Island Rush (24 page)

Hearing that made me smile.  It was as if everything was set into place perfectly for us.  It made me a little excited to get to work.  That’s why we didn’t stall in jumping right into it.  It was nice that we had a chance to be this productive.  After all, this could be a great distraction and something to keep us busy.  It’s not like I was all ‘buddy-buddy’ with him now; I didn’t want to be.  Survival comes first as we have learned. 

Chapter 23

We stood before the kingdom of debris, scanning over the place. I took a deep breath. There wasn’t much compared to the other side of the cliff, but there was enough. For what we were looking for anyway.

We decided that the best way to do this would be to make the wall out of thick branches or smaller trees instead of massive logs that were impossible to carry.  Our concern was that the branch we will be hanging between the two trees won’t be strong enough to hold a wall made out of huge logs.  Not to mention, this branch we hang will be five or six feet up and attached to the two trees.  It needed to be light if we want to be able to lift it that high.

So our objective right now: find a ton of thick branches.  Some of the small trees that the storm pulled from the ground were acceptable too, but only if the tops of them were broken off. 

We were successful and fast with it.  Once we found long enough branches, we dragged them to the pile we were making next to the creek.  Which wasn’t hard; we had enough options thanks to the storm.  Staring down at the pile of thick branches and some skinny logs, I added one more to the collection with a grunt.  It would be hard to get these back to camp.  It was a hassle just carrying some of them to this pile.  It’s not like we’re gathering sticks.  Sure, they needed to be light enough so we could lift them but they also needed to be heavy enough to protect us and form a sturdy structure.  

“It’s going to be hard carrying all this back,” I said as he dragged another long branch over to join the rest.  Groaning as he let it go, he glanced at me as I continued. 

“Well, it shouldn’t be too bad if we each grab an end, considering we are still sore.”

I hated how well his ideas were.  I didn’t want to offer him any credit, but I nodded in agreement.  I did want more details.  “So we are going to have this as one wall.  Other than that, we will be wide open.  What if it rains or the wind comes in from a different direction?”

“I figured that we could stitch those long leaves up along the sides and maybe hang some in front,” he answered.  “We have a lot of options actually.”

After talking over other ideas of how to get this done, I was ready to get the bad part over with: carrying it all back.  Which is what we did for the next few hours.  We each grabbed an end like he suggested and started walking the ten minutes it took up the creek and to camp. 

When we dropped the last one and sighed in relief, I turned towards the creek instantly.  It was painful to be sweating the whole time and not jump into the water.  I was dripping at this point and could cool off with our job done.  However, as I turned more towards the creek, something caught my eye.  It was a little daisy.  And before I knew it… a memory came to me.  One that I can’t believe I managed to remember.

“Mommy, this is crap,” I whined, throwing my small pink gardening gloves off. My pigtails were pulled behind my ears to keep my hair from sticking to the sweat on my chubby cheeks. The sun was as hot as it was on this island today.  Back then, it was the first year of our flower garden.

My mom took me to the store and let me pick out all the flowers I wanted. I pointed with an excited finger to all the bright tulips because they instantly caught my attention. She bought those, and when we actually started, she gave me the job to dig the holes and put the plants in. She practically made me do it all because that was about all we had to do. The soft soil was ready and, as I dug my first hole, I saw that below the dirt lied thick roots that were coming from a tree close by. I couldn’t get through them with my little arms. Of course at that age, what do you do when it gets hard or boring? Give up.

However, mom had a different idea.  She set the red tulips beside me and brought out the mulch as well. She got down beside me and spoke.  “Baby girl, unscrew those tight lips.”  I flicked my eyes at her, thinking I looked tough and cool with my arms crossed. Her smile made me falter. It always did.

“But, Ma! It’s too hard and hot. Alex can help you instead,” I said.

“Well, fine by me. But do you know what that means?” she asked in a goading voice.

“What?”

“You can’t say you helped because you didn’t. If you want something done, you need to do it and be proud of yourself. Everyone needs to work for it. Did Alex ask to make a garden with me?” she asked as she shifted so we were facing each other fully in the dirt.

“No,” I said quietly.

“Well, then who did?” Her smile lit her face.  What could be accusing words came sweetly to her lips and innocently.

“I did. I want to build a garden with you, mama. But,” I sighed dramatically to get my point across. “It’s just so, so, so, so hard!”

She slid next to me and pointed to the back of the empty garden. Or what I thought was empty. I couldn’t see it before since it blended in well with the color of the dirt. But there was a stem that could be mistaken for a stick.  It was slumped down and nearly hit the ground. Its top revealed it used to be a flower, the petals holding barely any color other than the yellow of dryness. “Why is it still in here?”

“It was here when we first moved into this house, honey.”

I gasped. “It’s been there for that long?!” Long meaning older than I was at the time, which was a gasping six years!

“Yes, it has.”

“But why didn’t you get rid of it?”

She bent down and whispered in my ear.  She used a voice that said this was top secret information. I leaned in eagerly and felt her warmness when her hands rose to cup over my ear.  “To see if you have the power of the green thumb,” she said even quieter.

My large eyes fell on her when she moved back.  She looked at me with her white smile and excited eyes, which convinced me she was serious about this. “What’s a green thumb?” I whispered.

“It’s a power some people have when gardening. If you have the power of the green thumb, you can make almost anything grow.”

My mouth dropped open at her words. “Almost anything?!”

She chuckled and nodded. “Oh yes.”  She played with a little frown on her face. “I don’t think I have the power. It just won’t seem to grow no matter how much I want it to,” she sighed loudly.

“But mom! You said if you want something bad, work hard!  You have the power to make it grow.”

“Well, I don’t know. Don’t you want those tulips to grow?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, then you need to work hard.  If you can handle that, I guess I can try my power.”

I nodded and got back to work instantly.  I kept at it and eventually managed to dig the holes despite my issues with the intruding roots.  Mom helped me pack the dirt in around the flowers when we put them in the holes.  By the end, it looked great. I smiled up at her with all my hard work showing.  “Now, we have to help that flower,” I said, pointing to the dead looking plant.

She nodded and filled up the small child-sized watering can. I took it and ran up to the dead stem. I carefully watered the plant.  From then on, my mom and I would go outside to see its progress each day.

“What kind of flower is that?” I asked when it actually started to turn green. She shrugged and said that we would find out if the green thumb power came through. And after checking on it to see if it magically grew back to a healthy flower, it gradually did. Among the red and tall tulips stood a short, small flower that was very much alive.  It had a yellow bead with little white propellers surrounding it.

“That, baby girl, is a daisy. Always take care of it because if you work hard, you can see its beauty and the effort you put into it. Don’t ever give up if you want it bad enough.”

Her smile faded as I focused on where I was now. That flashback lasted no more than a few moments until I was back to reality.  I wasn’t sure why I relived that memory now, but it made me smile.  It made me smile and think that no matter how bad this is, or gets, I will be fine.  I will be fine if I don’t give up. 

I hadn’t given up before, and I won’t be anytime soon.  Those words assisted me as a guide to keep me going after she died. I wasn’t going to give up on life no matter how I felt.  I wanted to when she died and I couldn’t.  I can’t now even if what was ahead meant being stuck here forever. Whatever did happen…I just knew that I couldn’t give up. 

Chapter 24

We finished transporting all the branches and skinny logs upstream to our camp by the time it was getting dark.  The sun nearly below the trees, the incoming chill in the air made the hair on my arms stand on end, which for once was quite welcoming.  After all, we were both dripping sweat after hours of working.

Mr. Rush laid back in the grass, breathing in a deep sigh of relief, happy to be done for the night.   I sat down next to him and the thirty-five or so thick branches and logs.  I eyed the daisy that was only a few feet away from where we were resting in the grass.  It was comforting, to say the least.  It, unfortunately, wasn’t enough though to physically make me feel better.  With each minute, the air became colder – too cold soon enough.  It made me feel really stupid that I took a quick dip in the creek to cool off not a half hour ago.  At least, I wasn’t the only stupid one who did that.

He looked colder than me, which made me feel slightly guilty when I spoke. “You should walk down the creek one more time and grab some flint on the beach. The one we have is getting harder to use with how small it is.  While you are doing that, I can see if those berries are still there and get some s-s-sticks together for the f-fire,” I said, beginning to stutter. 
Thank you, cold.

Though not looking happy with the way I said those words, he nodded in agreement. He went back down the creek’s bank, clearly looking as if in physical distress,  We shared that feeling with how my muscles felt shattered and my back sore.  My legs were in pain too as I walked towards where the berries should be.

At the sight of little red and black dots on the bushes, my sore legs moved faster. I reached the berries that were on the right side of the waterfall and uphill slightly. As I began to pick a few and ate them, I quickly realized just how terribly cold I was getting.  Darkness was creeping in and with it came the chill.  Being wet and now shaking, it pushed me to get this done.  I picked as many berries as I could for us, gathered some brush and sticks for a fire, and returned back with wobbly legs. 

I nestled the berries in the grass next to the daisy so I could easily find where I left them.  I dropped the sticks and brush a few yards back into the spacious woods where we would sleep tonight.  By this point, I could hear my teeth chattering together.  I couldn’t stop shaking so I did what felt natural to do.  I laid down and waited for him, curling my legs into my chest, trying to get warm.

I instantly stretched back out a second later, though.  A strangled groan released from between my chattering teeth. God, the pain all that carrying caused was taking its effect at the worst moment.

I rolled slowly to me feet, fighting a grunt at the building pressure my legs and back were gaining. I found the suitcase, dragged it with straining arms back to where I was before, and laid back down. I reached my hand up and dug it into the suitcase, fishing out one of the shirts.  I began rubbing it hard over my body, needing to somehow get dry or warm. 

My hand moved over me, desperate to eliminate any little spot on my body that was wet. When I realized why it wasn’t working, I took off the green top, laughing at the fact that I was in just my bra again. I was cut off when the air hit my bare wet stomach, making me shake harder. I continued rubbing the shirt over me and after a minute, the top half of my body was dry.  I stuck a hand back into the bag and pulled out the first thing I touched: another tank top.  No long sleeve shirts of course.             

I threw it on, and it caressed my freezing skin, only giving me a little comfort.  Now, time to take care of the rest of me.  With a wince, I was able to pry my damp shorts down after a long fight with aching muscles.  Once that was done, I laid there and dried the bottom half of myself with the shirt I was using as a towel. I was tempted to take off my bra and underwear since those were still wet but not even the cold could get me to do that… not when Mr. Rush could turn up any second.

With just the dry tank top on, I continued rubbing the fabric I had on my waist and legs with desperate hands.  Fighting the last of those drops away, a whisper of a stick snapping brought me to attention.  Mr. Rush entered my sight. Walking parallel to the creek, his body dripped of water.  It wasn’t from the dip we took a little bit ago either.

I knew why it appeared as if he hadn’t dried much from his walk down.  He went out into the ocean to retrieve the flint he was currently carrying! My god, I figured he would be able to find some right on the beach! I was so stupid to suggest he be the one to sacrifice more heat for that flint. As if being wet, walking through the chilled air, and being half naked wasn’t enough, I made him go back into the water.

He stopped short upon seeing me and kept his eyes down.  I blushed, grabbed some dry shorts, and put them on hastily despite my soreness.  I laid out the damp clothes I had on before; they should be dry by tomorrow.  When I stood and moved my concern over to him, I saw that he sat down in front of where my pile of brush sat.  Remaining stiff with his muscles, he showed how worse off he was than me. He started shaking and groaning violently against the frosty air. His breath became visible, the white heat coming from his lips becoming uneven too.  He acted as if he was totally fine, and even attempted starting the fire.

He leaned forward with the flint and the stone raised in his vibrating hands. The attempt to strike the two pieces together was pathetic. The stones didn’t even make contact.  At his second desperate attempt, I could no longer watch. He wasn’t the only cold one.

I took the flint and stone from him, striking one with the other.  I did that maybe twenty times before a spark finally became visible.  When we got a steady fire going, we moved as close as we dared to it.  Though I still rocked with shivers, it was nothing compared to before.

Mr. Rush was still shaking, his teeth clashing together. I reached over, snatching a shirt from the suitcase, and gave it to him. “Dry off as best as y-you can,” I managed, my voice as strong as it could be without shaking.

He nodded and took it, rubbing it over his wet and shaky body.  It made me feel even worse that I made him go out into the water.  I saw him drying off but he still had goosebumps, and his teeth were chattering.  Seeing that, it made me instinctively snatch more clothes from the suitcase and offer a handful to him.  I didn’t like that he was still colder than me. “Wrap these around yourself. Around your chest and stomach.”

He took the clothes in his hand and examined them before he looked up at me.  His face was unreadable. “You n-n-need these more than I do.”

Liar. Just trying to be the man of this island.  “Are you sure about that?” I asked with an edge.

Not willing to deny it as the sky raised a more intense chill, he draped the fabric around himself, stretching some of it to fit around his figure. Moments later, we were both in sync with our breathing, the licks of fire winning our bodies over.  Thank god that was over.

He stood up and stretched a few moments later, turning towards the woods as he set the clothes he was using as blankets to the ground.  Just as he turned to walk into the woods, probably to go to the bathroom, he stopped himself.  Glancing back to me, I heard him scoff.  In a way where it sounded forced.  “Will you be okay until I get back or do you think you might have another breakdown?”

Wow.  I did not expect that from him.  All I could do was raise my eyebrows and wonder why exactly he would say that.  “Are you implying once again that I am a child?” I asked sharply.  It hurt to hear it, but it was obvious he forced the words.  Why would he do that?  Was he trying to pick a fight with me?

He said nothing and turned back towards the woods, disappearing for a little bit.  In those minutes I had, I couldn’t figure out why he said that.  Why he was trying to make me mad.  It made me shake my head and scoff.  I was getting real sick of him.  It made me angry that I was trying my hardest to ignore my issues with him.  Why was I being nice and lending him clothes? Letting the guy freeze sounded better at this point.

A few moments later, he appeared once more in the firelight and took his spot next to me. He was shivering after being absent from the fire and the fabric, but I didn’t care. I turned and stared at him. “Why did you say that to me?”

“Because you act like a child.  I was only concerned,” he said sarcastically, which really made me pay attention.  Those words sounded forced too, and it made me wonder why he was trying to get to me. Then it hit me.

“You don’t want to be forgiven, do you? You want me to continue being angry at you.  You are trying to keep me upset at you.”

He stiffened more than he already was from his sore muscles. His eyes stayed locked on the fire until I watched them shut tightly.  Slowly opening them, they remained on the fire. “I—” he broke off and took a deep breath. “I don’t want forgiveness because I deserve for you to be mad at me. What I did was wrong, using you was wrong.  I told you to get over it and because you can’t, I don’t want you to forgive me.”

With him not looking at me and his tone, it made me narrow my eyes.  I believed that was a part of it.  It was not the whole reason he wanted me to be upset with him, and I could tell.

“You are an awful liar,” I said, seeing his pain.  Though I knew there was more to it, it was clear he did not want to explain what that was to me.  All I knew was that I was tired of this.  “I won’t forgive you, but why don’t we just forget it happened,” I whispered. It was too much to deal with.  Though I won’t forgive him, it didn’t mean we couldn’t move past it for good.             

He stared at me for a long second before nodding. “Okay. We forget about it. That’s easier.”  It sounded as if he were trying to convince himself of that.

My eyebrows dipped as I continued to study him. There was something off about all of this.  Though he didn’t want me to forgive him, in a way, it seemed like he did.  Why did he want me to stay mad at him when it was obvious he hurt from it?

I sighed as we sat in silence, thinking it over.  I watched him from my side vision as he picked the berries I brought. A few minutes later, he turned to me and smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.  “We are going to be sore by tomorrow so we should get a good sleep tonight. We still have a lot to do,” he said.  It wasn’t long after he spoke that I followed him and laid down.  Soon enough, we were both asleep. 

What he said last night was true.  We had a ton to do still.  However, I don’t think we knew just how hurt and sore we were going to be.  The storm already beat us up a few days ago.  Yesterday made it much worse.  We walked, had to move around a cliff, and carry a ton of wood. It was enough to put us out of commission for a day.  After all, we aren’t talking about doing something small.  We are talking about building a shelter.  So I felt quite unproductive since we now actually had free time.

We got back into our normal mood around each other throughout the day.  That’s not to say there wasn’t any awkwardness, but we stuck to what we agreed to.  We were moving on, and it was relieving throughout the day. 

The day… consisted of not much besides resting.  We walked around a little bit, sat on the bank, and talked about nonsense stuff.  There was only so much we could ignore.  Eventually, I had to do something important.  The only thing our sore bodies qualified for was picking berries.  That’s exactly what we did. 

We ate as we picked.  It felt good to fill our stomachs and not worry about running out.  There were a ton of bushes loaded with berries.  We emptied the suitcase and used it to hold our collection of berries for later. After maybe only fifteen minutes of dropping them into the suitcase, I felt something strange.  Something I couldn’t explain or pinpoint. I had a sudden need to go to the ocean.

I turned my direction from the bushes towards the creek. Keeping my attention there, Mr. Rush noticed. “What is it?” he asked.

I looked back to him. “Nothing.”

I went back to picking berries, but my eyes kept wandering over to the water. I wasn’t sure why either and it bothered me! I had a sudden urge to check it out, though. I began walking back towards the lake and heard him yell out to me from behind me. “Where are you going?”

“I need to check something out!”

I continued on and reached the creek. My feet didn’t stop.  I started walking back into the woods, further away from camp but back in the direction of the ocean.