Castaway Ch. 04

All characters in this story are fictional and any that engage in sexual activity are over the age of 18. I hope you enjoy reading it!

This is part four of the series. I strongly recommend reading the others if you haven't already. I would like to thank all of the commenters that have voiced their opinions on the other chapters, both signed and anonymous alike. Thanks to Guinahart for her efforts to edit my stories, and make them easier to read.

It is criticism from the likes of Harddaysknight, sbrooks, Drbeamer, SharedSigne and many others, that keeps me motivated to do better. I consider many of you my peers, and am humbled that you share your opinion about my work. I hope I continue to improve, but am after all only human. My only goal remains to entertain. So, without further ado....

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

When I was about thirty one, after being married for ten years, my parents were both tragically taken away from me. Even more tragically, there was no drunk driver, or truck driver that fell asleep at the wheel, to blame. I wish it had been that merciful for them. Not my poor parents.

They had been driving home during a storm, and the rain went from bad to flash-flood level. My dad never even saw it coming. The car's brakes failed, or so the cops said, and they drove through a barrier and into the river. It had so much water rushing down it, that the car was immediately swept away.

Their car was carried down river, and eventually got stuck on a rock mid-river, almost a quarter mile from where the road had been. The police told us that the cause of death was drowning. I cannot imagine a more horrible way to die, to KNOW you are running out of air and will die.

I still get nightmares sometimes, although not as often as I used to. I would dream that I was with them, in the back seat. The car flies off the road, catapults into the river, and bobs like a cork until we go under. The water is flowing around the car so fast we can't open any of the doors. One of the windows breaks and the water comes rushing in, filling up the inside. That is usually the part where I wake up.

Caitlin used to comfort me in the middle of the night, just hugging me tightly and whispering in my ear, that everything was going to be ok. Thankfully, I hadn't had that nightmare in a long time.

Imagine my shock when I jolted awake, in the pitch black, after having that horrible nightmare again. This time it had been different. This time, it was Caitlin and I in the front seat, and Maddy was in the back.

My heart was pounding a mile a minute, and I was sweating profusely. I looked around, and barely saw my hands in front of my face, although I could feel there was some glass on my lap and the floor, crunching under my boots. I couldn't make out much else, due to no moon and the complete darkness that comes from having no lights at all around.

I shook my head, and it started pounding, hard. That was a mistake, but it did clear my vision some after the spots went away. I unbuckled my belt, and thankfully, didn't feel hurt too badly. Now I wish I had gotten a newer plane. This older style obviously had been lacking in some of the more advanced safety features that the newer ones had.

I looked around my seat, and found what I was looking for on the floor, my flashlight. I unclipped it, and turned it on. Instantly, I was blinded, but it cleared quickly. I took a look at myself for the first time since... well, since I crashed. I had no idea how bad the damage was, but the pontoons on this bird hit the water pretty hard. My legs hurt some, and I had the worst headache ever. I felt my head, but didn't feel any wetness from blood, just a huge knot on my forehead. Pointing the light at my legs and arms, I had some minor scratches, but nothing looked serious.

After standing, and feeling the plane shift some, I made slower movements. I didn't know how badly off I was yet, so needed to be very careful. I pointed the light outside, and could make out some palm trees to my right, and a beach out the front windows. To the left I saw a reflection of water, so the plane must have made it to shore, and lodged in the sand sideways. That was a relief. I could have been out to sea yet, bobbing along and hoping the plane didn't sink.

Looking towards the engine, I didn't see any evidence of smoke or fire, so whatever damage had been done to it, was done. I felt the plane rock again slightly, and figured that one of the pontoons must still be in the water. I would need to secure it before the tide came in or out and pulled my bird with it.

I walked to the right side door, and looked out at the ground below. I saw sand, and not much else. Opening the door, I jumped down and fell straight to the ground in pain. My right leg hurt a lot more than I had previously thought, and had buckled completely when I fell on it. I stood up again, and tried to put some weight on it. It hurt, but held. I thanked god for small miracles that, at least, I didn't appear to have any broken bones. It still stung like a bitch though. No more jumping for me anytime soon.

I limped to one of the rear compartments, and got out some of the emergency supplies, along with the rope stored there, and then shut the compartment. I put the emergency kit on a seat in the front, then walked away from the plane to find something to tie on to. There was a palm tree that might be within distance, so I went for it. I wrapped the rope around the tree, tying it off as tight as I could. I walked the rest back to the plane, and managed to get it around the front strut of the pontoon enough to tie it off there as well. It was a miracle that it had been long enough. I think I might have had about two feet to spare.

With that done, I felt a complete mix of emotions, so took stock. I had crashed, god knows how long ago. I was on an island that didn't appear inhabited, at least, not near my crash site. I was hurt, but not critically. My plane likely wouldn't fly again without repairs. I had some emergency water on the plane, but that was about it. With no food to speak of, no immediate sign of people around, I realized I might be stuck here alone for a while. I pulled out my cell phone, but naturally it had no signal at all. I put it on airplane mode to conserve battery.

Ok, think James, think. THAT'S IT! The radio! I had radioed my position, at least what I had thought was my position, to traffic control. The problem, I now realized, was that this island didn't have the dirt airstrip they thought it did, so they might start looking in the wrong place. I slowly climbed back into the plane, and flipped the switch for the radio. Sadly, the lights came on, and then went dark almost immediately. Either it was broken too, or my battery had drained sometime while I was unconscious. Now what the heck was I gonna do? I checked my phone again and saw that it was about 3:30am. I decided that I wasn't going to get much accomplished while it was dark out, so I climbed back into the plane, closed the doors and locked them, and went back to sleep. Hindsight, had I been thinking clearly, I would have forced myself to stay awake, in case of concussion. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten one (I found out later), and was in no real danger.

I awoke to the sun rising up over the palm trees, and some birds singing somewhere in the distance. I made my way out of the plane, to really look around, now that I could see. I didn't remember much from my days as a boy scout, but I do remember that I could last a couple of days without food, if I truly had to. The problem is that my body could not do without water for nearly as long.

My first task was to inventory my supplies in the plane. I opened both the rear compartment doors, and found a very lightweight tool box, my luggage, a flare gun, and a few extra Bungie cords. It wasn't much, but it was a start. The flare gun only had one charge, but would be very useful, should anyone either fly low enough, or bring their boat close enough, to shore.

I took the items over to the edge of the tree line, in an effort to make sure they wouldn't get wet. As I took a short break, a rather large, multi-color parrot landed on a branch above me. It just looked at me, and preened its feathers on its perch. Well, at least I wasn't alone...

I went back to the plane, climbed up into the cabin, and scouted it out. I got lucky, and found that we had stocked it with a few bottles of water, and some cheap peanuts that the big airlines served as well. The water was good news, but the peanuts wouldn't keep me going for very long by themselves.

Aside from the water and snacks, I didn't really find anything else useful in the cabin. I went back to the tree line, sat in the shade and thought about my predicament. How the hell had this happened? Why did I seem to have such shitty luck lately? Was this my fault? Did I check the plane out as thorough as I should have, before taking off? Was this problem something that Shawn should have found? I had been partying with everyone, but didn't have anything to drink the day my daughter left, so that shouldn't have been a factor. So many questions, not enough answers, yet.

"OK, enough thinking. Time to get your ass doing something," I told myself.

What will it take for me to get rescued? This whole area was pretty well traveled, so I should be spotted by a fly-over or something. All I had to do was find a way to be seen. I had the flare, but that was a single shot. I needed to build some kind of smoke signal that could be seen from farther away. Also, I needed to find some food. Perhaps I could do like I saw in the movies, and catch a fish in a tide pool, or something like that. Damn, I was putting my life in the hands of movies now? I shook my head and laughed.

No matter what, I swore to myself that I wouldn't find a soccer ball and talk to it. That would be just too much. Maybe I would just talk to that parrot instead. Good god, what the hell was I thinking?

I sat under the shade for a bit, wondering how long it would take, for a boat or plane to come close enough to see my flare. I did see one enormous cargo ship, but it was miles away and wouldn't see my flare. I would need to find a way to build that fire.

I went into the trees, and started gathering anything I could get my hands on. Twigs, branches, big leaves, and even a few large logs from trees that fell long ago. I took all this and moved it a few feet away from the tree line, and built a big bonfire style teepee. I would need to find a way to light it, but for now I had what could be a good signal fire.

Pleased with my minor success, I sat in the shade again and took a sip of water. Before I knew it, the bottle was empty. Damn. I would really need to be careful, and ration my intake. I had no idea how long I was going to be stuck here. Maybe I could hunt around and find a secret stash, like Jack Sparrow. Yeah, a nice cache of Rum right about now sounded great. FUCK!

I checked my phone, and saw that it was already nearly two in the afternoon. I was getting pretty hungry at this point, and looked at those peanuts as if they would pop up into a huge feast. When no such feast appeared, I got up and looked about. There really didn't seem to be anything nearby that would work for food, unless I wanted to eat palm tree leaves. I hadn't been on the islands long enough for those to look eatable. I at least chuckled at my own inside joke.

Could I fall back on my lessons from movies, and catch a fish? Should I walk into the trees further to see if I could find anything out there? After deliberation, and a well-timed grumble in my stomach, I decided on going into the trees. I walked inland for at least ten minutes or so, far enough away from the beach that I could barely make out the sound of the waves. Aside from ferns, palm trees and the occasional flowering plants, I didn't see anything resembling fruit.

The trees gave way, and I walked into a grassy field. There looked to be a small pond, and a few berry bushes along the right side of it. I jogged over to the berries, and plucked several bunches into my shirt. I wasn't sure if they were ok to eat, but I was going to get some anyhow and hope for the best. After gathering those, I examined the pond. The water looked clear, but not enough to drink without being treated somehow. If I could find a way to boil it, I think I could probably drink it. Also in the pond, were what looked like some little fish, each no more than a couple of inches long. I wondered if they would make enough for me to eat.

I took my gathered berries back to the beach, and sat down again. I tried one berry, slowly, and found it was a bit sweet, but tasted surprisingly good. After having a few, I decided that if I was to get sick off them, so be it. The parrot was still perched nearby, just watching me. I ate my fill of the berries, with a few left over. I decided to sleep in the plane again, figuring that it was safer.

I awoke the next morning, hearing what sounded like the noise of a helicopter flying nearby. I climbed out of the plane, grabbed the flare gun, and searched the sky. I couldn't see anything, but heard it still. My ears must have been playing tricks on me, because it sounded like it came and went, closer and then farther away. After several agonizing minutes of this, I heard it fade until I couldn't hear it any longer.

"GOD DAMNIT!!!" I yelled to the sky.

To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Maybe I should have lit the signal fire, instead of counting on the flare gun.

I went towards the tree line, and noticed immediately that the remaining berries I had left, were all either gone or smashed, leaving me with nothing to eat. DAMN IT! I should have been smarter, and put them in with me in the plane. Some animals or that parrot must have had a nice feast at my expense. Now, I was hungry again, with no more berries. I set back out for the grassy clearing and that pond again. There were a few berries left, but that supply wouldn't last.

I looked at the fish swimming about, and decided to try my hand at fishing by hand. It took a long time actually. I stood there like an idiot forever, waiting for one to swim near me. What the fuck was I thinking? A fish was just going to swim right into my hands and let me pick it up out of the water? My judgement skills were apparently still lacking, and made my mind wander back to events of the last few years.

Perhaps if I had retired earlier, none of this mess would have happened. We had often talked about both retiring early, and just going traveling. I sighed deeply, thinking of a future that no longer existed.

Eventually, a fish must have been dumb enough to come close to me, and I grabbed it. It put up a fight, but in the end, I whacked its head on my knee really hard a couple times, and it stopped moving. I had seen that done in a movie once too, and figured it would work. Now all I had to do was figure out a way to start a fire. I didn't smoke, or I would have a lighter on me. I wonder if there was something on the plane that I could use. If there was even a small bit of battery power left, maybe I could cross some wires or something to create a spark. It was a long shot, but what other choices did I have?

I could always go old-school, and try rubbing a stick on a stone. Hell, they taught us that in scouts but I think that was one that was rigged with pre-made sticks that are perfect for creating a fire. You can't buy those out here. I had a good laugh at my own joke, but it was short-lived.

First, I built a small ring of stones, and put some more small kindling and branches inside. Deciding the battery route was more likely to work, I found a stick, and ripped a piece of my shirt off to wrap around the end of it. I pulled the positive wire off its terminal, and struck it against the negative one. I was elated that it gave off a spark. I got the makeshift shirt/torch near the battery, and after several sparks, it caught. I blew on it to get it going better, and was again pleased with my success. I tossed it onto my smaller fire pit, and watched as it ignited and grew.

I poked a stick through the top of my little fish, and pulled it open with my hands. It was messy, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to get it clean enough to cook. Once I had it cleaned as good as I could, without the benefit of a filet knife, I poked the fish again,and held it over the fire to cook. While waiting, I looked to the sky and water again. I had seen a few commercial planes go over, at extreme altitudes, but nothing closer. Oddly, I had seen a few large cargo ships, very far in the distance, but nothing close enough. I didn't want to waste my signal fire.

Good god, this was boring. There was nothing to do but survive. I finished off the second bottle of water, as I ate the now cooked little fish. It didn't fill me up like a steak would, but was good enough. I had to eat slowly to avoid bones and scales though. After I finished eating, I sat by the fire until it burned down to coals. The coals kept me warm for a while, but eventually cooled, to the point where I gave up for the night and went to sleep in the plane again.

I was startled awake from a loud crash. The plane was rocking fairly hard, and rain was banging away at the wings and windows, some coming in through the one that was broken. It was still mostly dark out, the light from the rising sun well hidden behind a lot of storm clouds. Shit, a storm was the last thing I needed right now.

I stayed inside the plane, and waited the storm out. Thankfully it slowed and eventually stopped within an hour or two. I was now tired as hell, and the sun came out, so sleep was not likely to come again for a while. I climbed down from the plane, and checked on my signal fire pile. The wood was soaked on the surface, and I could only hope that the sun would dry it off quickly. Being wet might actually work in my favor, as it would burn with more smoke. I learned that the hard way, years ago when the three of us went camping.

The day was wasted, so I ate some peanuts and drank a half bottle of water, and stuck to my little camp. The parrot kept me company, if only to look at me in a mocking stare, as if to say, 'You are never going to make it'. I didn't exactly hate the bird, but I did want to chuck a rock at it from time to time, just for being there.

No boats got anywhere near my island, and I only heard one plane flying low enough to be worth my attention. I had the flare ready, but never actually saw the plane. It must have been on the other side of the island, which pissed me off.

"Why the FUCK haven't you found me yet!??!" I railed, shaking my fist at the sky.

When no one responded to me, I sank back down onto the sand. I didn't cry, but I sure felt like crying. This wasn't how I pictured my last days. I know I wanted to be away from my old life, but not to THIS extreme.

I finished off the day with the rest of the peanuts, and the rest of that bottle of water. The next day, I tried to put the wires from the battery directly to the radio, but the radio wires were fairly short. I had to pull the battery, and I finally got it hooked directly to the radio. It turned on, and I immediately starting radioing an S.O.S. for help. I didn't know how long I would have, so didn't spend a lot of time waiting for a response. I tried to message what happened, and where I was flying when I went down.

I started to hear a garbled response, and then the battery faded quickly. The radio now dead, I just had to hope that I had gotten my message out to someone that could find me in time. I was now also mad at myself for not thinking of doing THAT, two days ago.

"FUCK!" I again yelled at no one. Maybe I did need to hunt down a soccer ball. The parrot wasn't doing me much good in that department.