Chapter 5: Part 1

Amazingly, the little yellow raft she'd lived on for the past few days hadn't flipped over during the storm. Relief had come. Well it had been a tiny amount of relief with a half bottle of drinking water collected.



It had been a miracle. Somehow a tubular leaf had floated past just before the storm. The improvised rain collection device had surprised her. Now she had more water and more will to live.



She'd live for another day, maybe a week if it rained again. That is if the raft didn't flip.



Of course all the hell that she had been through over the last few days made her question if living really was worth the pain she endured with every breath sucked into her lungs and every quiver of her aching muscles.



The sun had baked her body to a crisp. High in the sky, the fat yellow disk sat, mocking her with its cheery glow. Before this week she had loved the sun. Now she fantasized of places like foggy London, and dreary Seattle.



She wished for the dark of the night when cool relief would come. Even though the black ocean at night scared the heck out of her, she still craved it. Just thinking about the sharks and other creepy things below made her skin crawl. She curled up in the center of the raft, hugging the bottles of water to her chest.



Two bottles of clear salt free water was all that kept her on this side of death. Two days at the most. If she drank sparingly, maybe she could survive three days but for what. Her skin felt like peeling paint. She'd taken for granted the luxuries of her former life.



Skin cream.



That's what she wanted. If she could, she would bathe in moisturizer, letting it squish between her toes and run down her back. Shampoo too. Maybe a nice day at a spa would be her first stop. She could treat herself with a body wrap and a massage. Maybe she could stay for a weekend or a week. Hell, a month of pampering would help to set her right. What was that spa in Durham North Carolina she'd been at? Soothing Waters, or was it Healing Waters? She wished she could be there now.



God, if she made it back to civilization she'd never go to the beach again or for that matter on a boat. She'd never go on a date either. That was the problem. No wisdom or thought had ever been extended to her dating life. She hadn't though going out on a harmless date would have been a problem, but it had been. She'd lost her life. Well, not yet but she'd be dead in a matter of days if she didn't receive a huge miracle.



The sky was empty. She couldn't believe that no planes had flown overhead. Thousands of planes took to the sky every day, why couldn't one of those planes cross her path. Trouble was, if a jet flew over it would be too high. She needed some weekend warrior learning to fly to come close enough to see her raft.



Or maybe a fisherman. Couldn't some big game fisher be out here trying to angle a shark? She hadn't joined PETA, but she hated the way those fishermen caught sharks and other big fish just for trophies. Now, she would give anything to have one of those guys out here hunting down a hammerhead shark. Even if he killed one in front of her eyes she wouldn't care, anything to be rescued.



She sat up, searching the horizon. Was that an island off in the distance? With cupped hands she shielded her eyes. She saw something, maybe a big building, but she couldn't tell.



Her mind was playing tricks. Dehydration was taking its toll. There was no building. No hope of being found.



She couldn't even cry because all the tears had dried up. The ache in her head had reached her heart. The only thing she could do was sleep. Maybe God would be merciful and let her die in her sleep tonight. Then she wouldn't have to face another day in the burning hot sun.



"God, why am I still alive. Let me die." Amanda took two sips of water, twisted the lid on tight and curled into a ball.

Copyright Sara Thacker 2011