Adrift by K.M. Galvin

Author:K.M. Galvin [Galvin, K.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: novel
Publisher: K. M. Galvin
Published: 2017-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

I WAKE TO THE SOUND of thunder. I lie there for a moment, confused, and roll into East next to me. The air in the shelter is thick with humidity, but there’s a cool breeze. I listen to the trees as the wind zips through them and—

There it is again. I blink open my eyes, staring up at the tarp as the first drops of water begin. Shit, our campfire is going to go out. Freaking rain. We should have built a removable shelter for the fire. I don’t know how we’re going to relight—

“Oh my God!” I yell and shake East’s shoulder. “East! Easton wake up! The signal fire! It’s raining!”

I don’t wait for him and run naked outside. No point in clothes; it’s raining. I run towards the bright light in the distance, not sure what I’m going to do when I get there. Maybe if I throw more wood on, it won’t go out?

Within seconds I’m drenched, the warm rainwater making it harder to run in the sand. I hear footsteps behind me, then a flash as East runs passed me in only his shorts. When he reaches the giant signal fire, he stands silhouetted against the weakening light and I slow to a walk, watching as he sinks to his knees.

Goddammit!

We can’t catch a fucking break!

I grab some of the firewood we stacked. Firewood is such a generous word for the dead logs, thin branches, moss, and brush we collected. It’s soaking wet in my hands, but I have to try. For him, I have to try.

I throw it on the pile, whimpering when it doesn’t light. Stepping away, all I can do is watch as it begins to go out. By the time it’s just black smoke rising up, the rain has stopped. Just a brief deluge, but it ruined everything. Isn’t that just symbolic of this entire shit experience?

I wipe my skin, wincing as my hands get covered in soot and who knows what else. I’ll need to rinse off. Glancing over at East, I worry my lip when I see he hasn’t moved. Knees planted in the sand, hands fisted at his sides, head bowed. He is the picture of defeat. My eternally optimistic partner has begun to give up.

How can all this heartache happen in the span of a week? It’s taken us days to complete that fire and a thirty-minute shower has washed out our last bit of hope.

Not knowing what to say, I leave him to grieve and walk into the ocean until it’s almost up to my mid-thigh. I take my time washing off, mulling over what to say to him when I see the smoke has gone from a gray to an inky black.

Turning back, I see the signal fire is still built tall, just covered in wet wood and brush, but that’ll surely dry in this weather. Once clean, I head back to our camp, where I shrug my clothes on and slip into my shoes.

I narrow my eyes at the horizon, seeing that the night sky has lightened slightly to a deep blue.

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