Why?

The only word he was capable of forming in his head as he fell into the deep dark water, the last thing he saw was the teen staring down on him out of wide open eyes.

Ice cold water engulfed him, locking around his body and making him unable to move. For a moment he felt nothing, neither pain nor cold, only sinking into the ocean, when the realization kicked in. Panicked he reached for the surface, gasping for air.

A sudden loud splash reached his ear, water drops sprinkled on his face. He opened his eyes, saltwater ran over his face and burned them, blurring his vision. Through his eyelashes and the faint light emitted from the ship he saw the bright orange color of a lifebelt glowing in the dark. Before the waves could wash it away any further he stretched his arm out and got ahold of it, clutching onto it and raising his head.

"HELP! HEY!"

A strong bow wave drowned his screams, turning the lifebelt and him upside down. When he managed to resurface the ship already passed him by, it's waves pushing him even further away.

"NO! NO! WAIT!"

He gritted his teeth, pushing himself forward with his legs, but he was overpowered by the strength of the ocean and it's waves.

"Don't leave me behind! Please…help me!", he cried. "Wait…"

His calls remained unanswered.

Helpless he watched the lights fading into the darkness, only being left with those of the moon and the stars. The cold crawled up his back and chest, slowly taking over his arms and dragging him down into the sea. If he wouldn't do anything it would be over. With the last bit of strength he had left he pushed himself up and lied on his back. He had fought many battles throughout this life but the hardest was yet to come: the battle against the drowsiness.

He put his arms around his chest and pulled his legs up as much as he could. His eyelids became heavy, heavier than anything he ever felt before. A small sob came from deep within his chest by the thought of his family and knowing that he was about to lose them.

And with those thoughts he slipped into a darkness deeper than the night.

Which made the light he awoke to even more surprising.

Confused he blinked at the sun shining above his head and the warmth that spread across his body. He pushed himself up, feeling something soft beneath his hands and the cold waves splashing against his feet. Thoughts and sensation rushed through him, things he wasn't supposed to feel.

"I'm alive?"

He stared at the teardrops that fell on his trembling hands. In disbelief he stared at the ocean.

This wasn't a dream. He couldn't tell why but he knew. And it was this realization that made him clench his fists and throw them into the air. A feeling that like a tremor coming from deep within the earth cracked and broke through his chest in form of a call so loud, it could have shaken the world.

"I'M ALIVE!", he burst out and leaped into the air, dancing and throwing punches.

Tears of joy streamed over his face. He broke to the ground, covering his face, barely able to breath from laughing and crying. He raised his head, feeling the warmth of the sun drying his tears.

A deep sense of gratitude towards life itself filled him, love towards the simplest things like the softness of the sand, the whispers of the wind, the strikingly blue sky, even the pain that ran across his entire body and being able to experience all of it.

"Aww, yesssss…summer, sunshine, beach, awesome view. All I'm missing is a nice hammock, sunglasses and some sweet Pina Coladaaa…wait a minute!"

Dumbfounded he turned back and forth. "Where the fuck am I? Don't tell me this is some deserted island or some shit."

After one hour of running around, shouting and looking for any sign of civilization to no avail, he sank on all fours into the sand. "Shit, this IS a deserted island."

The sky above him slowly turned into a warm orange. Soon the night would fall upon the island. His eyes fell on the cave he previously had found. Since he had no intention of staying outside in dark he stood up and peeked inside, holding the lifebelt like a shield above his chest but much to his dismay no bear or mountain lion he could wrestle with attacked him.

"Man, this sucks."

Annoyed he threw the lifebelt into a corner and inspected the holes in the ceiling, painting the cave in a dim light and the casting shadows on the walls. Sticks and leaves have fallen through them over the years, forming small piles that already closely resembled campfires.

Grinning he rubbed his hands. "Ha! I've seen enough anime to know how to do this."

He, in fact did not.

In utter confusion he stared at the broken bark and his blistering hands. For half an hour he had been trying to rub the stick between his hands until the smoke would emerge but all it did was burn his palms.

"Okay, James, of course you fail at the first time. This is all part of the hero's journey, you're supposed to doubt yourself only to be reminded of your friends and family.", he told himself as he picked up another twig and placed it in the middle of the bark. "Yes...even though we might be separated, their love will always stay with me…as long as I remind myself of that…I can do anything!"

It turned out he didn't.

Enraged he threw his hands above his head and screamed.

After letting out his frustration by kicking and throwing the bundles apart he fell on the lifebelt and stared with slanted eyes at the ceiling. "How could shit go down like this?", he asked himself. "This is crazy…"

The face of the teen who pushed him over creeped into his mind, making him rise up. His heart pumped against his chest. He covered his head, rubbing his forehead with his fingers and groaned. This has happened before. He could literally hear the voices of his sisters and his mother coming from the kitchen.

"Oh come on, Momma, it wasn't his fault! Everybody knows it!"

Upset his older sister Merlyn threw her arms into the air and was joined by their youngest sister Kim, who put her arms on her hips and raised her chin. "Yeah, Jamie only wanted to help.", she added and puckered her lips.

Their mother who despite being touched by her daughter's resolve to defend their brother shook her head.

"I know that. I also got a call from that boy's mother and how glad she was that somebody defended her son but that's no way to solve the issue."

"So what should he have done, huh? That other guy attacked first! He only defended himself!", said his third sister Laura.

"It's not as simple as that…"

"Oh actually it is. It's really fucking simple. They're just trying to lay the blame on Jamie because they don't want to admit that they failed to stop the bullying! If anybody is at fault then it's the teachers and the principal! When the bullying becomes so bad that another student has to step in because nobody else would, whose fault is it when things go down?! They're saying that it's Jamie and his anger issues but we all know that this isn't the case! This is clearly a cover up from the school authorities! I say Jamie is innocent!", declared Merlyn and slammed her fist on the table.

Amazed Laura clapped her hands. "Wow, you should become an attorney!"

"Maybe I will.", she replied confident and brushed a long braid out of her face. "Attorney Robinson sounds pretty good to me."

"Even if that's the case that doesn't change the fact that he used a technique outside the dojo on another kid."

"You mean an asshole.", corrected Laura her.

"An asshole, yes. But still a kid."

"An asshole kid!", screamed Kim with a bright smile full of tooth gaps.

"Shut your mouth!", yelled their mother and pulled her by the ear. "Where are those words even coming from?!"

Silent the four siblings exchanged a few smiles of confusion, knowing very well themselves who thought them. Suspicious Mrs. Robinson raised her eyebrows. "What?!"

Since his sisters looked quickly away to hide their laughter he took it upon himself to distract her. "Sorry, for what I did. I didn't plan for things to go down that way. I just couldn't stand there and watch…"

She let out a long sigh and stood up. She put her hand on his cheek, gently turning his face so that he had to look her in the eyes. And when he saw how full of worry and love they were he felt remorseful for the first time for what he did.

"Jamie, I know how much you want to help others, but some people…can't be helped. I know it hurts but this is just how things are…if you keep going like this, you might get hurt yourself. And I don't want to see this happen again."

"Yeah."

"I hope you learned your lesson. You can be glad that your teacher let you come along. Don't waste this opportunity."

"Yeah, I got it.", he mumbled and rolled his eyes.

"Good. Or I'll whoop your ass.", she said and slapped him on the back before pulling him into a warm embrace. "Now go and make your Mamma proud."

"Sorry, Mamma. Guess I ain't gonna do that.", he mumbled and wiped the tears off his face.

He closed his eyes, trying not to think too much about them, which was almost impossible. For the first time he missed his old bed that was already too small for him, yet he had to sleep in it since they didn't have enough money to buy a new one. He missed the laughter and chatter of his sisters that would normally keep him awake the entire night, and never has he wished more for his mother to burst into the room and wake him up in the most violent way possible.

Although he certainly didn't mind the rays of light gently kissing him awake as much as he initially thought.

With his hands on his hips he stood outside the cave and took a deep breath. He couldn't tell why but by the warmth of the sun he felt a little less lonely, even a little spark of confidence.

"Aw, yesss. Awesome weather, nice view…the only thing missing is my Pina Colada!"

His eyes wandered to the coconuts hanging high in the palm trees. Just the sight of them he could feel the burning fire in his throat and the dryness of his lips. He stretched his muscles and asserted the height and distance before running towards the wall and pushing himself off of it. Skillfully he grabbed onto the palm tree and climbed it up. Once he reached the top he put his hands around a coconut. Under his weight it slowly descended towards the ground where he ripped it off and watched the palm tree bouncing back to its original position. Triumphant he held it into the sky.

"Awesome, no all I gotta do is…", he picked up a stone and sat on the ground, holding it tight before breaking it into two halves. Sweet juice ran down his throat, like rain pouring down in the Sahara.

"Damn, this tastes almost better than justice…or should I say…juicestice?!"

His roaring laughter made the birds rise into the sky. Surprised by their sudden appearance he raised his head, following their way to the horizon.

"What should I do? Should I just stay here and wait until a ship gets by or go search help?"

The thought of leaving the beach and thus missing his chance of getting rescued lingered in his head. Trusting his instincts he decided to stay here, at least for a few days just to make sure.

"Ha, I'm sure they gonna come pick me up tomorrow."

They didn't.

Groaning he held his stomach after the third day of waiting. All the creatures that got washed ashore were no use to him since he still had no fire to grill them and although he at first loved the taste of the coconuts he started craving for real water and real food.

The fourth day he stood up. Fear crawled in him and tightened the grip around his heart. What if they forgot him? What if nobody would come to save him? What if he would be stuck here forever?

"What am I gonna do?"

The wind rose, gently rustling the leaves of the forest growing just a few meters away from the beach.

"I can't just stay there and wait to be saved. Guess I gotta do it myself.", he put his hands around his mouth and yelled at the sky. "You hear this?! I don't even want your help! I'm an strong independent black man who don't need no…woman! "

He raised his middle finger at the ocean and whoever was on the other side of it. Proudly he marched away and picked a stick along the way up.

"Is this what it means to become a hero? To leave everything behind, to find your own way? Can I take this risk, knowing that I may never return?", he shook his head, grinning at his own doubts. "No, this is the path I must chose. I can't let my fear of the unknown lead me astray from the journey of a becoming a true man!"

Hollering and with the weapon raised above his head he ran into the forest. Green light calmed his eyes after days of staring at the bright blue sky and beach. Relaxed he strolled around, listening to the beautiful sounds of nature, including the high pitched screams of fighting.

Flakes of brown fur rose into the air as their claws scratched, their long teeth blinked in the sun before they buried them in their opponents skin. Fascinated James watched the hares clashing against each other in an intense battle of strength of who would regain the right over the territory. Ferociously the larger hare chased his smaller rival away from the high grass and kicked him in the chest. And fell along with him over a cliff.

"What the fuck?! Yoooooooo!"

Shocked he ran towards the small cliff and peeked over the edge, where he found them twitching in their last moments on the ground. Sensing the opportunity he slid down the steep and raised his stick, poking them several times.

A bright grin crossed his face after realizing what this meant. "Free dinner, whoooo!"

Whistling and with two hares in each hand he skipped back towards his cave. Nothing could make this day better.

Nothing except for the person down the beach.

In utter shock he dropped the hares in both his hands and jumped behind a tree.

"Yo James, stay cool. Don't freak out. This is nothing. It's not like you're almost losing your shit because this is the very first time in five days since you've seen another human being and you want to do nothing else but throw yourself at them and cry for joy since that means you aren't left alone in the battle against the cold harsh forces of nature and destructive feelings anymore."

He took a deep breath before raising his voice. "Hey! Are you stranded too?!"

Trying to look as professional as possible he jumped straight down from the wall and landed in front of him.

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

His heart stopped. He recognized the sound of the voice. Slowly he raised his head and looked the teen right into the face. The very same face he saw before he fell into the cold dark water.

Pure terror filled him.

"Wait a minute. Aren´t you…!", he eyed him again, just to make sure he wasn't mistaken. "Oh no! Back off, or I´ll destroy you!"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

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

He has had enough. Before even he himself has thought of it his body already reacted. With wide open eyes the teen touched his burning cheek where he hit him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Confused he shook his head. He didn't expect this kind of question. "What is wrong with YOU?!"

With clenched fist he watched him running away and disappearing into the forest. Once he was sure that the teen was gone he sank to the ground, staring at the sand beneath his feet. A strange feeling swirled in his chest. Maybe it was anger and maybe a little fear. His grip around the spear tightened. He would return. It would be only a matter of time. Determined he sharpened his weapon.

He thought of himself as being well prepared for when they would meet again. Only that he didn't expect that there would be three of them.

"Nice to meet you, James, I´m Claire…and this is Sam."

He had seen her too. Or rather heard her. She had a beautiful voice and a heartwarming smile. Like his little sister Kim.

"We should team up. Being alone must have been tough. What do you think?"

His heart leaped. It was tough. Tougher than any fight he ever fought before. A long fight he was sure he couldn't win. Of course he would join them. Even if it meant having to be faced everyday with Sam, who claimed to not remember anything anymore. "Why did you do this? Why did you throw me overboard?! All I wanted was to help you!", he thought as he watched him walk away after having him told off.

Whatever reason he had it couldn't be a good one. Something was wrong with this guy. His mother was right. Some people can't be helped. He now was trapped on a deserted island because of it. But he couldn't just abandon Claire. She had nobody else to protect her. Nobody except for him.

James clenched his fists.

"Sorry, Momma…"