*Chapter 5: Stranded

[lock180]

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Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

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The Book of Zen

Chapter 5: Stranded

ILLUSTRATED BY: Thor Dangerson

Zenzeroni was going to die. 10,000 feet up in the air and dropping like a rock Zenzeroni realized his fate was sealed. He didn’t really think about anything in those moments floating, or more falling, through the air. He just let it happen. It felt nice. The wind against his face, nothing but the sound of wind rushing by his face when all of a sudden he remembered the backpack. Jolting out of his quick lapse in awareness, Zenzeroni looked over at a string coming out of the backpack. Not able to use his arms to pull it Zenzeroni maneuvers himself in the air so that his feet can reach the string and with one sudden movement his feet latch on and pull as hard as they can and sure enough *POP* out comes a parachute and Zenzeroni’s falling speed is immediately reduced to a slow gentle sail almost like a dandelion in the breeze. But with one problem solved another soon formed. Looking down Zenzeroni sees nothing but the ocean. Frantically, now reaching 1,000 feet, Zenzeroni looks for land anywhere and sees it on what looks to be a completely barren island just in front of him. Maneuvering the parachute to perfectly align himself with a path towards the island Zenzeroni coasts toward his destination. It was as if he had done this a thousand times over as Zenzeroni glided home landing on his feet directly in the middle of the island.

Still not fully aware of the situation he was truly in, Zenzeroni looked up to the sky half expecting his father to be joining him on this strange skydiving adventure. But while his head still held out hope, his heart knew the truth. As if to confirm his suspicions, the plane Zenzeroni had been in minutes earlier buzzed by at a scary low altitude and in the brief seconds Zenzeroni was able to see the cockpit, he saw his father grinning ear to ear practically jumping with joy as the plane soared over the island and eventually out of sight. Looking around Zenzeroni was now fully aware that he was stranded on a deserted island, all alone.

Well, Zenzeroni wasn’t completely alone. Joining Zenzeroni on the otherwise deserted island were hundreds of thousands of what Zenzeroni assumed to be seagulls (in reality for all the bird lovers out there, they were mollymawks). Some may assume I am exaggerating when I say a deserted island but there is no hyperbole in my words. This 566 acre island has no redeeming qualities, not even a single tree to be seen. The island had two qualities outside of birds: long grass, and steep cliffs.

This was no place for a 7 year old boy to be dropped off on much less stranded on. The sun was still blistering down which brought warmth to Zenzeorni but he knew that once the sun set, the cold night would grip him and not let go.

Zenzeroni was the opposite of an “outdoorsy” person. He had spent most of his young life in the confines of his parent's incredibly comfortable mansion. So to now do a 180 and have absolutely none of those luxuries he was privy to mere days ago, was going to prove troublesome.

Zenzeroni’s stomach grumbled and he realized he would have another problem soon as well. After watching all the TikTok videos on his parent's account he knew that he could survive for 3 weeks without food but only 3 days without water. With that in mind, he decided to go to the ocean to quench his thirst.

The large cliffs surrounding the island proved difficult to navigate around as Zenzeroni tried time and time again to reach the ocean only to be met by drops of 100 feet or more into the turbulent waters below. However eventually, Zenzeroni made his way toward the western side of the island where a more gradual slope allowed him easier access to the water.

A group of mollymawks greet Zenzeroni on the small jagged beach and Zenzeroni narrows his eyes seeing an opportunity to catch food for himself. What he would do after catching the bird he didn’t know but that was not a question for now. For now, his approach was to get low and go slow, inching closer and closer to his prey when…. BOOM a huge wave crashes against one of the cliffsides to his left scaring the birds who fly up and away to another part of the island.

In frustration, Zenzeroni kicks a few of the rocks on the beach into the ocean and sits down to watch the waves roll in. The sun is now beginning to set and a shiver goes down his spine. He needs to get this drink of water and find some kind of shelter where he will be as safe as possible from the elements.

Zenzeroni grabs a water bottle that happened to be attached to the parachute bag and begins filling it up with saltwater from the ocean. Zenzeroni swishes it around in the bottle for a minute thinking about all the fish poop that could be inside the bottle now. Despite his knowledge about the survival thresholds of food and water, his awareness takes a quick drop off after that, and with no one around to stop him Zenzeroni puts his mouth to the bottle and takes a swig of that nice salty taste of the ocean.

Zenzeroni quickly spits it back out after the taste reaches his taste buds but not before swallowing a significant amount more than is probably healthy. Feeling a little weird, Zenzeroni looks at the sky which is now a brilliant shade of oranges, reds, and pinks as the sunset is now fully underway. Zenzeroni stumbles off the beach and towards the mainland of the island when he sees something that terrifies him to his core.

Ahead of him and on top of the hill directly in the direction Zenzeroni was about to head, was a dark figure silhouetted by the sunset with an old fashioned lantern in hand standing menacingly looking down on Zenzeroni. Cornered, Zenzeroni can only watch as this mysterious figure steps closer and closer to its target, Zenzeroni Xystarch II.

[jreed12]

So terrifying! Maybe Zenzy should have watched some Bear Grylls survival

[lock180]

So terrifying! Maybe Zenzy should have watched some Bear Grylls survival

Too scary