Shipwrecked

Prompt: Shipwrecked

The irony of the situation was the hardest part. “What five items would you take with you if you were stranded on a deserted island?” How many times has that question been asked as an icebreaker? But who actually expects to ever be stranded on a deserted island? It seemed nearly as likely as gaining a superpower, another common get-to-know-you question.

The absurdity of the question irked Sarah now. Like you would ever get to choose what five items you would get to take with you when you were stranded. Was some divine being supposed to shower you with your five desired items from above? She looked up at the clear blue sky as if she was waiting to see. But no, of course not.

Sarah had five items. What were the odds? They were the only things she had found that had washed ashore other than bits of wreckage. She had scoured the shoreline every few hours, hoping something else would appear. However, it took about ten minutes to circle the entire island, so the scouring never took long.

Sarah had a life jacket, which she had been wearing when she arrived at this wretched place. A piece of rope that she guessed was about 60 feet long. A purple hair scrunchie, of all things. A disposable plastic water bottle, which had been about half full of clean water when she found it. And the lid from a styrofoam cooler. Why the lid? Why not the bucket half? That would have been infinitely more useful. It was frustrating and befuddling why more items from the boat hadn’t washed up. The island was very tiny, though. Most of the debris had probably floated by.

Sarah didn’t know what to do with this junk. She was sure that rope would be useful, but she didn't know how. The water bottle would help with collecting fresh water, if she could figure out the method. The life jacket, cooler lid, and scrunchie were as good as useless. She’d keep them nearby anyway, just in case.

She remembered some of her answers to that five-item question in years past. It had been books and journals and other nonsense. She had no misgivings about it now - she’d give anything for a fishing pole, a lighter, a flare gun, a waterproof tent, and a multi-tool. Many other items came to mind, but she was stuck on the five items scenario. Sarah kept trading one item for another that might be more useful, but coming back to those five. A lighter wouldn’t last forever, of course, so flint and steel might be a better idea. But she wasn’t planning to be here forever. Surely she’d be rescued before a standard lighter would run out of fuel, and a lighter would be much easier. She would get rescued before then.

Of course, that was just a thought experiment. Sarah did not have a lighter. Or any of those other items. A life jacket, a scrunchie, a water bottle, a rope, and a cooler lid. What a joke.

It was time to stop daydreaming, though. She needed to figure out how to make a more permanent shelter. Storms could blow up at any time in the tropics. Her sand pit filled with palm fronds wouldn’t cut it. Time to get to work.