I couldn't breathe. My eyes were blurred with flakes of salt but I still managed to make out the chain of bubbles heading towards the surface. The more I fell the more I concentrated on those spheres of oxygen, imagining they were the steps to atlantis. My lips were as cold as an ex-lovers heart. The water was just as merciless. The currents moved faster than a tiger's claw . They shredded me until I was as good as dead. As I felt my heart and my hope growing limp, heat embraced me once again. My foot became the sun and I wanted the seeds in my body to bloom. My hair which was before a cushion became the tail to help me propeler. Like a dolphin it ascended and descended within the waters mist. Suddenly, after a layer of damp green I was reunited with light. My ears which were before ringing with cries of panic became quieter than a fresh spring day. "Theodosia?", I turned around "You were rescued from the patriot after it capsized. here was lucky to find you alive."

Patriot? Capsized? Oh no! My mother would be worried sick! I didn't have the energy to think of that at that moment, where was I? I could tell it was an island, it's cool breeze helped me settle down. Yet on it's grainy sand there were birds, with beaks that almost resembled telescopes. Trees were very present, their long leaves shuttered their ripening coconuts. I could tell they needed a couple more weeks to develop, just how I was trying to understand this new situation. "What do you mean capsized?" I finally spoke "Does this mean we're lost?". The man, who at this very moment I realized I just met was looking at me in bewilderment. "Well… yes… my dear, why do you think we're here?"

"I don't know, some cruel prank"

"James was right, you do have a good sense of humour."

James! Was he alive? We got on that boat because daddy didn't think we were suited to be married. However our love defied marriage, it even defied clichés. James was the ying to my yang, the salt to my pepper, the raised eyebrows to my sly goofy grin. And was he just gone, how could this be?

"Is he-"

"We don't know yet"

As I rushed into panic, the breeze once again smothered the fire inside my mind.

"I'm sorry, but you never mentioned your name?'"

"I am captain Edward Fairhall but most just call me captain. I was the commander of the fair patriot for it's last 51 voyages. Or now I should say the last 51 voyages. HA!"

There was a reason James said I had a good sense of a humor. Fairhall spoke once again,

"And over there my dear is George Stewart. He was the brave young lad who rescued you from the water's depths. You could say he was your knight in shining armor."

At that exact moment the man who I assumed to be George fell face first onto a gigantic crab. His lanky legs scrambled in the sky in an almost cartoonish fashion. A jolting "ow" came from his lips.

"Sure, do you know anyway we can get off the island?"

Fairhall laughed. "Not today. For now we need to figure out how to survive the night"

We ended up building a fort out of some disheveled wood lying on the ground. The green leaves were a canopy to protect us from drops of fear. George tried to help but he didn't do much. However, when I was scavenging for more materials he bumped into me. He apologized by blubbering

"I'm so sorry dear"

I hated that everyone was calling me that.

"It's… It's fine" I responded "So... "

"So."

"Thanks for saving me"

"No problem"

The silence wasn't amused by our awkwardness.

By the time night fell Fairhall was able to catch a puny fish for dinner. Somehow, it tasted worse than it looked. The saltwater and blood created a concoction that reeked of death. If it was around Slugs, they would melt faster than a gun could be fired. As I fell asleep in my drenched clothes, the stars provided a bridge between calmness and my thoughts. At the beginning of the day, I was on the ship. My Nurse was going to write back to tell the crew that I was feeling better. If I could overcome my symptoms, James and I could talk once again and finally escape my families grips. However, we started to hear clatters of thunder in the distance. As the sound grew, so did our worries. The crew insisted that the ship would be fine but the intensity of the rains made it feel like the water was slapping everyone it hit. The lasso that was lightning whipped the roaring water once, then twice. For a moment I saw James holding on to a desk above ground. Yet when I smiled, lighting struck our boat. I fell and sank like an anchor. My bones became stiffer than metal and life seemed like a funny memory. But somehow, I survived. But what about James, my love? Maybe he did. If James life is still a presence in my mind, hopefully it will be in reality. If only daddy could hear what James and I have been through he would understand it was fate. Maybe it will end like the fairytales daddy used to softly coo in my ear. WIth these thoughts, my mind drifted like a daisy being pulled by a gentle wind, and my eyes closed.