Andrew stared silently at the cave wall opposite him. By now, it was dark – too dark to venture out again. That meant one thing, that the three of them would be have to stay put for yet another night. It was disheartening; going out everyday, thinking this would be the time when they would find you, only to be forced back inside by forces beyond your control, forces that seem to despise you with every fiber of their impersonal being. He picked up a stick and aimlessly drew in the dust for a few moments before chucking it into the fire. The fire seemed to be the only good thing that happened today. He had built it. It had taken a long time for him to figure it out, but yes, he had finally built it. And how beautiful the fire looked now with its wild reds and oranges dancing in the air. The tender glow softly caressed the side of everything, draping a thin layer of warmth inside the otherwise cold and dark cave walls. He smiled. Despite everything, he had built this fire. It was his now and it was beautiful.

Heather Henderson was sitting cross-legged on the opposite side of the cave. Her little sister, the only other survivor, was sleeping with her head in Heather’s lap. The girl’s name was Color. She was a triplet and her sisters had been named Tulip and Festival. Heather thought the names were stupid and nonsensical. Now she regretted ever feeling so annoyed at something so petty. Those names were now all that remained of those little girls and there were no other words in the English language that were more beautiful to her than the names of her sisters.

Heather looked up for a moment and saw that Andrew Larson was watching her. He was eighteen, two years older than her, yet when they first met, Heather felt like Andrew was nothing more than an immature little kid. He was an only child, a city kid, an heir. All he had to do to get money was ask for it. His social skills were practically nonexistent and the only thing that made it worse was that he didn’t realize it. She on the other hand had adulthood forced upon her. Her father was a good, loving man who went off to war and came back brain-damaged. He eventually drowned in their swimming pool in the middle of the night only a month after returning home. Tulip had been the one who found him the next morning. ‘She would’ve been just four at the time,’ Heather thought. ‘She ran into the house, got Mom, asked what Dad was doing, said he looked like he needed help. Of course, he was dead by then, had been dead for hours. But that didn’t stop Mom from dragging him out of the pool and attempting CPR.’ Her mom sent Heather to call 911. The paramedics arrived within minutes and her dad was placed on a stretcher and taken inside an ambulance. Two men closed the door behind him. And that was the end of it. Her dad was gone. Her mother was devastated and was never the same after that. She had been in a depression for the past four years. “I hope that at the very least she’s not sad anymore.”

“What was that, Heather?” Andrew asked.

Heather gasped. “Did I say that out loud?”

Andrew nodded. “Don’t worry though, I couldn’t hear it very well.”

“It’s not… I was just thinking about my mother, that’s all,” Heather said quietly. She looked down at Color, her face calm and peaceful and her wavy auburn hair strewn about. Don’t ever leave me, Heather whispered softly. And then, as if the sleeping girl had heard her, the faintest of smiles seemed to cross her face and then vanish just as quickly as it had appeared.

“I remember seeing your mom, but I never knew her that well,” Andrew said.

“It’s just as well that you didn’t meet her,” Heather said. “You never would’ve known what she was really like even if you did.”

Andrew paused. “I’m sorry.”

Heather looked up at him. “What?”

“I’m sorry. I just, I kind of know what you are talking about,” he said. “I have a cousin who was in a car wreck and she’s been in a coma for two years. I know what it’s like, kinda, I think.”

Heather looked back down and sighed. “Thanks, Andrew, but, really, it’s not the same.”

Andrew bit his bottom lip and nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m just, I just…”

“Don’t worry about it, Andrew. I’m okay.”

Andrew sighed at yet another one of his failures to communicate and went back to doing what he was doing before – nothing. He seemed to be doing a lot of that on this island. He remembered how he used to let everyone do things for him. Now he wished that he had done things too. He distinctly remembered how one of the men had built a fire the second day on the island as Andrew sat there and griped about the rain. Now that man was dead and Andrew had spent the last week trying to do what he could’ve learned in just a few minutes if he had been paying attention. It would’ve certainly made surviving on the island so much easier.

Surviving. Andrew looked over at Heather and Color. How in the world had the three of them survived? Andrew knew the truth. He knew the three of them should have died or at the very least someone else should have been alive. But then again, things that should happen rarely, if ever, happen in life. Why was Andrew alive when the man who made fire died? Why was Color spared while her triplet sisters perished? And Heather, Heather was just an anomaly. Had she ever done something wrong on this trip, Andrew wondered. Of course, Heather had put their lives in danger multiple times during their excursions around the island, but then again, everyone had, so that really didn’t count. With that accusation answered, Andrew couldn’t think of anything else. Well, she did seem to like shouting at him. A lot. But then again, he probably deserved it, so he couldn’t blame her for that either. And there was the time that… no, that also wasn’t her fault. Andrew sighed. Heather, Heather, Heather. If, God forbid, only one person makes it off this island alive, Andrew thought, it’ll be her.

Heather and Andrew continued to sit quietly in the cave, staring at each other. “We don’t talk very much, do we?” Heather asked.

“What do you mean?” Andrew asked. “We talk all the time outside.”

“I mean talking about life things,” Heather asked. “Don’t you want to talk about life sometimes?”

Andrew sighed. “I don’t want to talk too much about life. I don’t want to jinx it.”

Heather shook her head and laughed softly. “Come on, Andrew. Let’s just give it a try. Besides, we don’t have anything else to do.”

“I guess not,” Andrew said, scooting closer to the fire. “So what do you want to talk about?”

“Do you believe in love?” Heather asked quickly.

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Are you implying-”

“Stop reading stuff into it and just answer the question. I’m curious and it’s an excellent question.”

“Someone’s prideful,” Andrew murmured.

“Shut up and answer the question already,” Heather said.

Andrew thought for a moment before answering. “I believe in science.”

“So is that a yes or a no?”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s a no.”

Andrew lay down on the cave floor, staring upwards at the ceiling and putting his hands under his hand. “You don’t think there is room for love in science?”

“So then it’s a yes?”

“Why do you want to know so badly?”

“I thought we already went through this.”

“See, this is probably we don’t talk very much. I knew we’d just argue.”

“There’s nothing wrong with arguing as long as you don’t get mad.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“Of course not.”

Andrew sat up and looked at Heather. A small smile came across his lips, then he laid back down. “Then you like me more than I do.”

“Oh come on, Andrew,” Heather said, sighing. “Well, then, different topic then. If you had a million dollars, what would you buy with it?”

“I did have a million dollars, remember?” Andrew said.

“Yes, I know, and you never ceased to remind us. But I mean, well, if you could do it all over again, what would be the first thing you bought?” Heather asked.

Andrew thought about it. “First thing, huh?” He let the question roll around in his mind. “Well, when I was little, I used to go visit my grandma and she made me this lovely knit sweater. The other kids used to tease me about it, so I wouldn’t wear it out of the house. But when I was in my room, I would always wear it. It made me feel so warm, warm on the inside. It’s a beautiful feeling to be warm on the inside. And you know, the more I’m out here, the more I realize that anything worth having can’t be bought with money. I could probably buy a million knit sweaters, but I’m sure not one of them would be as special as that little one that my grandma made me for so many years ago. So, I guess, if I could buy anything in the world, I’d buy…”

“Yes?” Heather asked.

“A yacht.”

“A yacht?” Heather asked. “I thought you were going to buy something deep and profound!”

“You have clearly never owned a yacht then,” Andrew said.

“But what about the sweaters? What about grandma?”

“I already told you, those things are gone forever. So might as well look to the future, right? Might as well hypothetically buy an imaginary yacht with my supposed million dollars.”

Heather frowned. “You’re frustrating, you know that?”

Andrew smiled. “I do my best.”

“I wish you were closer so I could hit you right now.”

“Are you sure that’s why you want me to be closer?”

“You, sir, are sick,” Heather spat. Andrew sat up, looked straight at Heather, and tilted his head to the side, a confused look on his face. Suddenly, Heather started laughing. Then, Andrew followed. The two laughed long and hard, their laughter resonating through the empty cave. Their laughter slowly died down and that’s when Heather noticed that Color was stirring.

“Heather,” Color said. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Heather said. “Andrew and I were just talking.”

“Oh,” Color said. She slowly sat up and looked around. “It’s dark, why are you two still awake?”

“Heather kept me up with her talking, Color,” Andrew said. “You need to go tell your sister to be more considerate.”

“I did not, do not listen to him!” Heather said.

Color shook her head. “I wouldn’t trust either of you with a bag of apples.” And with that she laid her head back down and went back to sleep.

“Bag of apples?” Andrew asked after a few seconds.

“Henderson thing,” Heather said. “It’s a long story.” Suddenly, a sadness swept over Heather’s face. Andrew moved to sit right beside her.

“You miss your family, don’t you?” Andrew said. Heather said nothing. “We’re going to make it out okay. You’ll see. One day, we’ll be off this island. Can you imagine that? The three of us will all be back home.”

“Home is where my family is though, Andrew,” Heather said. “Color is all I have now.”

Andrew reached over and held Heather’s hand. “We’re going to be okay,” he said, saying each word with a heart full of conviction. And for a moment, Heather believed him and the sadness seemed to go away. She slowly leaned back onto the cave floor and began to sleep. Andrew stood up and sat with his back against the cave wall. He was going to watch over these girls. If it meant the end of him, if it meant the end of the entire universe, he was going to make sure that what he said for them would come true. He was going to make sure that they would be okay.