The fire was nothing but ash and coals when I opened my eyes. The sun seemed to be pretty high in the sky already and nothing seemed to have eaten me in the middle of the night. Stretching out on the crappy leaf bed, it disappointed me to see it was all real and not just a dream. But I knew even when I went to bed last night that it wasn't a dream, but I had hoped.
Sitting up, I looked out at the water, spotting a few more suitcases on the beach. The coconut was my first mission as soon as I was fully awake, though. I needed both food and water. But first, I needed to find somewhere to pee. Peeing in the jungle behind a tree was looking like the best thing to do. As for taking a crap eventually, I was going to have to dig a poop hole. I never thought those were words I would ever have to think.
Standing up, I knew where I could find a stone. Chances were I could find one in the ocean, onshore, or a little deeper in the water. I hoped it was going to be warmer than it looked and I wouldn't freeze trying to find the damn rock. But I would only know that when I actually got to the water to feel it.
My poor muscles and bones were tender today. Far worse than anything I had felt yet, it was like I had run the longest laps at the fastest speeds and just hoped for the best. Stumbling down the beach, the sand was already warmer than it needed to be under my sock covered feet. The plan was to just look for a rock first and then figure out how to get it, all without getting to a level of unsatisfiable wetness.
I ignored the suitcases as I went along the beach looking for a single large enough rock to smack the coconut with. I wandered down the beach further than I had before. Looking down as I walked, I saw what almost looked like footprints, but it seemed unlikely. I had seen no sight of any kind of life but my own. I shook off the idea entirely and just continued my walk to find my rock. The sun was warm on my back and shoulders, but the wind coming off the water balanced it out well. It was just warm enough to be warm and cool enough not to overheat.
Finding the perfect rock was a little harder than I would have liked to be. I was getting frustrated beyond anything I had ever felt. It was a rock. How bloody hard was it to find a damn rock?
Annoyed, I just peeled off the socks and pants, tossing them as far up on the beach as I could. I was just going to get a rock out of the bloody ocean. Forget looking on the beach for one. That just wasn't happening, at least not where I was examining.
Walking into the ocean, it was cold. Bone chillingly frigid, to be more exact. My teeth chattered pretty quickly, but I felt along with my feet until I finally found a rock. The reality set in that I was going to have to reach down into the water and get it if I couldn't kick it free with my feet.
Digging at it with my toes and finally making it move, I shoved it further and further out of the water. Turning to the right, I spotted it on the beach. The body. I didn't even have to get close to know what it was. The pale flesh and fingers that stuck straight up were a good sign that this was indeed a dead human being. I was too terrified to get any closer; I had never seen a dead body, let alone one that had been floating in the ocean for god knows how long now.
It was easily a day or more than now.
Snatching the rock, I ran from the body before my curiosity got the better of me and I had to go look at it. If I did, I would never be the same. I snagged my socks and pants and walked along the waterline so I didn't burn my feet on the sand. I was so excited to fill my mouth with coconut and water; It felt like I hadn't drunk a single thing in days. At this stage, drinking my pee was completely out of the question. I had no way to boil it or filter it, so that was a no for me.
I made a mad dash up the beach over the hot sand and back onto my makeshift bed. Dropping the rock beside me, I slipped my socks and pants back on. I wanted to go grab the other suitcases before I sat down again and got to work on my coconut. Who knew how long it was going to take me to get it open after all? I might struggle all afternoon.
Sighing deeply, I forced my body to stand up and made my way down the beach, this time with my socks as mild protection from the sand. I grabbed the bag farthest away first; it was a bright pink suitcase, expanded out as far as it could go. It was beyond heavy; the suitcases weighed as much as half of me, surely; I would bet on it.
The closer bag was navy blue and had leather straps that were a rusty brown colour. This bag was lighter than the pink suitcase by a long shot. Hauling them both back to the area beside the fire and my little jungle section. I tossed the soggy bags down on the spot where the dirt met the sand. I didn't want to melt or ruin anything inside the bag with the fire.
I tossed some more brush and logs on the fire, topping it off with some paper shreds and it sprang back to life with little work needing to be done for that to happen. I waited until it looked like some of the wood had caught fire to go rummage through the new suitcases.
Starting with the bag first, I pulled the zipper open and chucked; the bag was almost bone dry thanks to the inside being surprisingly rubber lined. Inside there were a couple of books, some mints, a full water bottle, and some clothing. I yanked the water bottle out of the bag and cracked the seal when I opened the lid. I couldn't stop myself from guzzling the entire contents of the bottle back in one go.
Panting for breath after I held onto the bottle and set it down in the sand. That was the best find yet. I emptied the bag out completely into the sand, finding more than just what I saw when I looked through the bag. A couple of packs of crackers fell out, and I recognised them almost right away. They were the same ones I had eaten on the plane. This person had stored their crackers and water bottle away for later.
Resisting the urge to demolish the crackers, I picked through the rest of the stuff in the sand. The clothing would be very useful. Shaking out a pair of pants because I had covered them in the sand, a pair of flip-flops fell out. They were your standard foam ones from the dollar store. They looked almost close enough to the right size to fit my feet and they would protect me from the burning sand.
I tucked everything back into the bag except the shoes and the mints, and set it aside with the other bags. The pink monstrosity was next. I fully expected everything but the kitchen sink to be in this damn bag. I knew there were going to be useful items inside. There was no way it was as heavy as it was and wouldn't have usable things.
The zipper was really hard to get open in the large section, so I moved to work on the smallest section. Deciding to go smallest to largest seemed to be the best option and gave me plenty of time to look over all the objects without having hundreds of them out. Sticking my hand in the front pocket, I pulled out gloves, a hat, and some sunglasses. They were all soaked, but I figured if I found something strong enough, I might be able to hang them and everything else from a tree to dry.
Unzipping the next section, I found what seemed like the spot where all the cosmetics and junk were kept. There were tubes and jars and tiny round cases, bottles of lotion and even some unscented deodorant. I looked through each and every piece of makeup and care products. The ones I could use in one pile and the ones I couldn't or didn't know how in the other.
Having now worked up to it, I yanked the zipper on the largest section and got the fucking thing opened. I wish I hadn't, though; they lined the top with bras and underwear. The next layer was more promising, though. There was a large brown folded object covering everything else.
Flinging the bras and such aside, I pulled out the brown folded object. It seemed to be some kind of super-long scarf or towel; I was just excited about it because it might be usable as a blanket or a pillow. It was soft and light but also didn't seem to let the wind through it all.
Just under the scarf thing was another cosmetics bag, this one made of mesh and had all kinds of metal objects and such inside. Moving the bag aside, I found more books and plenty of clothing. More than anyone actually needed to bring with them. There was no way this lady was actually going to need every single piece of all this stuff. Maybe, like me, she had been running away from home and everything she knew. There was no way to know that now.