Novel & Cerita Stranded

It wasn’t much, just enough to survive. But things went bad, the business failed. Then tragedy struck, they died in an accident. After their funeral, everything fell apart. Lira, the one they trusted the most stole the little money we had left and vanished. She left me to drown alone. That money could’ve helped us breathe, even for a little while. Instead, the debts kept growing, the pressure became unbearable. and one day, the bank came and threw me out of the house with no mercy. Since then, I decided to work, earn money, pay the bills, and clear the debt so I could survive.

JASMINE. - I'm so cold, my body numb and trembling. Hunger pangs gnaw at my stomach, and my throat feels parched, desperate for a drop of water. The night is wearing on, and I've lost all sense of direction. The convenience store manager's words echo in my mind: "You're miles away from Maple." The reality hits me like a ton of bricks. I'm stranded, alone, and scared. This place is unfamiliar, its streets twisting and turning in ways that make no sense. I don't know how to navigate these dark alleys and deserted roads.

I sank into the couch, the soft hum of the house lulling me into a sort of half-sleep, catching up on the rest I had been missing. I was vaguely aware of the small sounds in the house, the distant ticking of the clock, the rustling of the wind outside but they didn’t bother me. In fact, they made me feel at peace, like I could finally think without the constant weight of the world pressing on me. But just as I was beginning to fully relax, my aunt’s voice broke the silence. “Clara! We’re out of water!” she called from the kitchen, pulling me out of my dreamlike state.

The sound of their heavy breathing filled the air. I smirked coldly at their entangled bodies and pressed "save" on the recording, thinking, "James Fullman, enjoy the calm before the storm."

The night wind moved through the balcony slowly, carrying the scent of rain and distant pine forests. I took another drag from my cigarette. “She’s not dead,” I said quietly. The words came automatically now, like a ritual. Like if I repeated them enough times, they would become true. Reuben pulled out a chair and sat across from me heavily. “They were stranded in open water,” he said bluntly. “No boats nearby, no land nearby.” His eyes narrowed sharply. “You really think a woman that fragile could survive falling into the ocean?” My wolf growled softly at the word fragile.

"The teleport pad is active. I have room for guests. I am inviting you." Thassala's webbed fingers stilled on her fork, her eyes widening with an emotion that made her gills flare wider. Dalilah's camera clicked once, automatically, her hands moving before her mind caught up. Emberlyn's nervous fingers found a loose thread on her uniform and twisted it until her knuckles showed red. "Actually, we're stranded," Autumn said, and her twin nodded in perfect synchronization, their identical faces arranged in expressions of carefully constructed helplessness. "The snowstorm came early. The south-western passes are closed."

some piece-of-shit transmission failure, and my phone was dead, wallet empty after blowing my last cash on gas that didn't even get me home. Urban sprawl faded into this stretch of nothing...cracked asphalt flanked by thick woods on one side, endless blacktop on the other. It was late, past midnight, and the occasional headlights whipped by without slowing, their drivers too wrapped up in their own bullshit to notice a stranded woman in a soaked tank top and jeans. I shivered, arms crossed tight over my chest, frustration bubbling into anger. 'Fuck this,' I muttered under my breath, kicking at a loose pebble that skittered into the ditch.