Stranded!

You decide to look up an old favourite, Standed (https://chyoa.com/story/Stranded%21.158). Centered on society's most basic unit, the family and written in a semi-realistic style this one should teach you a little.

I know being stranded on a deserted island sounds far fetched but it can really happen, trust me I speak from experience. It had been mama's idea that the family take a south sea cruise to celebrate my recent graduation from college and to break in her new schooner. She had cleaned up recently on the stock market and wanted to celebrate. Mummy had taken a vacation from her job and me and my sister were at loose ends until the autumn semester started up again in a few months. I had decided to take a couple of months off to decide what I wanted to do with my life so I had no objections to a sun soaked cruise in the Caribbean. We shipped out of Nassau and spent the next couple of weeks just drifting with the tides until one night.

Me and Sophia (my sister) had gone to bed early, the days of swimming and sunbathing tiring us out quickly. Our mothers stayed up on the deck, enjoying the quiet of the night sea. A few hours later I was awakened by a shrill scream followed by a bone jarring crash as the schooner started to lean in the water. Jumping from my bunk I rushed to the deck to see that the peaceful ocean had become a wind whipped torrent as a summer storm hit in full fury. Blinking my eyes to clear the blinding spray from them I saw my mummy leaning over the rail, desperately calling out mama's name. Rushing to her side, I yelled over the crashing waves and howling winds. "She got swept overboard!" My mummy cried back, her face covered in sea spray and tears as she scanned the choppy surface of the sea. "The storm hit suddenly and the mast gave way, it hit her and she fell overboard." Turning to the dark waters around us I scanned the surface for any sign of mama but saw none. As I stood there staring at the murky depths the boat gave out with another groan, followed by the sound of splintering wood.

"Mummy! We've hit something!" I hollered to make myself heard, "the boats going to sink! We've got to abandon ship!" I cried as I tried to pull her away from the railing.

"We've got to find her!" Mummy hollered back, her concern for her husband overriding any sense of danger for herself.

"We can search from the lifeboat," I answered, hoping that the idea would appeal to her. "I'll go wake Sophia, she can help us search for her." I said as I rushed back into the cabin. The ship was leaning even more then I had realized as I entered the cabin, having to grab a hold of the railing to maintain my footing. Rushing hand over hand, I followed the railing to my sister's cabin. "Sophia!" I called as I knocked at her cabin door, "Wake up, the boat's sinking!" The door flew open almost instantly and my younger sister stood there, her face a mask of terror as my words sunk in. "We've got to get to the lifeboat!" I yelled over the continued groaning of the boat. Wordlessly my sister rushed past me, hurrying up onto the deck. Turning around I grabbed one of the survival kits my mama always kept hidden in her locker then made my way back to the deck. As I stepped out onto the rain swept deck, I saw Sophia pulling our mother into the small lifeboat, the two women clinging to each other in their fear. I glanced around the rocking ship, trying to see if there was anything else I'd need but finding nothing I jumped into the small craft and lowered it into the turbulent waves.

We spent hours drifting on the storm tossed sea, calling out to Mama until we were all hoarse. As dawn broke the storm faded away almost as quickly as it had arrived, leaving us stranded on a suddenly peaceful ocean miles from anywhere. We drifted silently for days, each lost in their private grief for my father until one afternoon I saw the outline of a small island on the horizon. We quickly paddled for the mysterious landmass, finally making it to the beach just as darkness settled. Pulling the lifeboat onto the beach we climbed ashore in the fading daylight, looking around at our new surroundings. We spotted a somewhat covered clearing not too far from the beach and decided to set up camp there for the night. The night passed quickly and in the morning I looked around at the tropical paradise we had happened onto. Maybe I should go exploring? Or should I set up the campsite in case we have to spend another night here?