Every summer my entire family indulges in a beach vacation; each family chips in to afford a rental for the week, and we have a week full of beach trips, boardwalk expenditures, shopping sprees, family dinners, and all sorts of fun. The second day of our trip had come to an end, a day well spent under the sun telling jokes and stories, enjoying the sand between our toes, and the refreshing breeze of the salty ocean. Never would any of my cousins, nor myself, be prepared for what was going to happen the following day. 

“Okay, you guys can get a head start,” my aunt told my cousins and I.

“Just pick a good spot for the umbrella so we can find you when we come later.”

My cousins and I had all agreed to wake up early to catch the sunrise, and none of us could fall back asleep once one of our alarms went off. We packed some fruit, sunscreen, an umbrella, boogie boards, towels, and filled our wattle bottles. Only about a half block into our travels, we began to break a sweat, it was supposed to reach a high of ninety nine degrees, the hottest day of the week. We managed to drag our belongings to where the tips of our toes met the smooth sand before a majority of us took a break to remove our shoes. 

Abby and I began setting up the giant beach umbrella while Addy and Liam laid out a bed sheet on the sand for our towels to lay on. Chloe and Garret, my younger brother, started to apply sunblock, and Meghan and Gavin were already cracking open the snack stash for the day. We tanned until the sun began to scorch our skin and we agreed on a dip in the cool water. The current was especially strong, and the waves unusually rough. The two flags which indicate the boundaries in which swimmers are safe was limited to about a 20 foot gap, and the flags were red, indicating rough currents. The two teenage lifeguards were engaged in conversation with each other, paying little attention to the ocean in front of them other than a glance here and there. 

We each waded in to around hip level, where Garret and Chloe preferred to stay. The rest of us ventured further out, making our way deeper until our feet couldn’t reach the bottom. Gavin and Meghan went back to shore after a couple of minutes to retrieve boogie boards. The water was cold, but we didn’t take it for granted considering the heat. I noticed other swimmers having a difficult time staying between the flags, drifting over several yards, then returning to shore to re-enter the safe zone. 

Addy, Abby, Liam, and I were having a blast, body surfing and splashing around to our heart’s content. We didn’t think much of Garret and Chlore behind us. We heard Chloe’s muffled, gurgling; quiet, but enough to catch our attention. She was about 20 feet beyond the red flag, and Garret was swimming after her. Neither of them were very strong swimmers. I glanced back at the lifeguard stand. Both lifeguards were chatting away, oblivious to the wandering children. Addy, the oldest of us, swam out to get them. The others didn’t seem worried. I tried to tell them we should go get the lifeguards instead, but they were already following Addy. I looked back to shore for Meghan and Gavin, who were wading back into the water with their boogie boards. When I glanced back out beyond the flag, Chloe and Garret had traveled at least another 30 feet into the sea. 

The two lifeguards had finally noticed the situation at hand, and were blowing their whistles to call us into shore. My cousins only kept drifting further out. Meghan and Gavin asked me how this happened. I could barely make out their words. I grabbed Gavin’s boogie board and instinctually began paddling. My hands cut through the icy water, carrying me closer to them. The magnitude of the current’s power was so much worse than I ever imagined it could become. My legs pumped ferociously. I was so focused on catching up to Chloe, Garret, Liam, and Addy, that I didn’t realize Abby trailing not far behind me. I stopped paddling so that she could catch up, but the current only pulled me further from her. When I finally caught up to the other four, they were all struggling, flailing their arms hopelessly, out of breath, in an attempt to make their ways towards the shoreline, or even just closer to the red flags. They were getting nowhere. I begged them to stop resisting, to save their energy, but they continued their commotion for a while longer. Until they realized there was no use. I clenched Abby's hand tighter and searched for Addy’s hand. Understanding my intention, the others began linking together until we formed a peaceful circle. 

All hope was lost when our human ring was carried out far enough to where you could hear no waves crash, and see no flags or buoys. Nobody spoke. Tears fell down Abby and Chloe’s reddened cheeks. Garret’s lips shivers, from fear, sadness, or the cold, it was unclear. 

The answer became clear when everyone’s bodies were unable to resist shivering, and our bodies became numb. The temperature would only drop from here, worsening the stinging effects of the freezing cold water. 

Our human chain bobbed on top of the sea for what seemed like hours, spotting nothing other than countless miles of never ending ocean water. The first to scout out something unusual was Garret, like always. 

“What’s that over there?” He asked as we turned our heads in the direction of his gaze. 

In the distance, I could make out a pile of debris. I started kicking my feet, moving us gradually towards the unknown mound. Without breaking handholds, all my cousins joined in paddling, moving us closer to our destination. It was a small island, trashed with washed up garbage on all sides. As we neared the dirty sand, we slowed our paddling. There was so much trash; plastic cups, straws, bottles, cans, jars, and so much more. The chilly water stung my eyes and throat, and all of our cheeks were reddened, lips purple.

Breaking hands with Addy and Abby, I began to push the fjords of rubbish aside to clear a path. The others joined in, making our way through the floating landfill. I sucked in my breath sharply as a shard of glass or metal sliced across the palm of my hand. The salt water seeped into the gash, stinging the cut enough for me to let out a cry. 

I paused for a moment, then continued pressing through with my other arm. The tangle of filth was disgusting, spotted with barnacles, fish eggs, stray crabs, algae, seaweed, and various other hidden treasures hanging off the layers of garbage. After a while of sorting through the mess, we finally climbed up onto a tiny spot of land, not enough space to comfortably fit all of us. We collapsed on what was too scarce an area to consider it an island, not necessarily caring at this moment that it was made of damp, almost gray sand particles and coarse rocky pebbles. 

I glanced down at the open wound on my hand, slicing vertically from the tip of my index finger to the center of my palm. It was bleeding more intensely now that we were out of the water. It was probably mid evening. We we still shivering a bit, as the sun was now covered in a gray, dense cluster of dark clouds. My throat was parched, and stinging along with my eyes. My skin was wrinkled deeply. The wind was blowing harshly. This is not how I pictured an island in the middle of the ocean. This island was not spacious and covered in tropical, snowy white hot sand like I had pictured. The sun was not shining down on us, and this island did not provide us with sweet coconuts from its palm trees. The place we had landed was a dumpster compared to my imaginary paradise. I would call this destination Landfill. 

My cousins and I sat on Landfill for some time, not knowing what to do. A heavy water droplet landed on the top of my head; I glanced up. Those big gray clouds were beginning to rain down upon us. Addy groaned; she got cold most easily. I wasn’t looking forward to being soaked in the cold again, but none of us could complain about the opportunity for a taste of fresh drinking water. I caught the raindrops in my cupped hands, and opened my mouth up to the sky to catch its rain. We allowed the heavens to cleanse our salty throat, eyes, skin, and hair.

Not long after, I passed out of exhaustion. I woke in a thick sweat, the sun back to its unbearable blazing heat beating down on the earth. I felt nauseous; my muscles were sore from the previous day’s struggles. I noticed the sunburn tinting all of my cousin's faces. My stomach growled. None of us had eaten since whatever morsels we scruffed down the previous morning before leaving for sunrise on the beach. I began to wonder which food source we would turn to first for the duration of our stay on Landfill, however long that may be. 

“We’re going to need to come up with a plan to get back, you know,” I pointed out.

“No really,” exclaimed Liam sarcastically. 

“Would you be serious? There's nothing funny about this,” I fired back.

I plopped myself down and thought long and hard. We could try to start a fire from various debris laying around Landfill, but it would be far too wet I assumed. With nothing else in mind, I began rummaging through the piles of junk surrounding the island. I gathered a series of damp scraps of newspaper and cardboard box, a glass bottle, driftwood, and a few other hopeful options. I decided to try a method I saw in movies, using glass at a certain angle so that when the sun shines through, it reflects onto a flammable object, causing a flame to spark. I formed a small pile of papers and wood and positioned the glass so that the sun’s rays passed directly through. While I did this, Addy began rubbing two pieces of driftwood together. Neither of our attempts were successful. 

Perhaps a few hours passed, I had given up, laying on the sand, staring into the blinding sun. I was making no mental progress on an escape plan. How had a boat or plane not passed by now? Above all, I was just bored. All of our stomachs took turns grumbling. What would we have to eat first? Seaweed? Fish? No matter what we ate, we would get thirsty, and no matter how thirsty we got, we couldn’t drink until the sky blessed us with another rain or we found a way to start a fire to boil the sea water.

Liam began to rummage around the grubble on the ground, probably looking for something, anything that could possibly get us anywhere. I heard a low, booming break in the airflow overhead. We all scrambled to our feet. Each of us waved and flailed our arms violently, shouting at the top of our lungs at the airplane passing by. There was a sliver of hope for a shear moment before it was immediately lost again. The plane was too high in the sky. The flight would never notice us from this distance I thought as it faded into the sky. 

Days padded. Nothing out of the ordinary was sighted since the plane. One week is how long a human can typically survive without water. We were nearing day five. Every time I moved, tiny white dots clouded my vision, and my head throbbed in agony. My throat was becoming increasingly dry and scratchy. My sandpaper tongue swelled in my mouth. My stomach complained and ached viciously. The cut on my hand had developed a sort of infection, turning a foul, yellow shade. We continuously wished for rain, but it never came. 

About ten days in, I was unable to function, or even see clearly what was occurring around me. Sometimes I thought one of my cousins was talking to me, then, after a while I wouldn’t be able to distinguish their voice anymore. I longed for a taste of anything. Food, a drop of water, hope. I didn’t have the energy to process my environment; physically, mentally. The island was gradually withering away, the water eating away at the sand, Landfill growing smaller and smaller by the hour, until there wouldn’t be enough room for us all. 

The humidity was so unbearable today I thought of entering the water. I wiped sweat from my brow and touched the bags protruding under my eyes. I pinched the flesh on my cheek, noticing the pace in which my skin slowly returned to its original position. I blinked slowly. When my eyes re-opened I saw my mom. She was smiling widely, waiving me over to a seat beside her at the dinner table. All of my favorite foods were arranged in a beautiful array of variety across the length of the table. My mouth began to water as I started barbarously piling my plate high, digging into my meal without hesitation. Without even caring what it was I was putting in my mouth, I took scrumptious bites out of one of the many delectable options. I couldn't stop myself or even take time in between bites to swallow. I was mid-bite when my mom pulled me away from the table. She grasped me with such a force I could not help but struggle against. All I wanted was to keep eating, but she kept dragging me away from the temptations before me. She pinned me to the floor and began shaking me senseless. I was now screaming at her. I resisted until I couldn’t any more. Until my head felt like it was going to explode. 

When I opened my eyes, I was met by a blinding white light in front of my face. Then more faces began to come into focus. I took in my surroundings. White walls, white bed sheets, people dressed in white gowns. I was hooked up to a few IV tubes stuck into my forearm, and could feel another in my mouth. I felt energized, more lively than I remember I could be. 

“How are you feeling?” One of the nurses asked me.

“Good,” I replied, “Where are my cousins?”

The doctors gave each other unreadable looks. 

“They’re going to be okay, you’ll be able to see them soon enough,” the same nurse answered. 

I was informed that my cousins and I were spotted on Landfill by a passing boat and brought to safety. The doctors said we were in critical condition when we were admitted to the emergency room, and that I, as well as some of the others, had begun to have hallucinations, and were a bit unlike ourselves. 

“Why can’t I see my family?” I asked.

More awkward glances were exchanged amongst each other. 

“We just want to make sure all of your numbers are stable and are well enough,” a different nurse answered this time. 

I opened my mouth to question further, but was interrupted by my parents bursting through the doors. The doctors were trying to keep them away from me, but they had managed to push through the blockade, and were already holding me in their arms crying. 

“Again, you both shouldn’t be seeing any of the kids before we are positive they are all stable,” one doctor said to my parents.

My parents were forced out of the room. A few hours passed before I was given the okay to see my family and cousins. I was escorted by two doctors to visit each of my cousins in their rooms. Liam was first. I was led into a room that looked exactly like mine, where he was tucked in bed, looking away. One of the doctors whispered something in Liam’s ear. 

Meghan was the same, no serious injuries or apparent damage. When I arrived in Abby’s room, she ran into my arms, sobbing. 

The doctors told me that Addy hadn’t  fully recovered yet. I could hear her groaning from outside the door as we approached her room. As the door opened and she caught my glimpse, she cheered up a bit. They explained that she was still experiencing head trauma. 

The doctor warned me that what I was going to see in Chloe and Gavin’s rooms would not be easy to see. I didn’t notice anything abnormal when I first entered Chloe’s room, but as I grew closer to her, I saw the damage they had warned me about. The length of her arms and back were covered in scratches. Brutal teeth marks embedded themselves deep into her broken flesh. I gasped at the sight, backing away from her bed. My eyes watered as I demanded to know what happened to her. 

The doctor explained how I had been the first of my cousins to begin hallucinating, and that not long after it seemed I lost all my senses, attacking and biting my cousins. I was now sobbing intensely. I was unable to enter Gavin’s room in denial of facing the damage I had done to him. The doctors tried comforting me, telling me it was not my fault, that my body couldn’t control these impulsions, but I was too hysterical to listen to reason. How could I have done this? 

I started up at the white ceiling of my hospital room, as hopeless as I was on Landfill. I thought of all the cherished moments I recalled with my cousins; how much fun we would have when we’re together. Memories from reunions, holiday traditions, parties, family dinners; all of them were equally valuable to me. I feared that they would not be able to forgive me, and I was confident that I would never be able to forgive myself. 

The following morning we were all released from the hospital. Our nurses led all of us down the hallway together to the lobby. I couldn’t look at any of them. I was petrified I wouldn;t be looked at the same way I used to. 

Our parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles were waiting on the other side of the door. As soon as it opened, we were greeted with cries of joy and uncountable hugs and kisses. Being held by my family gave me the first tinge of hope and relief I had felt in what seemed like quite a long time. For the first time in a long time, I felt that everything was going to be okay.