No Man's Island

The foot path winded into the woods among the giant trees. I was left with my backpack, and the water would last for only 4 days if my calculations were not far off. As I walked along the path, I tried to remember how life used to be back at home. The routines which seemed annoying back then seemed to be desirable, almost enjoyable, in light of the comfort of a boring life within civilization. It had been three days since I was stranded in this island, somewhere in the vast Anemosh ocean. I was cruising in an underboat when it suddenly started losing cabin pressure thanks to a large crack that was the result of a collision with a giant coral reef. The reef, it should be noted, was actually not very much alive at the time. It was badly damaged `by toxic substances leaked from an industrial accident just a few years back.

I was quick to grab my emergency backpack and swim out of the underboat within a few seconds. Although I guess it was muscle memory that was at work in that moment.

The island I’m on is uncharted on the maps. From my coordinates that was available at the time of the accident, I’ve come to believe that must be a stretch of land not more than a few hundred kilometers east from Kugonti, the land I would have been to if not for the incident underwater.

Eventually leading to an opening toward the beach, the footpath winded at a sandy patch of open ground. I could almost hear the mumur of the sea, and started forward to witness the sea letting go of the beach, one inch at a time. No sooner did I climb a sloping coconut tree and plucked a coconut than set foot on the sandy beach.