It has been three days since they have been stranded on the island. Until now they have been eating only sea fruits, coconuts and small herbs which only increased their growing frustration.

"I can´t stand this anymore!", screamed Claire.

Angered she rolled on the ground and chewed on her hair.

Sam sighed. It was annoying but he had to admit that she was right. If they wanted to eat at least something different they had to move. But at the same time they shouldn´t head out without some prior planning.

"You know what? Let´s go past the field today."

"Yeah!", she raised her arm and clenched her tiny fist.

He packed his backpack with his knife, two water bottles, fresh coconuts, his notebook which was in a miserable condition but at least dry and his hat.

"Sorry, but we have to leave this thing here…"

Claire was about to put the belt around her waist when she heard his objection. Upset she stared at him.

"But…this is your favorite guitar! Don´t you remember?!"

Sam shuddered. Since he has been here he hasn´t touched the guitar even twice. He argued that it would be easier to move without it but after seeing her desperately clutching to it he gave in.

Maybe it was really better that way, he thought to himself as he listened to Claire´s little tunes she played while they crossed the field. This went on for a while until when they arrived at the end he suddenly stopped.

A big gap divided the path and deep down seawater plashed against the rocks. Carefully he examined the distance and stability of the ground.

"Guess we have to do a little jump, but don´t worry it´s not that big."

He placed his right foot on the edge, pushed off and landed safely on the other side. Relieved he turned around just to find Claire gripping the guitar and shaking in fear. He immediately understood.

"What is it? Heights or water?"

"Water.", she whispered.

"What happened? Did you almost drown?"

She nodded carefully in response. Not really knowing what to do he scratched the back of his head. He never had to deal with a situation like this before or at least he couldn´t remember it.

"You know, you don´t have to be afraid. If you want to I can take your hand. I won´t let you fall."

Fearfully she backed away. "I can´t do this, I´m too afraid."

"Of course you can!", he insisted.

"NO!", she screamed panicked.

This was getting really difficult for him. He had a feeling that he wouldn´t reach her neither with the aggressive nor logical route.

"Look at me Claire, hey, look at me. You can do this! I´m right here. Just take my hand!"

Claire looked up. This must have triggered something in here because she shuddered and made some small steps towards the gap. Sam stretched his arm out and when she took it he quickly pulled her over. She shrieked in surprise and stumbled onto the ground, falling on the soft green grass.

Wondering she looked between him and the gap. Confused she raised her head.

"I did it…?!"

"Easy, wasn´t it? You did a pretty good job!"

"I did it!", she repeated with growing confidence. "I really did it!"

Seeing how she was still sitting on the ground holding his hand he pulled her up.

"Next time you just tell me right ahead if there is something you are afraid of."

She nodded and looked back at that gap. Her heart still beat fast but otherwise she seemed to have calmed down. Suddenly a smile ran across her face.

"You know what? Let´s keep going."

She promised herself not to panic anymore, after all they had to keep going if they wanted to survive. Staying close behind Sam she followed him up path which made a sharp turn to the right.

Small exotic plants started sprouting out of the mossy ground and vegetation became overall more tangled. When they turned around the corner they knew why.

Giant dark trees towered over them and covered most of the sunlight trying to come through the dense leaf canopy. The moist soil was covered in moss and roots. From time to time they heard a high pitched scream coming from one of the trees.

"It´s a jungle!"

"And a quite large one.", added Sam.

"So the island is even bigger than we thought!"

Sam grabbed his spear and walked ahead. He was on high alert. Nobody knew what kind of dangerous animals would live here. And just as he feared a high hissing sound came from deep inside the forest.

"What was that?!"

Suspicious he turned around. "You heard it too?"

"Yes.", Claire whispered.

He had sudden feeling of dread, as if he just entered the territory of something extremely dangerous.

"Let´s move away from that area."

Sam regretted now that he didn´t make another spear for Claire. He had nothing left but to keep her close to himself and tried to shield her as much as possible. But that large animal they couldn´t see wasn´t the only living creature here. Small birds were flying above, screaming and chanting, probably trying to warn others from the two humans stomping through their home.

"Sam! Look! Monkeys!", Claire pulled his shirt to get his attention.

"Huh?!"

Indeed, small monkeys, slightly bigger than a squirrel were observing them from above. They obviously never had any contact with humans, as such they were driven by their curiosity and approached Sam and Claire.

"They look so cute!"

"Let's stay away from them, who knows if they´re dangerous…"

A little disappointed by his decision they continued their way through the jungle, but it was so dense that she quickly grew tired. During that time they found many different fruits such as wild pineapples, bananas, mangos, papayas and passion fruits.

"So that´s how pineapples grow!", Claire wondered. "But they´re so small."

"At least they taste good.", Sam cut one in half and shared it.

They sat down on a larger rock and rested for a while. The sweet juice was a great change from the usual saltiness of the sea creatures they used to eat over the course of the last days.

After he stood up and stretched his muscles, ready to travel further she sighed.

"Can we go back?", she asked exhausted.

"Go back?! But it's not even afternoon yet."

Annoyed she rolled her eyes and put her chin on her hands. Her feet hurt like hell from the sandals she was wearing and the moist air made it difficult for her to breathe.

"Not with me, I´m going home."

With her head held up high she put the instrument around her shoulder and walked away.

"Maybe you shouldn´t have carried that heavy guitar around!", yelled Sam after her.

But Claire didn´t listen and already left. Angry he raised his arms but then dropped them. He couldn´t understand how after coming this far she could just give up.

At least they found their way straight back to the grass planes and to his annoyance Sam discovered that the jungle wasn´t actually that big. They were just walking around in circles.

Back at the cave he sat down and started drawing into his notebook to distract himself, still pissed at her for suddenly giving up. Meanwhile she grilled two leftover fish over the fire.

"What are you doing?"

"Sketching.", he muttered.

Noticing his unwillingness to talk she ate the meal all by herself. For a while she just watched the sun setting from inside the cave.

"I´m going to sleep.", she declared.

"Yeah, yeah.", answered Sam without looking up.

After being satisfied with his map he fed the fire and quickly fell asleep doing so.

The next morning he woke up early and ate some of the fruits he collected yesterday. He waited for Claire to open her eyes but became too impatient and poked her with his spear.

"Claire, wake up!", he whispered.

Groaning she turned around, her blonde curls were covering her entire face. Annoyed she pushed them aside.

"Hm? What is it?", she mumbled.

"We have to go early this time, before it gets too hot."

"Count me out. I´m not feeling it today."

She turned away and yawned loudly. Speechless Sam´s jaw dropped but then he could feel his blood boiling. He has waited the entire time for nothing.

"What?! I should have gone by myself after all!"

"Fine! Do what you want! Go alone, then!", she hissed. "Bye!"

"Sheeesh!"

Angrily he took his bag, stuffed one bottle and his notebook inside, and stomped out of the cave. Now knowing the terrain much better and not having Claire around, it took him way less time to travel. Interested he ripped off tree vines and wondered if he could use them for future weapons or tools.

"Maybe I can make a hunting bow but it would probably not work with these vines…"

From up the trees he heard the monkeys squeaking but this time they didn´t approach him. Following their antics up in the trees with his eyes he almost oversaw the hillside.

"Shoot!"

Quickly he rowed back and held onto a tree with pounding heart. He scolded himself for not paying enough attention to his surroundings.

Carefully he peeked over the edge, seven meters under his feet a small river splashed softly against the rocks.

He let go of the trunk and found a fallen tree not far away acting as a bridge between the sides. After further inspection it seemed to be very old but still sturdy. Slowly he climbed onto it and tested it´s resistance under his weight.

No sound.

Step after step he crossed the tree but made sure not to touch the moss covering it. By the middle Sam dared to look down and regretted it. As fast as possible he crossed the bridge.

"I made it!"

When he arrived at the other side he didn´t even look back. What counted was only that which was lying ahead of him.

To his relief the further he walked the jungle lighter and lighter vegetation grew.

He marched through a passage and gazed over the new discovered land, a hill with access to the beach, on which cypress, beech and oak grew. A small river made a turn through the small forest.

Man! If Claire could see this!

Sam had to sit down to absorb all these impressions. He grabbed his notebook and pen and started drawing a small sketch with a few notes next to it. After he was satisfied with his drawing he curiously headed down to the beach he saw from afar.

With his spear in his hand he moved the leaves aside and walked towards it. And although it was slightly smaller than the beach where he stranded it was still large.

"Hey…is that…"

Excited he marched towards a gaping hole in the wall to his right. Just as he was about to inspect the cave a loud voice sounded from above.

"Hey! Are you stranded too?!"

Startled by hearing human voice he stumbled back and looked up. From between the palm trees growing on the top of the wall a young teen jumped three meters down.

"Yeah! It has been four days. Were you on the ship too?!"

He couldn´t believe it, right next to him was another survivor, whose eyes widened when he saw Sam´s face.

"Wait a minute. Aren´t you…", his smile dropped and clenched his fists. "Oh no! Back off, or I´ll destroy you!"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"GET OUTTA HERE! YOU AIN`T MESSIN WITH ME!"

Before Sam could saw it coming an incredible force knocked him over and made him fall into the sand. Shocked he held his burning cheek. The teenager towered over him with raised fists.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!", he yelled angry.

For a moment he looked extremely confused but quickly raised his fists again, shouting: "What is wrong with YOU?!"

This guy is crazy! No way that I can talk to him!

Scared and disappointed Sam ran away but not without looking scared over his shoulder. He had hoped to find a new home and survivors, which he technically did but not the way he wanted. And on top of that he wasn´t really welcome at home too.

"Argh!", he ran his hands through his hair. "What should I do?!"

But deep inside Sam knew the answer. With a bad feeling in his stomach he travelled all the way back. After going behind the waterfall and climbing down he already saw a wave of blond hair from afar.

"Saaaaaaam!"

He never felt as relieved as now, when he saw Claire running towards him. On her way she fell down but quickly stood up and reached him.

"I´m so sorry for yelling at you!", she huffed.

He noticed the blisters on her feet and cursed himself for not seeing it before. It was so obvious that she couldn´t walk for long with those injuries.

"No, I´m sorry for being so harsh on you!"

She shook her head and responded: "No, no, you were right, we should have traveled farther!"

"Yeah, about that…we shouldn´t."

"Wait! Why!?"

"Well-", Sam scratched the back of his head. "Let´s say there is somebody who kinda hates me for some reason…"

"There is another survivor?! What did you do?!"

"I don´t now! I was just being myself!"

"Well, that probably did it."

"What did you say, young lady?!", Sam grinned.

"Nothing!"

Claire ran away towards the cave, trying to save herself but Sam was faster, already catching her by the river and threw her right into it. But before Sam could enjoy his victory she grabbed him by the food and dragged him down. They plashed water at each other until they tired themselves out.

Exhausted they crawled out of the river and looked at each other.

"Guess I really have to apologize to you."

"Well I wasn´t the nicest to you too.", she admitted while wringing out the water from her hair.

"Yeah, but still. It wasn´t fair from me to expect that you could keep up my speed the entire time."

"And I should whine less.", Claire replied and rolled her eyes. "But now tell me what is going on with that other survivor."

And so Sam told every detail he could remember. In the end they sat on the grass and watched the sun go down.

"Let´s go and visit him. Maybe I can help to sort this out. This is probably just a huge misunderstanding."

Sam touched the bandage that covered his wound.

I really hope so.