Survivors (Stranded) Read Online Free PDF

refract the sunlight and get a flame started, like he’d done before. Already, he had a good blaze going near the ship’s bow.
    Meanwhile, Carter was up in the woods, crashing around and scavenging for anything they could use, or eat. And Jane sat on a rock near the water’s edge, scribbling away in her new journal.
    “Any nibbles yet?” Jane asked, for what felt like the hundredth time.
    “Not yet,” Vanessa said. She was trying to be patient. It had been at least two hours, and she hadn’t even gotten the tiniest pull on her line.
    It was frustrating. They’d all been swimming in this water and seen a million fish just under the surface. But that was farther out, where the coral reef seemed to attract endless numbers of them.
    The reef was where they needed to go, she thought. Somehow, they’d have to get themselves out onto the water. There was plenty of bamboo around. Maybe she could figure out how to make a workable raft.
    But not today. The sun was already on its way down. It would be getting dark soon.
    “I’m going in,” she said to Jane. “Do you want to come back with me?”
    Jane closed her journal, using her finger as a bookmark as Vanessa came near. “Not yet,” she said. “I’m going to write a little more.”
    Vanessa looked to the horizon, where the sky had just started to dim. She could hear the bugs, warming up for their all-night chorus in the jungle. She could even smell the cool night air coming on.
    It was all strangely familiar now, as if her senses had gotten sharper out here. She could spot the hermit crabs in the sand even when they weren’t moving, and she swore she could tell the different calls of the cicada, the loudest insect she’d ever heard. Or maybe she was just imagining it.
    She looked down at Jane again. “Don’t . . .” she started to say, but then changed her mind and headed toward the ship.
    “Don’t what?” Jane asked after her.
    “Nothing,” Vanessa said. It was tempting to tell her not to stay out here too long. The mosquitoes always got worse around sunset, and it was important for the four of them to stick together after dark.
    But Jane knew that. Even more, Jane could make her own decisions around here. She’d proven that by now.
    They all had.

    Jane sat quietly, waiting until Vanessa had gone back to the ship. Then she opened her new journal and silently read what she’d written so far.
    Dear Mom and Dad,
    First of all, I’m not going to call you Mom and Eric anymore. Just Mom and Dad, if that’s okay with you. I miss you both so much! I wish like anything you were here.
    Wait. No, I don
’
t. I wish WE were THERE . . .wherever you are. When I think about it, I like to imagine you on a plane, somewhere just out of sight. Like you
’
re almost here to pick us up and take us home.
    I probably shouldn’t even think about that. It hurts when I do. But I also can’t help it. I know you’re out there—SOMEWHERE. And I know you’re looking for us.
    You’d probably want to know that we’re taking care of each other.Vanessa’s a really good older sister. I’m glad she’s here with me. Buzz and Carter, too. I wish you could know that, because I’m sure you’re worrying about us. You’re probably even wondering if we’re still alive.
    Well, we are.
    And we all love you.
    And we MISS YOU. Huge, like the ocean.
    xoxoxoxo, Jane (and Vanessa and Carter and Buzz)
    P.S. If anyone finds this note, PLEASE send it to Elizabeth Benson and Eric Diaz at the address on the bottom of this page. It’s more important than you can ever know. Thank you!
    Jane carefully tore the page out of her journal. With another quick look back, she made sure she was still alone. Then she reached down between the rocks and pulled up the old bottle she’d found in a corner of the ship’s galley. It smelled terrible on the inside but still had a screw cap to keep the whole thing watertight.
    Standing with her back to the ship, she quickly rolled the letter into a