As I put my best suit on I look in the mirror to check myself

“No, I should definitely go with the black tie, or maybe the white?”
While switching through both the black and white tie in front of my neck I hear a knock
on my door.
“Mateo, you in there?”
“It's open,” I yelled
Zayn opens the door and bounces on my bed. I turn around and look at him with both ties
in my hands giving him a desperate look.
“Dude cmon black tie for sure,” he says
“Ok Ok thanks,” I say
“What are best friends for,” zayn says shrugging his shoulders
“Yes best friends are for picking what tie color to wear on a date,” I say sarcastically
“Yeah whatever” zayn rolled his eyes “bro you're gonna be late”
I pick up my phone and check the time its 6:15
“Crap, I gotta go.”
I grab my keys, check myself one last time, and run out the door. I get to the restaurant
and I see her waiting. I park in the first parking space I see and run to the restaurant
“I'm so sorry I'm late Stella I lost track of time”
“Don't worry about it I wasn't waiting long” she says
I met Stella a couple of days ago while working at the local boat dock id never seen her
before and asked her on a date
“So what are you doing here in Australia,” I ask
“Just looking for adventure I want to see the world not be in a university classroom”
Stella and I have been dating for 3 months now and have been planning a trip to
California on my boat
“Are you ready to go?” I ask
“yep I'm all packed,” she says
We loaded in our things and headed out to sea. A few hours went by and the sun was
starting to set.
“Wow you must never get tired of watching beautiful sunsets all the time it seems like a
dream and a great job to have, sailing I mean,” Stella said
“Yeah it has its perks but being alone for long periods can mess with your head, like
distorted perceptions of time, high levels of anxiety, and major hallucinations.
‘Like how major” she asked
“Well one time I took a trip alone I was gone for like 15 days and I started hallucinating
and thought my mom was with me, my mom passed 3 years ago”
“Woah that's rough”
“Yeah I took some time off from sailing after that”
“How long does it take to get to California again,” Stella says
“It's a 40-day voyage” I remind her”
 A few days went by and the tides were steady for the most part. We danced, sang, and
laughed, and for the first time in a while I was happy, we were happy.
“Oh no seems like there's a storm headed our way,” I say
“Can't we just go around it”
“Nah we’ll lose the route and just get deeper into the storm.” “we’re just gonna have to
prepare for the storm”.
We put on our life jackets and harnesses and closed all the windows and laches. The
storm looked bad. I was panicking but stayed calm for her. I was signaling the radio and
constantly checking the weather. I'm trying my best to keep her calm as the boat starts to rock
back and forth aggressively with the waves we hold on to the pole and prepare for the big wave
about to hit us.
“I love you”
The last words I heard before the boat flipped
“I love you too”
I woke up to the sound of the waves. The sun was bright and I was barely above the
water. I quickly swam to the boat and tried to flip it over but it was too heavy. I sat there, caught
my breath, and used all my strength to flip it. I got on the boat and lay down in relief then I
quickly got up and remembered about Stella. I found my binoculars in the cabinet and took a
look around and realized I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with no map and no island in
sight. The next few days I kept looking for Stella and tried to get the boat back in shape. I had no
luck in finding Stella; she could've been anywhere. I didn't want to think of all the possibilities,
not yet I felt she was still out there. On the fifth day, I took a look in my binoculars like I did
every other day since the storm in hopes of finding or seeing Stella. I was starting to feel less
confident in the chances of finding her. A couple of hours later I saw a yellow life raft I quickly
looked at it through the binoculars and there she was her leg was bloody and she was probably
starving
“Stella” I yelled “Stella”
I waved at her and cried as I got her on the boat
“Ow ow my leg I think its broken,” she said
I laid her down by the edge of the boat and looked at her leg
“Is it bad”
“ No” I lied I didn't want to scare her
I took my shirt off and tightly wrapped it around her leg. I gave her some water I found in
one of the cabinets. We were hungry but I didn't find any food I looked for what felt like 30
minutes
“I found some sardines do you want some” I asked
“Anything is fine I'm so hungry”
I hated sardines but in the moment they were the best thing I'd ever eaten.
Two weeks went by and we found more food but eventually, I just started catching fish for us.
The tides were slow, and the sky was clear but I started thinking about what happens if we run
out of food or water. What if another storm hits us? A few more days went by with no luck of
finding land or another boat but nothing.
“Were gonna die out here aren't we” Stella looked at me with tears in her eyes
“ no no there's gonna be another boat or a helicopter. people are gonna be wondering
where we are”
“Nobody knows I'm here my parents are in Washington I went to Australia alone no one
is gonna come to look for me”
Her words stuck with me and I was determined to find land. Two and a half weeks later I
got up and looked at my surroundings. I saw a green patch out in the distance. Could it be? I
grabbed the binoculars and saw an island. I started jumping up and down in excitement. We were
gonna live.
“Stop jumping you're moving the boat,” Stella said
“ we're gonna live” I whispered under my breath
“What,” Stella said sitting up with a blank expression on her face
“Were gonna live” I screamed out into the ocean “ there's an island
“An island?” she said
“Yes an island”
I handed her the binoculars, and she looked into them then rubbed her eyes and looked
into them again”
“ Oh my god it is an island,” she said
Stella started to cry. I hugged her and we cried together. These horrible weeks or maybe
even months would finally be over. Two hours later we got to the island. People were greeting us
And welcoming us to the island
“Do you speak English?” I asked one of the people greeting us
“Yes,” he said
“Great, I and my girlfriend were caught in a big storm and we've been stranded out at sea
for weeks”
“Oh no come with me we will give you a place to stay with some food and water”
“Thank you thank you so much please can you get my girlfriend from the boat,” I asked
“ yes they will get her out of the boat and she can meet you there,” the islander said
“ and also where am i”
“You are in Argentina,” he said
I woke up a few hours later in the room they provided me with and some people came to
ask me questions about what happened to me and where I came from.
“I'm sorry but um where's Stella,” I asked
“Who's Stella,” one of the islanders said to me
“The girl that was on the boat with me my girlfriend,” I said
“I'm sorry sir but there was no one on the boat with you, we checked,” he said
“No sh-she was there,” I said confused
“I'm sorry but you came alone”
After the crash, Mateo thought Stella was with him but she died shortly after the boat was hit.
Mateo was alone for weeks none of it was real it was all an illusion