Trapped in paradise

The sun, crimson and beautiful, peeked out from the horizon, shining through the clouds, illuminating our faces.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

I turned to him, “It is, breathtaking even.”

He sighed and leaned against me, his arm draped around my shoulders carelessly. “I wouldn’t want to watch it with anyone else," he said softly.

I smiled, “Not even your Aunt Susie?”

He chuckled, “Not even Aunt Susie.”

“Brady.” I said, more as a statement than a question

He looked at me, “Hm?”

“We should get back to the boat.”

He kissed my forehead softly, “I know, just one more minute.”

“Babe-”

“Tiffany, please.”

I nuzzled my head into his chest and cracked. “Fine.”

He wrapped his other arm around me, holding me loosely in his embrace. Brady Kenderly, my boyfriend of two years. For our anniversary he surprised me and took me to a remote island, we’d stayed for the whole day and decided to keep ourselves from sleep to watch the sunrise.

Finally, after another moment passed, I pried myself away from him. “Minutes up, we have to get back.”

“Hmph.” He crossed his arms but stood reluctantly.

We started making our way back to the boat that brought us here, the sand slipping into my sandals and settling between my toes. Tickling me, I loved the feeling of my feet in the sand. Brady didn’t, but he still took me to the beach whenever we could.

I stopped suddenly, he turned to me, “What’s wrong?”

I blinked hard, no, it couldn’t be. “Brady, the boat isn’t there.”

He followed my gaze and saw what I was seeing. His eyes widened, “What the, where did it go? They shouldn’t have left yet.”

My throat tightened and I started to panic, anxiety creeping into my brain. Taking over. He grabbed my hand gently, reassuring me that he was there. “Hey, it’s okay, Tiff breathe, in and out, I’m here.”

My breathing got shaky and I felt my limbs go numb, I started to fall but he caught me, “You’re okay, you’re okay. Your name is Tiffany Sanderson, you are nineteen, you are my girlfriend.”

I knew that I was supposed to repeat it, it was a grounding mechanism for when I had attacks. My mouth felt like it was glued shut, I focused on him, my eyes wandering his face before locking onto his eyes. Blue, almost gray, partially covered by his messy blonde hair. I felt my chest loosen and the hinges that clamped my jaw shut unlock.

I exhaled heavily, taking a deep breath and collapsing into a heap on the sand, panting. I rubbed my head and calmed my shaky breaths.

He was right there next to me in an instant, rubbing my back and humming silently. I was back to normal shortly, the attack wasn’t that bad.

I stood and he rested his hands on my shoulders, leaning down to rest his forehead against mine, “It’s all okay, we’ll figure this out.”

I nodded, pulling myself away from him. “There has to be a reasonable explanation, I know that, my mind just kind of, I don’t know.”

He smiled at me, there was sympathy in his eyes, “You don’t have to explain it to me, I understand.”

I loved that he didn’t make me try to justify my anxiety to him. He just, knew.

We started making our way down the long strip of sand, scanning the surrounding area trying to find where our boat went. After walking around the entire thing, there was no sign of it. Instead, we found a note attached to towering palm tree.

Because you chose to come to this island, you are going to be put through the test. If you can survive this island together, then you will be supplied with all the money and resources that you need to live here. The nightmares you face tonight will never come back again.

I looked at him, we had maybe two seconds before we heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance. He grabbed my hand and we started running. The storm appeared in a split second, the clouds opening up and drenching us in rain. Lightning started shooting out of the sky, hitting random spots of sand, the area bursting into flames.

We were almost out of it.

Then, a bolt of lightning struck five feet to my right. A screamed escaped my mouth as I was hurled sideways. My head struck a stray rock and I crumpled into a ball. I cried out in agonizing pain, clutching at my arm. The flesh splitting open, my skin burned and bright pink. Brady forced his way through the whipping wind and down pour, reaching me and pulling me up. I was still shocked that we were even in this situation.

He tugged on my hand, my good hand and I came to my senses. We continued sprinting away from the storm, the tears never stopped flowing from my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to pass out from the pain, I knew I couldn’t though, we’d die.

My arm radiated heat, I could feel my skin blistering and curling in on itself. Imagine being stabbed by a red hot knife twenty times, that’s what it felt like.

The storm was only the first of it. Brady cried out suddenly and stopped short, clawing at his leg and screaming. I pushed my wet hair out of my eyes and saw that around ten scorpions were collectively stinging him. I looked around frantically, my eyes locked onto a stick that was laying on the ground. I bent and quickly picked it up with my good arm, using it to brush off the deadly arachnids. He bit his lip, hard, drawing blood in an attempt to silence his cries. We kept running, jumping randomly like we were dancing on hot coals; we might as well have been.

I heard a loud crashing noise and looked behind me, my eyes widening in fear.

“Brady.”

He kept running, not hearing me. I couldn’t move, my feet anchoring me down. Out in the ocean, a massive wave was growing. Big enough to swallow the whole island. I tried to make my feet move, but my mind was enveloped in anxiety and fear. I couldn’t do anything but stare at it. My breathing hitching, I felt the tightness in my chest return.

We had been running from the elements for over an hour at this point, we couldn’t run from this.

Brady finally stopped and turned, seeing me, frozen in place, then the monstrous wave that was maybe ten feet from where I stood.

“TIFF!”

He bolted to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and scooping me up with ease. I clutched to him, “Were going to die, were going to die.”

He didn’t stop. “No, we're not going to die, I have you.”

I couldn’t breathe, my head felt lighter than a balloon filled with helium. “Were going to die.”

He kept silencing me, he had run up a hill and stopped in front of a tall tree, it wasn’t super thick, but it looked sturdy. He set me down. “Tiff I know that you are panicking right now, but I need you to listen to me, alright?”

I nodded, still struggling to force air down my throat.

“I need you to turn around and wrap your arms around the trunk, okay?”

I took a shaky breathe and did what he told me to, “Thank the lord we had the para cord on us.” He muttered to himself. I held the tree and shut my eyes, I didn’t want to see it when I died. I felt him press up against me, his arms below mine. His body completely enveloping me. I heard the rushing sound of the fast water getting closer.

“I love you,” I whispered. Then braced myself and felt the wave slam into me.

I clutched onto the tree with every ounce of strength I had. Brady’s presence seemed to get farther away before pressing into me even tighter. My lungs screamed for air, tearing up my throat, ripping apart my sinuses. My mind begged me to breathe in, for a release, but I pushed it back. Feeling the power of the water pushing through my body. Trying to drag me out into the open water where I would drown.

My grasp on the tree slipped and I was pulled sideways, into the cloudy water. I tumbled through it, my limbs flailing madly around me. I struggled to try and make my way back to him, but I couldn’t see, and I was being pushed farther and farther away.

The water began to retreat and I was somehow able to pull my head out of the water for a breath, right before I was forced back under. It pulled backwards like a magnet, dragging me towards the sea faster then it had come in. I spun and flipped, my body being wildly thrown around. I realized that I really was going to die, and I closed my eyes, the fight leaving me.

Suddenly, I felt a strong hand close around my arm. Brady.

I pried my eyes back open and could see him, everything was blurry, but I could see his figure. One arm wrapped around the tree, the other one locked to my arm. Keeping me from being swept away.

Finally, after agonizing moments, the water receded. I flopped to my stomach and coughed harshly, water spewing out of my mouth. He collapsed next to me, holding me tightly to him. “I love you," he whispered to me. I was too weak to answer.

I sat up and realized it was pitch black. We gazed out to the sea, the moon reflecting off the water. So calm, so peaceful. It was so beautiful, yet so deadly. We were trapped here, but we had survived. Together.