Kelsey+K

Kelsey Ross

**__Hope Isn’t Enough __** **Chapter One ** **Wrecked ** “Mayday, Mayday!” cries the Captain. “We are experiencing some turbulence at the moment. Everyone stay calm and buckle your seat belts please!”  I hear the desperateness in his voice and wonder how we could possibly stay calm at a moment like this? I clutch Brick’s hand pleading with God to end this torment, just praying for some sort of miracle to take place. A baby is wailing in the background, screaming at his mother for attention, wanting her to make the uncontrollable shaking stop. All of this is too much! I clench my eyes tightly together, imagining myself and the rest of my cheerleading team competing at the Cheerleading Worlds in Australia, winning the title of Grand Champions and the sparkling gold trophy.

I wake with a start, my head pounding, body aching. I cry out for my mother, wanting her to take care of me, for her to bring me her famous chicken soup. Frustrated, I call for her, wondering where my mother could possibly be. And then I remember. My name is Naomi Reed, I am captain of the cheerleading squad and the prom queen. Now I remember that I’m not in my cozy warm bed back in Texas, nor am I in Australia, where the cheerleading worlds will take place in just three days. I am somewhere in between. I remember that our plane did not survive the turbulence; that we fell from the sky, cascading into the menacing ocean below. The baby from the plane is on repeat in my head, his crying and his fear is overwhelming me. On the count of three I decide that will be the moment I open my eyes, revealing in color of the mess that I am encountering. “One,” you can do this Naomi! “Two,” okay come on girl don’t be scared! “Three!” My eyes flutter open, and I have to rub the sand out of them. Once my eyes have focused, I climb out of the debris that has enclosed me in for I don’t know how long. I stare out in the distance ahead of me, unbelieving of what is before my eyes. If my plane hadn’t just crashed into an ocean, I would say it was the most beautiful sight that I have ever seen. Even Mexico and Hawaii were nothing in comparison to this. The colors are astounding, the most vibrant of blues and greens, along with stunning pinks and reds. The island itself is surrounded by beaches from every side. The water is such a pure blue, almost angelic looking. Along the coast, palm trees are scattered all over the island, plastered with coconuts. But the one thing that catches my attention first is the mountain in the very center. The first thought that comes to mind when I think of the mountain is green! Every inch of that mountain is green. But from this distance I can’t tell if it is all just more palm trees or other variations of green plants.  I stop for a moment, to collect my thoughts and to try and figure out what my next move will be. Unquestionably, I will need to get out of the water! I need to find other survivors, food and drinkable water. My survival instincts take over, and suddenly I think of all the times I grudgingly watched shows like Survivor Man and Man Vs. Wild with my grandfather. I am surrounded by water, perched on a metal plate that once was a piece of the plane that is now wedged in between the coral reef. Surprisingly, the purse that I brought along as my carry on is still here. I rip open the bag careful not to spill the contents into the water. About 50 million lip sticks, a magazine, a hand held mirror, my now unsalvageable phone, an Ipod, gum wrappers and a keychain with last year’s family photo attached in a miniature picture frame. “WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS!?” I want to fling my bag away, but I can’t. Even though none of this stuff is any use to me, now I still need it as a reminder that I will get home, and that I may need that stuff later.  Tears cloud my vision, but not 50 yards away from me some large yellow thing drifts in the surf. I need to get my act together. I wrap the shoulder strap on my purse around my neck, using my free hands and legs to swim as fast as I can before the yellow thing gets too far away from me. My heart is pounding in my chest, this doggy paddling thing isn’t really working well, and the only thing that keeps me going is the curiosity and hope of what could be inside the yellow thing. I have never been a strong swimmer; until I was thirteen my overprotective mother would make me wear a life jacket, and by that time all I wanted to do was sit and tan, I now wish that instead of being too cool for swimming lessons that I had taken them from childhood. If I did take them I wouldn’t be practically dying on a swim that shouldn’t really wind anyone! I finally reach the yellow bag, and decide it will be best for me to open it on the shore. I breathe in a big breath of oxygen and head out again. Swimming to the shore is easier than swimming to the bag, I don’t know why since the bag should be dragging me down, but now I feel like I have a purpose, that in this bag it could be life changing for me now and the faster that I swim the faster I will find out what is in the bag. **Chapter Two ** **Lost ** My paddling has become mechanic, kick, stroke, kick. There is nothing in this world that my body wants more than to get on the island and find something decent to eat! Eventually I reach land. My legs have become rubber and I feel as if I was elastic. As I lie down and try to collect my thoughts, a voice is screaming at me, what to do next Naomi? I want to cry, just to shut everything out for a moment and give in to my weakness. To come to terms with myself and admit, “You do not know what you are going to do next!” Just sit here and accept that I will not be able to survive on this island. My salt water tears trickle down my face, burning the cuts that I didn’t even know existed, until now. My body sags into the sand and I decide this is it, that I am going to give up, that I will just lie here and die.  “HELP, SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> I scramble up, surprised of all the unknown energy that my body was secretly harvesting. I quiet myself, waiting for another plea for help. I spin in every direction wondering where the source of sound came from. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“OH GOD PLEASE, HELP ME!” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">I know that voice; I know that voice better than anyone else’s. Sprinting in the direction of his voice I call out “hold on Brick I’m on my way!” I hear a faint whimper, my poor boy; his voice is like honey, raspy from all the yelling. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> Clambering past the fallen trees that have been knocked over by parts of the plane landing on the island, I notice Brick caught beneath one of the palm trees. I can’t get to him fast enough; his face is contorted through the pain. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Fast baby,” he whispers, “it hurts.” His eyelids start to flutter. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“I’m here, what can I do?” He is almost asleep; I need to get him out of here as fast as possible. I try and lift the tree away but it’s just too monstrous for me to do it all by myself. His stifled moans make me want to cry all over again. I decide that this could be very risky, but with us being the only people on the island that I know of it’s the only way... I grip the bottoms of my violet ballerina flats against the tree, preparing my toned legs to push the tree away, off Brick’s scathed body. Brick’s merciful cries send a jolt up my spine begging me to end his torment. The tree is moving slowly. I give one final push with a grunt escaping from my lips and he’s free. Both of us look at the scraped skin the tree left us to deal with. Mostly just little scrapes, but I can tell I need to make a shelter swiftly, to shield us from the oncoming rain. I brace Brick on my shoulder to help him walk. In the distance I can see a couple, a man and a woman. I nudge Brick gently, wondering if he can see what I see too, and that is when the yelling starts. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Over here!” A man and woman yell, “Come here!” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Brick and I make our way over to the pair of people, yet even though I don’t know these strange folk, I feel as if we will have a better chance of survival with all four of us all together working as a team. Once we arrive to their site, both Brick and I sit ourselves down. Glancing between our new allies I notice that the man is carrying a rope. Acknowledging my stare, the man introduces himself as Frank Whitworth. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Where did you find that rope?” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Martha and I discovered it as we were walking up the beach. Both of us were stranded in around the same area. We helped free one another.” I’m assuming that Martha is the middle aged woman with mousy brown hair and freckles Frank is referring to. When Martha opens her mouth to speak I am surprised how much authority is in her deep voice. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Now kids, have you seen anyone else?” I don’t like her condescending tone; truly it really pisses me off. Plus we aren’t even kids anymore. I dig my toe into the sand and bite my cheek as to not say something that I will regret. “Ahem ahem?” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“No we have not seen anyone on the island besides you two Martha.” Spits Brick. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Even bodies?” she asks as her lip curls up into a grimace, “Because Frank and I have already found six.” I want to scream at her, but realizing that is not a very smart move I stop myself. We don’t need any extra problems than there always is. I glance at Brick and I can tell that he is just as irritated with her as I am. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“What are all of your names?” Frank asks, “Considering we will probably be living together for a while.” He has kind eyes, but I don’t even want to think about that. I’ll be missing the rest of my life, and I had such a bright future ahead of me. First off, I would become a model. And once I reach my older days I will go to school and become a cheerleading coach, and become the coach of the next all-star team. Somewhere in between, Brick and I would get married and have two kids, a girl and a boy to follow in our footsteps by becoming captain of the cheerleading squad like me, and a linebacker like Brick. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Brick answers for us, since he can tell how annoyed I am with Martha. “My name is Brick, and this is my girlfriend Naomi.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Woah Brick,” Frank jokes, “you sure are built like one!” everyone bursts into laughter, severing the tension. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“I’m the linebacker on my schools football team, and Naomi is the captain of the cheerleading squad. We were on our way to Australia to compete in the Cheerleading worlds, but I guess that won’t be happening since the rest of the team must be dead.” The thought of the rest of the girls being dead never occurred to me and I start crying, feeling like I will never be able to stop. Those girls were like my family. I spent over twenty hours a week with them and now they are all gone. I am the only person left of them all. Brick tries to comfort me by stroking my hair and rubbing my back, which is only making me more irritable. As my sobs start to falter I hear the other members of the stranded group talk about how they got here. Martha was on her way to a work conference, no surprise there and Frank was going on a second honeymoon with his wife to Australia. But that must mean that his wife didn’t make it out of the plane alive. My melancholy is getting to be too much for me, too many deaths; it’s the most awful thing I’ve ever known. My tears have subsided, and to get our minds off the ones that we have lost we decide to open he yellow thing that I brought in from the ocean. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Nobody knows what to expect, we just all hope that it is something good. Frank opens the zipper carefully, treating the yellow bag as if it were a delicate piece of china. Inside the bag is a large tarp, big enough to help with a shelter that could fit all four of us. There is also a first aid kit, antiseptic to cleanse wounds, band aids, scissors, a knife and other medicines that I have never heard of. We decide that since we don’t know how long we will be staying on the island only to put a little antiseptic on our wounds to rid off infection. **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Chapter Three ** **<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Survive ** <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">All four of us need food, so Brick and I decide to take off and try to collect coconuts and other plants that look edible, while Frank and Martha try to build a shelter with the tarp and some palm leaves that have fallen. As Brick and I are walking, I take time to admire him. He knows me so well, and he still actually cares even though he has been with me for years. Brick places me carefully on top of his shoulders and I grasp the coconut in my hands, and wonder how the heck are we going to be able to eat this thing? We move onto the next tree and I am pleasantly surprised to find out that there are bananas. “Brick we have bananas!” Both of us squeal with delight since bananas are our favorite! <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Once we have collected an assortment of fruit we go back down to the meeting spot. As we close in, I notice the shelter they have built. Not too shabby for old people! We run and meet them and drop the fruit at their feet; all four of us break out in smiles, and each of us grabs a banana and shoves it into our mouths greedily. I have tasted nothing better in my life than this banana right here. Once everyone has finished their first banana we all devourer a second and a third. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">But our happiness soon runs out just as fast as we ate all the bananas. How are we going to open the coconuts? Brick takes a coconut in his hand and throws it with all his might against a giant rock. Even with Brick’s football training the coconut does nothing except taunt us all. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> I go to pick the coconut up, wondering what to do next. Maybe I could crack it on top of a sharp rock. I find the sharpest rock in the area and push with all my might. Nothing is happening. I try again, and again, but it’s not working. I’m getting frustrated, and I’m putting all of my frustration into opening this coconut. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> Right as I think I’m about to lose it, Frank comes over to me with the knife in his hand. I don’t know why none of us thought of this sooner. Choosing the knife I pry the coconut open, but to my disappointment there is no milk inside. I pry it open further wondering what the possible reason for this is. It is open, completely split in half, and instead of where the milk should be there is this odd cream colored stuff with a cotton candy like consistency. Frank takes a look at the odd coconut. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Whatever could it be?” he asks in wonder. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">And then I remember, it was on Man Vs. Wild just two weeks ago when he was on a tropical island. Bear had found something called a cotton candy coconut, or commonly called a Yu. Bear explained to all the viewers that the milk had hardened and turned into a protein rich food that is extremely high in nutrients. I stick in my hand and grab a little between my fingers. Martha is prompting me to eat it. Finally I put it in my mouth, and it’s an explosion of flavors, very delicious. Passing it around to the rest of the group we all decide to open the next coconut to see if it too was a Yu. No such luck but we all shared the milk. Moving on the next we find another Cotton candy coconut. All of us are practically jumping for joy, eating as much as we can get. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Once we have all eaten our share, we notice how dark out it now is. We are all very sleepy. We crawl into the shelter and find an area for each one of us to sleep. I inch towards Brick, sharing our warmth between one another and have at least one thing that hasn’t changed from home: our love.

<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">I wake to the sound of the waves crashing in on the shore. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Today is a new day,” croons Frank. “Today I will climb to the top of the mountain with Martha to see how much of the island we have to work with.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“That sounds like a good idea, Frank. When will you two be leaving?” I ask <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Right about now. Martha is on her way back. She just wanted to collect some food before we left.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Ahhh,” I sigh, “good for her. Today I think I am going to try and fish. We all need some Omega 3.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Good thinking Naomi, but how are you going to cook it? How are you even going to catch the fish?” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“I will get Brick to carve a spear with the knife, and I’m not quite sure yet on how we are going to start the fire.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Frank replies with “oh I see.” He nods and walks away. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“What was all that about?” Brick asks. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“Oh nothing,” I reply, “he just wanted to know what I planned on doing today.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">“And what do we plan on doing today, my love?” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Every time Brick says things like that I blush profoundly. “Well, I’ve decided to go fishing and you are going to help me.” Brick nods his head, in approval, but I can’t help but notice what is behind his back. “Brick, is that my purse?” He looks at me sheepishly and looks down at his toes. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> “Well, yeah, I knew you had a picture of both of our families together and I just wanted to see it.” A pang reaches my stomach. He passes the purse to me and I dig inside, pulling out a few lip glosses and my mirror while trying to find the picture. I gaze into the faces of our families. I am the spitting image of my mother, and my little sister the spitting image of me. My little brother is chasing a butterfly in the background, and I can’t help but laugh. Besides my parents and siblings it’s just me, Brick and his parents since he is an only child. I survey all of our smiling faces: we all loved one another very much, and we were all very close with each other. I sigh as I put the picture back in the purse careful not to crinkle any of the sides. I grab onto my mirror dropping it into my bag and realization hits me. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> “I know what to do!” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">Brick looks at me confused, and I meet his gaze with my own. “Brick I need you to find fire wood now.” He doesn’t question me further just goes to find the wood that I asked for. I make a circle with the rocks near; make an area to enclose the flames. Brick soon comes back with an armful of wood that only a linebacker could carry. He drops the wood into my circle and we both arrange the wood into a tipi, angling the wood up to the sun. I then grab the mirror and angle it in a certain direction so the sun hits the mirror just right and bounces off onto the wood, creating a large flame right from the start. Brick puts his face near the flame, encouraging the flames to rise with each blow. I jump into his arms, so pleased with myself being able to start the fire. After that Brick quickly finds another stick to carve so I can try and fish with it. I lay in the sun giving myself a few moments of relaxation and to fully be proud of myself. Brick places the stick in my hand. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> “Good luck, Naomi. You can do it!” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;">I get up from my reverie and into the water, right away I spot a school of fish near the coral. Padding over there quickly but quietly is not the easiest thing to do, but I think I managed. I stab my spear into the water and to my surprise when I rip it out of the water a fish is attached! I scream in amazement, and Brick comes out into the water to congratulate me and to take the fish away so I can continue. No such luck. I guess it was a first lucky attempt, but the one fish will be big enough for us to all have a little piece. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> Soon enough Frank and Martha come back with news. They are so astounded that I actually managed to start a fire that they both become speechless. I am still very proud of myself so I let them both congratulate me. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> “Once Frank and I reached the top of the mountain, we realized it’s not even really a mountain at all, but a volcano!” We all freeze, what does this mean, is our life now threatened even more than it was before? <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> Frank continues with Martha’s discovery, “I don’t think that it is an active volcano though. I mean look how green the island is.” <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> I can’t help but agree, thinking Frank’s logic is pretty solid. “The island is also “X” shaped it’s the weirdest thing I have ever seen!” We all look at one another astounded; this just keeps getting weirder and weirder. <span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 18.66px;"> That’s when the island starts to shake. I grab onto Bricks hand for support. I have never really done all that well with earthquakes before, they always scare me. And that is when the smoke starts drifting up from the Volcano top. All four of us begin crying. With the lighting the fire, and catching the fish, I never thought this was going to be how it ended. But it is. I hold onto Bricks hand as it happens, and pray for in the next life we all get a better hand of cards. **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Frank Whitworth ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">June 7 1932 – April 21 2009 ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Martha Jones ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">October 12 1967 – April 21 2009 ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Brick Stevens ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">February 26 1991 – April 21 2009 ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">Naomi Reed ** **<span style="font-family: "Gulim","sans-serif"; font-size: 24px;">September 13 1991 – April 21 2009 **