Look for water

While the supply of bottled water was ample at the moment, Samuel wasn't sure how long he'd be here, so finding water was of absolute importance. Turning away from the ocean, he set his course into the jungle surrounding the beach. Using a shard of metal as a machete, he began hacking his way into the undergrowth with little bags of pretzels for fortitude. The heat of summer sun baked down, and in spite of the shade of the leafy canopy, the air was so humid that Samuel was sweating within minutes. It took him most of the day to clear a path a few miles into the jungle.

With a panting sigh, Samuel rested his back against a tree as he tried to catch his breath in the sauna of the jungle. It was intolerable. Between the dense foliage and the buzzing insects, he felt like he'd barely made any progress at all. Yet all this humidity had to mean he was getting close to a body of water, right?

The wind died for a moment and without the creak of trees and the brushing rustle of palm fronds, Samuel could make out the sound of... a babbling stream?! Jolting to his feet, Samuel turned to the sound and began crashing through the brush, the make-shift machete forgotten in his haste to not lose the sound of his long-sought prize. Every few feet, Samuel would stop to find the sound of water, but it grew steadily louder until at last, he burst through an overgrown fern and slipping slightly on a moist rock, stood on the edge of crystalline lagoon.

Sweat dripping from his brown shaggy hair, Samuel collapsed by the water's edge and scooped the water up to wash his face of the grime and salt and sweat that had accumulated from his time on the island. He let out a sigh of physical bliss as the cold water sluiced off his skin. Though he feared what drinking stagnant water might do, he couldn't stop himself from drinking from the lagoon's cold and quenching water. It tasted crisp and clean as anything he could have dreamed. It felt so good that Samuel let out a delighted laugh.

Like an echo, his laugh provoked the laughter of another. This laugh however was light and feminine. With a start, Samuel rolled from his knees onto his back as he scanned about for where the voice may have come from. Slowly bobbing closer to him was the pale head of a woman just above the surface of the water. Bald and her head bare of any hair or eyebrows, her skin was creamy white. Her lips, full and naturally red were curved in a teasing smile as she drew closer, eddying wake flowing behind her as she came towards the edge of the lagoon. "Welcome, weary traveler," she said, her voice with a slight husky lilt that hinted at some exotic local that Samuel suddenly wished very much to visit.

"Who, who are you? How did you get here?" Samuel's voice cracked a bit from lack of use. The woman's heart-shaped face rose from the water to reveal a slender and supple neck and bare creamy shoulders. This woman didn't look like a castaway, and in fact, seemed quite at ease on this strange and isolated island.

"Oh, so many questions," she cooed, her accent leaving a slight lisp on her s's. "Are such things really so crucial? You look quite tired and hot," rising further from the water, her slender hand and long finger nails beckoned towards him, "Wouldn't you rather join me for a swim?" Water dappled on her pale collarbone and the strange woman rose and twisted slightly, revealing from the water two full and perfectly rounded breasts. Bouncing slightly, water droplets dipping from hardened nipples that hinted at the coldness of the water, Samuel knelt, mouth agape at their pale beauty. She turned her head to glance at the lagoon behind her before returning her vision to Samuel, her lips curling into a welcoming, and knowing smile. How could anyone reject such an offer, and yet, why did this woman's hungry smile leave Samuel suddenly filled with fear?