text: Rusted pieces of metal wash up on the white sand, broken remnants of a now destroyed Boeing 737. Twenty yards inland, the sand continues but the beach seems to stop, giving way to a dark and leafy forest that goes the entire length of the island until it meets the similar twenty yards of beach on the opposite side. Ty Mastherson sits down on the sand, underneath the shade of a palm and watches the scrap metal find its way to dry land. It is the first time in a long time he’s felt completely and totally content. Ty was, to his knowledge, one of the only two survivors from the crash. The other, Amy, was on her own back at ‘home’(home was nothing more than a small collection of firewood and two bundles of grass they’d taken to calling beds). When the plane had begun to go down, Ty had decided he was okay with dying. He’d seen people around him scrambling to put on their oxygen masks and struggling to figure out how their seats turned into a floatation device because they do, don’t they? I saw it on TV once- Ty chose to sit calmly amid the chaos, trying to concentrate on finishing his crossword. If the need to survive had not been the most base, powerful instinct a human could feel, he might not have bothered unbuckling his seatbelt when he found himself still alive and conscious after the crash, nor would he have allowed himself to float to the top of the water. He definitely wouldn’t have struggled over to a broken airplane seat, now floating(so they did float) on the ocean's surface, letting himself be carried inland to the island only a few hundred yards away. He wouldn’t have swam out to save Amy(herself floating in on some kind of backpack) and spent a few days setting up camp with her. He wouldn’t have done any of that. But he did. And now Ty felt better than he had in fifteen years. In a lot of ways, it was like a vacation; There was nowhere to clock in on the island. Amy had found some kind of fruit or vegetable- They weren’t really sure exactly what it was, only that it tasted similar to a pear- that seemed to grow almost everywhere you looked. And there were animals too- They’d been there a week and Ty had only managed to catch glimpses- a rustle in a bush or an unlucky step in the remnants of a wild bathroom break- but eventually he would find one and he would kill it. He and Amy would share the meal together and mark it like that one boy had in that book Hatchet- First Meat. Ty had never been much for being in charge in his old life, but on the island he was thrust into the position. Amy looked up to him; She saw him as a leader, and to his credit, he had tried to act the part. Setting up the camp had been done largely to his specifications, as minimal as they were. He made sure that neither of them ever ate too many of the fruits, so far their only sustenance. He’d shown Amy how to boil water to make it somewhat drinkable. He’d even thought out a plan for picking the fruits only from certain parts of the forest at a time, to make sure they never picked too many- but then, they’d only been here a few days. Better to wait to tell Amy about that one. She was still holding out hope that they would be rescued- You could see it when she thought she was alone and looked to the distance, squinting in hopes that it might make a rescue ship appear on the horizon. Ty had accepted what Amy still had yet to figure out- they were never going to make it back to society. But of course, he would never tell her that. Not yet. Ty had to be careful around Amy, delicate as she was. For the most part, he could tell how she felt- They’d grown close over the last few days. She’d fallen for him almost immediately. What was that thing people said? “I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on earth?” Turns out that’s a bald faced lie. Back home, Ty doubted if Amy would’ve given him a second glance on the street. Nothing much impressive about a balding 32 year old man who works at the DMV. The island though, was a different story. Here he was- Well he would never tell Amy this. Probably wouldn’t admit it to anyone in the world. But he felt like a king, a fucking king. And who was to say different? It wasn’t as if there was anyone here to challenge him for the crown. “So there”, Ty thought. “I’m king of the island.” The heat was growing unbearable, so he turned and started to walk back into the forest. It was still hot underneath the shade, but more tolerable. Also he wanted to find Amy- What was she doing? Sometimes Amy would drift into these spells of melancholy that lasted for hours at a time- Ty always worried the one day she might become so depressed as to take her own life. If that happened, Ty thought he might go crazy as well. She was sitting on a stump that marked the entrance to their camp. Ty stopped underneath the cover of the canopy for a moment just to admire her again. She was certainly a beautiful woman- dark black hair with eyes Ty swore changed colors at least once a day; Optic mood rings. Somehow, after three days stranded on an island with the sun beating down from above, her skin was still porcelain white. “Hey”, Ty said, walking up. “Whatcha doin?” He was already looking at her hands though, where she was sharpening a rock with another rock, forming it into a sort of arrowhead. “What’s that for?” “Hunting.” The rock still looked too blunt to pierce skin and even if she managed to sharpen it well enough, there would still be the issue of fitting it to an arrow and creating a bow, but Ty said none of this. Making a tool meant that on some level, Amy knew they might be here a long time. It was the first sign of initiative she’d shown since they’d been marooned and he certainly wasn’t going to mess that up. “Looks good”, he replied with a smile. “Anything to eat?” An attempt at a joke. Amy gestured over to the pile of pears(they were known as pears until a more fitting name was thought of), letting the joke pass over her head, and went back to sharpening her rock. Ty shuffled over to the pears but his mind remained on Amy even as he sat on the warm ground and began to eat. His mind constantly played with thoughts of Amy- how to make her happier, more productive, anything to change her consistently unconcerned behavior. It was almost as if she didn’t mind whether she lived or died. Apart from the obvious roadblock this posed to their survival, it also worried Ty for a more personal reason. He was interested in making Amy his wife. The idea had no meaning, really. Not out here in the middle of nowhere, where there was no law other than nature. Still, it seemed the proper gesture to make. If they were meant to spend their lives together, isolated from the rest of humanity, Ty thought it was best they do it as partners. And what better way to solidify their partnership than through such a grand act? There was a little bit of a dirty feeling to it though. Certainly Ty had thought about what might happen if Amy said no to him, how uncomfortable things would be. There wasn’t much hope for avoiding each other when they were the only two legged things for thousands of miles. But the more he thought about it, the less likely he thought she would say no. What was in it for her to reject him? She had no one else, nowhere to go- As strange as that sounded, Ty knew more than anything that that would be why Amy accepted him. If it hadn’t been for how deeply he felt for her, he might not have been alright with that. But he could never ask her now, as she sulked and sharpened her knife, like an ape first discovering how to make tools. Ty approached her cautiously. “Amy. Are you alright?” She looked up at him and realized he was worried. Her teeth flashed in a gorgeous smile. “Of course. Sorry. I was thinking of my parents.” Amy’s parents. They seemed to always be the subject of her pouting, whether she was imagining them planning her funeral or digging into their retirement fund to send out frantic search parties for their only daughter. Ty sympathized, he really did, but he also felt that at some point Amy had to get over it. Ty hadn’t thought much about his own parents, other than to remember that his father had once said it might be best for everyone if Ty disappeared off the face of the earth. He hadn’t quite done that, but he’d come as close as he could’ve. Ty squatted down and grabbed Amy’s chin, gently turning her head to face him. “Amy I know it’s hard. And I know it’s early. But soon, it won’t hurt as bad. Soon we’ll forget the past.” Ty hugged Amy’s stiff body as she let his words wash over her. She was smiling back up at him when he released her, before going back to sharpening her rock. Ty left the clearing, and headed up for ‘The Mountain’. ‘The Mountain’ would’ve been better classified as a small hill back “on the mainland” but on the island it was the high point. Ty had originally climbed there on the very first day, squinting with tired eyes at the horizon, trying to see any possible signs of land. Perhaps a dove flying back towards him with a twig in its mouth. Instead he saw nothing but dark blue ocean melting into the lighter blue of the sky. That had been when Ty’d realized they were truly alone. Now he trudged up the incline with sweat on his brow. He abandoned his shirt and let the sun beat down on his already reddening skin. Unlike Amy, Ty was not made for constant sunlight. Though really, a sunburn was the least of his worries. Amy had not come up The Mountain since their first day here, so this was where Ty had decided to propose to her, since it allowed for preparation in secret. He was doing it in as glamorous a fashion as the circumstances provided. He had created a pit in which he could light a bonfire- only for a certain amount of time, so as not to attract too much attention- and planned out what he would say to the exact word. He would compliment her eyes, her skin, her spirit. The way she spoke. He would bless whatever disaster had led to them being marooned together. She would say nothing, only holding out her hand with that perfect smile on her face. The picture of joy. Ty had it all planned. There was only the matter of getting something to eat. Pear-like fruits were fine for regular meals, but what would a wedding be without a feast? Even if it must be a feast of island squirrel, or whatever animal it was that was so narrowly escaping Ty’s gaze. Ty set out into the less explored part of the small island with a determined glare on his face. Today he became a hunter. Back home, Ty had never hunted before in his life. He was more of the quiet type, more likely to be found curled up inside reading Harry Potter for the thirtieth time than to be out scalping deer. But of course, everything had changed for Ty the moment that plane hit the water. Back home, he hadn’t had a girlfriend for 5 years. Here, he would soon make the most beautiful woman for leagues in any direction his queen. The forest of the island was peculiar- In patches, grass grew, but for the most part the ground was sand- hot or cold, depending upon whether or not sunlight had the angle to burn through. Trees were scattered around, with trunks that made Ty think of palm trees but with none of the familiar fronds or coconuts. Bugs thankfully remained rare. Ty spent the better part of two hours up the trunk of one of the mystery trees before a small animal wandered into his vision. It looked like a skunk, though it was brown instead of black and white; Ty had no choice but to pray the resemblance was only coincidence. He hadn’t checked, but he thought it was likely the island was severely lacking in tomato juice. He also had no weapons save for a few small rocks, far too light to do any real damage to an animal that size. He watched it sniff the air, wandering in and out of sunlight. Finally he decided to act. Ty threw the first stone well over the skunk-creature’s head. It rattled the plants behind it and the animal began trotting away from the source of the sound and towards Ty, who let it get right underneath the tree he was in before leaping down upon it like a leopard. There was a brief moment of shock for Ty and the skunk alike as they met each other's unfamiliar textures before Ty found the part of the animal he believed to be it’s neck and twisted. Just like that, the animal lay limp. First Meat. Ty took the brown skunk up The Mountain and began skinning and cooking it. A lack of knowledge meant losing a lot of the available meat, but Ty’s mindset was that Amy would be more impressed with the gesture than the substance. As it cooked, the sun began to fall into a pink-yellow concoction, and Ty left The Mountain to fetch Amy. He found her sitting in the exact same position. She seemed to have ditched the sharpening. Ty grabbed her by the shoulder and extended a hand. “Follow me, I have a surprise for you.” Amy got up without a word and together they began walking over to the hill. On such a small island, you could smell the meat before you saw it grilling. Maybe a month ago Ty would’ve vomited at the stench but now he thought nothing in the world had ever smelt better. He jogged up the hill ahead of Amy and began stoking the bonfire, pleading with it to flourish into a more dramatic flame. He got it five feet high before Amy broke the top. Ty turned away from the embers and got down on one knee. “Amy.” It was only now Ty realized he had never learned Amy’s full name. “Amy, as hellish as the circumstances of our coming together were, these last few weeks with you have been nothing short of heaven. When I see your eyes, I melt. Your sun resistant skin is something of wonder.” Ty made sure to punctuate this line with a smile. “You have an unbreakable spirit and I want to be around you for the rest of my life. Thankfully, it seems I will. Amy, will you marry me?” It played out almost to his exact expectations. Maybe in his imagination he had thought a tear or two might escape Amy’s eyes but her smile was enough. He was now a husband. He had a wife. One day, he might even be a father. In ecstasy, he took Amy into his arms and kissed her. It was a few moments before he felt the blood leaking from his back. When he released her, stunned, Amy pulled the arrowhead from his back and plunged it into him again, this time near his heart. It had become considerably sharper since Ty saw it last. Ty began stumbling backwards, looking for something to defend himself but the shock was too great. Amy ran towards him and shoved him, grunting, into his own bonfire. His screams would’ve sent birds flying if any had inhabited the island. Instead they fell only on Amy’s ears. She stood there, watching him writhe in the heat, relishing his misery. As the last of his life left him, Amy reached over him and grabbed a piece of the still cooking meat. Delicious. So the creep was dead. Finally. Amy had been growing tired of tiptoeing around him, worried that he would realize what she was up to, as if he could see into her thoughts. She was worried about nothing of course; to a narcissistic, delusional asshole like Ty she simply wasn’t a threat. He had probably died marvelling at the fact that Amy had had the mental capacity to betray him at all. “Well guess what asshole- You’re dead!” Amy yelled to no one in particular. The sound of her voice made her feel very alone. She began fanning the bonfire, taking care to keep her eyes from looking at Ty’s torched corpse. Of course she still felt guilty, even though she’d had to do it. There was no other way to fix the situation- What Ty had believed to be the situation. They’d only been here three days, rescue was still well within the realm of possibility. And he’d proposed to her- Asked her to marry him! Fucking lunacy. Amy recalled the first time Ty took advantage of her. She’d barely been conscious, having just been dragged into the shore half drowned. The sick fuck hadn’t even had the decency to let her dry off first, just tore at her as though time was running out on some invisible stopclock... She remembered it with the icy detachment of someone who has only heard a story of trauma, not the fiery terror of one who’s experienced it. The asshole had actually had the audacity to ask her if it was good afterwards- As though it were just a casual hookup after a wild night out. As though they’d met in a bar and not nearly died on a plane crash that very same day. As though it was guaranteed either of them would ever have any other options. Insanity. And no Ty. It wasn’t good. Amy sat on The Mountain, wrinkling her nose at the smell of Ty’s burning shorts. The bastard had loved walking around without his shirt on. Probably thought he was turning into some sort of Tarzan, as though his flabby beer gut would’ve somehow disappeared over three days. She popped a few more pieces of the skunk into her mouth, considered trying to save some of Ty’s corpse for food and decided she was not nearly desperate enough. Wasn’t sure if she ever would be. Instead, she left The Mountain and lugged all the firewood Ty had so kindly chopped up for her out to the beach. She started four separate bonfires at each point of the island, wafting their flames to great heights. And then Amy began to wait.