Willow idly poked at the roaring campfire as she ate from a handful of roasted berries, cooked to the point that they were almost burnt. It had been about a month since she had woken up in the mysterious wilderness, and she had begun to notice some things.
One is that she appeared to be on an island, as she found water in every direction if she walked far enough. This would certainly make getting off of it difficult.
Another was that since she arrived on the island, she was more or less completely immune to fire. She could stand next to a raging forest fire, hold the lit end of a torch, or even set herself on fire, and aside from some pain and mild singing, she'd be fine. If there was one upside to being stuck here, that was it. Willow liked how she could stand as close to a roaring, magnificent fire as she wanted without fear of getting seriously harmed.
After finishing the berries, Willow checked her hands to see they were still dripping with berry juice. Willow got an idea as she took out a few sheets of paper that she wasn't able to find a purpose for other than potential kindling.
She dragged a finger across the paper and it made a clearly visible red line. Willow smirked as she realized that she now had a method for drafting a plan to get off the island.
Willow thought for a moment as she tried to think of ways she could escape. She had no idea where this island was in the ocean, and thus she didn't know how far the nearest land would be, and whether or not it would be inhabited.
Over the course of the night, she thought of a few different ideas. One was of a boat. It was a decent idea, maybe one she'd go back to if she couldn't think of anything better. Another was a diving suit. Decent concept, but she didn't have the right materials for it. Yet another idea was allowing herself to get swallowed by a sea monster and getting carried to another land in its stomach. Perhaps it was a brilliant idea, or perhaps the berries she ate weren't as fresh as she first thought.
Then it hit her. She could take advantage of her seeming immunity of fire to find a way to travel quickly off the island. She began drafting some ideas on paper. One was of a cannon. It was a good idea, but she lacked some of the materials and she wouldn't know where to aim it. Another was a flare to attract help. Also decent, but she couldn't be sure if there was anybody who would even see it.
Then she came up with an idea that, to her at least, seemed like the best possible option. The idea was of a tremendous rocket, sort of like a giant firework, that could rocket her off the island and back to civilization, wherever that may be. All of the materials needed could be found somewhere in the wilderness, and she believed she had enough knowledge in pyrotechnics to put it together.
Putting the papers away for now, Willow let out a giggle in anticipation of the gigantic firework before falling asleep in front of the roaring fire.
Over the course of the next few weeks, Willow began gathering materials. She mined nitre from nearby rocks, and got eggs from bird's nests, only being repeatedly pecked by a few of them. She also got charcoal from the ashes of burnt trees. That was her favorite part.
She gathered paper casing for the rocket out of reeds form a nearby swamp, which she refined into sheets of papyrus.
Willow after gathering enough eggs, Willow left them out in the sun to let them rot as she got some grass to make into rope for the fuse. Over the weeks she spent gathering materials, she barely slept, and only ate the occasional handful of berries or chunk of meat, which was always cooked nearly to the point of being burnt. She was so excited about the prospect of getting off the island, especially by rocket, that she didn't bother eaten unless it was necessary. She was sure there would be plenty of better food wherever she landed. As long as it wasn't the middle of the ocean.
When the eggs had gotten rotten and smelly, Willow took them and mixed them together with the nitre and charcoal to create several handfuls of pitch black gunpowder. Willow stared at the explosive powder in her hands with amazement, barely resisting the urge to ignite it all at once as the gathered it all into a huge pile.
Willow began assembling the rocket. It took about another week as she built the titanic firework. She loaded the gunpowder in and wrapped it together with paper. She also attached a large wooden cone to the front because that would make it more aerodynamic. Or something. She put a rope fuse on the back and some rope straps on the sides so that she could wear it on her back.
The next morning, Willow headed for the edge of the island, carrying the humongous rocket on her back. She smiled confidently as she crossed a meadow, a dense forest, a barren gulch, and a slimy swamp before coming to the edge. She looked at the crashing waves before holding up the rocket's fuse and taking out her trusty lighter.
With a click, the lighter ignited. Willow's eyes lit up as she brought the lighter's flame to the fuse and watched it spark up and start to burn away. She put her lighter back in her pocket as she plugged her ears and waited excitedly for the fuse to reach the rocket.
With a considerable explosion, the rocket ignited, blasting Willow far off into the morning sky. She soared through the air as her rocket shot through the sky, shooting sparks everywhere. She held on tight to the rope straps as she started smiling wider than she had in months. She looked out over the horizon and could just barely make out a few islands off in the distance. She pulled on the rope straps in an attempt to steer the rocket in the direction of the islands, but she pulled a bit too hard and ended up steering the rocket straight towards the ground.
She tugged on the rope straps again, steering the rocket horizontally as it shot across the island. Several branches hit her in the face as she rocketed through them, and many confused wildlife looked on as she sped by.t
Willow tugged on the rope straps yet again to steer herself back upwards, but she the rocket ending up flying all around the sky in different directions, even doing a few loop-de-loops. Eventually, the rocket crashed into a grove of birchnut trees.
Willow was feeling dizzy, both from the rocket ride and from hanging upside down from the crashed rocket. She started to try and unstrap herself from the rocket.
Suddenly, the rocket exploded spectacularly in a tremendous fireball, blasting the nearby trees to ash. The ground shook with the force of the gigantic explosion, sending rocks flying. When the explosion cleared, nothing was left of the grove but a wide crater.
Willow climbed out of the crater, covered from head to toe in soot but more or less uninjured. Something hit her on the head, and she saw that it was a birchnut, thoroughly burnt from the explosion. Soon, burnt and roasted birchnuts started raining from the sky. Willow caught some of the raining birchnuts as she let out a maniacal giggle that lasted for quite a long time. Sure, she wasn't able to get off the island, but she still considered the plan a sucess anyway, especially with all the food she got out of it.
After grabbing an armful of roasted birchnuts, Willow headed home to work on her cannon idea.