The Island

He had no idea how long the storm had raged when a new impact, something that felt different, startled him. There was another, and a third in quick succession. The first had been violent and would have thrown them clear to the far side of the raft or even overboard had they not been tied down, with the subsequent impacts growing weaker.

And after that, the buffeting of the waves and the wind seemed to lessen somewhat. After so many hours, he almost didn't trust his instinct and it was a couple of minutes before he could bring himself to believe that this was more than a brief lull, the kind that had happened before. Something had definitely changed and, despite himself, hope sprung as he considered the possibilities.

"I think we hit something," he said, his voice a hoarse croak.

"What?"

"I think... I think we hit something," he said again, relaxing his grip on Kate for the first time in hours and trying to sit up. "Hang on... I have to check, maybe... maybe..."

"No... Kenny..." Kate pleaded, "it's too dangerous..."

"I'm not going anywhere, I'll just be a second, hang on."

He untangled himself from Kate's reluctant grip and freed himself from the line. His body felt weak and cold as he tried to move and he stumbled a couple of times as he made his way to the far side of the raft, the side where he felt the impact had come from. He unhooked the canopy from from the raft's side and took a deep breath before poking his head under it.

Outside, it was a little less dark than it had been inside the cover of the canopy but it was still hard to make anything out. He could tell instantly that it was still raining hard and to his left and right he could make out the white spray as waves broke either side of the raft. He didn't think much of the breaking waves until he ventured a look further ahead and saw more tell tale spray and he squinted to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, that it wasn't some terror induced mirage, when he thought he saw trees. But there was no mistaking them, tall trees, palms he thought, swaying in the strong wind.

He cast his eyes around, looking for more confirmation. To his left, the land seemed to stretch as far as he could see, rising he thought into a mountain or a hill. To his right, it seemed to curve around, giving him the impression that their raft had been blown into some kind of bay.

His mind churned with possibilities. He had a rough idea of their location and he knew there were no major land masses anywhere nearby but it didn't matter. Euphoria surged through him as he reached the apparently unescapable conclusion. Land. Salvation. His head sagged for a moment and then he screamed, relief pouring out of him.

Kate heard her brother's scream and, for the first time since the ordeal of the storm had started, felt enough strength to move. She shouted for him and released herself from the line and tried to shuffle over to him, almost not wanting to know what fresh terror had elicited the sound from her brother's lips.

When he heard her and felt her behind him, Kenny pulled back, unhooking more of the canopy so Kate could look out too, could see their salvation. His arm moved around her as he watched her eyes scan left and right as his had done and he felt her body ripple and tremble as she cried again.

"Oh my god... Kenny..." she said weakly, turning her body into him and they embraced. Kenny took his sister's face in his hands and smiled at her.

"We're going to be OK Kate, I promise."

"I believe you."

As Kate looked up into her brother's smiling face, felt the gentle grip of his hands on her cheeks, she was surprised at how quickly her relief at their deliverance faded. So close, she thought. He's so close. Kiss me Kenny.

She couldn't know though that, such was Kenny's joy at being saved, more specifically at Kate being saved, that he did indeed come very close to kissing her in that moment. The light in her eyes, the simple joy in her face was almost too much for him but he forced himself back to practical considerations. They weren't saved yet.

He told Kate to check if any of their supplies had survived while he scanned the new horizon again and he felt his initial euphoria wane somewhat. There was no evidence of life anywhere he could see. Surely, he thought, the coast of any inhabited island would show some signs of people, some light somewhere, some buildings. But there was nothing.

Much to his surprise, Kate reported that all their emergency supplies were still where he'd stowed them and their thoughts turned to how to get ashore. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could make out the water's edge maybe a hundred feet away. They figured they'd hit some kind of reef or sand bar just off shore and while they agreed they were both confident, tired as they were, that they would be able to swim ashore from where they were, they both felt they shouldn't abandon the raft. Both it and the supplies it contained might still be important to them, given the apparent absence of anyone else on the land they could see.

Kenny went over the side first, finding to his surprise that he could stand with almost half his body out of the water. The ground felt sandy under his feet and it didn't take him long to realize that the water was much deeper both in front and behind the raft. Slowly, with Kenny in the water to give the raft more buoyancy, they maneuvered it over the sand bar and then broke out the collapsible paddles. With the waves behind them, it wasn't long before the were beached.

Despite their exhaustion, they were laughing as they hauled the raft up the beach, towards the line of palms, until they were confident it would be safe from the tide. Though the wind continued to howl, they called out for help, automatically. They thought about moving, about going to find help but agreed they were exhausted. It made sense to wait until morning, to try to get some kind of rest if they could while the storm passed.

Kenny unhooked the canopy from the raft and tied it securely between a group of palms a little back from the tree line, where the trees were thicker and more abundant, to create a makeshift tent or shelter, while Kate spread a couple more of the thermal blankets on the soft ground to act as a bed and they broke out some rations, taking on food and water.

"This looks pretty good," Kenny said when they were done, "although I am so fucking tired, I think I could sleep just about anywhere. Anywhere except that fucking raft," he went on, collapsing onto their makeshift bed.

A thought had occurred to Kate as soon as they'd settled on a plan to set up shelter and try to sleep. Despite the exertion of dragging the raft up the beach, she was still very cold and totally soaked. She knew instinctively that they needed to get themselves dry, that to survive a plane crash and a storm in the middle of the Pacific in a tiny raft only to be done in by hypothermia would be just plain stupid.

Still, she hesitated. The thought of sleeping next to Kenny made her shudder, but the thought of doing it with both of them naked, huddled together for warmth was the very antithesis of everything she'd been trying to accomplish for a year now. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on her. This trip was meant to be the beginning of the end, to finally free her of her reliance on Kenny and from her unwanted desire, to free him from the burden of looking after her. And here they were, totally alone, totally reliant on each other for survival.

Ultimately, she decided, it didn't matter. However hard it would be to finally feel his skin against hers, it didn't matter. She wasn't about to put them at risk just to help her resist her urges.

"Wait," she said at last, "clothes."

"What?"

"We can't sleep like this Kenny, we're soaked and we're freezing. We have to get out of these clothes and get dry and get warm, or at least try to."

Kenny was a little surprised the thought hadn't occurred to him as well. Of course she was right. And like Kate, he couldn't avoid the implications.

"Right... of course," he said, looking up at her and seeing the anxiety in her face. "Listen, Kate... this... um... we're... I mean are you OK with this? We're going to have to get pretty close, I mean..."

"I know, it's OK Kenny. The thermal blankets will be good, but sharing our body heat will be even better. It's not like we have much of a choice, right?"

"Right," he said, standing. Kate was already kicking off her sneakers.

Of all the elements of their survival, what they were wearing at the moment of the crash hadn't really been a consideration until just then. All they had were shorts and sneakers, Kenny in a cotton t-shirt and Kate in light blue tank top, buttoned at the front, that showed a little of her abdomen.

The darkness probably helped in that first undressing. Still, it was hard for both of them not to look as they peeled their soaking clothes off and there were moments of hesitation as they each reached the point of no return, finally sliding their underwear off.

The thermal blankets had a sort of roughish cloth lining on one side. They used the two they'd had around them in the raft to dry themselves as best they could under cover of the canopy. They didn't deliberately decide to keep their backs to each other while they did, but it helped each of them to feel like they were respecting the other's privacy.

They broke out the last two fresh blankets to cover them and Kenny lay down first, glad to have the blanket to finally cover himself although it was a lot harder to avoid looking at Kate from that position and he was equally grateful when she settled on their makeshift bed too.

"So, um... how... how should we do this?" he said tentatively, looking sidelong at Kate as she lay next to him, shivering.

"Oh... well... I guess... I guess if you, kind of... if we do... like... spoons? Or something?"

"Yeah, yeah, that makes sense."

Kate turned on her side. The ground underneath was pretty soft but she still wouldn't have said she was comfortable. And she was freezing cold, so much so that all concerns at the prospect of Kenny's body against her were almost gone. All she wanted was to be warm.

Kenny followed her movement, turning sideways and shifting himself closer to her. Despite how cold he felt, his movements were tentative, nervous. When his hand touched her shoulder she felt cold and she shuddered at his touch so he hesitated.

"It's OK Kenny, come on. I'm fucking freezing."

"Me too," he said, sighing heavily, and threw caution to the wind. Fuck it, he thought. We survived a plane crash, a storm in the Pacific. We can deal with sleeping together for warmth.

Kate felt her brother's body finally press against her, slowly. There was an initial kind of shock at the touch and his body felt just as cold as she was but soon, as she felt his arm pull the blanket around them and then wrap around her, she sighed and felt her shivering body start to settle slowly.

Her mind was trying to process everything that had happened, the crash, the storm, everything, but it was just too much. To her surprise, with Kenny's body pressed against her, with his arms wrapped around her, she was able to use him as a kind of mental anchor, to fix her mind on him, on how safe he made her feel, like it had been before and, despite everything, she felt at ease.

Kenny too was surprised at how calm he felt. Like Kate, after a few minutes wrapped up in the thermal blanket and wrapped up against Kate's body, he felt his body temperature rise. The movement to wrap his legs around hers was automatic, both of their bodies automatically seeking to deepen their warm connection. There were asleep in minutes.

Kate woke first, uncertain how much time had passed, though it was quickly apparent that the storm was over and dawn had broken. For a moment, she forgot about everything that had happened. Kenny's body was still wrapped around her and she groaned and stretched a little, smiling to herself as if she were still in a dream.

The realization that she wasn't was strangely slow. It wasn't a single moment of epiphany or a jolt of realization. Only gradually did it all came back to her. The crash, the storm, the island. Still though, with the warmth of Kenny's body pressed into her, she didn't worry about any of it and she didn't want to wake him. Apart from the fact that he must have been exhausted, he just felt too good.

So as it happened, she had a pretty blissful few minutes to herself until Kenny woke with something of a start.

"Kate?" he said urgently, his head lifting suddenly.

"I'm here Kenny, I'm OK. We're OK," Kate replied calmly, rubbing his arm softly where it still lay draped over her.

Her smooth touch calmed Kenny immediately and he allowed himself to relax a little. His body still felt tired, sore even and he shifted and extended his legs as he stretched his aching muscles.

"How long were we asleep?" he said.

"I have no idea. I forgot to check the time when we went to bed," Kate said and they both chuckled. "Looks like the weather's calmed down a little."

"Yeah... that was one hell of a storm."

Kate had evidently gotten the jump on him wakefulness-wise and, as Kenny's mind came back to full attention, he finally became conscious that their bodies were still connected. He resisted the urge to move away from her suddenly and he couldn't deny that his first thought was that her soft skin against his, her warmth, the gentle movement of her breathing, felt good. Better than good. But his second thought was that, along with the rest of him, his cock was pressed against her too and, one way or another, if he didn't move soon he was going to get hard and that was not a conversation he wanted to deal with. They had enough problems.

So, slowly, he disentangled himself from his sister and sat up. From where they lay beneath the canopy they had a reasonable view out to the beach. Their raft was still there. The sky was a clear blue with just the occasional fleck of white and the sound of the surf hitting the sand was a gentle roll.

He took the bottle of water he'd left beside them and handed it to Kate, who rose to sit with him, lifting the blanket with her to cover herself.

"There's got to be some people here somewhere," he mused as he scanned the horizon.

"It doesn't matter," Kate said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, even if this is an actual, like, desert island, they'll be looking for us right? Lot easier to find an island than a tiny little raft in the middle of all that," Kate said, waving out at the Pacific.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, I think we should go have a look around. There must be something here."

"Right, good idea."

"So, ah, should... I mean do you want to..."

"Oh... um, right. Why don't you go first. Won't look. Promise."

Kate's gentle smirk eased Kenny's anxiety a little. He hadn't really been conscious of the fact that their both being naked was an issue until he decided to stand up. As it was, it took him only a few seconds to pull on his still-wet shorts and sneakers. He reasoned to leave his underwear and t-shirt to dry in the sun.

He moved a little further back into the trees to relieve himself while Kate got dressed and after a brief breakfast of a little ration bar and some more water, they set out to explore.

The spot they'd landed was more or less in the center of a stretch of beach. They could see the land curve away at either end and decided it would be a good place to start to walk along the coast rather than venturing to the interior.

They headed first in the direction of the hill. It rose gently maybe a couple of hundred feet above the island, its sides masked with greenery.

When they started to turn the corner, it became clear to them that the island was larger than they had both expected and the curve turned into another extended length of beach stretching a mile or two ahead of them.

They pressed on, staying close to the line of green that ran along the bottom of the hill, the line of palms ending more or less at the curve and although they saw no signs of human habitation, there was certainly plenty of life on the island. Birds, all of the same variety that neither of them recognized, flew over head regularly and they saw various lizards and insects as they walked.

"Well, at least we won't starve," Kenny observed.

"Ew! Really? You can have the lizards and the bugs Ken, I'll stick with coconuts."

Their laughter was a clear sign of their positive mood, of hope. An island this large couldn't be too far off the beaten track, they figured. As they rounded the next corner in the beach, the island stretched away from them again, maybe three or four miles distant.

Around a mile up this stretch, as the grove of palms returned, they stopped for a break, glad for the shelter of the trees from the heat of the day. Though Kate had felt a little discomfort in her wet clothes, the warmth of the sun had more or less dried her out completely by then. They'd brought some ration bars and water with them in one of the raft's removable pouches that had straps so it could be worn as a backpack, unsure of how long their exploration would last.

"Does that look weird to you?" Kate observed as they sat on a fallen palm to rest.

"What?"

"There, look." She was pointing at what looked for all the world like a path. They'd noticed that the green and brown flora of the island was broken here and there but what they were looking at now seemed too regular to be a natural break. It ran in a line, more or less straight, away from the beach and towards the interior of the island, back towards the hill.

"Shit, yeah..." Kenny noted, standing to get a closer look. "Is that...?"

"Come on, let's check it out," Kate said eagerly. They packed up their rations and made for the path.

"Do you hear that?" Kenny asked after they'd walked a couple of hundred yards into the island.

"Yeah... is that... water?"

"It can't be the beach again, we haven't gone that far, have we?"

"No, definitely not. Come on," Kate urged excitedly and they all but ran toward the sound.

It didn't take long to find the clearing. The grove of palms opened to reveal an idyllic scene. To their right, the normally gentle slope at the base of the hill steepened into a rocky cliff twenty or thirty feet high and maybe twenty feet across, and from the top, a gentle stream no more than a foot or two wide fell into a pool at the base.

The twins looked at each other excitedly and raced for the pool's rocky edge, kneeling and scooping the water to their mouths without thinking. They laughed giddily as it's cool freshness hit their lips.

Kenny sat back and sighed. Fresh water, plenty of animal life. Shit, we could survive here forever if we needed to, he thought.

"Oh my god," Kate said, and Kenny looked over at his sister to find her gazing hard at the far side of the clearing. When he looked over, he too gaped at what he saw.

There, at the very edge of the tree line was a small cabin. Without discussing it, they both called out once more at this obvious sign there was someone else around. But no one answered.

The cabin was rectangular in shape, maybe twelve feet long and eight feet wide. On closer inspection, it was obviously not a recent addition to the island. Its basic structure was made of what seemed to be palm logs. The walls and roof were more or less intact and made of panels of woven palm leaves of various thicknesses, browned with age. It was raised a couple of feet off the ground, sitting on wide and sturdy looking chunks of palm log, with a rudimentary set of log steps leading to a door in the center.

"What do you think?" Kenny asked as they scanned the area around the cabin. Two logs spread in a V moving out and away from the door and in the center there was a small broken ring of stones that they took as evidence of a long extinguished fire.