Unexpected Weather

Lily Bloom adjusted her pastel blue dress as she stood on the deck of the merchant ship *Sea Breeze*. The morning sun painted the ocean in brilliant gold, and she clutched her worn copy of *Jane Eyre* against her chest.

"Perfect weather for reading," she murmured, settling into a wooden chair near the railing.

Captain Morris, a weathered man with kind brown eyes, approached her. "Enjoying the voyage, Miss Bloom?"

"Oh yes! Though I do miss helping at the charity back home." Lily smiled warmly. "But Aunt Margaret insisted I visit her in the Isles."

The captain nodded. "Your aunt chose well. The islands are—"

A sharp crack interrupted him. Dark clouds gathered impossibly fast overhead.

"That's strange," Captain Morris frowned, studying the suddenly choppy waves. "Weather wasn't supposed to turn."

Lightning split the sky. The ship lurched violently to one side, sending Lily's book sliding across the deck. She grabbed the railing as rain began pelting down.

"All hands on deck!" the captain shouted.

The Broken Mast

The ship groaned and tilted sharply. Lily slid across the wet deck, her book tumbling into the churning waves below.

"Hold tight!" Captain Morris shouted over the howling wind.

A massive wave crashed over the bow, sending everyone sprawling. The wooden mast cracked with a thunderous snap.

"We're going down!" a sailor yelled.

Lily grabbed a floating barrel as icy water rushed around her ankles. The ship split in half with a terrible screech of breaking wood.

"Jump!" Captain Morris called out before disappearing beneath the foaming sea.

Lily clutched her barrel and plunged into the dark ocean. Waves tossed her like a toy, salt water burning her throat. Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating towering cliffs ahead.

The current dragged her toward a sandy beach. She kicked desperately, her waterlogged dress weighing her down.

Her barrel scraped against rocks. Lily stumbled onto the shore, coughing up seawater. Palm trees swayed in the storm above white sand.

She was alive, but completely alone on a strange island.