that is important to know. They are very strict and make sure that Angelica has better looks and better smarts that any other girl in their group of friends. So Angelica has been trained from birth to be pretty, petty, and smart. She is hugely arrogant, but instead of talking about herself, she just refuses to listen to others. She's independent and loves to have things her way. She can take care of herself--as long as she has her cell phone studded in rhinestones, and her wallet full of credit cards.

Other: Angelica is wickedly intelligent, but never kind to strangers. If she wants something she either flirts, or pretends to be delicate and fragile (when really she is the exact opposite!) She never had any siblings and her parents have spoiled her beyond belief. She has a boyfriend at home named Tucker, but has been cheating on him with two other boys, Clinton and Jon. She doesn't rely much on feelings, since she doesn't have very many of her own.
Name: Angeless Queen.

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Apperance: shoulder length scruffy hair. Black long sleeved shirt. Peirced tounge. Rugged look. Well toned. Looks like the strong silent type. Tatto's of wings that go from his shoulders to his wrists.

Unique Qualities: Never thinks things through. Bold and agressive in his persuits. Likes to do things that are highly hazardus to his personal health. Carrys a hunting bow.

Other: He grew up with his father who taught him many things about survival. Not overtly talkative.
Name: Ryan Connors

Age: 15

Gender: male

Appearance: Short-ish brown hair that hangs off his head a little, with natural blondish streaks and blue eyes. He’s fairly skinny already and about 5’10. He’s cute in that ‘awww you’re adorable’ kind of way and all the girls love his smile. He’s normally wearing jeans or shorts and a t-shirt. He appears weak physically, but his strength lies locked away someplace no eyes can see.

Unique Qualities: A lot of people don’t understand him at first. He is quiet, very, very quiet- definitely considered the quiet thinker type. In fact he hardly talks at all. He can go for weeks without saying a single word to anyone so his face and eyes are very expressive. A lot of people take him as a mute at first but really he can talk, he just chooses not to for personal reasons. He doesn’t trust a lot of people at first and is cautious of a lot of things. He will take risks however, if they seems worthwhile to him and everyone else.

Other: Ryan was abused by his father when he was younger and watched him murder his mother before he got hauled off to prison. He stowed away on the boat hoping to get away from the foster care system and start somewhere new. He always has a backpack on his back, the most important three items in there are 1) a small rectangular whiteboard 2) dry erase markers and 3) a framed picture of him and his mother. Also, Ryan is accompanied by his best friend Duke, a medium sized German Shepard dog that he found out on the streets when Duke was still a puppy.
"EWWWW!" screamed Sammantha Gainer."I have to go across the ocean in this!"

Infront of her was an ugly boat that takes a few people at a time to given destinations across the ocean.

Sammantha carefully walked on to the deack and went into a room filled with hamocks.

"I'm going to be sick" Sammantha muttered as she sat down to taken the smell of fish.


*Sry if it's bad new at this.
A Non-Existent User
Trisha was actually quite happy she was going on this trip. Anything to get get away from the country. This was more a change of scenery for her. Hopefully when they stopped at the port she'd get some good shopping done.

Trisha walked to where she'd be bunking and dropped off her stuff. "Time to explore" she thought to herself.

When she reached the top deck she saw a girl with dark hair that reached her shoulders and dark brown eyes sitting in a chair looking as if she were going to puke.

"Are you okay?" I asked concerned.

"Just don't like boats" she replied

I shrugged, and walked away. As I rounded a corner I saw this huge German Shepard boundin up to me with a boy running after him.

Lucky for me I got out of the way before the dog barreled me over.

********************************

It was getting late and for some strange reason I felt that something was wrong, very wrong. They sky was growing darker, but not in it's usual the day's coming to an end darker. It was more of a pitch black darker, somthing that was very unusal for this type of year.

My thoughts were disturbed by soft droplets of rain falling on my arm. Soft at first but steadily falling harder and faster. I started to make my way back to the cabins but a sudden swaying of the boat knocked me off balance. I stood up and steadied myself.

I walked back to my cabin and headed under before the worst could hit.
Eloise decided that her tan was perfectly golden brown after laying out in the sun all day. She took off her Gucci sunglasses, and lifted up a daintly leg. "Yes," she thought to herself, "that looks perfect."

Suddenly, it started to rain. Eloise let the cool droplets of water fall down on her, splattering her brown stomach and arms until she was as wet as if she were in the water. A man came over to her.

"Miss? It's raining. Don't you think you should go below deck?"

Eloise gave the man a sly look. "Yes, thank you sir. As I am not blind, I do know that it is raining. And as I am not incapable of making my own decisions, I think I'll be able to gauge when I should go in and when I shouldn't."

The man looked taken aback and slightly abashed. He ducked his head under a brown raincoat he was wearing, and headed off for below deck. Eloise, on the other hand, stayed where she was, in her bathing suit.

She was content to let the water rush over her, its pleasant feel soaking into her skin and through her lovely hair.

"If I need help," she whispered towards the sky. "I'll ask for it."

And with that, she picked up her belongings, shook out her wonderful mane of hair, and started for her room.
Angeless came up onto the deck. He still had his pack over his shoulder and a cigarete in his mouth. He pulled his hood to cover his face more. His MP3 was blaring mucis loudly into his ears from it's waterproof pack.

"Awsome....gotta love the rain "he sighed to himself.

People often said he was over prepared. Personaly he just liked to think about what could go wrong...meant he wasn't as surprised when it did.

"Cool....we are so heading into that storm "he said loudly.

He was glad he'd packed everything he had. Survival gear at it's best. His father had given him acess to his army surplus. He had gear that wasn't even on the black market. He was un aware that he was singing along to a song called 'One last breath' till he turned around and saw a gril laying on deck in a bikiny.

"Thank you god for something good "he thaught
Ryan was sitting above deck, partially hidden under a small stair case that led up to a small sized upper deck. Everything seemed small about this boat, and Ryan hoped the ride wouldn’t be too long; he couldn’t wait to get off.

The rain was coming down pretty steadily now, and a few droplets were coming through the staircase but that was okay because he didn’t really mind the rain too much and from this spot, he had the perfect view to people watch everyone who passed by without them even knowing.

The German Shepard next to him whined a little, not as big a fan of the rain as Ryan. The boy put a finger up to his lips to him.

Just then, the dog spotted a bird and jumped up to run out onto the deck, barking. He startled the girl lounging on a chair and she jumped up too, and screamed. Ryan ran out after the dog, not really wanting to leave his little shelter but, figured he should.

Once he caught up to the dog, he grabbed his collar and gave him a scolding look and a hand signal which made the dog lay down.

“Is that your dog?” The girl asked, sounding a little bit on the ruder side of things.

Ryan just nodded. The dog got up and went over to the girl, and started licking her already wet face.

“Eww!” She shrieked, pushing the dog away. Ryan got up and tried to pull him away. “Duke, huh?” she said, reading his collar, Ryan nodded. “Well… just keep this… Duke away from me.” Ryan didn’t really like the way she talked about his dog or the tone of her voice but let it go for the time being and nodded again.

What a horrible first impression… he thought to himself.

“Do you say anything?” The girl asked snobbishly. Ryan shook his head ‘no.’ “Weird…” She said with a disgusted look on her face, but he’d heard it all before. Just then a guy came over. He was older than Ryan and probably closer in age to the girl in front of him.

“There a problem here?” He asked. Ryan looked up at him and shook his head. The guy smiled.

“His dog here just tried to attack me.” The girl said.

“Aww… he seems okay to me.” The guy said, leaning down and scratching Duke behind his ear. “I’m Angeless.” He said sticking out his hand to shake the girl’s.

“Eloise.” She said with a friendlier tone in her voice now.

“Well Eloise, it was nice meeting you… sorry to cut this so short but, I better be getting back inside… I’ll help this guy get back too.” Angeless said smiling, “See you around!” he waved and glanced at Ryan and Duke and the three of them turned to leave. The girl lay back down on her chair thing.

******

“So what’s your story?” Angeless asked Ryan once they were back inside in the boys’ bunk area. Angeless threw him a towel to try and dry himself off a little- by now the kid was pretty soaked. Duke was laying close by next to the heater.

Ryan just shrugged to the question.

“Right.” Angeless said a little confused at first, “What’s your name?” He asked instead.

The boy looked off into the distance for a minute, looking like he was trying to remember his name, really just trying to figure out a way to tell this guy his name. He held up a finger to say ‘one minute’ then he reached into his backpack and pulled out a small whiteboard and wrote four letters on it: RYAN.

“I’m Angeless,” he said, “if you didn’t already figure that one out.” He smiled a little. Ryan waited for the question he knew was coming, but it never came. As if reading his mind Angeless simply said, “Yeah… sometimes words say too much… I’ll agree with you on that one.” Ryan smiled at him. “What do you say we go check this place out?” Angeless suggested, “Just… don’t be too loud okay?” He joked. Ryan nodded and smiled again, liking that idea.
"Okay i need to get up." I told my self as I got of the chair.

As I headed up the steps I saw to boys one older then the other walking a dog."Can I pet your dog" I asked the older boy figuring it was his. Then the younger boy nodded.

"He is so cute!" I said as I got up from petting the dog."Thank you!" I smiled at the boys then walked to the boats edge and looked out into the ocean.

Turning around I saw a girl laying on a beach chair.Then another girl just standing there. It didn't bother me that the rain was getting harder, I liked the rain it felt good going down my back.It felt like a sort of massage pelting my pack with mini hands.
Eloise felt all right again. There were finally people her age around-even if one of those boys didn't talk-well, she was just going to have to sacrifice her dignity and open her mind to new friends.
Eloise sighed. Maybe if things hadn't been so tumoltuous at home, she wouldn't be in such a horrible mood. Ever since her mother's new boyfriend, Todd, had decided to take over the house, nothing good had been happening in Eloise's life. And now that she was away from Tucker and all the other boys and girls at school, maybe things would og better.
***************

Later, after her privacy with the rain, Eloise went down into the cabin and tried to get some reading in. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Eloise asked absentmindedly. She didn't think that she knew anyone well enough for them to be knocking.
The two boys that she had met before were standing, white faced and openmouthed in front of her. Duke was there, and two new girls that Eloise didn't know. Even though she felt annoyed, Eloise didn't know to respond to the horrible looks on their faces.
"What the hell is going on?" she said, as the speechless boy looked from one person to the next.
Angeless spoke first. "You need to get out of here, right now!"
A girl said squeakily, "We're going down."
"God I hate being right...Some how I told you so doesn't quite sound right "laughed Angeless as he grabbed the inflatable.

His father would be so proud of him taking the time to make sure everyone had gotten off. He could hear him lecturing him on how slow he'd been. They were panicking and now that they were up on the deck he had to concentrate.

"Shut up all of you. Put these on and and stay close to each other "he threw the iflatable into the sea and tied the cable off against the rail.

He wasted little time ensuring they were all into the life raft. Holding onto the cable he cut the tied off section and held on as tight as he could. He entered the water and felt a sharp pain across his leg. He'd clipped himself on somthing sharp. He felt hands under his shoulders and then the sting of the cold air on his face.

"He's breathing....and also bleeding... "he heard Eloise saying.

"I'm fine...just a scratch "he sighed as he pulled out a small needle and thread.

"That's hardcore....nerves of steel "spoke Trisha.

He was glad he'd not left his pack in his cabin. He pulled out a ration pack and tossed it to the others and lean't over to seal up the canvas that was keeping the rain out.

"Well this sucks....I'm starting to think I shouldn't travel...can't even get travel insurance anymore. Guess we don't have anyother choice but to wait out the storm and hope we find land "sighed Angeless as he put in his headphones.
Ryan settled in next to Duke, placing his head on the dog’s warm body. He was still a little wet from the rain and being out on deck earlier, and the heat generated by his companion was a welcomed feeling.

The rolling of the waves became less and less as the storm seemed to die down a little. Ryan lay back, listening as everyone finally came around to finding their voices.

“What do you think happened back there?” One of the girls asked.

Coral reef… Ryan thought to himself… knowing for sure that was what it had been, he had seen it in the water below the boat when they all scuttled onto the safety raft.

“Dunno…” another girl answered her.

“We hit a reef.” Angeless said absentmindedly.

Good… Ryan thought, at least we have one competent person here…

“And that would sink the boat?” He recognized this voice as Eloise.

“Well, it would tear a hole, let the water in, sink the boat… yes.” Angeless said still not sounding like he cared. “Invisible on the surface so you can’t avoid it unless you know it’s there…” He continued, anticipating the next question.

Then there was silence for awhile and everyone seemed to be trying to figure things out. Maybe thinking about home or their parents or what all they were leaving behind.

Ryan was thinking about the same things, only differently from everyone else. He mostly had things figured out- the boat was sinking, so they got off, they were all that would fit on the raft, the other passengers probably got on another boat… they were floating out in the ocean, the covering on the raft protecting them from the rain, the storm dying down… they were drifting. They may never be found. But he was okay with that.

He thought about his home, or lack there of, and his parents, or lack there of, and everything he was leaving behind. And the best thing was, he wasn’t even sad about it. He actually welcomed this. He had came onto the boat hoping to get off it in some place new, some place far, far away from everything he hated about his life and that was exactly what he was getting. He wasn’t afraid, or worried or anything really- not even happy, he just… was.

“Well...” one of the girls started to speak up, “I think we should… introduce ourselves you know… some of us haven’t met.” At that comment, Ryan sat up, if people were going to introduce themselves, he should put a face with the name. “I’m Samantha.” The girl said. Ryan recognized this girl as the one who had stopped him and Angeless in the hall to pet Duke. She was pretty, he remembered that now.

“I’m Trisha.” A second girl smiled. Ryan hadn’t seen her before but he could already tell he liked her.

“Eloise.” The next girl said in turn. This was the one that had been sitting on the deck in the lounge chair. Ryan wasn’t so sure about her, but decided first impressions shouldn’t define a person and made up his mind to give her a second chance.

“Oh.” Angeless said, taking out his ear phones when it came to him. He wasn’t quite ready because it should’ve been Ryan’s turn, but of course… “Well… I’m Angeless.” He stated simply, “And… he’s Ryan.” He figured he was the only one who knew the kid's name- might as well introduce him too.

“He doesn’t talk.” Eloise said in a way that came out sounding a little on the ruder side when really she probably just wanted to state the fact. Ryan rolled his eyes.

“Why not?” Trisha asked. But there was something different about the way she said it. This question was more directed kindly at Ryan than inquisitively to anyone else.

“He just doesn’t.” Angeless said, “Haven’t you ever met someone quiet?” He asked.

“Sure.” Trisha said turning to Angeless, “But I wasn’t asking you.” She turned back to Ryan and smiled. And just the way she said it and the way she looked at him almost made him open his mouth and just say it. He took a breath like he was going to talk but then caught himself and shrugged instead. That was too close. He told himself, What were you thinking? He scolded himself. Trisha smiled at him anyways. “Maybe some other time you can answer that one huh?” She asked him. Ryan nodded and returned the smile, as if to say ‘yeah… of course.’

And that was that. As everyone reverted back to their silence, Ryan lay back down against Duke, tightening his pack against his back as he rolled over and shut his eyes, the rolling waves rocking him into a light sleep.
Sammantha sat up after everyone had fallen asleep. She felt she better keep watch just in case they reached land or hit coral reefs again.


She looked at everyone all sound a sleep.

The girl who called her self Eloise was shaking so she took her jacket off and put it on her. Eloise may not admidt it but she would still be thankfull.

The girl called Trisha was leaning against the edge snoring.

Then there was slilent Ryan who fell asleep first was laying on his dog. For warmth no doubt.
Sammantha giggled as she looked at the young boy he smiled in his sleep.

Next to him was the oldest one there Angeless he still had headphones on so she wasn't sure if he was actually asleep but he had his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

*************************************************

"Land!" Sammantha wispered as she got out of the raft/dingy and pulled it to shore. There were some tree's but not a forest fill. She started to collect branches and but them on the beach.

"All I need is matches." She sighed.
Then she remembered the pack Angeless had.


She went over the dingy and shook him softly.
"Wake up please!" She thought to her self.

"What?" Angeless moaned still tired.
"Do you have any matches we need to start a fire." she asked him.

He got up and looked around and saw the land and the pile of wood. He walked over reached into his pocket and he began to build the fire. So she decided to bring the dingy in land she pushed hard till the whole thing was out of water. In the process everyone woke up.


Eloise was cold, tired, and hungry. Someone had given her a jacket, putting it over her supposedly when she was asleep. Eloise, however, hadn't been cold. She had been shaking from incredibly real nightmares that seemed to consume her. At least she'd never have to see her parents again. Yes, that was a good point. No more family.

Someone shouted, "Land."

"Land, as in beach? Or land as New York City with a sushi restaurant on the shore?" Eloise said with sarcastic wit. "Because, I could use some sushi right now."

"You might get your wish sooner than you know," Angeless smiled towards Eloise. "We're going to be eating fish raw if I can't find these damn matches."

"How are we going to get to land?" Samantha asked.

Eloise, wet from the rain earlier, and only wearing a large t-shirt over her bikini, stripped down to her bathing suit and jumped in the water.

"Whoever wants to help me pull, can," Eloise said as she grabbed the underside of the raft and started tugging. When the boat only went slowly she said, "Boys? I really can't do this all by myself."

"We're still really deep," one of the girls commented, looking over the side.

"Look, I'm a girl not used to having a wallet full of cash or a rhinestone studded cell phone, okay? And still, I don't have any qualms about jellyfish and sharks. If they eat me, they do. Otherwise, we'll be floating along helplessly for a long time. And, truthfully, I'm thirsty. That land there-is my only chance of getting a drink." Eloise ranted.

"A hate to tell you, babe-but there's no vodka or olives in the drink you're gettin on that island," Angeless smirked.

Eloise held back a smile. "Are you sure?" she said. "Maybe there's an open bar. This time tomorrow we'll all be drinking Shirley Temples under a tiki hut."

Eloise heard a splash, as the silent boy jumped into the water to help her.

"See? Even the shy kid's helping. What's your name again? Ryan? Yeah, thanks Ryan."

The boy didn't acknowledge that she was talking-he just hooked his hand to the underside of the raft and began to pull.
Angeless waited for a moment before stripping down. He saw that Samanatha was looking at him shy'ly. He wasn't sure if she was embarised of not. The boxers were tight he had to admit that as it didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Be thankfull I bothered wearing my boxers...usualy I don't bother "he smiled as he just stepped backwards into the water.

As he came up he flicked his head back and grabbed onto the raft. Thank god he was a strong swimmer. Once they got it up onto the beach he just flopped down onto his back and layed there.

"Dammit...Cellphone was in my cabin "he sighed as he realised where he'd misplaced it.

He saw ryan was doing prity much the exact same thing as he was. Enjoying laying on ground that wasn't moving.

"Hey Ryan....you dead? "he asked?

Ryan gave him a thumbs up and nodded. He laughed and Ryan smiled. Similar senses of humor.

"Me too pal...me too "sighed Angeless as he sat up.

He helped them to unload what they had grabbed from the boat. He set his pack down carefully and began to unpack it. He pulled out various smaller bundles. He pulled out what looked like a compacted chunk of pipes. He layed that down as he started digging around for other bits and pieces. Screwing the pipe sections together he put the arrow heads on last. Combat bow, a present from his father on his 7th birthday.

"Here you go Girls "he after he'd whistled.

He gave them a ration pack each and threw a spair pair of his clothes to Eloise. She looked offended till he gave her a look that made her acept them. Pulling on his own trousers he left his shirt off.

"Wo...they actualy fit...kind of "she smiled after she'd changed into them.

He shrugged his shoulders as he slid the arrow pack over his shoulder and picked up the bow. He was about to head off into the tree line to see what there was.

"Damm...you didn't waste your time to go Rambo on us. Where you heading off too? "asked Trisha?

He paused for a moment to consider it.

"I saw tracks on the beack heading of into the treeline...sugesting Meat. Stay on the beach be back soon "he Smiled as he went closer to the treeline.

"You Know how to use that thing? "shouted Eloise.

"SINCE I WAS 5! "shouted Angeless as he disapeared into the shadows of the trees.

With a little luck he could find a wild pig or something for them to eat. He wasn't ready to start fishing yet.
A Non-Existent User
Trisha still had that feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong but it wasn't as intense as before.

Another thing was that kid Ryan. Usually she could take one look at a person and know almost everything about them. But he was different. She sensed that he could talk but just chose not to. Also tramua somrthing bad happened to either him or someone he knew. She just couldn't pinpoint it. Maybe that's why her stomach was so uneasy.

In about half an hour a fire was started and we were all huddled around it. It was getting dark and Angeless still wasn't back yet. Trisha wasn't worried though, for some reason she sensed safty on this island.

It was probably another 45 min before Angeless came back with a wild boar. Trisha would have been thrilled that there was food but she was a strict vegitarian. Not once in her whole life had she ever have a single piece of meat.

Without saying anything to anyone I went over to the shore line and started to scan the water for any signs of movement. Fish was one thing she did eat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?, Angeless asked. There's food over here"

Again without saying a word I dived into the water and caught a fish.


I looked at Angeless " Is this, by any chance, sanitary! It looks gross!"

He just smiled, but Eloise answered "Just eat you have no other choice besides what she's doing." Eloise pointed behind her at the Trisha girl.

"Okay, you got me convinced only because I hate fish." I smiled at her.

Trisha finally got a suitable fish and started to cook it.
****************
After we finished eating, alot of thoughts got into my mind: Where are we, Will we survive, Is it stupid to even think this.
I noticed I was shaking. It seemed Ryan did too. He kept looking at me questioningly.

Everyone was having a good time talking, sorta getting to know each other. Especially since we might be here a while.... a long while

"I'm going to go get...some fire wood" I said quickly trying to think of a good exscuse to leave.
No one seemed to notice. That was good. So I just turned around and ran into the forest. On my way I looked for a good climbing tree. I found one that had a perfect view of the sky. I climbed it and stared into the sunset as my thoughts buzzed threw my head. It was perfect
Eloise sat around the fire, eating whatever food was shoved in front of her. Even though she had always had a lovely figure, Eloise loved to eat. And now, with stress upon stress being thrown upon her, she couldn't help but delight in finally getting some food.

"God, I was starving," she said, leaning back in relaxed fashion. "This isn't so bad, right guys?"

No one answered her, but they looked at each other with knowing glances.

"What? You think I can't handle it?" Eloise asked the group collectively.

"Look, we know you are cold and hard or whatever. But could you just chill for a second?" Trisha said wearily.

Eloise opened her mouth in mock hurt. "Wow, Trisha...please. My heart is melting right here over this fire. Besides, I didn't see you pulling the boat to this island."

Angeless laughed, enjoying the little quarrel. "Now girls, we're stuck here..probably forever. No fighting is necessary."

"God, Angeless, if you call that fighting, I would hate to see what you'd think of me pinning you to the ground in three seconds flat."

Angeless laughed skeptically. "Yeah, okay you...girl."

"Fine, if you aren't ready to be taken down now, maybe later." Eloise got up goodnaturedly and wiped the sand off her clothes. "Well, I'm taking a walk. No, no. Don't anyone try and stop me."

Although Eloise pretended to be indifferent, she really did have a softer side. She just wasn't about to show it to those aquaintances yet. For now, with their situation hopeless, she figured nothing could get any worse. So she decided to take her time enjoying the scenery.
A Non-Existent User
Trisha was upset, she didn't like it when people fought. As Angeless said they were probably going to be stuck on this island for a while and Trisha didn't want to despise some of her island mates. Well it was king of hard Eloise beining the snotty bitch that she was, but that was besides the point.

Trisha had a lot of thinking to do, so many thoughts raced around her head it was starting to give her a headache.

She walked down shore layed back and stared up at the sky, thinking about the future. It was going to be intresting... She wondered if her grandmom and sisters were worried, probably not. Trisha drifted off lost in a world of deep thought.
"So why are you so good at using a Bow? "asked Trisha?

Angeless smiled.

"My dad was a fan of the old GreenArrow comic books and I liked them too...Guess I wanted to be like him. So for my fifth birthday he got me a bow...and taught me how to use it and anything else I wanted "smiled Angeless being more talkative than usual.

Angeless smirked as he thaught about how he could say I told you so to his dad.

"And here I was thinking I was spoilt "laughed Eloise.

"Wasn't spoilt...we just spent time togther. He didn't exactly talk much so he taught me sign language...we were kind like master and aprentice. He taught and I learned....ocasionaly teaching him something...he was a good dad "smiled Angeless.
Ryan had kind of been tuned out for the last few minutes, his thoughts just drifting away to nothing in particular… but when he heard the mention of sign language from Angeless’s mouth, his heart jumped a little and he decided to tune back in. Maybe this guy would be able to understand him better than anyone had ever before…

Angeless was still talking about his dad seeming deep in thought about it. Ryan listened intently, wanting to learn about the man Angeless seemed to respect so much. Why wasn’t my father like that? he wondered, How come I will never understand the bond between father and son? And as a million thoughts crossed his mind about his own father, tears began to well up in his eyes and he felt himself getting angry and not even really knowing why.

Then, all of a sudden, Ryan just couldn’t sit still anymore. Angeless was done talking about his dad and no one was really saying anything but still, something boiling under his skin made him jump to his feet and run off away from the group.

“Someone should go after him, it’s dangerous at night being in a new place and all.” Samantha said.

“Yeah.” The others agreed either verbally or with nods.

“All right fine… I’ll go.” Angeless said after none of the girls seemed to make any motions to move.

He found Ryan a little ways down the beach, throwing pebbles into the surf. When Angeless approached, Ryan turned to look at him, threw another pebble into the ocean and sat down, drying his eyes on his sleeve. He had never meant to cry, but somehow he just couldn’t stop the tears.

“What’s the matter?” Angeless asked quietly after he had taken a seat next to Ryan. But the words to let him know just weren’t there, Angeless might never understand, what with having a father as caring as his… Angeless tapped Ryan on the shoulder, and when the boy looked over he signed ‘you can tell me.’ Ryan shook his head.

He had tried to learn sign language when he first decided to stop talking. He had learned enough to get by and understood most things but gave up his quest when he found that very few people in the ‘real world’ couldn’t sign and wouldn’t understand him anyways.

‘I don’t sign.’ Ryan signed back.

“Oh sure…” Angeless smiled a little, trying to lighten the mood but Ryan shrugged, putting his head to rest on his knees.

“Come on…” Angeless coaxed him, “What happened back there? Why did you leave so suddenly?”

Ryan lifted up his head and looked at Angeless. He slowly lifted his open hand up, and placed his thumb on his forehead: father.

“Your father?” Angeless asked, understanding the sign. Ryan shook his head and pointed at Angeless, then put his hand to his forehead again. “My father…” he said, “What about my father?”

‘Your father…. Not like mine.’ Ryan signed, tears beginning to stream down his face again.

“Not everyone is as lucky as me, Ryan…” Angeless said softly, “I was very lucky to have him… and I’m sorry if I made you upset, I never meant to make you sad.”

“It wasn’t you.” Ryan said so softly that Angeless wondered if he had heard what he thought he did, or if he was just imagining things. “Don’t feel bad.” And with those few words, Ryan got up and began walking back to the campsite, guided by the fire, with the moon lighting his way. Angeless remained sitting in the sand, thinking about who knows what.

Once both boys had returned to the campsite, Trisha had the idea that it was time for bed, and they should all settle in and try to get some rest. Ryan was quiet again, going about things as they came and not making a big deal of it, still thinking about his dad and his mom and his life… but when morning came, Ryan was back to his old ways, helping, smiling, nodding, and silence.
The next morning everyone got up around the same time.

I laughed. Every one looked at me at the same time. "Sorry." I whispeared kind of embarrased.

"Hey, does anyone want to explore around?" I wonder if we can find something to tell us where we are."I looked around our little camp thing.

Eloise laughed" What do you think you'll find.. a map!?!"

"No just things like types of animals plants that you can usally only find in a certin area."
I started to walk into the foret and turned around. "It be nice if someone came with me I wouldn't object help!"
****************************
After a few miutes of walking no one came. I decided to run work my legs abit. I noticed I had gone really far in and got myself lost.


The tree's rott smell was starting to get to me when I decided to try to find a way out to part of the beach that way I could follow the smoke back to the fire. I had no such luck.



A Non-Existent User
It had been about an hour and Samantha wasn't back yet. Trisha had to admitt she was midly worried but had faith that Samanthat would be back. Another hour passed and she still wasn't back yet. By this point Trisha was really worried and decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Guys I'm going to find Samantha, if I'm not back by 6:00pm well..." With that I set out into the forest hoping I'd find Samantha.

I'd been walking for about half an hour with no luck and starting to give up. i kept walking and a few minutes later let out a piercing scream and started to fall. I was caught in a pit to catch animals. There was a good thing and a bad thing to this Good= other people were on this island and new the land. Bad+ now I was lost and stuck in a pit.

"Does anybody clearly remember me saying don't leave the beach? Atleast till we've got our bearings.... "sighed Angeless as he grabbed his pack.

"Hey Ryan You any good with one of these "asked Angeless Holding out his bow?

Ryan shook his head. Angeless smiled.

"I'll teach you...that way you can have an excuse to be on your own when you want to think "signed Angeless.

Ryan noded and then briefly smiled.

"There should be some good wood I can make some more things out of...Woodwork major in high school "laughed Angeless.

Angeless thaught for a moment about his father before he spoke again.

"My dad isn't as good as I crak him up to be. He kept the fact that he had the big C...Cancer. I found out the day before I came out here. Guess I shouldn't have come...but I couldn't face him dying like that...I hate funerals "sighed Angeless.

"He's dead? "signed Ryan?

"Yep...and I get on the first boat I can and leave. Just so I didn't have to bury him...So I'm not the good son either "smiled Angeless trying to be lighthearted.
Sam Walked around in the forest. Till she finally found some light that lead her to the beach. She saw smoke in the distance.

When she finally got there Angeless was showing Ryan how to shoot a bow.

"I think were still in the Alantic by the looks of the plants around here." I tossed them each a hand full of berries.


"Here, Put it on any scratches or scars leave it there for a few minutes and wash it off with salt water, It'll heal after awhile. Or you can save it for later ." I layed down and stared at the sky.

It was beutifull out there.

All of sudden there was a scream from the
forest.

Angeless looked into the forest."What the...!"
A Non-Existent User
Yes it's true the scream had escaped my mouth. It wasn't until about 15 minutes after I fell in that I realized maybe if I screamed someone would come help her, so she did.

I heard footsteps approaching but they went right passed her. Trisha yelled again. no response.


"Oh great trisha thought. now I'm stuck her for real."

Asumming she'd be here a while Trisha curled up and sat down trying to think of the happy times back with her grandmom and sisters.
As they searched around he made sure to leave a mark so he could find the beach easily. Using the old knife he carried he cut a cross into the trees. He could have sworn he'd seen his father out of the corner of his eye. He put this down to his own personal guilt of running away like he had.

"Stop...Can you hear that? sounds like somebody talking to themselves "asked Angeless looking around?

He had found Trisha's trail but it ended abruptly. He almost fell through the ground where the trail had ended and was glad Ryan was standing nearby. Ryan pulled him back by his under arms.

"Thanks I owe you one....and I think we might have found Trish "he smiled patting Ryan on the back.

"You think you can get me out or are you planning on dropping more crap ontop of me "shouted Trisha from the hole.

Angeless looked like he was in favor of dropping more things in.
Ryan watched Angeless as he stood there, seemingly uninterested in rescuing Trish at all. He turned to look at Ryan and the boy shot him a glance that said ‘Well…?’

“Yeah…” Angeless said, reading his expression, “Right…” He said looking around. “Here, take this,” he handed Ryan a knife, “Go find some good vines or something.”

Ryan gave him an expression as if to say What!?

“Come on… I know they’re out there… off with ya…” He gave Ryan a little shove in the right direction and smiled, shaking his head.

“We’re working on it Trisha!” Angeless said as he walked off again, in search of his own vines or whatever. Trisha was calling back up to him, trying to make him come back, but Angeless wasn’t really listening.

Ryan walked off into the forest with the knife in his hand. It was a pretty big knife to just be carrying around, and he had never had anything like that in his hands before. He doubted he would be able to find vines though, and thought Angeless was crazy. After a good fifteen minutes of walking and finding nothing, he decided he’d just find some good sturdy branches and take those back. He folded up the knife, stuck it in his pocket and grabbed up a few nearby limbs.

Ryan knew Samantha and Eloise were back on the beach, hopefully finding some food they could eat or working on the shelter… last night had been so cold… His thoughts wandered until he realized he had one big branch in his hand and no idea where he was. Lost.

It’s okay He thought, trying to calm himself, This is nothing. He was little worried but not too worried. He had been on his own before, out in the open, no idea where to go next. It was different then, but not so different. The city and the forest were similar things really.

He heard a sound behind him and turned quickly to catch whoever was there but when h turned, there was nothing there. His heart started racing a little, but he tried to calm it down. He walked on, slowly, trying to remember where he had come from, looking to see if there was anything familiar.

Then, just as he thought he had calmed down enough, a wild yelp of some sort struck out through the forest, making his heart jump again. It was an animal, it had to be but… why the sudden screech?

He decided to start running. He dropped the branch and took off through the bushes, and dodging trees. He glanced back quickly and just as he turned around he ran right into Angeless and fell to the ground, panting.

“Ryan!” Angeless said surprised, “What happened?”

Ryan looked back from the direction he had come, still breathing hard. He pointed to his ear. Listen. He meant. Angeless stopped and looked in the same direction, but the sound did not come again nor did anything move except for the branches in the breeze.

“Don’t worry about it,” Angeless said, helping Ryan to his feet, but still looking off in the distance, “Let’s go.” Ryan looked down in the hole and realized Trisha wasn’t there anymore, and all of a sudden she was standing next to Angeless. He supposed she had been there the whole time when he was on the ground but just didn’t see her at first.

The three of them walked back to camp in silence and found the others preparing a dinner of some sort. When they were all done eating, the five of them all gathered around the campfire again. Angeless didn’t mention the sound Ryan had heard in the forest, and Ryan didn’t either.

Ryan sat down next to Angeless and held out the knife he had been given earlier.

“Why don’t you hold onto that for me…” Angeless said, “I’ve got another.”

Ryan nodded and stood up, taking a seat on the other side of the campfire.
Sammantha sat next to Eloise and Trisha on the other side of her then Ryan and Angeless.

" Does anyone know what this is? I found it on the beach when we were searching for food." I held it out.

Angeless took it an was examining it while everyone else surounded him, looking at it too.

" I don't know." Angeless shrugged.

" I wonder if it was on the ship mabe it was another passengers that didn't make it." I looked into the fire."was there anyone else on the ship..or where we the only ones" I wondered to myself.

"I don't really care what it is." Eloise said as she also looked into the fire.

Ryan sighned something to Angeless.

" He said he wonders what it is too." Angeless explained.
Eloise was a little tired. She didn't really care what was going on around her-as long as she was able to take care of herself, she didn't mind that things around her were becoming iffy.

"I know that we aren't supposed to wander," Eloise said over the general chatter of the group. "I'm just going to walk along the beach, does anyone mind?"

No one really said anything, just kept talking about what they thought the trinket (they had found) was.

Eloise didn't care about the trinket either. She figured there were more exciting things around on this godforsaken strip of sand than a little piece of metal.

As she walked a little down the beach, Eloise took off the clothes Angeless had given her and laid them gently on the shore. She jumped into the water and floated on her back, looking up into the sky.

"What I would give for an MP3 player and my cell phone," Eloise laughed to herself.
A Non-Existent User
They'd been on this island for a while now and Trisha thought she was starting to go crazy, there was hardly anything to do and she had to admit she was starting to miss home.

She was a little wary about exploring now after what happened but besides that, all you could do was sit on the beach and do...well nothing.

I guess it could be worse Trisha thought to herself, we could have savage maniacs chasing after us trying to kill us. Anyway she didn't think that was going to happen.

"How crazy is this...I've got a major munch attack for a Cheese burger. Weird... "laughed Angeless lightening up more.

He'd sat himself so he was facing the tree line deliberatly. Ryan seemed to know what had prompted him to take the seat he had.

"Chocolate... "laughed Trisha.

"Pizza "was the answer Ryan had doodled in the sand.

Angeless had tempted Ryan into a game of O X's. If anything to try and pass the time.

"Is anyone else thinking it didn't look this boring on that Shiprecked program "asked Sammantha?

Angeless laughed.

"I auditioned for the last series...I was a standby "smirked Angeless.

Trisha laughed as she poked a stick into the fire.

"Hey I just noticed your initals are A Queen... "laughed Trisha glancing at the pack Angeless was leaning back against.

He glanced at them. They were trying not to laugh about it.

"If my mother had got her way...I'd have been Ryle A Queen....go a head...laugh I won't hold it against you. I think its funny to... "smirked Angeless.

They took him up on it and laughed. He noticed that Even Ryan was smiling. For some reason he couldn't get the Robinson cruso story out of his head.
Ryan kept thinking everyone was right. This place was boring and there wasn’t a whole lot more to do or say about it. The shelter had been built, the food was in fine supply and things seemed to be in order.

Though, there had been the sound in the forest, and the uneasy feeling Ryan sometimes got at night… but usually snuggling up to Duke helped to erase that fear. His dog was his protector, and Ryan knew he was safe as long as he was around. Angeless helped ease his nerves a little too; he always seemed so prepared for anything, it kind of made feeling safer easier.

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky as the group just kept sitting around and talking. When it started to get dark, some of the girls lit a fire with some matches Angeless had brought along.

“You know…” Angeless started to say, “These matches won’t last us forever.”

“You know…” Eloise started to say in the same tone, “If you had been smart enough to bring along a satellite phone in that life pack of yours…”

“Oh come on Eloise...” Samantha said, “He’s done a lot better than you have so far.”

“Hey!” Eloise started to get defensive, “I don’t need any of your bantering okay? I’m doing what I can!”

“Ladies!” Trisha cut in, “No one needs any of this let’s all just calm down… We’ll make do with what we have and when our supplies run out, we’ll just have to jump that hurdle when we come to it.” She said very reasonably and level headed.

“Damn…” Angeless said to Ryan, “I almost thought we might have some entertainment here for a second.”

Ryan wanted to laugh, but thought it wasn’t right so he just smiled and nodded, almost hoping for the same thing Angeless was.

Everyone eventually reverted back to their ways of chit chatting pointlessly with the rest of the group. Usually when people got to chit chatting, Ryan started to tune them out and dive deeper into his own head, thinking of whatever he wanted, making up stories in his head to entertain himself or just thinking about his past, his present, or his future.

I’m going for a walk. He signed to Angeless.

“You sure? It's getting dark...” He said and Ryan nodded, “Well… take the bow all right? You want any company?” Ryan grabbed the bow and put the quiver of arrows on his back but shook his head to the second question and nodded toward Duke. Angeless nodded, understanding and not really needing to say anything else.

Ryan clapped his hands together once and Duke jumped up from his sleeping position and joined the boy at his side and the two took off down the beach.

“Is he going hunting?” Eloise inquired.

“Um… sure…” Angeless said. He figured it was better to just let Ryan alone for now since it seemed that’s what he wanted.

“Will he be okay?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah,” Angeless said, glancing back in the direction Ryan was headed, “He’ll be fine.”
Sammantha sat listening to the conversation. Worried abut Ryan. she hept glancing at the spot where he left. Apparently Angeless noticed.



"Don't worry he'll be fine." He tried to reassure her.


Sammantha bored again sat again consummed in the conversation.

When all of a sudden they could here Duke barking.

Everyone took off in the direction of the bark.

"What could possibly happen now?" Sammantha asked as they ran.

"Hopefully its a squirel." Eloise replied to the comment.
"Good eats!" Trisha joked
Ryan had known the risks when he took off. He had known that the darkness might bring out unforeseen dangers, that he should have taken someone else, that he shouldn’t have even gone in the first place. He had known it all and still left. He was feeling brave for some reason, possibly without logical cause.

He had been okay for awhile, walking along the surf, throwing a stick for Duke to chase around, alone with his thoughts as the night grew deeper and darker. Just before the sun went down, Ryan sat down in the sand and Duke came to lie at his side. Ryan set the arrows and the bow down on his other side as he lifted up his left hand to rest on Duke’s head as he started to scratch him behind the ear as the dog rested his head on his lap.

“I miss her…” he whispered. “I don’t know why he did it…” Duke turned his head to look up at his boy. “You don’t have to say anything.” Ryan smiled at him, “I know you understand.” He spoke quietly.

The two of them sat in the rising tide and the shadow of the setting sun as the twilight darkened. Just when it was about time to get up and head back towards camp, Ryan heard a sound behind him and Duke’s ears perked up as he turned his head, stood up, and took off running and barking into the forest.

Ryan got to his feet as fast as he could and turned in the direction his dog had just taken off.

“Duke!!” He called out as he raced into the forest without thinking.

He followed the barking for as far as he could until he came to a small clearing. It was dark, and only the half moon gave him light now. Through the night he could hear Duke’s barking, and he was close. But he could also hear another sound, a growling of some kind and from what it sounded like- it was fighting Duke.

Ryan could only see flashes of movement and white specks of bared teeth as the black and tan German Shepard attacked whatever it was making the growling noises. The worst part was he couldn’t do a thing about it. He tried calling Duke off a few times but it was no use, the dog wouldn’t listen. The arrows were left on the beach and even if he had had them, it would’ve been nearly impossible for Ryan to tell the bad guy from the good.

It was all happening so fast, and the sounds were just so horrible that for a moment Ryan was almost glad when it all stopped. But it only took him a few seconds to realize what the ceasing of sounds meant. It had ended with a loud snarl and a quick, sharp, and final yelp. Ryan couldn’t see anything, but he knew what had happened.

About the same time as the fighting ended, the others came running into the clearing.

“Ryan! Are you okay?” It was Samantha, she sounded panicked and worried. But he just stood there, staring into the darkness, not even acknowledging the others presence. Whatever had been there must’ve gotten scared off when everyone else came running through the brush.

“Ryan…” It was Angeless now, he spoke calm and low and put his hand firmly on Ryan’s shoulder. “Come on.” He said quietly as he tried to pull Ryan away from the clearing, but he wouldn’t move. Angeless knew how unsafe they were at that moment and so instead of trying to coax Ryan into moving, he simply just bent down a little so he could place his arm behind Ryan’s knees and pick the boy up in his arms. “Let’s go.” He said to them all. Ryan just kept staring over Angeless’s shoulder as they left.

The walk back was long and silent. Once they returned to camp, Angeless set Ryan down on his mat. Ryan lie back as if to sleep, but then turned on his side and curled up a little, his back facing the group. They sat around the campfire, talking a little maybe, thinking probably… Ryan couldn’t really tell. He heard murmurs and mumbles but couldn’t really make anything out. Eventually he fell asleep.

In the morning, just as the sun was first rising, Ryan awoke. The others were still asleep but it didn’t matter. He had something that needed to be done.

He walked quietly away from camp, careful not to wake anyone. He made his way down the beach until he decided to cut into the forest. Soon enough he found the clearing and, just where he knew he would be, Duke. At the sight, he wanted to cry but just couldn’t bring himself to let the tears leave his eyes and he didn’t even know why.

Ryan walked slowly over to his fallen comrade and knelt down to stroke his head. He put his arms underneath the dog to pick him up. He carried him to the edge of the trees where the ocean was in sight and there he dug a small grave and placed his friend softly into it. He wished he could say a few words to commemorate the occasion but… no words came to him. He fashioned a cross out of two sticks and a palm frond and placed it over the spot as a marker.

“Thanks for keeping me safe…” He whispered, “Yesterday… and all the days before.” And that was it. He couldn’t think of anything more to say and thought that he might never say anything ever again.

He made his way to the ocean where he tried to wash off some of the blood from his shirt. Then, he trudged slowly back to camp where he took a seat in the sand, away from the group.
Sammantha woke up in a deep sweat. A vision of Ryan just standing there and not moving kept going threw her mind. She walked up to the beach and washed her face off.

When she turned around and saw Ryan sitting alone.

She walked up and sat next to him. He looked at her then looked away.

She could tell he was holding back tears.

So she hugged him and whispered "It's going to be allright."

After a few minutes of more silence she went back to camp to start the fire up again.

A few minutes later Trisha woke. "Good morning!" She said as she stretched her arms out above her.

" It would be better if we weren't on this Island it's creepy here." Sam sighed.

Angeless who had apparently woken up a while ago laughed"Aww, is Sam scared?"

"Whatever Nature Boy" Sam snapped, still trying to figure out how to actually get the fire started.

He just laughed again and grabbed the match and got the fire started.

Trisha also laughed" It looks like you'd do well to learn from Nature Boy."

" At least I was trying. I get credit for that right?" Sam looked at her.

Eloise finaly woke up when the conversation ended.
" Whats going on?" She looked confused.
Everyone else burst out laughing.

A Non-Existent User
After the laughter died down Trisha said "I'm gonna go for a quick swim k?

Everyone nodded and Trisha went into the water. The rest of the group sat around the camfire and talked. Little did they know that meanwhile in the water Trisha was struggling for her life.

*****************

Trisha was a very good swimmer but not in a million years was she prepared for what happened in the course of the next five minutes.

Before I continue you should know that Trisha is very touchy about her feet. I mean she freaks out if anyone even comes near them.

Anyway something started snapping at Trisha's feet and she panicked. She started kicking and and couldn't control what she was doing. She started coughing and swallowing water.

It had been about 15 min before someone around the campfire said "Hey didn't Trisha said dhe was going for a quick dip. Where is she?"

"Oh my God" Eloise said and she pointed to a floating body in the water.

Before you could say crackerjack everyone was sprinting to the water.Angeless dove in and dragged Trisha onto shore.

"She's not breathing" Sam whispered.
Angeless was frozen as his mind went over the steps for CPR. Deciding they didn't have time for most of the steps he went straight to breathing in her mouth. Something he surprised himself by doing...mostly because he'd never kissed anybody before and technicly it was the same thing.

"It's not working...Are you sure you're doing it right? Is she going to die? "asked Sam?

He was coming up short in his skills again. He looked up at the tree line and he could see his father clearly standing there shaking his head. His father turned and was lost amist the trees.

"Like hell. I don't know how to fail "sighed Angeless clenching his fist.

Thumping trisha's chest as hard as he could he was rewarded by water being coughed over his trousers.

"Hmm...guess that does work "shrugged Angeless rolling her onto her side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A while later Angeless had taken a leaf out of Ryans book and was being quiet for perhaps the first time in his life.

"I feel like somebody sat on me...next time I'll avoid drowning "sighed Trisha.

Angeless smiled and made a joke that made people laugh even if it was in bad taste.

"Shame....we could have used some more food. could have made a roast or something "smirked Angeless.

"Sick....you wouldn't have eaten me? right guys? "asked Trisha?

They all shook their heads except Angeless who mearly shrugged. He was still smiling.

"What? Waste not want not? Of course I'm joking "laughed Angeless.
Ryan still wasn’t quite in a mood for joking around. After all, Trisha had almost died and Duke already had. He was beginning to think that he could never really care about anyone in his life ever again. If he got close to someone, something bad always happened. He loved his mother, and she was killed, he loved Duke and he was killed, and now one of their group members had nearly been killed as well.

There weren’t too many other people in the world Ryan cared about. He wasn’t even sure if he cared about the people in the group. Sure he liked them, but liking and caring are two different things entirely. Maybe if he got to care for them, something bad would happen again and he’d just end up alone like all the other times before...

He was still seated a little ways away from the group. He had run over to Trisha like the rest of them when she had been pulled out of the water, but once he saw she was going to be okay, he resumed his place in the sand, staring at the waves. He hadn’t even laughed at Angeless’s joke, and usually Angeless knew how to make Ryan smile at least a little bit.

Ryan just felt so alone. No one really understood him or his past or anything and he never felt like telling anyone or making it public. He took his backpack off his back and brought it around in front of him, shivering a little as the wind seemed to seep through his shirt without the protection of the pack. He opened it and reached inside; reaching past his dry erase board and markers, past Duke’s dog collar, (newly placed in there) and touched a cold frame. He took it out and just stared at it.

It was a five by eight wooden frame with a now cracked glass along the front side. It was a picture of himself and his mother. He was younger then, and they were happy. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her son smiling brightly at the camera in front of them. The boy looked like he might have been laughing, with his head cocked slightly up looking towards his mom, smiling at her instead of the camera. That had been one of the best days of his life and he wished that it had never ended.

He turned the frame over in his hand and ran his other hand over the back of it, making sure it was tightly secure and still had a small bump, proving there was something under the surface. But he left it there; not needing to see whatever it was that was hidden; knowing that as long as it was still there he was okay.

“What do you got there?” A voice said behind him. He was surprised at first because he was half expecting Angeless might come over to check on him but as he turned around he was met with the gaze of Trisha.

He was startled and had quickly shoved the frame back into his backpack, hoping she hadn’t seen anything. He looked at her like a deer in the headlights. She came and sat next to him.

“Well… you don’t have to share if you don’t want to.” She said. But he pulled it back out anyways, calming down a little, and handed it to her. She was quiet for a minute or two, just looking at the picture before she spoke again. “Is that your mom?”

Was Ryan wrote in the sand, and then erased it just as quickly. He hated knowing she was gone.

“She's beautiful... You two look really happy…” She said quietly. Ryan nodded with tears in his eyes and took the picture back, placing it carefully into his pack again.

He looked at Trisha with a sort of worried expression and she understood.

“I’ll be okay… I don’t know what happened out there…”

He nodded, looking away, back out to the ocean.

“I’m sorry about your dog…” she said, “I know you guys were best friends.” He just nodded again in a silent Thanks.

“Well… you still got us…” She said. He didn’t nod this time but he was listening. “Are you hungry?” He shook his head. And then there was silence again. “We’ll get through this…” She said, “Together, we can overcome anything.” And that was it, she just left- didn’t invite him to come or stay or anything. But he was fine with that. He just stayed there, and probably would have anyways, watching as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky.
A Non-Existent User
Jessica was still trying to work out Ryan. She knew that he could talk but she couldn'r figure out why he didn't like to in front of people.

Anyway it was getting late again but Trisha wasn't really tired. She lay thinking, questions racing throught her mind.

Where exactly were they? How long had they been there? Was anyone looking for them? And most importantly would they ever leave this island?

Sooner or later Trisha's thoughts died down and she fell into a restless sleep.
Angeless had taken the opertunity to walk along the beach to gather more wood and think about things....His thaughts were more depressing than usual and as head trudged back along the beach he sat down next to Ryan.

"... "

"Ryan? do you think I'm a bad person? "asked Angeless?

Ryan shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder if I am...The crap I put people through all because I'd rather be alone "he sighed.

Ryan was looking at him puzzeled.

"Sorry...Ironic thing is...I envy you...people care about you almost instantly "sighed Angeless.
Ryan looked away. It was ironic. He just couldn’t believe that anyone would care about him. Especially not ‘instantly’ the way Angeless was saying. Ryan’s short life had been hard and he couldn’t imagine anyone envying the things he had been through. In his past, all he could remember was anything but care from everyone except his mother. And she was dead now. He shook his head.

“Well… I do mean it…” Angeless’ voice trailed. Ryan figured it wasn’t worth arguing, he didn’t even really know what to say about it anyways. The last thing he wanted right now was to talk about his past.

There were so many things he wanted to say to Angeless to try and make him feel better, but he just couldn’t grasp at the right words.

He turned to look at Angeless, who met his gaze. He thought for a minute before he remembered the signs he was looking for, Sometimes… we need to be alone… sometimes… sometimes… but the rest of the signs he needed escaped him.

“What is it?” Angeless coaxed, trying to understand what he was trying to say. Ryan looked frustrated. He held up a finger to say ‘one sec’ and reached into his backpack to pull out his dry erase board. He wrote something and turned it so Angeless could read it, pointing.

Sometimes we have to do things we aren’t proud of… He erased that and wrote something else, …to protect ourselves… he erased that too, …and to protect others… it doesn’t make us bad people.

“Thanks Ry…” His voice trailed, and Ryan was pretty sure he hadn’t helped at all.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, watching as the first stars of the night began to peek out over the ocean.

You don’t have to be alone in this… Ryan wrote again, …Even super heroes can’t do everything by themselves.

But to that, Angeless didn’t say anything. Ryan thought maybe his second bit of advice had helped more. Then he wondered if maybe he should be listening to himself too. Maybe he wasn’t as alone as he thought.
Sammantha whatched as The two boys talked, well conversed she couldn't read what Ryan was writing or hear what Angeless said.

Yet, she could almost sense what the two were thinking what everyone was thinking. Am i truley alone?
She started to feel sick as she lay there. Her head spinning her heart beating faster.

She wanted someone to talk too, anyone, but she had to keep it to herself. She could do it.' I always do' The others had worse problems most likely thats what she was told anyone. ' God, why am I so selfish
"You know..I always liked the green lantern comics...they were more lighthearted than the batman series and the superman series "smirked Angeless.

Ryan looked at him for a moment then smiled.

"You're a superman fan aren't you. I can't hold that against you if you are... "smirked Angeless.
Ryan almost laughed but he instead he just held his smile. He was a Superman fan.

Green lantern? he wrote on his whiteboard.

“Yeah, got a problem with that?” Angeless answered back somewhat jokingly. Ryan just shrugged and gave him smile and a look to say ‘Hey, whatever…’

There was a pause before he wrote, I guess I kind of always took you to like green. he erased that and then continued figured you’d go for the arrow over the lantern though. He gave a small smile.

“Funny you should say that…” Angeless said seeming to lose his joking tone a little bit. Ryan gave him a questioning look. He didn’t want to push Angeless, but he wanted to know what was on his mind. “My dad.” He said with a small nod, turning to look at Ryan. He said it simply like that was supposed to answer all of the boy’s questions. Ryan looked away. “He liked the Green Arrow, I did too…” He paused, “guess I kind of wanted to be like him.” Ryan vaguely remembered something about that from earlier. “But you know… you can never have too many superheroes right?” He said with a snall grin. Ryan didn’t make any motion to answer; he figured it was rhetorical anyways.

There was silence for awhile, Ryan was somewhat lost in his own thoughts, and Angeless seemed to be content with just sitting. The girls watched the boys from afar, wondering about them, but not really wanting to do anything about it.

“I still haven’t figured you out.” Angeless said. Ryan looked over at him and shrugged almost to say ‘what’s to get?’ “You can talk. But you don’t. But you do sometimes. To me at least.” Ryan laughed a little. When he put it that way, it did seem pretty silly. But he just shrugged again; he had his reasons for keeping quiet. “Sometimes I just wonder what happens in your head.” Angeless said.

Ryan thought for a minute before finally deciding to show Angeless the picture of him and his mother. He pulled it out carefully and handed it to Angeless, figuring maybe it would help solve some of his confusion.

“That your mom?” He asked. Ryan nodded, then pointed to the lady in the picture and made a signal that meant she was dead. “I’m sorry…” Angeless said. Ryan nodded but knew that no words would ever really comfort him.

He made the sign for father, and then slowly repeated the signal to say his mother had died. “Your dad is dead too?” Angeless asked, not really understanding. Ryan shook his head, and repeated the sequence. “Your dad killed her?” He nodded.

When people talk to you… He wrote on his board …they tend to stop asking questions when they realize you can’t answer them. He let that sink in before he continued, Some secrets are too hard to keep when you can talk... sometimes you’re better off silent. He looked at Angeless with eyes full of sadness and pain and it was almost like his whole life flashed from his eyes to Angeless’.

Angeless looked at him with no words coming, “Ryan…” he finally said with a sigh, letting his voice trail. He wanted so bad to say something just to let him know he wasn’t alone but he had always been bad with these kinds of things. Ryan just shook his head and took back the picture. He wanted to tell Angeless not to worry about it, and he shouldn’t have said anything but… he didn’t feel like saying anything anymore.

He had to get his mind off his mom and his past… he got up, leaving Angeless staring at the ocean, and went back towards the girls.

“Hey Ryan.” Samantha greeted him happily when he came back. He put on his best smile. “Want to help me get some food ready for breakfast?” He nodded happily, trying not to let his thoughts get in the way of his actions.
-I don't know if we'll ever get back to this, but the us from when we wrote this sure were very much about people's heart, and action.-



Samantha, Duke, and Ryan walked through the woods. With equipment lended to them by Angeless. As they walked through the forest, she noticed Ryan, while quiet as usual seemed to keep getting lost in his own thoughts unusually often. It was to quiet for her, and quite frankly the quiet scared her a little.

"Well Ryan, while it is a bit difficult for us to communicate. I think we should still try. I mean, while you don't really talk-talk. I still feel like you talk better then me..."

Ryan looked at her quizzically.

Sam laughed at his expression which took Ryan by surprise, "What I mean is. I may say things, but I just feel like I can never say what I'm trying to say. I'll mean something nice, and it'll come out all wrong. Or I don't know, I guess I try to imply things to much, and it doesn't really get across. However, I feel like you seem to be able to honestly carry a conversation so much better without saying much at all. I'm not sure if you feel that way, or if that cheers you up...but I don't know, I thought it might help having a, you know, another perspective. "

Ryan still looking confused, shrugged and they moved forward. As they moved forward Ryan appeared to still be dwelling on the same thing, Sam guessed she was wrong in reading the situation. Perhaps it wasn't about talking at all. Duke had stopped in front of a bush.

"BERRIES!" Sam cheered!, "Let's collect some and bring them back!"

© Copyright 2006 Kat- filming, Glam-BACK, GoldenHopeisWorkinHard!, AngelinTwilight, Agent-409, (known as GROUP).
All rights reserved.
GROUP has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
Log in to Leave Feedback
Username:
Password: <Show>
Not a Member?
Signup right now, for free!
All accounts include:
*Bullet* FREE Email @Writing.Com!
*Bullet* FREE Portfolio Services!
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/campfires/item_id/1120347-The-Last-Year