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“Whatever you say.”
“I don’t.”
I pull my purse away from my body. I don’t know why I’m carrying it cross body. I highly doubt I’m going to be the victim of a pickpocket. It’s a habit. I fish around in my purse, pulling out the lighter I keep stashed in a zipped pocket.
“Thank you,” he says and took it from me.
“I don’t really smoke,” I tell him. “Sometimes, if it’s been a particularly difficult day, I might take a drag or two. Trust me, I’m extremely healthy. I would never let myself ruin my lungs.”
“I don’t care,” he mutters as he tries to get the thing to spark.
“It’s not going to work,” I tell him, feeling the familiar panic bubbling up again. “It got soaked.”
He smiles at me. “Trust me, I’ve rescued more than one soaked lighter.”
I have no idea what that means. I look up and down at the very small beach. I don’t know what I’m looking for. It’s not like I’m going to find a boat, although that would be nice.
“What do I do?” I ask him, feeling lost.
He looks at me and for the first time I see understanding. We’re both stuck in this situation.
“Why don’t you get my bag,” he says. “We need to drink some water. We both took in a lot of oceanwater and are going to be dehydrated soon. I don’t know how many bottles I grabbed, three or four. Maybe more.”
I was grateful to have something to do. “Okay.”
I walk over to where his bag lies half-buried in the sand, the waves lapping at its edges. It’s a simple black backpack, slightly worn but sturdy. I unzip it and find several water bottles. There are bags of peanuts, a few bags of chips, candy, and dried fruit. It’s not exactly gourmet, but it’s food. That’s when I realize just how desperate the situation is. A bag of peanuts might be the last meal I ever have.
I grab a couple of water bottles and return to him, handing one over. As he unscrews the cap and takes a long drink, I do the same, feeling the cool water soothing my parched throat.
“We should ration these,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “We don’t know how long we’ll be here.”
I nod, realizing that our situation is more serious than I initially thought. We were stranded on a deserted island with no idea if anyone knew where we were or if they would come looking for us. The gravity of our circumstances weighs heavily on me as I watch him.
“What are you doing now?” I ask.
“We need to collect some twigs, branches, grass,” he says. “Anything dry.”
I look around, wondering where to start. “Okay.”
“I’m going to go a little deeper into the brush and find somewhere to set up camp.”
“Camp?” The word is barely a whisper.
He puts a hand on my arm. “Paige, I know this is hard to accept, but there is a very real possibility we’re going to be here tonight. I’d like to have a fire. It will keep us warm and keep bugs at bay.”
I feel fresh tears spring to my eyes. “Okay. Tinder.”
He smiles. “Yes, tinder.”
As he disappears into the brush, I followed his instructions and began gathering twigs and dry leaves. My hands shook as I worked, the reality of our situation sinking in deeper with each passing moment. The sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky, casting long shadows across the beach.
After a while, I heard him calling for me, his voice muffled by the dense foliage. I made my way toward the sound and found him kneeling in a small clearing, surrounded by a ring of rocks.
“I found a spot,” he said, looking up at me with a reassuring smile.
Together, we built a small fire pit in the center of the rocks and carefully arranged the gathered twigs and dry leaves inside. With a sense of urgency, we worked in tandem to start the fire, the flickering flames casting a warm glow on our faces as the sun continued its descent towards the horizon.
As the fire crackles and grows, I did get some comfort. I look over at him and watch as he gently blows. This is why he insisted on the fire. He knows the warmth provides more than just heat. It’s about to get very dark. We’re in the middle of nowhere. No streetlights. No porch lights. It’s going to be black as tar. The fire was going to help ward off more than bugs. I wasn’t afraid of the dark, but this was a little different than sitting in my apartment in the middle of the night.
