“Make sure they break off easily. If the branch bends without breaking, it’s because it’s full of water.”
Jack took a few steps in the direction of the hillside and the nearby bushes.
“Could you perhaps go the other way?” Julie asked. “I was just about to go to the ladies’ room.”
Jack looked at the nearby bushes and then shrugged. “Okay.”
Jack walked in the opposite direction. Julie rose to her feet and slowly limped toward the bushes.
“You’re all right?” Kevin asked.
“It’s just my ankle. I’m fine.”
Kevin rolled his body forward, and put his left knee on the ground.
“What you’re doing?” Julie asked.
“I thought I’d give you a helping hand.”
“I don’t need help,” Julie said in a loud decisive tone. “Just stay where you are.”
“Whatever,” Kevin mumbled and then leaned back against the tree trunk.
Just then, Andrew and Nancy woke up. Andrew squinted in each direction, before his face suddenly froze; his eyes locked in on Kevin.
“I’m Kevin. You’re Andrew—am I right?”
“Oh yeah.” Andrew exhaled. “You swam the other way, did you?”
Kevin nodded.
“So, where are Jack and Julie?”
“Jack went to get some branches, and Julie had to… pee.” Kevin hesitated.
Nancy kept staring at Kevin for a long time.
“Can I help you?” Kevin eventually asked.
“I had a black boyfriend in college,” Nancy claimed. “I mean, he was in college. I was in high school.”
“Good for you.” Kevin said hesitantly and then looked at Andrew.
Andrew scratched his temple and then he indicated Nancy’s temple.
Kevin looked at Nancy. “She shouldn’t be moving around too much.”
Soon after that, Jack returned with a couple of branches, and Julie, who had also come back, began to peel off the tree bark.
“What’re you doing there, Julie?” Andrew asked.
“I’m gonna try to start a fire,” Julie said enthusiastically.
“That’s never going to work.” Andrew sneered. “You’re wasting your time.”
“Wasting my time,” Julie said in a mocking voice. “What else am I gonna do?”
Andrew rolled his eyes and looked the other way.
“Didn’t you ever see Cast Away? Tom Hanks started a fire,” Julie added.
“Tom Hanks wasn’t stuck in the Canadian wilderness,” Andrew said. “You have a better chance of finding a coconut.”
Kevin focused on the branch in Julie’s hand. “We could gather branches, and spell out SOS on the shore.”
“That’s a good idea,” Andrew said. “You know, there might be hikers in these mountains, and they just see us sitting here and don’t think twice about it.”
“Okay.” Jack shrugged. “Let’s gather rocks and branches then.”
The men rose, and began walking toward the woods. Julie had just finished peeling the bark off the one branch and was just about to start on the other. Andrew looked down as he walked past her, and their eyes met.
“That-a girl.” Andrew chuckled.
Julie kept peeling, this time more intensely than before.
“Why are we just sitting here?” Nancy asked.
“I broke my ankle, remember?”
“Oh, we’re waiting for a doctor?”
Julie sighed. “Do you remember the plane crash?”
“What plane?”
Julie sighed deeply, and then explained the recent events to Nancy, who fell asleep shortly after.
Afternoon
The three men had gathered branches and spelled out the famous distress signal across the shore; they’d placed several rocks on top of the branches. When they returned to the crooked tree, Julie had her hands in the air.
“I thought you’d have started a fire by now,” Andrew said.
“I have to dry the grass first,” Julie said, and looked at the grass in her hands.
“Jack ate worms,” Kevin suddenly blurted out. “A whole bunch of them.”
“What!” Julie yelled in a high-pitched tone.
Just then, Nancy woke up and looked disorientated.
“What did it taste like?” Julie asked.
“I don’t know.” Jack sniffed. “Greasy, and a bit salty perhaps. It wasn’t that bad, really.”
Nancy suddenly walked away from the group.
Jack followed. “Where are you going, Nancy?”
“Nowhere,” Nancy quickly responded.
“You shouldn’t walk too much,” Jack said. “It’s better if you stay here.”
Nancy took a few steps backward while her eyes focused on Jack, who then took a few steps closer to her. For each step Jack took, Nancy backed up accordingly. And then suddenly, she dashed and ran toward the woods, Jack in hot pursuit. Nancy didn’t get far; the pursuit was over within seconds. Jack had a firm grip around Nancy’s waist as she desperately tried to break free, her elbows swinging and her legs kicking. When Kevin came up and grabbed her legs, she howled even more, pleading with them both to let her go.
The sobbing wore her out, and Nancy soon fell asleep crying, rolled up like a small child clinging to her knees in a fetal position. The atmosphere was as depressing as the lack of rescue. The group hardly looked at each other; rather, they stared at the ripples caused by the rain colliding with the dark-gray surface of the lake. Eventually, Julie broke the long-lasting silence.
“Hey, Kevin.”
Kevin turned his head nonchalantly. “What?”
“How to lose weight by eating nothing but worms,” Julie said, unusually slowly.
“What?”
“That’s the title.” Julie smiled.
“What title?”
“The title of the book I’m writing.” Julie winked at Kevin.
Kevin raised his eyebrows, but never smiled back. Jack smiled briefly though.
Andrew looked confused. “What book?”
“Haven’t you heard, Andrew? I’m writing a book, and I’m gonna call it How to Lose Weight by Eating Nothing but Worms.”
“That’s a shitty title.”
“I think it might work,” Julie said. “What won’t people do to lose weight?”
“Eat worms,” Andrew said sarcastically. “I’m going to write a book of my own, and call it How I Became a Millionaire.”
“You’re a millionaire?” Julie sounded astonished.
“No, but I will be, once I sue the airline for forcing us to eat worms in order to survive,” Andrew said, sounding annoyed. “And making us wait out here in the cold.”
“Well, In that case, we’re all millionaires then.” Julie smiled.
“If we ever get out of here.” Andrew grinned. “Maybe that’s why they’re not coming for us. They can’t afford the lawsuit.”
“It’s not the airline’s responsibility to find us,” Jack told them.
“I know that,” Andrew said harshly. “Don’t you think I know that?”
Jack sniffed. “Besides, you didn’t have any worms.”
“They don’t know that. I remember reading about this woman who got a million-dollar settlement after eating a burger with a rat tail in it. Hell, I’ll eat a few worms if it gets me a million dollars.”
Julie’s face suddenly shifted, and she kept staring at Andrew with a cold and empty expression. She looked as though she’d seen a ghost.
“Yeah. Can you imagine that?” Andrew looked at Julie. “To suddenly realize you’re chewing on a rat tail.”
Julie kept staring at Andrew with the same awkward expression.
“But at least she got a million dollars out of it,” Andrew added.
“You mean that thing in L.A.?” Kevin asked. “Angela something?”
“I don’t remember her name,” Andrew replied. “But I think it was in L.A.”