A mouthful of sand.

Subject: A mouthful of sand. Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:54 pm

Salty, grainy and cold. William unconsciously ran his tongue over his lips and shuddered at the taste. The mud-like mixture of sea water and sand looked like a grotesque tribal painting on his cheeks.

His eyes sprung open. It felt like a really bad hangover; his muscles were sore, his throat was dry and he had a serious headache. Only there was no alcohol. There was no room. There was no sleeping bandmate whose legs intertwined with his. There was only water - endless miles of it - and sand.

Sitting up, William wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand. He couldn't help but notice that his wet dirty shirt uncomfortably sticked to his skin. It was drenched with water, mud and...blood? Whose blood?

His memory was as hazy as the silhouettes of objects drifting on the sea in the distance.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:55 pm

Gabe felt the sand weigh down his eyelids. He tried to move, only to feel a grainy texture rub against his face and arms. He actually felt it in his pants as well. In an attempt of what seemed to be a cuss, Gabe only coughed out more sand.
"It's fuckin' everywhere" he mouthed once it had all come out. Once he had wiped out all of the sand from his eyes, he opened them, only seeing more sand; and water.
"Please tell me this a dream" he told himself, rubbing his eyes.
"AARGH!" his eyes were red from irritation.
From afar, one could only see a purple and gold hooded figure; miraculously still wearing a cap and waving legs in a pair of dark jeans, covered in sand.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:06 am

William had heard a scream - he was sure of it. Still, he hesitated at the thought of turning around. What if he had been mistaken and the beach was just an endless empty space? What if there were mutilated corpses in the sand? What if...?

Yeah, but what if someone was there?

He stood up. The sun stinging his skin made him realize that he had some kind of deep cut right under his left eye. He frowned. Spunning around with the little bit of hope he had left, he tried to locate a living soul on the beach. Luckily for him, his eyes instantly focused on a man he had no trouble to recognize.

"GABE! OVER HERE!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, waving his arms over his head. He stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. It didn't surprise him, though - after surviving a plane crash, he could have cared less about minor injuries. "GABE! Get your ass over here!"

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:15 am

Gabe lifted his head. A throbbing reminded him the crash had been rough. Aside from that, he didn't feel any pain except for bruises here and there.
"Will?" he said, more to himself. "Will, is that you?" he aksed, too low for anyone in more than a meter's range around him to hear. He carefully got up, keeping in mind not to rub his eyes that stung sorely. He recognized the twiggy form of William.
"WILL!" he yelled, waving. "I CAN'T REALLY MOVE RIGHT NOW! CARE TO COME OVER?"
The sun made his teeth only look whiter after what was an evident smile at the sight of his friend.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:37 am

William grinned and shook his head. "Man, that guy..."

Ignoring the pain his movements caused, he dashed in Gabe's direction, leaping over scattered pieces of what might be remnants of the plane. He couldn't have been more happy to come face to face with Gabe. Pulling him in a tight, ribcage-crushing embrace, he laughed nervously.

"Gabriel Eduardo Saporta," he took a deep breath, realizing that his friend's hooded shirt was starting to smell more like salt water than cologne, "we're alive."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:20 pm

Tom moved his arm and almost screamed in pain. He rested his head on the cool sand, coughing some out.
The blonde began to regulate his breathing, in out, in out. It helped dim the pain. Carefully, he sat up, cradling the abused limb gently. He fell back in exhaustion almost immeadiately, jarring his arm.
He let out a hoarse scream.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:36 pm

Panicked, William dug his nails in the soft matter of Gabe's shirt, and yet furiously pushed him away at the same time.

"What was that?" he asked more to himself than to his friend, eyes wide, before looking around. There was the body of a man on the shores, and he could have sworn it was moving. His index finger at the level of Gabe's nose, William announced, "I'm going. Don't move. I want you there when I come back."

Once again, he started running, although his pace was gradually slowed down by the possibility of someone having serious injuries, something he could most likely not deal with. It was only when he got a few meters away from the man that he spoke, still unable to see his face. "Are you alright?"

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:44 pm

Tom vaguely registered someone running up to him. He rubbed his eyes with his good hand, and watched as his other arm flopped. He choked back another cry of pain.
"There's something wrong..." he suddenly trailed off as his eyes focused. "Oh God. Not you."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:50 pm

"Oh fuck," William whispered, and later mentally slapped himself for saying it out loud. The situation wasn't only awkward - it was horrifying.

"Tom," he managed to articulate, hoping he could be somewhat coherent. He quickly figured out that it wasn't the best time to apologize. "Where are you hurt?"

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:53 pm

Tom couldn't figure out what was worse; the pain in his arm or the emotional turmoil he was facing because of who had found him.
The pain quickly won.
"My arm." He said shortly, placing his fingers on where it hurt the most. "There. I think it's broken." He said nothing more than he needed to.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:58 pm

"If you can't move it, then chances are it's broken. We need to steady it with something." Absent-mindedly, he mumbled, "if Mike had been there..." but stopped in mid-sentence. If Mike had been there, he probably wouldn't have helped.

William wrapped his fingers around Tom's arm, trying not to put too much pressure on it. "Think you can lift it? I need to tie it to something."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:04 pm

Tom stared at the other's hand on his wrist in hostility.
Sullenly, he moved it up, teeth searing through his bottom lip as he repressed another cry. Blood coursed down his chin as he obeyed William.
"Of all the people on that plane." he said with dark eyes, not caring if he hurt his former friend with his words. "Of all the people on that plane, it had to be you, didn't it? It had to be you."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:18 pm

William bit his bottom lip. "Please, Tom. I know you're mad, but you have to cooperate. I'm not any happier than you to be here." Mechanically, he wiped the drops of sweat and blood that ran down the man's jawline with his thumb.

He untied and took off his leather belt, and grabbed the first piece of wood he saw on the sand, managing to create some kind of splint out of it. "Hold still," he demanded while he tied down Tom's broken arm. "Sorry if it hurts, but it has to be tight."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:20 pm

"Mad?" Tom laughed hollowly. "I'm so much more than mad, William. I'm psychotic." He laughed again, his laughter becoming more high pitched.

Suddenly, unable to bear it anymore, he threw back his head and screamed.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:27 pm

William squinted his eyes shut. He was unable to tell was grieved him more - facing the man he had hurt, or watching him scream with pain.

He exhaled, his hands shaking. In one swift move, he grabbed Tom's free wrist and held it firmly. "Look," he said louder, "do you even realize where we are? We're stuck here, Tom. We're fucking stuck here. You can't keep on ignoring me like you've been doing for the past months."

Then, his voice became softer. "I don't want you to hate me."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:31 pm

Tom glared at him, shaking in pain. Why had he even got on that damn plane in the first place?
"It's bigger than the Chicago Scene." He snarled, tears in his eyes. "I can still ignore you." He stared through him in angry silence. "I do hate you."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:38 pm

The only thing that kept William together was his pride. If it hadn't been for that, he would have collapsed and stuttered apologies by the dozen, probably between sporadic sobs.

"You know what? That's why we wanted you out of the band. Because you're a goddamn idiot and you act like a child. You think you don't need anyone." He got up, fists clenched. "I hope you have fun all by yourself. I've done all I could for you."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:41 pm

"No!" The cry was torn out of Tom. Tears rolled down his face as the guitarist listened to his shortcomings. "Please don't go." He whispered. "I'm sorry."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:49 pm

Out of all the possible outcomes of his argument with Tom, watching his friend cry and apologize while his face was torn with evident pain was not something William had imagined.

He dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry. I've been an asshole and I know it. I'm not asking you to forgive me, just...don't go around ignoring me, at least as long as we're here. Once we're back home you can hate me all you want." He forced a smile. "We survived a plane crash. I think that's sign."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:52 pm

"What sort of sign?" Tom asked in interest. Even though it pained him to talk to the other man, he was only human, and he wanted social interaction. "A sign that someone up there hates us?" He hugged his arm close to him.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:59 pm

William playfully slapped Tom's forehead. "A sign that it was about time you said a word to me." He sighed. "Oh and by the way, Andy wants you to return his 27th phonecall. Do that when we're back in Chicago, alright?"

Truth to be told, William wasn't even convinced that they'd ever make it back home, but he didn't want his own concern to affect Tom. His state was already bad enough.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:03 pm

Tom tried to bite the younger man's finger, resting his arm on his knees. "I never got them. I changed my number. I think I gave Mikey my old card. Oops." He grinned sheepishly, before staring out into the sea.
His grey eyes darkened as he watched the waves crashing over the debris. "You really think we'll get back to Chicago?" He asked quietly. "I don't."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:13 pm

William ran a hand through his hair, trying to seem cool with the situation.

"Maybe. Maybe we'll walk a bit around the island and discover it's a peninsula?" He shook his head. "People are going to look for us. They'll find us sooner or later. It's just a matter of time." He looked down. "Take the movie Castaway. It took a couple of years. Hey - at least we're not alone."

For the first time, William wouldn't have been mad if Gabe had decided to follow him instead of listening to his stupid recommendation. Maybe he would have had something more convincing to say.

"Gabe's over there," he tilted his head backwards. "And maybe there are more people out there, too. We just need to find them. Hopefully someone will be smart enough to get us out of here."

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:37 pm

"Never seen it." Tom hid his face in his hands for a period, looking tired. "But didn't the guy start talking to a soccer ball? I don't want to talk to a soccer ball... " There was another moment of silence, as Tom toyed with the hem of his t-shirt. "I...I don't know what to say." He admitted quietly.

Subject: Re: A mouthful of sand. Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:58 pm

William shrugged. "You don't have to say anything." He studied his friend for a moment, trying to recall what it was like to be near him every single day. It felt like so long ago.

Snapping back, he placed an arm behind Tom's back and a hand under his splint in an attempt to lift him. "Get up. We'll have plenty of time to tan later; now we need clean your wounds. I'm pretty sure there's a river deeper in this...err...forest jungle thing."

He looked at Gabe in the distance. "I CERTAINLY WOULDN'T MIND SOME HELP HERE."

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