Stranded: Day One writes first
You come to on wet sand, ears ringing, the tide licking at your shoes. The beach is a scatter of luggage, a torn strip of fuselage, and four other people in various states of shock. A woman is already on her feet, checking pulses with brisk, practiced hands.
“Hey. Hey, you’re okay, you’re breathing.” She helps you sit up. “I’m Mara. Nurse. As far as I can tell nobody’s dying, which is the only good news I’ve got.”
A jittery man near the treeline hasn’t stopped staring at the jungle. “Guys. Guys, has anyone else noticed there’s no tail section? A whole plane and no tail? And, “ he points inland, hand shaking “ tell me you see the lights too.”
Through the dense green, a steady glow pulses somewhere deep in the island, too even to be fire.
Mara looks at you, jaw tight.
“Okay. We stay calm, we make choices together. So I’m asking the new person. What do we do first, search the wreck for supplies, get water before dark, or go find out what’s making that light?”
