Shipwreck

It finally rains, but the survivors are not prepared and only collect a thimbleful of water each from the brief cloudburst. Will is in bad shape and falls off the raft trying to catch rainwater. When he gets a sip of water, he throws up. Boredom sets in, followed by numbness and apathy. Will drifts in and out of sleep, and he makes no sense when he talks. When the others tell Will it is his turn in the water, he replies with comments about Lyssa coming second in chess club. They agree not to ask Will again. Even Charla, who had initially kept up with her exercises, stops any unnecessary movement and gazes vacantly at the horizon. Ian continues his “tedious monologue” about oceanic facts. When Luke says, “Don’t you think it’s time to close up the Encyclopedia Boronica and give us all a break,” (118). Ian reddens and sadly agrees he talks too much. Luke apologizes and points out that, without his knowledge, they would all be dead, so Ian continues. Luke asks Ian about worrying signs in shipwrecked survivors. Ian replies with a list of symptoms that includes hallucinations. He says, “people see things that aren’t really there” as he points excitedly at nothing, exclaiming, “Look—he’s spouting again” (120).

Luke feels the sun burning his face and arms. He is in shark-bait position and realizes the canvas is no longer shading him. He tries to call out to the others, but his mouth doesn’t move. He tries again, but no sound comes out, and then he sees that the others are unconscious. Luke thinks about Ian, musing that the only thing this young boy was guilty of was watching TV, and here he is, about to die “with a bird perched on his head” (122). Luke does a double take, worried that the bird is a hallucination. There are no birds in the open ocean, but he sees them. He also sees fins circle him and feels seaweed around his neck. Luke squeezes his eyes shut, but when he opens them, he sees another fin coming toward him. Something hits his ribs. He tries to scream, but no sound comes out. He looks down and sees the snout of a bottle-nosed dolphin. Luke marvels at the vividness of the hallucination, believing that these are “the last desperate brain impulses of a dying mind” (124). Then his feet touch sand, and with a surge of energy, Luke frantically pushes the raft onto the beach, thinking it will be better to die on dry land than in the ocean.

Heavy rain pummels Luke’s face, and freshwater trickles into his mouth, waking him from a deep sleep. He sits up and sees palm trees, jungle, a sandy beach, and the rainhat full of water. He tries to stand up but can’t, so he crawls to the cabin top and drinks heavily from the rainhat. Charla, Will, and Ian are still unconscious, so Luke wets their lips and tries to trickle water into their mouths. The water revives Charla and Ian, who gulp down more. Will chokes a little but remains unconscious. The three friends try everything to wake Will up, without success. When Ian says they are lucky to have hit the island, Luke tells them that it was the dolphin. Charla and Ian stare at Luke and tell him must have been hallucinating. Ian says a big wind blew them to the island. Charla says that they swam to the island, pushing the raft, lined up and kicking “like crazy. When I close my eyes, I can still see us doing it” (128). The three survivors stare at each other, and Ian slowly says, “I think maybe we’re all right—inside our minds’” (128). Luke raises the hat like a champagne glass and makes a solemn toast—both to their survival and to those that didn’t make it. Charla, Ian, and Luke set their emotions aside, understanding the urgent need to find food, shelter, and to help Will. Together, they make plans to explore the “island that had risen from the sea to save their lives” (129).