Free Summer by Summer by Heather Burch

and had tracked the path to my lip without her consent. Summer was embarrassed. She replaced the lid and dropped the balm into the kit, then quickly clasped her hands in her lap. I hid my grin and forced the emotions that were flickering in me aside. It would take all my energy to keep us alive until help came. Why hadn’t they come already? The entire day I kept expecting to hear a rescue plane. But nothing. I didn’t want to scare Summer, but our situation was quickly becoming dire.
    “Why didn’t we see a rescue plane all day?” Summer asked. Had she read my mind?
    “I’m not sure. Tomorrow we’ll get some kind of signal set up. Honestly, I figured they’d have come by now. I know my dad. He isn’t a man who waits around. But I guess it could take time to secure a plane or helicopter.” I shrugged and focused on the kit. “Look, needle and thread. In the morning, we’ll stitch up that rip on your sneakers.”
    She nodded and examined the small pair of scissors. She pointed. “Tweezers too. We can perform a very tiny operation.”
    “I was hoping for a lighter.”
    She dove into the kit until her fingers closed around a little plastic square. “Matches!” Her elation quickly dwindled when she held up the closed package and water dripped out of it. She tossed it on the sand.
    “Still worth trying.” I opened the pack and inspected the contents. It was soaking wet except for one corner. One match head was lighter in color than the others. I carefully removed the match. We gathered the brush, knowing the match may only stay lit a second. Before I could strike it, Summer grabbed my hand and closed her eyes.
    “ Please , God. We need this to work.” Her eyes popped back open and she nodded.
    A tiny flame burst, then fizzled out. But an ember dropped and lay glowing on the bits of brush we’d collected. It felt like an eternity before it took, both of us staring down and scared to breathe. Thin lines of smoke curled up, and soon a nice tear-shaped flame emerged.
    One small obstacle conquered. But I knew I’d lie awake beside the fire smelling Summer and her fresh scent and wondering what to do to maintain my sanity.
    These islands were unforgiving.
    Being stuck on one with someone like Summer? Impossible.
    Summer
    It was still dark when I woke up the first time. I had curled up as close to the fire as I dared. Bray slept on the other side of the flames. He must’ve stoked up the fire because it burned brightly and with more flames than I remembered it having at twilight.
    I leaned up on one elbow to look out over the water. It was a shadowy, empty abyss, with waves moving toward us then retreating back into the dark loneliness. I’d always enjoyed the sound of the ocean. But not now. Not here. It was a bitter reminder of where I was. Shipwrecked on an island.
    I tried to not question why a search plane hadn’t come. But with the ocean on one side of me forcing cool air up over my body and with the firelight on the other side of me, the question rolled over and over in my head. Where was the rescue plane? Wasn’t it standard to send out a search party when people disappeared on the water? Surely they hadn’t given up on us.
    Watching Bray throughout the day, something had become clear. Like me, Bray had expected a rescue team. But as the day wore on, his attitude had shifted from waiting mode to action mode. He’d said tomorrow we’d have to find water. If he was expecting a plane or boat, he would be staying visible on the beach, not venturing deeper into the island. The weight of our situation caused my limbs to tremble. What if . . . what if . . .
    I closed off the sob that swelled in my throat. But another followed. Tears sprung to my eyes. I was so thirsty, I wouldn’t have thought tears possible, yet there they were, blurring the golden flame before me, causing the dancing flames to swell. I lay back down and pulled myself into a ball, drawing my knees up to my chest. The ground moved beneath