Unexpected Escape

A month went by with Karthik and me on the island. We desperately tried to get out of this island but no use. We had seen signs of ships once or twice and tried to call out to them by almost burning the whole island down with fire for the smoke to catch their eye but was in vain. Karthik will always look out to the sea and stand there drowned in his thoughts. There were times I got him crying silently but I never bothered to ask him why because I already knew. Though I'm not a cry baby or an emotional person I could understand his thoughts and feelings. There was no way for me to cheer him because I'm not a comforter. So I just let him be...Some alone time will fix things too.

I almost lost my hope getting out of here and was starting to get used to here when the unexpected happened. My calculation went wrong with the volcano right in the middle of the island. The terrible thing I dreaded started to happen.

It was a regular sunny day and I was watering some plants near the lake when the ground beneath me shook a little. I thought I got dizzy or something and chose to ignore it. Then it shook violently for almost 30 seconds and I froze on my spot. After those frightening seconds, making sure it ceased, I started to walk towards the lake and something caught my eye. The place where the water subsided had a dried crystalline substance on the rock. I looked at the spot more carefully and saw that the line of the water surface has left that mark. I bent down and scratched on it and some fell onto my palm. I smelled it and finally tasted it. SALT!!!

My eyes widened with realization. I stood up with shock. Why hadn't I realized this before, the water was getting saltier. That's when I heard Karthik call my name and running to me.

He halted right in front of me and bent down to catch his breath.

"Did you just see that?" he asked slightly panting.

"Yeah...I did" I said still in horror.

He finally looked at me.

"Ananya, you alright? You look pale," he asked worry evident in his voice.

I was silent for a moment as to how I will explain to him what was gonna happen.

"Ananya?" he called again this time shaking me.

"This is not good..."I whispered.

"Yeah I know, we just had an earthquake," he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Do you know why that occurred?" I asked turning to him.

"Aah..no?" he was confused.

"Have you seen the movie or read a book named 'The Mysterious Island'?" I asked him.

He was surprised.

"Yeah...what does it have to do with the earthquake?" he asked puzzled

"Well do you remember a scene in which Dwayne Johnson pointed out to some white crystalline lines when they were at the Lost City of Atlantis scene?"

"I don't remember..well..maybe yeah?"

"He said that those were dried salt left by the saltwater which has invaded the island. He also pointed out that those were seawater that rose from under the seabed. He pointed out that the volcano which was at the center of the island" I pointed out to our  volcano which had smoke coming out of it as I'd thought " is one of the reasons because it is triggering the ocean bed and causing it to shake."

"Yeah, I remember. What?"

"The same is here" I squat down to show him the dried salt on the rocks "The same phenomenon he mentioned. The lake water is gradually mixed with seawater which is coming from under the lake bed. The earthquake which we experienced right now is one of the after-effects. This means that the seawater can gradually rise up and..."

"The island can sink" he completed it for me quite shocked.

"Yeah, that's what I think," I said sighing.

Why hadn't I noticed this before? I was a total idiot to not notice the water coming out of small fissures on the island. I should've observed the change in the taste of the lake water. My head started to burn!

Then suddenly the ground shook again violently causing the rocks to roll over. Karthik lost his balance and was gonna fall face-first on the ground but I caught him. I looked at the volcano which was emitting out smoke like crazy. Why is this happening so suddenly? They got a couple of days or so, why can't we? Then with sudden growl rocks and boulders started showering towards us from the volcano.

"C'mon run!!!" I yelled over the chaos.

Karthik and I ran towards nothing in particular, we just dodged the rocks and boulders showering over us. It was unimaginable that all these days this piece of the volcano was still and now out of nowhere, it got furious. It's almost like someone ordered it to explode at the moment. It seems stupid but that is what it seems like.

I ran like my life depended on it and well, it was. The dust and debris kept showering and we sharply dodged them all. I had to pull Karthik by his arm to dodge a huge rock before hitting his head, narrowly missing. I looked around and saw that the weather had changed from a sunny morning into a dark cloudy rainy day. The clouds gathered around the island ready to pour the rain and soak through us...yep, a cherry on top. 

My mind started racing. We had to get out of here or we'd die a terrible death. There had to be a reason we're separated from our family to this island; not to just die by a volcanic eruption. 

"Ananya, what should we do?" yelled Karthik from behind me.

"I don't know...Just keep running!" I yelled back dodging a boulder.

"To where? We have nowhere to go if the island is gonna sink," he yelled again.

"There has to be a way out" I mumbled determined.

"I give up," said Karthik.

I stopped running and turned around. He'd stopped running and was standing still like expecting something to hit him right away.

"What are you doing?" I yelled at him distressed "Are you mad?"

"There is nowhere we can go," he said.

This guy!

"You'll die standing there," I yelled at him, going towards him to grab his arm.

"We'll die anyway" he yelled jerking away.

"No...there has to be a reason" I yelled at his face turning him towards me and shaking his shoulders.

"What reason...?" he asked barely a whisper looking straight into my eyes.

He was on the verge of tears. It's true...we don't have a reason to live on for us now. It was completely hopeless for us...completely. I shook my head. No, everyone has a purpose to live on, I do too. Things happen for a reason and I really did believe that. 

"Purpose," I said looking at him confidently "We have a purpose to live on. We are not here by coincidence, Karthik. We have a purpose." My hands-on his shoulders tightened "We are not gonna die on this island just like that. We are gonna survive. We are gonna live."

Karthik was looking at me surprised and I could sense that he's convinced. Thank god that nothing hit us during that time.

I smiled at him gently and took his hand in mine. With one last look at him, I turned around and ran towards our cliff. My mind kept saying that we're not gonna die here. There was more waiting for us and this was the beginning of merely an adventure.

We swiftly reached the cliff and turned around to see the volcano emitting magma from inside. Dust and smoke were everywhere. And the wind blowing past us. Okay what to do know? We can't just stand here. A way out...a way out...a way out.

"HEY!!!" came a loud yell from somewhere above us.

I searched frantically for its source amidst the violent wind blowing on my face. Oddly enough I spotted something flying; a giant bird? But it sounded almost like...

"A helicopter?" whispered Karthik beside me.

"KIDS!!!! COME TOWARDS THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF" boomed the voice of a male.

I still couldn't see clearly how it looked as it circled around us.

Karthik grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the edge of the cliff when I heard a loud explosion. I turned my head to see what it was. To my horror, I saw a gigantic boulder shooting towards us. We can't dodge that one. Oh no!

At that moment Karthik pulled me by my arm resulting in my body bumping into him. He wrapped his arms around my lean form tightly, burying my face in his toned chest. I was shocked of course but what was he trying to do?

"Do you trust me?" he whispered in my ears.

Normally I would have freaked out but at that moment...when a death boulder was shooting towards me...there was definitely no room for that.

"Karthik, what are yo-"

"Well, I think you have to now" I whispered dragging me towards the very edge of the cliff and getting ahold of my waist.

Was he crazy? I prayed that he's not gonna do what I was thinking.

And he jumped.

Oh god, here we go.

The last thing I remember after closing my eyes was Karthik tightening his hold around me and we both soaring through the air, landing with a thud.