Island

He thought about shouting their names into the darkness and listening for a response, but there was only one or two useless little paddles in the raft. Three people were gone and it was too late to do anything, if he could have done anything at all.

The crying turned into sobbing. It bought him out of silence. He shouted for quiet, then had asked them all to repeat their names, that he wanted to know where they were in the raft. He asked Ann if there was someone to her left. She said it was Nan. He asked Nan if she had someone to her left. She said no. He then heard Liz start sobbing again as she said no one was next to her on either side. Lisa said there wasn't anyone on her right.

He had thought they should level out the weight, so he told them he was moving towards Liz. Ann had protested, and probably Nan had too but the second voice was probably more concerned about the raft somehow tipping if he moved. Maybe Ann had thought the same now that he gave it some consideration. He had thought about the emergency pack in the raft but he they were still rising and falling dramatically on the swells and there were still waves slamming into the raft. He hadn't wanted to chance losing anything from that zippered compartment.

When they were in a trough between swells, he quickly slid on his belly to where he thought the gap was. He stayed down as he frantically grabbed handholds. He waited for the uplift and then downward motion of the next swell, then quickly moved to a sitting position with his back against the wall of the raft. He was next to Liz. He had reached out to her and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. Her crying slowed after the touch but she didn't let go of the handholds to touch him back. He moved a couple feet away from her to even out the weight.

Another hour passed before he had moved again, to get the flashlight out of the zippered emergency compartment. The girls were all nervous with him moving around and someone shouted for him to be careful. He switched on the flashlight and pointed it around the raft to get a look at each girl. They were all shaking as much as he was, maybe more. He had hoped it was from cold and not shock.

He made his way between Ann and Lisa again under the protest of Liz. He told Liz he'd be right back but he had to check the emergency transmitter. He hadn't even been sure that was what it was called. He doubted it was working remembering that blinking light on Barb's raft. It was attached to the side of the raft. He just put the flashlight beam on it, looking for a switch even though he recalled Jeff saying it turned on automatically when the raft was pressurized. He wasn't going to do more than look at it for the moment, too worried he'd lose some important part or break the damn thing beyond any repair, or somehow drop it in the ocean in the still violent movement of the raft.

He belly crawled to the other side of the raft to even the weight out and calm Liz, then looked at everyone again, pointing the beam to their chests or necks. He asked each of them how they were doing. They all said they were freezing. He had seen mylar thermal wraps in the emergency locker. He didn't want to lose them either, yet he didn't want any of the girls to become hypothermic.

He slid back to the locker, and pulled one out. He used his right hand to grip a handhold and with his left he shook the thin blanket until it unfurled. He pressed one corner of it to Lisa's hand on the handhold and she grabbed it. He wanted to hug her when her other hand released its handhold and grabbed the other corner. He pushed the edges under her knees and she did the other side.

She had surprised him by chattering out, "Th-th-thank y-y-you." He then continued with all the girls, once having to grab a second hand hold as an odd taller swell made the raft rise at a sever angle, a couple of the girls had screamed during it. He finally took one of the blankets for himself and moved near Liz again. He turned off the flashlight. Hollywood movies had taught him it was best to conserve everything in survival situations. No one talked, maybe because their teeth were chattering.

He told everyone to keep tabs on the person next to them, on either side, and to make sure no one fell asleep. He had thought if they were getting hypothermic, someone might doze off from it and fall out of the raft. He wondered if any of them had lifelines on. Someone might have unclipped it from the boat cable, not the vest. He thought the eight foot cord would get in the way. He asked. No one had their lifelines. He kept checking everyone with the flashlight about every quarter hour. An hour later the clouds broke and he looked up to see a three quarter moon. One of the girls shakily said, "T-Thank G-God." Ten minutes later clouds covered it again, but there was enough ambient light to vaguely see everyone in the raft. He stopped using the flashlight. He figured they had been in the raft at least six hours at that point.

It must have been around 4:00AM when he first heard more waves crashing. It had tensed him immediately. He couldn't feel his hands anymore. He was stiff and numb all over in fact. Everyone was still shivering. He had wondered if he or any of them would be able to grip the handholds if the storm regained its horrifying strength. He sat up straighter and looked around. The phosphorescence of the whitecapping waves was more noticeable now. The swells had gotten slightly smaller. He was glad for that, but he definitely heard waves cresting. Lisa had then sat up straighter.

She asked him if he heard something. He said yes. Ann sat straighter, then Nan. Liz started crying again. Lisa and he must have had the same thought at the same moment. He had never mentioned it to Cheryl but he had taught at the university in Honolulu for one semester right after grad school. He had been to the north shore a half dozen times and he knew what surf sounded like. He knew how terrifying swells could be when they turned into surf. He had said, "Shit" almost simultaneously with Lisa saying, "That's surf." Nan and Ann excitedly asked if they'd be on land soon.

He had told them all to take off the mylar blankets. Maybe his voice had displayed his own fear because Liz started crying harder. He had then quickly added that he didn't want the blankets in the way if they had to paddle to the shore. He took the blanket from Liz and then moved to Nan and had noticed Lisa was at the emergency locker putting her blanket in and then taking Ann's. He slid to the locker and stuffed the three blankets inside. Lisa returned to her place and held on.

He switched on the flashlight and looked at each girl. Everyone was still shaking. Liz would be best on the second paddle because she had to be at least 5'-9," an inch taller than himself. She'd be able to lean down farther to dig the paddle into the water and not fall in. Ann was the next tallest at about 5'-6" but she was looking nearly as scared as Liz. Nan and Lisa were about the same height about 5'-3".

He asked who wanted to man the second paddle. No one responded for a good half minute, then both Nan and Lisa said they'd paddle. The surf sounds were getting noticeably louder. He was both afraid of hitting it and scared they'd just float past it on some current, if in fact, it really was an island and not just a reef. He told Lisa to take the paddle and then told Nan that she should be ready to take over for Lisa if she got tired. He told everyone to turn around and look outward for the surf. It was difficult to see in the darkness, plus the swells would only allow a quick view around at the tops. It was impossible to tell which direction they were moving. It only seemed to be up and down. He put the flashlight in the zippered compartment.

Ann screamed a few minutes later, "I think I see it!"

Everyone had turned towards her and looked in that direction at the top of next swell. They all saw the phosphorescent foam for a moment. It was still too dark to see if there was an island beyond the surf. He told them all to keeping looking and try to judge whether they were getting closer to it. They watched at the tops of swells for the next ten minutes. They were moving closer.

He hadn't wanted to make the girls even more scared by displaying his ignorance, but he had to get any information he could. He asked if any of them had ever surfed using a board or been in some sort of boat or sea doo going through the surf to a beach anywhere. He had asked because he hadn't had a clue how to handle it. They all said no. He knew it probably didn't matter that neither he nor they knew anything about it. He had figured two dinky paddles weren't going to give them any control.

He had wondered if trying it in the water in their life vests would be better, maybe body surfing to shore. He thought about the probable coral and hoped to God they all didn't wash up on some beach nothing but hunks of mangled bone and shredded meat. He had prayed therewasa beach. If there was an island, that didn't necessarily mean they were headed for a beach.

He then asked if any of them had body surfed. They all said they had. He told them if they were somehow tossed out of the raft, to do that. That comment had made Liz start crying again. He had felt like slapping her face, not from anger, but because he had been afraid that if she was tossed out, she'd just give up and let her own terror kill her. He also didn't want the other girls to start crying.

He then told all of them in a serious, loud, almost angry voice, that whatever happened, they couldn't give up, that they had to save themselves, that they had people who loved them who would be mad as hell at them if they didn't give it their all to get onto that fucking island. He told them they had to depend on each other to get though this and they couldn't do it without the strength and help of everyone. He sternly told Liz that if he got exhausted paddling that she'd take over for him. He told Ann that she was to take over for Liz when she got exhausted or if Nan and Lisa both got exhausted.

He couldn't remember exactly but he thought he came across as very angry. Maybe that was why Liz stopped crying. He had wanted everyone thinking about what they should do, not their fears. After his faux angry "pep talk", all the girls nodded at him. He told them to keep watching and when they got close to the surf, he and Lisa would move to opposite sides of the round raft so they were both facing the surf. He said they all might have to move to get in that position.

He had tried to figure out if weight should be distributed evenly or in the front or back. He doubted it should be the front, and figured the back end would be best to have the weight. He then told Ann, Liz and Nan they would move to the back end wherever that was, but be prepared to move again if the raft started turning around. He said he didn't want to waste time trying to paddle the raft so he and Lisa were always facing forward, they'd just move themselves, not the raft. All the girls nodded at him again. He had wondered at the time if any of them had the slightest confidence in him. He certainly hadn't had any in himself.

At the top of a swell Nan shouted that she thought she saw a beach. They all looked again from the top of the next swell but he had only seen the phosphorescent surf. He could tell they were moving faster towards the surf a few minutes later. He was surprised that the closer they got, the swells appeared to be getting smaller. The ambient light increased a little but still no one could see a beach or any land.

The surf sound grew louder. Ten minutes later it was very loud. He had no hope that any paddling would help them. A swell came up raising the raft but the trough didn't quickly follow, it carried them quite a distance. He looked at Lisa and called her name. When she looked at him, he told her to just do what she thought was right with the paddle if she couldn't hear him. He said he thought they should paddle like hell at the beginning of the next swell, and if the swell started to crest, that she should drop the paddle and grab onto two handholds. He told her to try to put the paddle between her body and the wall of the raft so it didn't whip around on its cord. He told her not to worry too much about it, the main thing was to grip two hand holds if they crested.

He had then realized that he and Lisa couldn't move around the raft without unclipping the paddles. He quickly told Lisa that, and said they might have to back paddle if the raft didn't face the right way. He said he didn't think they should take the cords off and chance losing either paddle. She said she'd try her best to paddle the right way if she couldn't hear him. He told the other girls to move to the back end. Again, he had been overwhelmed with worry that what he was telling everyone to do, was the exact opposite of what should be done.

On the next rolling swell he and Lisa paddled with all their strength and speed. He had wondered if they were just erasing a minute or two of their lives, paddling might just be getting them quicker to their deaths. In the trough he shouted at Lisa to rest. He turned around and looked for the next swell. It was still mostly night but he was able to see the swell was becoming a wave. He saw it begin to crest and then the crest started and it seemed like there was water cantilevered to his left. He shouted to Lisa to paddle like hell. After a dozen strokes, he had changed his mind about paddling, realizing that cantilevered water might be the start of a pipeline.

At that realization, terror had again gripped him. He had shouted as loud as he could to Lisa, telling her to drop her paddle and for everyone to hold on as tight as they could. He had remembered trying to body surf on the north shore of Oahu years ago. He had never seen a pipeline other than on TV, but just the large waves he had experience that day body surfing or much smaller waves at a couple other beaches on the south shore, let alone the past eight hours, had made him well aware that tons of water could do whatever the hell it wanted to a human body. He had remembered the relatively small wave on a south shore beach that had sent him to the bottom curling his body around a couple times before it had slammed his head to into the sand. It could easily have broken his neck.

The last things he remembered with crystal clarity, was grabbing two handholds just before the raft began tipping forward nearly vertically and then the terrifying slamming crush of water driving him down into blackness that seemed to go on forever. He hadn't struggled against it at all, like some instinct within him told him it would be a futile effort. He remembered that he assumed he would be dead in a few moments, and that he had just accepted it. There had been no panic for air, no struggle against the force twisting his body around and shoving him seemingly down hundreds of feet. In fact he hadn't felt the need to breathe at all. The last thing he could vaguely recall was that he thought his head had exploded.

CHAPTER 2

Now looking back, it actually seemed there was a blank gap, between his head exploding and feeling the excruciating pain. He couldn't recall if he had sensed that blank interval before believing his head was cracked wide open and that his brain was chewed up and hanging out of his skull. All he could see was a blank field of glowing red that darkened slightly to the right. He wasn't really sure he tried to move his arms, but it felt like he was paralyzed. Somewhere off in the distance someone had been calling his name. His tongue moved then, something gritty was in his mouth and throat.

He coughed to get it out and it felt as if it made his skull crack wider and a white hot poker had stabbed into his brain. The person calling his name came closer. Slowly he became aware of the sound of surf again and wondered why he wasn't being jerked around and pushed down to the bottom again. He heard his name even louder and wondered who it could be. He thought it might be Cheryl.

His tongue moved against the grit again. His body had then abruptly lurched and he vomited so hard he thought his stomach would come out his mouth. He also thought it made his head crack open more. Another wave of nausea instantly followed and he pushed up on his elbows and violently vomited again. He opened his eyes and realized he wasn't blinded. He was on something. He wasn't in water. He couldn't focus his eyes. He heard his name called again, maybe it was two people calling his name. He slowly realized he was looking at wet sand.

Not knowing why exactly, he desperately tried to stand up but his head had felt twice its normal size and it was throbbing with so much pain he couldn't lift it. His brain had to be hanging outside of his skull. He was sure of that. He lurched with a dry heave. He then lay his profile on the spot where he had just expelled. The voices were closer, no they were right at his ear. He later found out it was both Ann and Nan, crying and pleading with him to try to stay awake, telling him Lisa and Liz were hurt badly.

He couldn't remember how long it took him to understand their words or if he actually did, but he did recall he made another attempt to rise but again the pain in his head was so bad he couldn't think straight, let alone move. He could barely raise his face off the sand. Again he was terrified wondering if his brain was next to his head, not inside his skull. He couldn't remember it but the two girls told him later that he just repeated "Help them" a dozen times. He had passed out after that.

Three hours later his eyes opened again. He heard crying and a whispered mantra,

"Please wake up - please wake up - please wake up...."

He rolled onto his back and was blinded by both pain and sunlight. He shut his eyes and saw the red field again. A hand pressed against his head and the pain from it was so intense he thought he was going to pass out. He had rasped out, "Don't do that."

The hand disappeared. A moment later he sensed the sun had disappeared too. He opened his eyes. He saw one of the girls, a face right above his. It took him a minute to recognize Nan. She was crying. She started talking faster than he could understand. He closed his eyes and had whispered to her to slow down. With a lot of repeating he had finally understood that both Lisa and Liz were hurt badly, that Liz was unconscious, that both Lisa and Liz might have broken bones.

He looked closer at Nan. Her left cheek looked like one big strawberry wound. He had asked her if she was all right. She told him that she and Ann were okay, that Ann was down the beach running between Liz and Lisa. She said they weren't sure if they should be moved.

He had told Nan to help him up. She had to basically carry him for the first ten steps. He had no equilibrium. He told her to stop and he had closed his eyes for a minute and finally felt what was up and what was down. He kept his arm around Nan's shoulders as they continued down the beach to the other girls. It took quite a while. He had to sit down four times. He was nauseous and he used the rests to focus his mind, each rest was at least a few minutes.

They had finally gotten to Liz. She was comatose. There was a large contusion on the side of her head covered by a sock. Nan pulled it off and he saw a two inch long gash on the side of her head in the center of the swollen area. Her left forearm was scraped up. It was obviously broken but luckily no bones had been poking out of the skin and the break didn't look that bad.

Ann had then run up and he told her to look for some sticks and something they could use for rope or string. Nan said they had their shoelaces. For some reason he thought they needed do something quickly for Liz's fracture, so he said they should try to set her arm while she was unconscious. Both girls said they didn't know how to do that. He told Ann to find the sticks. He didn't mention he wasn't sure how to set the arm either. When she had run off, he told Nan to get him to Lisa. She had been about forty yards farther down the beach. On the way Nan said they thought she might have broken her back. When they got to Lisa her jaw was clenched and her eyes were welled with tears but she wasn't crying. Both her legs were scraped up badly. One arm had a pretty bad scrape too.