Chapter 1

Now what was he going to do? At the age of 12, he had learned a lot working with his father, but this situation was beyond anything he could imagine his abilities to handle. Looking down at his ten year old sister holding on to him for dear life, he tried to think of things to calm her. But, he was nearly as frightened. It was as if they had been watching an adventure movie the likes of which he wasn't sure he could finish watching because it had become too bone chilling. But, this was no movie; not even a dream.

They had been enjoying a holiday with their parents aboard a sailing craft in the Malay Archipelago which consisted of more than 10,000 islands if one included the Philippines of which it is a part. There were a few other tourists and a small crew. Their last port had been on the island of Mindanao from which they had set course to the south toward what used to be the Dutch East Indies. It had become Indonesia just a short time ago. This was 1950. Their parents were celebrating their success in business and had taken them all on a 'round the world' trip with a hiatus like this island cruise along the way.

Nathan knew they were just north of the equator since his father spent time explaining how different the location of the stars and the Sun was from what they were used to seeing in the sky. He had said that one's view of where these objects were in the sky depended on latitude as well as the Earth's tilt and movement around the Sun.

He remembered how his father had become concerned that day about the sky becoming so ominous with the wind up so high that the crew had furled the sails and were using engines to keep way on. Kathy had become frightened with the vessel pitching and rolling so violently, but all were reassured that the weather would improve. Still, they had been told to put on life vests and advised about the locations and workings of the inflatable life boats. This did not instill a sense of security.

Actually, Nathan had been enjoying the wild movements of the ship and looked upon the storm as another adventure. After dark, the situation worsened. By this time, Nathan had ceased to think any of this was fun when the order to abandon ship was given. The native crew had panicked leaving the passengers on their own. The two children had clung to each other as pandemonium ensued. It was a scrambled scene of 'Everybody for Themselves' leaving Nathan and his sister to make their way along with some of the other passengers to an inflatable life boat. They had become separated from their parents in the dark. Everything was very confusing while being jostled to and fro as the vessel rolled and pitched in the churning, wind and rain swept seas. The idea of leaving the vessel during such circumstances had them both in a state of scared disbelief bordering on panic.

Nathan could not remember a lot after that. It was as if he had dozed off during that adventure film and awakened to a different scene. He remembered somebody putting them into the raft and being pelted severely by the rain while the raft pitched in the high seas, but nothing more until they found themselves along the shore of this island.

Kathy had clung to him throughout the ordeal. She had cried herself out, but was still sniffling even in her sleep. They were alone in the raft which looked like it could hold a lot more people. It looked huge with only themselves huddling in it. He could feel the seaward part of the raft lift up as the beach ward end dug into the sand with each gentle nudge of the sea.

"Kathy, let go of me. We've got to pull this thing on land before it drifts back out to sea." She released her hold and he hopped over the side and tried to pull the raft ashore. "Get out and help me Kathy, and stop crying!" She had begun to sob again.

The two of them took hold of a line that encircled the top of the inflated portion of the raft and pulled together inching it slowly ashore with the help of the incoming waves.

"Nathan, what are we gonna do? Where is everyone? What happened to Mommy and Daddy? She could not stop crying and Nathan felt a tug of sympathy for her even though he felt like crying himself.

The storm clouds had disappeared leaving blue sky. The sea appeared calm except for the light waves washing ashore. After getting the raft on dry sand, Nathan took his bearings for the first time and surveyed their new surroundings. It appeared to be like all the other islands they had seen from the ship while sailing during the last several days. Back from the sandy beach could be seen the usual mangrove of trees, palms and tall leafy plants which they had been calling 'jungle.'

Kathy kept up her questioning along with her sobs which began to irritate Nathan. He was becoming angry because he had no more idea of what to do than she did. Yet, he was obviously the one in charge, he was older, and the weight of their plight was upon him. Even though he snapped back at her and tried to occupy himself with thoughts of their survival, he was on the verge of tears.

"Dammit, Kathy, stop snivelling and let me think..." he exploded. But, he could not hold it back and burst into tears. The two children sat on the sand and sobbed as they clung to each other for support. They cried themselves out while holding on to each other for dear life. They were alone; they only had each other. The enormity of their situation was more than they could face for the moment. This realization drained them emotionally and physically until they fell asleep in each other's arms.

When Nathan awoke, the Sun was high in the sky and he realized they were baking their exposed skin. He was also very thirsty. He nudged his sister awake. "Kathy, wake up. We've got to figure out what to do." He seemed to have regained some composure and his thirst compelled him to take charge again; to be the big brother he was supposed to be. "Rafts are s'posed to have water and stuff in them. Let's go see if there's anything there."

The two bounded over to the raft, now securely beached and even hot to the touch after absorbing the Sun's rays. They found canteens of water, a first aid kit, a flare gun, and little cannisters of food. These were distributed in cloth pockets attached around the insides of the inflated portion of the raft. They had only to unsnap the pockets to retrieve the various items.

Finding these survival items was a tremendous boost to their morale, and all thoughts were on drinking water, and discovering what each container revealed. Even thoughts about the fate of their parents and the others were suppressed for the moment. It was a joyous moment to be savored.

"Kathy," Nathan uttered in new clarity of thought, "we need to pull the raft up to that line of trees to get it in the shade and maybe we can prop it up as a lean-to for shelter. Whaddya think?"

Kathy looked at her brother in admiration. He was going to get them through this ordeal after all. She knew he would do it and became as enthusiastic as if he had suggested they build a fort in their backyard.

They were wearing shorts and T-shirts with tennis shoes on their feet which had been recommended for walking around the deck of the ship. Their clothing had since dried on them while sleeping in the Sun. They worked the raft up the slope of the beach in phases since it was relatively large. Nathan used the oars from the raft to prop it up into his proposed 'lean-to' position.

Their preoccupation with the raft kept them from thinking about the true seriousness of their situation. The amount of water and food had been stored for eight people (the capacity was marked on the raft) so they considered themselves lucky for the moment.

Eventually, the calls of nature arrived and Kathy said she had to relieve herself.

"Is there any toilet paper in the raft, Nathan?"

"Neah, just some compressed napkins, but we can use those."

"Where should I do it, Nathan?"

Nathan thought for a moment and then said, "I guess we shouldn't do it right next to the raft. Maybe we should go back into the jungle a little bit. Yeah, let's figure out where our toilet should be. I guess we don't know how long we'll be here so come on, let's find a place."

As brother and sister, they had frequently been in the bathroom together at home when one or the other couldn't wait. In some families, privacy was preached in such matters. But, they had even taken baths together up until a couple of years ago, so curiosity about what the opposite sex looked like was not in their lexicon of youthful pursuits. She had been a tomboy who wanted to imitate her big brother, and even though she had recently become more dainty in her personal privacy habits, the idea of going to the bathroom with her brother present was not that much a stretch to her sensibilities.

Nathan, on the other hand, had begun to think about girls and sex, but his little sister never counted in such thoughts. She was only about ten and he was almost 13. (At this age kids always counted their age to the next year if their birthday fell within that calendar year). They had never been overly prudish about their bodies and, besides, she was just his little sister. Nature's calls in her presence hadn't been a problem even after he began to think about girls.

Actually, it was after he had taken up masturbation that the idea of seeing a girl's sex became an ever present obsession except in regard to his sister's. She simply didn't count. Because of this he didn't anticipate what was to happen next.

They hadn't really ever been in a tropical forest or jungle, so they entered the tall grass and leaf like plants with some trepidation. The sounds were arresting to their ears as if they had entered a new universe with birds chirping, cawing, and other animals seeming to screech. It was quite different from the soft sound of the ocean waves on the beach. Kathy became wide-eyed and turned to make sure Nathan was close by. Any embarrassment she may have had about her big brother seeing her while she relieved herself was overcome by these new unknown if not frightening surroundings.

"This looks like as good a place as any," said Nathan. "Go ahead; I'll go to."

Not wanting to soil the only clothes she had, Kathy daintily removed her shorts and panties and squatted down while keeping her eyes on Nathan as if he might leave her or maybe to keep him from looking at her--maybe both. He was opening up his shorts and taking out his penis to urinate. She had seen him do this before in the bathroom, but never had a good look since it really was a private matter and proper behavior dictated that one should not stare.

Nathan realized that he hadn't actually ever seen his sister's vagina up close before and was compelled to glance down at her. But, for the same reason was embarrassed when he met her eyes so looked the other direction and continued with his own task.

Finishing with a couple of squirts, she looked up at his face and said, "Did you bring the paper?"

Without tucking his penis back into his shorts, Nathan searched his pocket with his free hand for the small package of napkins. His eyes once again strayed to Kathy's prominent, bare vagina as if seeing it for the first time. Always before, it had just been part of his little sister's anatomy. Nothing more and nothing less. But, for whatever reason which he could not fathom at the moment, the view made his penis begin to swell as he handed her the napkins.

"Don't use all of 'em," he said, "cause we'll need 'em for the other too, well you know."

His penis was now at full erection as he watched her pat dry her sex after running the napkin between the lips. She glanced back up at her brother to see if he was looking which made him turn his head again. To her amazement, she noticed the transformation that had taken place at Nathan's crotch. It was bigger, sticking straight out from his fly. She almost asked him what had happened to his thing, but decided that would be unladylike.

By now, Nathan became embarrassed about his condition and pulling her up with his hand, tried to stuff his penis back into his shorts with the other, but was unsuccessful with it so stiff. Looking away, he muttered, "It does that sometimes, and I can't help it... it'll go down in a little bit."

Then, with both hands free, he managed to tuck it back into his pants even though it still made a tent in them. Now, Kathy was even more intrigued since he even acknowledged that something had happened to his penis.

They made their way back to their lean-to raft and sat down in its shade. Nathan decided they should take stock of what they had and think about how long they might be stranded there. Kathy started to use some of their water to wash her hands saying they should always wash after going to the bathroom. Nathan stopped her saying, "No, we hafta use that for drinking. We can go down to the beach to wash our hands. In fact, we can take a bath in the sea if you want to..."

Their talk turned back to the available water for drinking which Nathan realized would be a problem if they were to be on the island for a long time. "We gotta go inland and maybe we'll find a stream, or a pond, or a spring, or something."

To Kathy, the idea of going deep into the jungle with all those strange sounds was not appealing, but she wasn't about to remain on the beach while he searched alone for water. She would rather get lost with him than be out here by herself. Their concentration on immediate needs had taken most of their time so far. Somehow, he knew that if they simply stayed on the beach and thought about their plight, their parents, and hope for rescue they would become morose, helpless, and spend most of their time crying in despair. They would have to face their dilemma together giving each other as much support as they could.