Jessica stood rigid, looking down at the crashing waves below.

The water wasn't particularly threatening. Despite its unruliness, it had a pleasant sky-blue tint, and its foam was a pale gold. It was a bright and warm day, a calm ocean breeze rustling the branches of the pine trees surrounding them.

Phinley seemed to be enjoying the view. He rocked back and forth on his feet, as though the edge of the cliff mere inches away didn't bother him in the slightest. It was a long drop in front of him.

After an extended silence, Phinley turned to Jessica, cocking his head. "Aren't we supposed to do something here?"

Jessica kept her eyes glued to the restless sea ahead. "Yes." She whispered.

Phinley narrowed his eyes at her and then glanced at the bottle in her shaking hand. Before she could react, he reached over and twisted it from her grip.

Jessica thought about protesting. But that would mean taking her eyes off of the danger before them.

Phinley studied the bottle. It was palm-sized, with swirling embellishments in the glass surrounding the label. Inside the iridescent-tinted glass was a purple and indigo fluid. It had the same consistency as orange juice. The label read, in white handwritten script on a black background, 'Merm - Aid'.

Phinley turned the bottle to start reading the back label aloud. "To swim among the water dwellers, drink approximately half of this bottle's contents. Huh." He uncorked it to take a whiff, then leaned away, coughing. "That's strong. Smells like dead fish."

Jessica had no reply.

Phinley looked at her, then at the sea, then down at the offending bottle. Then he looked at her again, grinning. "Well, ladies first!" He held out the bottle.

Jessica held up her hands, partly in refusal and also in subconscious defense. The fluid did smell like something rotting.

"No!" She cried. "Why would I anyway?"

Phinley shrugged. "I'm going to take a swing here and guess we need to drink this stuff to go down there," He waved the hand holding the stopper at the ocean. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Jessica didn't. They were stuck on this island. And we can't stay, unless we want to get tsunami'd to death. Jessica shuddered.

Realization dawned on Phinley's face. "You're afraid of the water, aren't you?"

Jessica pulled her hair in front of her face to hide her flaming cheeks.

She prepared for ribbing or laughter. But a few seconds ticked by. And then some more. The sound of rustling pine needles and the hissing of the water far below filled the silence. And when Jessica finally glanced over, she found Phinley studying the bottle again.

She frowned. Phinley usually wouldn't hesitate to make fun of Jessica for something like this. Actually, between the two of them, Jessica had been the butt of Phinley's mocking more than he had been of hers. And this despite Jessica having more ammunition against the whiny, self-absorbed rich boy. But now…

Now he was silent.

Without warning, Phinley took a huge swig of the bottle. He grimaced while Jessica tried to process this.

"What...you…" Jessica stammered.

"Yeah, you know all those things I said about how it smells?" He slammed the stopper back into the mouth of the bottle, still wrinkling his nose. "Tastes, like, ten times worse." He shrugged, tossing the crystal container sideways at her. She just barely caught it.

"I forgot to mention," Phinley said, turning and backing toward the edge. "It says it should take effect in one minute, so I gotta go." He waved, grinning. "Bye."

And with that, he tipped backwards.

Jessica let out a scream and scrambled to the edge of the cliff on all fours. She peered down at the base of the cliff where the noise of the splashing sea became even more intense. There was no sign of Phinley.

Jessica briefly remembered what the Captain had told her about this island: Don't be stayin' here past sundown, or you'll be sleepin' with the fishes.

But if her only alternative was the half-empty bottle, she would be sleeping with the fishes anyway. Except it would be in a more literal sense than the idiom intended.

Would that really be so bad? Jessica thought as she crawled back away from the edge, curling her knees to her chest.

A new thought struck her with horror. Does this stuff even work?

Had Phinley just...killed himself?

The rays of the orange sunset leaked into the corner of her vision.

It was getting late. Too late.

Well, if I die one way or another, I might as well try this way. She stood, her knees wobbling and held the bottle up to the setting sun. The twilight liquid glowed, making it somehow even less appealing. Like it was some sort of toxic chemical. It might have been.

Jessica unstopped the bottle and gave herself a good half a minute to hack at smelling the potion up close. Then, pinching her nose, she brought the bottle to her lips and drained it.

She smacked her mouth a few times, glaring at the empty bottle. Then she flung it into the ocean. That'll be me in a minute.

As she approached the edge, she muttered to herself about how stupid this was. It wasn't the first time she had, and hopefully it wouldn't be her last.

You're stalling. You only have a minute. And was it just her, or were her legs beginning to turn to jello?

Without any more internal arguing, she flung one foot out and tipped forward.

She had one last thought before she hit the waves.

Wait, did I really just drink from the same thing Phinley's lips touched? Ewwwww!

WIPs

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