In the Death of a Tempest
The beat of a rising sun reddened the ears of the five casualties that lay among sifting sands. Charlotte awoke first as she unconsciously faced the light that bled onto her skin. She twisted away from it and found stability on her elbow. She took a moment to find her bearings as she put her hand into the heated sand. She pressed her fingers deep into the grind for it's ability to awaken her senses and for it's warmth. This was only for half a second before her fingers left the sand and wiped the droplets that tickled her forehead. She shook the sand from her angel sleeves as she searched the surrounding landscape with a hand over her squinted eyes.
In the corner of her vision she saw something in the small wave that met the shore. Loads of wreckage riddled the surface, miscellaneous items from the ship spread a mile down the barren stretch. Right as she began to run she knew it was Ray. His face was partly under water as she pulled him out with all her might. A vast black and purple bruise connected his jaw and neck. She wiped more and more droplets that she felt on her forehead but they felt thick. Ray sat up quickly as he awoke from his coughs. She brought her hand down to find it covered in blood. She then noticed her hair was dry now and there was never water dripping from it. Ray swore under his breath and took her hand to get up. He pulled a broken cup that was stuck in the ground and dipped it into the crystal water that rippled toward them. He poured the water over her as she stood silently trusting him to do his job.
Three figures came in behind with puzzled scrunches in their weary faces. Henrys brow furrowed with selfless distress as he looked at Ray and then at her. He turned her face to him with his hand under her chin. They all watched quietly as Jasper reached between them to hand her her scarf he'd found had washed up, and she pressed it to her skin. She gasped when she saw the mess that battered Jasper from cheek bone to brow. His eye was swollen shut and a poorly sewn gash on his cheek bone extended the damage. He looked down and waved it away with a shrug. Henry had several small cuts on his own face with blood streaks down his temple and stains on his shirt.
"So we're all alive." said Ray. "That's good," he concluded with a sigh as he looked around.
"So where are we?"
"I dunno, but that tells me we're not exactly close to home." said Schwoz pointing to a planet that was 10 times the size of their own moon. It was surrounded by a ring of star clusters that were not only ginormous, but completely visible. The stars shining in daylight we're undeniably beautiful as the only heavenly bodies to stay up late enough to be observed under the grace of sun. The planet was an abundant mix of blues with even more lustrous gleams and the glow of atmosphere in it's rim. Now they noticed a dozen more small clusters of stars that outshined the light of day, spread all about the sky. They wondered how they didn't see this before and each heart began to race at the realism of their all too unpredictable future in this uncharted land.
All heads turned to the landscape behind them. Endless mile of desert with carved out canyons between mountainous dunes. Caves stood amongst walls of dusty rock. Possibly man made, they couldn't know. They knew nothing of this planet, the fortunately Earth-like planet that seemed a very likely resting place. Henry took the first brave steps towards them and turned around with encouraging eyes and a wave to follow him. The group walked slowly into the valley of shade and refuge. Three caves of about equal size lined each side of the canyon and came together at a dead end. Charlotte suddenly took the lead as she jogged up to the entrance of the last one on the left. It was twice as big as the rest and felt somehow welcoming. They followed her up to it but did not cross it's threshold. They knew once they did that it would become their new home.
They solemnly looked around at each other in agreement and acceptance.
"We'll stay here tonight and explore more of the area tomorrow." decided Ray to the group. With a deep breath and second wind, Charlotte began her work. The others stood still, not knowing what to do but watch. She ran down to the beach and gathered all that she could hold. She quickly came gliding through the door in her own world. She began clearing rocks, sweeping away dust, fixing up and making do.
"Why don't you boys go see what you can gather from the wreckage if your feeling up to it." she suggested as she shook off sun dried blankets. They shrugged off their surprise and followed her orders.
"Sure." said Henry with a small, proud grin.
They each took turns in pairs, diving down to the sunken vessel and retrieving anything salvageable. The day was winding down and it was extremely difficult to swim all the way down and then back up while also carrying things. Occasionally Charlotte would visit to try and relieve them, but they assured her they didn't need help. They watched as she whispered into Henry's ear and he turned to her with a chuckle and a nod before diving in. He returned to her with the embroidered ribbons she had so admired. Water sloshed off of him as he climbed the shore again and placed them in her hands. She gleamed with joy and scurried back with all her treasures.
"Could we use this?" said Jasper out of breath and holding up a broken cupboard door.
"For what?" said Henry with total bewilderment in the squint of his eyes. "A door for the cave of course." he joked before throwing it on the wood pile. Their clothes hung thick with water as they sat down for a break. Jasper observed the impossible sight before him with thousands of questions on his mind. The ship was about 20 feet below a vast river that ran through two endless stretches of desert.
"Where is the ocean we came from?"
"Well," began Schwoz "I predict that this planet has different reactions to weather and may be affected in any way we can imagine. The storm could have carried us through water that went out with the tide or it all dried up and became a desert while we slept. Any planet where you can see stars during the day is one with infinite possibilities." to which Ray looked at him with sarcasm on his tongue.
"So, you don't know."
Henry interrupted the stupidity with a question of his own.
"I wonder how long we'll be here. I won't worry about it right now, I just hope we're all prepared to adjust. Any ways, we gotta go, we need to figure out what we're gonna eat and everything." he said pushing himself from the sun soaked bank they gazed down from. They all grabbed what they could carry and headed back. As they arrived at the entrance, they were surprised by curtains that hung down in front. They wouldn't have noticed how lovely they were on the ship or being sopping wet, but against it's nude surroundings they were quite unique. Henry parted them and second guessed himself on whether they were in the right place. A hole in the cave ceiling corner was being utilized as a chimney for the fire Charlotte had built, surrounded by clothes and things shed hung to dry. A boulder that sat untouched was now centered in the room and draped with a small white curtain she renamed a table cloth. It sat on a large rug they had remembered pulling but did not remember seeing her lug back. Around it were five pillows for dining but only candles in the place of food. It was dark now and too late to fish or search for any kind of meal.
Charlotte turned at the sound of their entry with a smile that deflated their stress levels. She inflicted envy with the lightness of her air. She had restored the ribbons and they now weaved through her fingers so fine. She cocked her head in a kind manner as she spoke.
"You all need some rest, you should get some ok? We'll start fresh tomorrow." They knew wisdom when they heard it as they all took to their beds she had made for each of them. It wasn't much but it was more than they could have expected.
"You should to Char." said Henry drifting off.
"I'll come to bed soon enough." she said with a dreamy tone that shushed them into the deepest of sleeps.
Dawn had barely broke when Charlotte snuck out of the cave. She should have been grieved by the situation, but she simply felt grateful that everyone she loved was alive and the place they were stranded was her idea of a perfect dream. She had also made it a point not to harrow in the things out of her control. She felt a surge of joy at the sight of rising day upon the blessed land that brought good water and breeze. She gathered all the salvaged food and gave thanks for everything she found. She laughed with joy at finding all the ingredients for bread. The current was easy in the river each morning, but later would quickly pick up along with the heat. She wandered through the trees scattered along the river bank. They bore good fruit, just the thing to start their day. She snuck back in the cave and tip toed around as she started a fire. With much tinkering, she was able to bake the bread over the fire. She placed the fluffy loaf on the "table", and laid out the sliced fruit.
The toasty smell of care and tend awoke the others. Eyes rubbed and well rested boys shifted toward the vision that floated around the candle lit cavern. They watched as she blew them out since the mornings sky blue light began to flood in.
"Oh good, your awake." she said slightly under her breath.
"Come eat." to which they jotted up and sat down with overdue appetites. Henry stopped on his way to the table as he took her face gently in his hands, peering at the pain above her brow. It looked worse yesterday, but he had to be sure she was healing right. It was also nice to feel her, to make sure she was here and was well. They looked into each others eyes so deep it was crushing. His hands fell down her face, brushing her cheek as they relaxed. He took his seat, as did she. He rubbed his tight chest that weighed on him with a heavy ache. If he had to diagnose the feeling, it would be a longing. He missed her, which made no sense to him at the time. It was so strong, he thought he would go insane if he didn't do something about it.
Ray closed his eyes with a growl as confirmation that it was in fact delicious.
"So, what should we get done first today?" she aimed at Ray.
"Well we wouldn't have to do anything if it weren't for dumby dumb wanna-be Captain jerk face back there." he replied unhelpfully.
"Eh, give the guy a break. He's probably never known anything good." she said between bites. They all stopped to look at her with expressions that pressed for more.
"What do you mean?" asked Henry. His voice carried low and far as the room it filled held a dry warmth. It felt of silent melodies from ashes floating from a fire put to rest, to every patient ear that awaited a sage woman's voice.
"I think we must encourage kindness to those brought up to have none. Those who have been taught to lose heart and gain sense."
"You do remember the whole deadly disease thing right? He would've traded you for a moldy plum." Ray added as he tossed up a grape-like berry and caught it in his mouth.
"Anywaaaays." chimed in Schwoz with slight annoyance. "We got shelter, so we don't need to build anything, so that's good. We have enough food for a week or two, but we need a more permanent solution. Seeing as Charlotte has found a source of fruit, we can multiply our supply by planting more. Let's see.. what else.. uh we should really have a water filtra-" he let his voice trail off as everyone had stopped listening.
"All right fine. We'll just let the problems come to us and then figure them out last minute like always." he complained, plopping his chin in his palm.
"Sounds like a plan." said Ray.