Lost in Her Eyes.

      I awaken to discover a gritty, salty sensation in my mouth. My entire body aches. The irksome sounds of seagulls ring in my ears. I roll over; every muscle in my body groans like rusted, aged gears grinding in an ancient, neglected machine. I spit sand from my mouth and let the cold light of dawn - or dusk, I am unsure - penetrate my weak and unprepared eyes. Salt air fills my lungs; salt water splashes my feet. Brr.

     I stagger to my feet and my eyes meet the horizon, set ablaze by the sun. Wooden wreckage litters the beach. My head hurts. I can't remember anything if there's even anything to remember.

     I turn around to find a heavily-forested island. Palm trees line the shore. A coconut falls and cracks itself open on a rock. What luck. I hurry over and sip the sweet nectar. The salty taste of sand dissolves in the juice.

     But as I revitalize my taste buds, I hear a soft moan, like the coo of a dove. To my surprise, I see a young woman - about my age - turning over in the sand about a hundred feet away. An instinct, a reflex fires in my head. I clutch the coconut to my chest and sprint as quickly as my aching muscles will allow.

     She coughs a few times as she sits up. I kneel at her side and offer her the coconut husk. Carefully, she grasps it and downs the remaining coconut water. "Th-thank you," she stutters. "Wh-who are you?"

    I stammer a moment, and finally say, "William." She gives her name as "Mia." Her name's beauty rings out, and casts silence upon the seagulls, and the bitter, salty sea.

    I am lost on an island, lost in the eyes of a beautiful woman. Lost.