Cleo woke up to the taste of salt and blood. The salt surprised him. While the ocean lapped at his lower half, the other half was burning from the heat of the sun.

His body cried as if multiple people had beaten him into a pulp while his head pounded, with the fishy smell in the air doing that no favors. Still, he lifted his head from the sand. The view was unfamiliar. Sand, sea, rocks, and palm trees—an island?

His barely awake consciousness couldn’t comprehend how he managed to get to this place. The last thing he remembered was...

A plane? Yes, he was on the plane, flying back to his wife and seven-year-old daughter. But why was he here? Forcing his body, he sat using his unstable hands. It took him a few tries to even raise his body.

In front of him was a vast expanse of water, and his ringing eardrum picked up the sound of waves colliding with rocks and sand. Looking up, he used his right hand to block the direct sunlight from hitting his eyes. The weather was good for swimming; it was hot, and the sky was clear of any clouds. Most of the time, at least.

But for him, jumping in the endless water was the last thing he wanted to do right now, as his body refused to move any further. Even though the view was beautiful, it didn’t give him a sense of peacefulness; instead, despair and isolation were the first things that came into his heart.

He was not supposed to be here; he was supposed to be in the embrace of his family. But clearly, something went wrong. The plane he rode crashed, and he managed to survive. Well, luck was not what he thought, because if he were lucky, the plane wouldn't have crashed in the first place.

Cleo didn’t know what caused the plane to crash, but he was sure that something big had hit it. Another plane, perhaps? That was the only possible idea that came to him, as a bird wouldn’t manage to damage the plane in that state.

Turning his attention away from the sea, he scanned his surroundings absentmindedly, his mind still in a muddy state. Debris and baggage wash away from the sea, proof that he was truly a victim of a plane crash.

Although he was distressed, he exhaled and hardened his resolve. Returning to his family was his priority, and sulking wouldn’t get him there. He needed to do something to go back; anything was fine, as long as it would help him.

First, he needed to recover his strength and stamina. How could he think properly if he was in a half-dead state? Standing, he wanted to search for the baggage scattered around the beach. Although he had a hard time standing straight, he kept trying, as he was determined to get out of wherever this place was.

Dragging his weakened body, he pulled his weight to a blue baggage nearest to him, intending to make it his first step toward his goal. Upon reaching the baggage, he kneeled and opened it. The zipper was stuck, so he resorted to ripping the zipper forcefully. He struggled at first, his hands trembling and refusing to obey his commands, but he still managed to open it.

Various disorganized items were inside: clothes, perfume, make-up, and more. He rummaged through the content, searching for any item he could use, or at least food, as he was starving. After a while, he found three things that could be useful to him: a scissor, a makeup mirror, and a piece of bread.

A pair of scissors would definitely be useful to him because, from all the things he watched on U-tube, a sharp object was the first thing one needed if one wanted to create or gather things. Although the scissors were small, he would rather have them than nothing. He had no time to be choosy in his current situation.

Next was the mirror, and as he looked through it, his pathetic appearance was displayed for him to observe. His white face was even whiter than usual, a stark contrast with his jet-black eyes, which were a bit bloodshot maybe due to the stress he suffered. His small lips were dry with visible cracks like a land hit by drought, while his black hair was messy, like the hair of the beggar he always passed by on the way to work.

Sighing, he shook his head; this was not the reason why he took the mirror. If what he remembered was correct, he could use the sun to start a fire with the help of the mirror. Although he’d never done it before, he could probably do it, right? This would help him in the long run, as he had no prior knowledge of how to start a fire in an old way. If he couldn’t even start a fire with the help of a mirror, he should probably forget to make one in a primitive way. Even though he was not a survivalist expert, it was pretty common knowledge that fire was a must if one wanted to survive in the wild.

Considering his position, a missing plane would be a big deal and would garner a lot of attention. So, a rescue might come sooner than anticipated if he was lucky. Still, he needed a few days to stay alive before that happened, which was why he had to meet his basic needs to survive.

As his thoughts turned to his needs, his stomach growled in protest and naturally his attention turned to the bread he got. He instantly salivated. However, he held himself back. The food would probably be a scarce resource for all he knew; he’d have to portion his food carefully if he didn’t want to starve to death.

Tearing the yellow plastic that covered the bread, he took out half of it to eat and reserved the other half for later. If he managed to find other food in the baggage that was still free for him to take, he’d no doubt eat the other half of the bread. But for now, he must control himself.

Taking his first bite of the chocolate bread, he closed his eyes, and his taste buds partied in excitement at the explosive taste of chocolate inside his mouth. The saying was indeed true—hunger was the best spice. Cleo enjoyed this little moment and every bite, as maybe this was the only thing he could enjoy in this place. In a swift moment, the chocolate bread was gone; he didn’t even realize it until the last bite.

He let out a breath of satisfaction while hyping himself up. “Yes, I should be more positive. Let’s leave this island, Cleo!"

Standing, he decided to pull all the baggage out of the water and put them all together; after all, he didn’t want the wave to wash them away again. For all he knew; maybe in the future, all the items inside might become useful to him.

After a lot of exhausting pulling, he successfully gathered six pieces of baggage and a few pieces of debris. The plane debris was hard and sharp, so maybe he could create something with it in the future. But for now, his goal was to search for something useful inside the baggage.

After a few minutes of resting, Cleo began his quest to find more useful things. He unzipped the baggage one by one, though some of them were, like the first one, stuck. Thankfully, ripping them open became easy with the help of the small scissors.

A few minutes later, Cleo found a lot of useful items that satisfied him: a pocket knife, various snacks, three bottles of water, dry clothes, a backpack, and a phone. The first thing he did was turn on the phone, yet it didn’t react.

"Is it broken or has a low battery? Of course, things will not be easy."

He sighed. Even though his expectations were low, he couldn’t help but be disappointed. No one could blame him, as anyone in his place would have some expectations after finding a phone. Knowing the phone was pretty useless now, he set it aside and put it inside the bag.

The next thing he intended to do was change his wet pants and polo with a new pair. Even though it was hot, wearing wet clothes was a bit uncomfortable for him. Before he undressed, he looked left and right. He knew the possibility of someone watching him was almost nonexistent, but still, undressing out in the open was a bit embarrassing.

Bucked naked, he hurriedly wore the black t-shirt and gray pants he found in one of the baggage. Although the clothes were a bit loose, he smiled, as it was refreshing.

"I think my strength is good enough and my stamina has recovered a bit. So, what now?"

Cleo touched his chin, planning his priorities. His clothing and food supply were already met, at least for now. What he needed the most right now was a shelter to shield him from the intense weather and a place to sleep at night. Luckily, it was still in the middle of the day, so he had some time to build his own shelter before it became dark.

"I think this place is a good enough location to build my own shelter. I just need to put it far away from the sea so I’ll not be washed away while sleeping."

Now that he’d decided where to build his shelter, he must now gather materials to build it, and the clothes inside the baggage could become his cover—at least those he’d not use. However, he must gather a strong enough foundation; long and sturdy sticks would be ideal. To find it, he needed to go inside…

Looking at the lush forest, he was a bit overwhelmed. After all, he didn’t know what was inside. What if there was a ferocious animal or a snake? The snake was the worst! Thinking about it made his body shiver in fear. Nevertheless, he had no choice, because there was no other place to go other than the forest or the sea.

He inhaled a large amount of air and exhaled it to calm himself. Being scared would hinder his plan to go home. Marching with a fake confidence towards the forest, he repeated his breathing exercises to help him forget and gather courage. Every stomp he made produced a crunching sound beneath him as the sand flattened from his black leather shoes.

Stopping right outside the forest, he exhaled one last breath of air to show his determination as he looked inside while his brows furrowed. After all of that, he advanced. The moment he took his first step, a burst of pain manifested in his head. The throbbing was so bad that it made him dizzy, as if his head were being pounded by a sledgehammer!

Together with pain, an image—or was it a memory? Overlapped with his sight. Something unexplainable was happening. He was falling out of the air, and the sky was on fire, but that wasn’t the reason he found the situation unexplainable. Near the broken pieces of a plane, perhaps? flying a red, giant lizard! Yes, a giant lizard!

"What the... did I hit my head too hard?"

He didn’t know if what he was seeing was real or not, but the pain he suffered was so intense that he didn’t want to experience it again. Thankfully, it seemed the pain reached its limit and gradually decreased. What was that vision? Was it a vision or a memory? He came from a plane crash, though. However, that thing he saw was hard to believe; was he delirious?

His heart pounded and his breath became rigid. What if he received brain damage? How could he work in the future? How about his family? How could he give them the life he promised if he became disabled?

"Of course, how could I leave that kind of accident unscathed? Being alive is good enough; I should be thankful. But can I survive this kind of obstacle? I just hope it was a one-time thing."

Shaking his head, he ignored the vision he saw. It might be an aftereffect of the accident, as his head appeared to have hit his head hard causing him to hallucinate. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t stop him from achieving his goal!