Pomaika'i's Furious Trail

Chapter 7

Several years ago,

The ship was gone.

The surviving passengers, washed ashore on the beach of this strange, tropical island, could only look on in disbelief and horror. The faint, distant outline of a cruise ship could be seen going down in the distance. Screams and gasps escaped all their lips and throats. It only took a few moments before the distant image of the ship disappeared, never to be seen again. The only evidence their ship ever existed was the massive storm off in the vicinity of the ship. Although it was sunny on the island they were on, the far-off gray clouds masked rough seas.

"Is everyone okay?" the captain asked while he walked through the survivors. Murmurs came every now and then, but a few of them were murmurs of thanks. The captain didn't focus on them, he simply raised his hand in acknowledgement and moved on. His crew attended to the rest of the survivors, which he hadn't counted yet.

"First mate Leo," he said, turning to that first mate. "I need you to take some of the crew and see how many of them know how to survive in the wild."

"Yes, captain!" Leo replied.

"We'll need to find more like that among the passengers," said the captain. "Take roll and see if we lost anyone."

"I fear we may have," said Leo.

"Then we will have to move on," said the captain.

"We're going to need food and water for everyone," said Leo.

"There are fish in the ocean," said the captain, "And coconuts in those trees. Get to work."

"I'll find some men who can do it," said Leo. He departed and began to gather some of the crewmen to start fishing and gathering coconuts to drink out of.

But the captain sighed and adjusted his cap. He looked around. More crewmembers helped the survivors, many of whom were wounded. They did the best they could to treat their wounds and injuries using the first aid kits they brought with them on the lifeboats. Those lifeboats were anchored offshore. "There'd better be someone stupid enough to get all the medicine off the ship," he said to himself.

An old woman staggered up to him, shakily gripping her cane and reaching out for someone to hold her. The captain gently took her hand and helped her keep her balance until she stood back up. "Are you alright, ma'am?" he asked.

"Bless you, Captain," she said. "You saved us all."

"Well, I was only doing my job, and—"

"We are forever in your debt."

"Okaaaayyyy," he said. "I'll need to speak to the rest of the passengers." He said this without so much as looking at the old woman.

Sometime later, he gathered his crew and they examined a map. A crewman gave him the coordinates and, with a compass to help, looked for their location on said map. "Okay, so, we should be around, here—Oh, no."

"What is it, captain?" First Mate Leo asked.

"Look," said the captain. He pointed at their estimated location. It was all blue.

"This is impossible," Leo breathed.

"Are you sure?" the captain asked. "Well, the point is, we don't have a radio. We'll have to find a way to make contact with any ships. I have a bad feeling we're going to be here a while."

Leo's face turned angry. "Captain, I have served alongside you for 15 years," he said. "I've never seen you be so defeatist."

"That's because I might know where we are," he said as he turned to his left, and what he saw confirmed his suspicion. There was a deer, almost the size of a reindeer, walking out onto the beach. It had its fawn in tow, and it turned to see the strange creatures sharing the beach with it. The captain took his hat off, sighed, rubbed his face and looked around. "An island no one can find, with strange animals. Yeah, I think I know where we are."