by Kevin Tiernan

Created on: July 01, 2009

Sight Through The Flames

Nobody was coming and we both knew it. However, under the canvas of stars we seemed to forget that fact. The ocean waves crashed upon the shore, shadows in the dark abyss of the nightfall.Responding to the rhythm of the ocean, the leaves of the jungle combined to echo its call. Not a ship in sight, not a sign of land as far as the eye could see, yet around this fire we found hope. I lifted my head from my crisscrossed arms and met the gaze of a young brown haired woman in her late twenties. She was scared, I could tell, as her eyes nervously darted from the blaze of our signal fire to my face. I smiled nervously, trying to tell her everything was going to be okay. People would come. It would all be alright. It was as if we were connected in that one moment, and nothing else mattered.

"I'm Eric, by the way. Eric Michaels", I said across the billowing smoke.

The girl on the other side of the flames sat up in the sand, straightening her back. She had been sitting Indian style, as had I.

"Alexis. Nice to meet you, Eric", she whispered through her delicate lips.

"So here we are, huh? Couple of unlucky thrill-seekers, we are", I joked, and she giggled.

"Ah, yeah. I have to ask though, where are we?", she questioned

I felt my jacket pocket for the defined shape of the patron bottle. It seemed to bring me comfort, and I hated it.

"What brings you here?" I asked.

She hesitated, and shifted the sand between her toes, removing her violet blazer in the process. Alexis seemed utterly distressed, and began to weep. I rushed to her side to comfort her, wrapping my arms around her.

"I don't know. I can't remember anything!" Alexis said through her sobs. I stroked her shoulder, whispering that everything was going to be alright. All the while, I knew I was lying. I was just as terrified as the girl was, and just as clueless.

"I think we have a severe case of amnesia. Listen, we just have to work through this. Do you remember anything?" I asked.

"I can't remember anything beyond a couple years ago. What happened to us?" she questioned, pounding her fist into the ground.

*

We had both awoken face down in the break water the previous day, disoriented and bruised. I opened one eye slowly, digging my fingers into the sand. I could barely manage to lift my legs from behind me, crawling inland on my stomach. I heard screams, coming from my left, and manged to pick myself up. Limping, I sprinted

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