DAY 2
I've never felt such pain. I woke up this morning with my back so sore I couldn't move. I must have fallen on my back out of the plane, but I can't exactly recall. All I remember is closing my eyes in the plane as we were going down and then waking up, half in the water with the loudest noises I've ever heard around me. I got up, looked around and dragged myself out of the water, not believing what I saw. People were running around, dragging people behind them, calling out names or just screaming. Some people were just wandering around looking shocked. I ran up to the wreckage of the plane and spun around trying to find someone who would tell me what I was supposed to do, but there was no one even looking at me. People, rushed past me, smoke rushed past me. I coughed and then had to dodge a flaming piece of plane that had just whizzed past me. That girl with blond hair and the short skirt was screaming her head off and crying like a baby. It was then that it occurred to me that maybe I should find my carry-on bag, knowing that there was a cell phone somewhere in it. But all I saw was debris, people with blood and ash on their faces, and bodies lying everywhere. Someone called out to me to help them drag someone away from a fire, so I helped, but my body moved without even thinking. As soon as the job was done I found my carry-on bag lying on its side in the sand, and again (without thinking) grabbed it and ran. I ran away from the wreckage… I just couldn't look anymore. I finally stopped at the edge of the forest, down the beach from the plane. There, I sat down waited until the screaming inside my head stopped. It started getting dark eventually so I headed back to where everyone was, but still stayed away from the wreckage.
So anyways, back to my back. It felt like I was lying on 5,000 needles and an elephant was in return standing on me, pushing them deep into my flesh. I thought about calling out for Jack, hoping he might have some Icy-Hot or anything to keep my back for hurting so fucking much, and allow me to move again, but I figured he was probably doing doctorish things and back pain was not on his list of urgent medical matters. With much pain and struggle I managed to sit up and look around. People were kind of milling around, searching through their luggage, or nursing their wounds. No one was crying anymore, mostly an ethereal silence had fallen over us all. I looked down beside me and saw my bag, which I hadn't even opened since I found it, so I unzipped the zipper and delved inside. Well, ain't I a great asset to have on an island after your plane has crashed. All I had in my bag was some lip gloss, a paperback copy of Morte D'Arthur, a folded copy of some Punk-Rock magazine I bought at the Sydney airport, and a half eaten bag of Doritos. God knows what happened to my cell phone, it was probably burning along with the plane. Or at least I thought, luckily I tend to forget about pockets and things of that sort, and of course, the bag had a pocket in which was…my cell phone! I then somehow leapt to my feet and ran up to where people were and starting yelling, "Hey! I have a cell phone!" And so I turned it on…and there wasn't a shred of a signal on the screen. Of course. I felt a shadow come over and looked up to see the Middle-Eastern man I saw last night.
"I could have told you it doesn't work. Where do you suppose the nearest radio tower is?"
"Sorry, I just…"
"It's alright," he said, smiling, "I'm hopeful too."
And then he left, and once again I had no one to talk to. Is this what it's going to be like till we're rescued. Not that that'll be too long right? I mean, they'll probably be here by tomorrow, maybe even tonight, right? I don't know how much longer I can take this before I crack. The good part is that at least there are a lot of good looking men here. I mean, mostly older than me, but I can look and dream right? There's one that's always hanging around that whiny short skirt girl (I could hear her complain from down the beach), so I guess he's already taken. There's another with sort of longish hair, woowhee he is gorgeous! He has that sort of bad boy/cowboy thing going on. I haven't caught his name yet, but I'll be listening. I even found out who was wearing the black hoodie at the fire last night. He walked past me and I caught I glimpse of his fingers; there's athletic tape with the letters F-A-T-E written on them. He has on a black and grey striped shirt and even has the checkerboard VANS I ordered back in LA before going to Sydney…wonder if I'll ever see them? I thought about yelling out to him "Hey you look cool, let's CHAT!", but then I had to remind myself that I wasn't a complete loser.
Someone brought me a bottle of water and another packaged meal awhile ago, and I ate the rest of the Doritos about five minutes after I found them. I even found a pair of sunglasses laying in the sand, so know I'm in total island mode. Hopefully, island mode will soon switch to rescue boat mode.
LATER THAT DAY
I ran into the woods and put on my bathing suit, because I was burning up on the sand. The water was slightly cool and felt good on my aching back. I caught some sicko looking at me and waded out farther so that I was up to my neck in the water, swam around for a bit and then got out, wishing I had my duffel bag so that I had a towel. Instead I put back on my shirt and shorts decided to make myself useful. There was a woman with wavy brown hair that was digging through some of the wreckage and I asked if I could help.
"Sure. I'm just pulling some of the broken pieces off, making sure there's no one trapped underneath. Here, help me pull this big piece off." She said. I nodded and grabbed the opposite end and pulled. And wouldn't you know, my luggage was underneath!
"Holy shit that's my stuff!" I cried, running over to it and hoisting it over my shoulder. The woman laughed and put the broken wing piece down at her feet.
"Is there anything useful in it?" she asked.
"Well, I know there's clothes, and shampoo, and deodorant. And that stuff's definitely useful to me, but if you mean like a helicopter or a radio tower or never ending supply of food, then no." She laughed again and stuck out her hand.
"I'm Kate"
"Stella" I replied shaking her hand.
"Us girls have to stick together in situations like this." She smiled.
"Tell me about it. Some guy was totally checking me out when I was in the water a bit ago." Kate rolled her eyes at the thought and sighed.
"Well, I need to get back to work." I nodded and dragged my bag over to my spot on the sand. Everything I thought was in it was indeed there, but I guess I was looking for something better than just toiletries and clothes. What? I don't know…but something.
Claire came over and talked with me for a bit, probably because I looked so sad and pathetic. She told me how her Aunt's name is Stella after I introduced myself, and we talked about previous vacations and how much we wanted showers and to listen to the radio. I found out that she was 24, and she talked about what she remembered of being 17, which was she said was a whirlwind of schoolwork and stress, to which I wholeheartedly assured her had not changed. Hopefully, I won't feel stupid and alone on the island now, Claire even said she'd move her stuff over next to mine when I told her how I was tired of being alone. I'm glad because after that thing last night in the forest, I'm not sure I ever want to be alone again. Well, maybe on the toilet…Anyway, night closed in and Claire pulled out her diary, which gave us a good laugh and a conversation about how fate pulled together a couple of girly diary-keepers, to which I argued that mine was a journal (not to be confused) and that I wasn't THAT girly, and we went to sleep.
