We found the airplane!

The airplane was, well, damaged. Sadly, there was no one alive or around the wreckage. We went inside the metallic flotsam body and saw plenty of people's bags, luggage, and carry-ons.

Is this considered stealing, even under these circumstances? I asked myself.

The discovery led to us stumbling upon things like blankets, clothes, and personal items that might come in handy.

Mom?

Yes?

This feels wrong. These are their items. We can't just take them.

Honey, I know you feel an urge to want them to return but honey, look around. No one is alive anymore. It's almost as if everyone blipped out of existence.

-O -Okay, she said with hesitation.

Grab as much stuff as you can; let's head back to our camp area.

The boys had already returned and it appeared the island had provided them with strange berries that had an iridescent aquamarine juice oozing from them. I had made a sign out of wooden sticks from the island that read HELP. After all, that is what we needed; help. We were in the middle of nowhere on an unknown island. No one had known that we had left beside us, because well, who else needed to know? This was our family. No one else had needed to know that we were leaving for London. Starting anew with all of our precious loved ones. My sister had passed away from cancer just a year before this. This mess of a year.

My sister's voice spoke in a hospital bed where an ambulatory EKG machine beeped each of her heartbeats. The calendar reads December of 1999.

Promise. Promise me. Promise you won't let me hurt anymore Katie.

I promise to you, my beloved sister. I want to end your pain but the doctors can only do so much. Do you see all of these wires and IV bags? They are your life support. Do you see me?

My hair flowed down to the middle of my back. The light-blonde amber color resembled beautiful strands of honey that magically flowed from my scalp. My sister, Kaya, shared the same hair color. However, due to the chemotherapy medicine that was supposed to save her life, she was completely bald. Tears flowed from her rosy cheeks and embodied her fight against cancer.

I had wished we weren't out here. I just wanted to go home, but I had to stay here for my family. The sweltering heat radiated off of the sun and began to blister my skin. I tried to stay in the shade from underneath the palm trees. There was almost next-to-nothing to drink; I contemplated drinking the salty ocean water. I know that would've tasted revolting and most likely dehydrate me.

Mom, I know what you are thinking, but don't do it. Lily had told me. I looked at her.

What are you talking about?

I know you're thirsty and all, but you can't drink salt water; it will eventually kill you. We need to find a lake or river somewhere. Somewhere with freshwater. She insisted.

I may be the mother, but sometimes I felt like Lily was smarter than me. I'm the adult! I felt like I was going crazy, being thirsty, and trying to drink salt water. Then, I was arguing with my daughter about it.

I told Adam that we should go exploring. We gathered rocks to leave a trail so we could always return to the main part of the island. After that, we took off into the trees. After a few feet into an immense jungle that was full of exotic creatures and disgusting bugs, we stumbled upon a huge owl. Its wingspan looked almost twelve feet long! The creature made a noise in which I cannot describe to this day, that made us all jump. Then, it flapped its wings almost nine times before flying off. As the humongous creature flew off the tree, you could see it fly up into the pale blue sky.

Wow, that was one huge owl! Lawson exclaimed.

It is! I agreed.

A trickling stream with green mossy rocks on the riverbed offered me hope to rehydrate and cool off my blistering skin.