Sam Terrace gained consciousness and slowly dragged open his heavy eyelids, blinking repeatedly as his eyes adjusted to the bright sun.
His head was absolutely pounding.
As his eyes adapted and he gradually regained his sense of time and space, the first thing he noticed was sand. He was flat on his back on a vast expanse of warm sand.
A beach. He was laying on a beach.
Sam groaned involuntarily as he attempted to sit up. He hurt all over. As he sat and began to take in his surroundings, the first thing he noticed was all the smashed wood and fiberglass and debris lapping at the shore: their boat!
The Terrace family: Sam, 22, his sister Sarah, 24, and their mother Priscilla, 44, had set sail on a cool, clear August morning just a few days prior.
Their mission: spread Jerry Terrace's ashes at sea on the anniversary of his death. Priscilla's husband Jerry had been taken from his wife, son and daughter far too young in a car accident and the Terraces had made a pact to sail to his favourite spot and make it his final resting place.
The storm had seemingly come out of nowhere.
Despite being experienced sailors, the Terrace family and their 30-footer were no match for the storm, which came up fast and remorseless, smashing their boat to pieces and washing them ashore.
The others!
Sam had a sudden moment of panic. Where were his mom and sister? What if they perished in the storm? What if he was here all alone!
"Mom!" Sam called out.
"Sarah!"
Sam's heart raced when he heard a faint reply from a stand of trees.
"Sam?"
Sam rushed over to find his older sister sitting up, leaning against a palm tree. She had taken a beating and had scratches and bruises all over.
Despite being fully engaged in survival, Sam also couldn't help but notice that Sarah's tank top was torn to shreds, leaving most of her lacy black bra showing and giving him an eyeful of the upper swell of her smooth, round breasts.
"Sarah are you okay?"
"Yes I think so."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm okay. Just sore as hell."
"What hurts? Anything serious?"
"I don't think so, Sam. Scrapes and bruises everywhere but nothing broken. I'll be okay. Where's mom?"
Sam stood and stared down the beach in both directions, scouring the outcroppings and wreckage, stomach sinking as he feared the worst.
He began wandering up the beach along the smashed suitcases, bottles and planks that were once the family schooner. Sam's walk turned into a run as he became desperate to find his and Sarah's mom.
"Mom!"
"Mom, where are you?"
Then he saw her, down the beach. She was face down in the sand and Sam's fear only worsened. He sprinted towards her, throwing himself down into the sand next to her.
Sam grabbed his mother by the shoulders and shook her gently.
"Mom! Mom are you okay?"
Priscilla then let out a small moan. Thank goodness, she was alive! She opened her eyes faintly and whispered,"Sam, what happened? Where's Sarah?"
"Sarah's fine Mom, she's just down the beach. We just woke up too, I think the final landfall smashed the boat to pieces and knocked us all out. But we're alive! We're okay."
"I love you Sam."
"I love you too Mom. Are you hurt?"
"No honey, just got my bell rung. I'll be fine."
"Oh my god I can't believe none of us are seriously hurt after that wreck. Let me take you to Sarah."
With that, Sam scooped up his mother who instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Oh Sam! No honey!"
But Sam Terrace, all-pro wrestler, rock climber and adventurer was fit and strong and carrying his curvy but slim mother was no chore. He started down the beach with his mom in his arms toward his sister. As he did, his heart was filled with relief and joy.
Even though they were in a terrible, dangerous situation, they had survived. And they were together. Everything would be okay.
As he walked, Sam glanced down at his Mom. She had her arms wrapped around Sam's neck, her eyes were closed, and Sam noticed something else: the loose-fitting sundress that Priscilla wore had ridden up at the front and was inching higher with each footstep on the beach.
At this point, the bright yellow dress was up around Priscilla's upper thighs, exposing her pale blue panties to the eyes of her son. Sam tried not to look but once he had noticed this he found it impossible to tear his eyes away. The dress slid higher and higher and now Sam had a full view.
His mom's panties. Pale blue cotton with delicate white lace around the edges. He could see her mound underneath the tight panties and could even see the curl of a few dark brown hairs poking out the sides.
Those thin little panties were now completely exposed, barely hiding her...
Sam shook his head and snapped out of it. This was no time for such thoughts. And especially not about his own mother! Back in survival mode, Sam closed the distance to his sister and set his mom gently down on the sand.
Mother and daughter immediately embraced.
"Mom!" Sarah exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her beloved mother. "Are you okay?"
"I'm just fine honey. Bumped and bruised but none the worse for wear. And you my love?"
"Same Mom, nothing a day or two won't fix."
"Well," said Sam, "we've got some work to do. I'll get started on some kind of shelter."
"Sarah," said Priscilla, "let's you and I sift through the wreckage and see what we can salvage. There was a lot of emergency food on board so hopefully some of that made it."
The trio, reunited and now more resigned to their fate, shared a long loving look until Priscilla broke the silence. "Shipwrecked while trying to scatter his ashes. Somewhere your father is laughing his ass off right now."
Mom and kids shared a good laugh over this and then set to work.
...
Half a day later, the three castaways were in much better shape. Sam had salvaged a dozen or so flotation cushions from the boat, as well as plenty of lumber and a tarp. With them he had fashioned a pretty impressive little sleeping shelter, if he did say so himself.
There were many improvements that would need to be made to truly protect them from the elements but for tonight it would do the job.
Satisfied with the shelter, Sam wandered over to the beach where his mother and sister were taking stock.
"What do we have to work with, Mom?"
"Not bad, considering. We have forty or fifty tins of food, some dry goods, drinking water for at least a week, that should hold until we're rescued or can find a source of fresh water on this island."
"Oh god" moaned Sarah. "I don't know if I could handle a whole week stranded here."
"Hey sis we have food and water, the sunshine, the ocean and a sandy beach. Not so bad!"
"Yeah, sure. Pass me the room service menu, I could go for a steak."
Ignoring her kids' banter, Priscilla continued ticking off their salvage.
"Most of the medicine cabinet is dry including the matches, some toiletries, lots of sunscreen, that's a biggie, a tub of cocoa butter, plenty of bandages, a small tool box with fishing tackle, that could be a godsend."
"How about clothes and stuff? Did any of our suitcases make it?"
"Not much I'm afraid. Let's see we've one of my dresses, a couple of pairs of shorts and t-shirts and a few pairs of panties. No bras and Sam it looks like none of your stuff made it other than one pair of shorts and a couple pairs of boxer briefs, I'm sorry honey."
"That's okay. I'm sure we'll only be a night or two before we get rescued. I've gone longer than that without a fresh change of clothes at college."
"Ew" replied his sister, wrinkling her nose. "Boys are gross."
"Well I'm going to put some finishing touches on the sleeping shelter, looks like the sun will be down soon" said Sam, trying to project confidence despite his concern.
...
That night as the sun dipped over the horizon, the three hunkered down in their makeshift shelter. The flotation cushions were surprisingly comfortable and Sam had managed to dry out two blankets that had washed ashore.