Day 19 of 365 Days of Writing Prompts: Your character is stuck on a deserted island with an enemy.
Shannon: “Are you done spelling out help yet, or do you need me to bring you more rocks? This is taking way too long. There is only so much daylight left,” Russ complained.
“Shut up. I’m doing the best I can. You can place the rocks too if you are annoyed by my pace,” I defended myself, plopping down the rock I was holding more aggressively.
“I’m over this. I’m finding shelter and wood. We need a fire. Do it yourself,” he yelled before storming off.
“It wasn’t my idea to work together,” I mumbled, not feeling like putting up much more of a fight. In all honestly, I didn’t mind he was moving on to our next task. Not only would I get some freedom from him, but hopefully he’d complete his mission too.
When I finished the “P”, he had still not resurfaced from the trees. I could have faith in him, and believe that he’d done all he’d set out to do, but I knew him well, and that was unlikely. I started collecting my own fire building materials and piled them on the sand by the shore our raft washed up onto.
I still hadn’t found him after I was satisfied with my pile. I considered looking for him, but I knew he’d just yell at me for not doing anything useful with my time. I started carving out the stick I’d use to try to cause some friction. When I was at an acting camp as a child they challenged us to make a fire to teach a lesson on resilience. Based on the smoke that was steadily building, I could no longer say the instructors never taught me anything.
I had a strong fire building by the time Russ finally came back. “I couldn’t build a fire but I found a cave down the shore that way,” I heard him yelling before I could see him. “Oh, good,” he looked at my fire. “It turns out you are good for something.”
He pushed the last button keeping me under control. “You know what,” I got up to confront him, “Everyone who was on that plane with us didn’t make it to the raft. They didn’t get a second chance to appreciate the fact that they’re breathing. We could be dead, and all you want to do is spend whatever time you have left complaining,” I pushed his shoulders and he pushed back, accidentally knocking me to the ground.
“You think this is how I want to die,” he yelled, “Stuck on an island with a person I wouldn’t even want at my funeral?”
I smashed my hands into the sand, getting more riled up. “Do you know how sick I am of this stupid feud we’ve been having for the last few years? I get it, you think I stole your thunder. I stole you Oscar by being in the same movie as you and stealing the spotlight. I’m sorry I won, but eventually you’ve got to move on with your life. You can’t blame me for giving up on yourself. You’re a great actor, but now all you do is act like you’ve been wronged.”
“You didn’t play the role the way it was intended to be played. You went off script. I’ve been waiting my whole life to get in a movie with you again so I could prove everyone wrong, and now because of my selfishness my whole world went down with that plane,” I watched his face wrinkle and water slowly emerge from his eyes as he fell to his knees. He was in a relationship with the movie’s director, and my heart ached for him that he wasn’t able to save her.
I went over to rub his back, if he’d accept my offer, and he did. “She died doing what she loved, next to the person she loved most. We can only wish we’ll be that lucky” I stated and he nodded, breaking down a little more.
Erin: “Here, I had this in my pocket,” I offered Jim a piece of chocolate.
“What’s your motive fatty,” he mistakenly sassed back.
“My motive is that I was trying to be nice. Because dumb piece of trash, regardless of me detesting your presence, you are the one I am stuck with. You are the only person I have for potentially forever, so I was trying to be nice. But screw that and screw you. All gloves are off bub,” I grumbled deciding that learning how to make a fire was my best bet.
“Hey Jewels,” he ran after me. “Your right, I’m sorry.”
“This is never going to work. We are going to die here and the last ugly face I am going to see is yours,” I cried.
“No,” he put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I’ll be nicer. I actually really like you. We can have an okay time.”
“Yay, an okay time,” I mocked him, gathering up some twigs.
“No, what I am trying to say is I will put effort into this. I want a fresh start,” he offered.
“A fresh start,” I thought on it.
“Yeah,” he encouraged.
“Promise,” I asked not sure if I could trust him.
“Promise. Truce?”
A smile overtook my face as I knew my answer, “No I would rather be alone on this island than with you. I’m going to kill you.”
When in doubt make your characters’ lives harder.
Pelky Sisters 
Kate:
“Anna!?” he screamed from three feet away. In the back of my mind I’d already killed him eight times but if I was going to have any chance of being rescued I had to work with him. There was something oddly frustrating about your worst enemy forgetting he hated you. I think that frustration was intensified when his memory loss was the result of him crashing his plane into the island he was going to desert you on. “Anna!? What is that?” he called.
When I turned to see what he was talking about he was pointing, wide-eyed, at the gun he always seemed to have lying in the sand. A part of me really just wanted the asshole I’d grown to despise back but the other part thought I could really mess with him in this state. Tensely I gasped, “Don’t touch that thing, man, it’s super dangerous. Jeeze, come on.” Stepping tentatively toward the shining piece of dark metal I glanced at Lex, standing there with his arms wrapped around his torso protectively, and smirked.
I plucked the scalding gun from the sand and held it like a bag of rotten meat. Squealing softly as I walked toward him with the loaded gun in my outstretched fingers, Lex took a few steps backward into the shadow of palm trees. When I was back to three feet away I easily slid the firearm into my pocket and grinned gleefully at the amnesic idiot.
Without thinking about it I threw myself forward and hugged my worst enemy on the entire planet. He beamed stupidly as I imagined how it would feel to tighten my fingers around his scrawny neck and squeeze the life out of him. But I released him without harm and walked over to the remnants of his two-seater; a pile of twisted, blackened metal.
There was some fuel left in the untouched engine and if I could find my backpack there was a lighter in the outside pocket; we could build a signal. Rifling through the filth and random bits of metal and plastic I came upon a scrap of leather attached to a tiny bit of canvas. What had once been a part of my backpack was all I was able to find of it. Eventually I gave up on that and began searching for a console to call for help but found the cockpit lodged in the sand twelve feet underwater.
Wandering back to Lex I planted myself down beside him under a palm tree and shut my eyes against the sun. I longed for my sunhat and lotion; this would be a terrific vacation spot if we weren’t stranded. There was a slight breeze, a reprieve from the stifling heat, under the trees.
I was awakened by shouting and the smell of a campfire from a deep, peaceful slumber. Dreams of scuba diving in the Caribbean with my husband where the water had been so clear you could see the reefs for miles vanished in the crackling blaze of current reality. Before me an enormous bonfire had been erected from massive palms and gasoline.
Jumping to my feet I searched the scene for Lex but he was nowhere to be seen. Smoke curled into the inky sky as the fire glowed. Somewhere behind me the brush rustled and I reached for the gun in my back pocket but it was gone. Searching the sand and grass where I’d slept I realized it was gone.
I had a sinking suspicion of where the weapon was but I didn’t want to admit defeat that easy. Sprinting around the fire I almost tripped on a scrap of metal that had been buried in the sand in a line toward the bonfire. When I carefully picked my way in a circle I found five more just like it; hiding there to catch at my feet. Making it finally to the plane’s wreckage I sifted through the scraps to find his other weapons to no avail.
All I could find was a crowbar and a can of bear spray. Calmly I stuffed the spray in my pocket and headed back toward the trees where I’d heard the rustling. It was entirely possible that was just an animal and Lex was lost somewhere about to be eaten by something much larger than he was. But something in my head had convinced me that was just wishful thinking.
There was a roar from deep within the trees as a fearsome feline yowled and my heart skipped about five beats. Backing away from the trees I stood there clutching the crowbar and waited to be eaten or shot. But as the cat got closer I could also hear a very human screaming and thought about how Lex had always thought himself a survivalist.
A few moments went by before I heard the first gunshot go off and the roaring ceased suddenly. Silence followed other than the happy crackling of the fire. Panting I wandered in circles around the fire searching for a better weapon against my enemy to no avail. Unfortunately the plates he’d buried in the ground were beginning to heat up due to their close proximity to the flames so the safest place to hide was no longer viable.
My circle got substantially wider as I attempted to continue my rounds. Out of desperation I’d even considered standing in the water until I threw a log into the murky depths and something had bumped into it, knocking it back to the shoreline. After that I hadn’t stepped a toe into the water.
When the moon had reached a peak in the sky the bushes fanned to reveal Lex, a little scratched up but otherwise fine. On his stupid face was an ugly sneer, “Anna, how lovely to remember you.” He always did like to play with his prey.
Luckily just as he raised his gun the trees exploded with a jaguar’s sleek form and his body crumpled to the ground. Looking up at me the great cat almost nodded at me before it peacefully wandered back into the dark depths of the forest.
Overhead a helicopter’s blades sliced through the brisk air as I hung above the giant bonfire. I waved my hands as emphatically as I could and its searchlight focused on me for a moment. Collapsing to my knees I wept as I knew I was saved.
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Russell:
“While king of the ocean resides over all of man, it is the great serpent that the common sailor fears more.” Queen Oceanis of Marble Port.
The salty taste of the ocean washed over Orn’s face. He gagged, rolling on to his knees as the pearly white sand greeted him. The rising smoke off in the distance as the mast of a velvet sail sank in the distance.
A capped jar floated up beside him. Opening it, the punch of mead hitting his nose greeted him. “Boron’s mercy!” He cried. Stumbling over some feet to a palm tree line, he fell onto his ass and took a careful sip. The taste unmarred by salt. He took another sip when the snap of a branch caught his attention.
The first thing he saw was brass yellow armour and worn out beard. He did the only thing that could come to mind. “Care for a drink?” He shook the bottle enticingly. “We can at least make the most of it, can we?”
Sitting down beside him, the two sat silently and shared mead as they watched the opposing ships sink into the abyss.
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(I almost didn’t do one today. But inspiration struck!)
Created to Write:
Bronze stands up, dusting the sand off her legs. She hears a scream behind her. Turning, she’s just in time to get tackled by Heather. The two girls roll down the hill, and separate. Bronze is facing the sky, while Heather is facing the sand a few feet away. Heather looks up, sand in her hair and coating her face. She scrambles to stand, attacking Bronze again.
“Stop it!” Bronze says. She kicks Heather, sending her to her knees. “That won’t help us get off this island.”
Heather looks up, “You think you’re getting off this island?”
Bronze shrugs, looking around, “I don’t know if either of us are, but that’s not the point.”
Heather goes for a right hook, but Bronze catches it. She kicks Heather’s leg, only to groan. She tries the other one and sends Heather onto her back. She pins the offending leg, as well as Heather’s arms.
“Didn’t think Jade was friends with a killer,” she quips.
“After seeing what you did to Malea,” Heather growls, “and to Starry, you’d bet I’m angry. And to top it all off-” She kicks Bronze away. When they are in reversed positions, Heather continues, “You won’t leave Jade alone.”
Bronze smirks, “Can’t help a crush. …What was your name, Ōkami?”
Heather narrows her eyes.
Bronze sighs to herself, “Look, those two-”
“Don’t make excuses,” Heather says.
“How about we find a way off this island. When we do, you can kick my butt,” Bronze bargains. She then smirks and says, “At least you can try.”
Heather stares at her, then stands up, “Fine. But only until we make it off the island, got it?”
“No problem, princess.” Heather hesitates, then offers a hand to the girl on the sand. She takes it and stands up. “Why are you so mad about my attention on Jade? …You don’t got a thing for him, do you?”
Heather turns around, “Don’t ask questions.” She starts to walk away, to the small bit of trees at the top of the hill.
“It’d be a problem if you did,” Bronze calls, walking in the same direction, “Considering the doe eyes you and Night Ghost share.”
Heather rolls her eyes, “You are only concerned with if a girl is after the guy you like, not your pseudo competition’s love life.”
“What can I say? He’s the one,” Bronze states.
‘In your dreams,’ Heather thinks, taking into serious consideration on telling Bronze what Josh thinks of her. But then she realizes that there’s been enough fighting and not enough island escaping. So she’ll put her comebacks on hold.
For now.
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