Rain

As he woke up, Rainsford felt a feeling of tiredness. He sat up and grunted as his body started aching in pain. He lay back down again. Looking at the ceiling, Rainsford recalled his past few days on the nightmare called Ship-Trap Island.
“Zaroff...” muttered Rainsford, as he struggled to get up once again.
Rainsford left the room and made his way through Zaroff's huge mansion in search of the kitchen.
“Bathroom...Bedroom...Bedroom... Dining Roo—Ah!” Exclaimed Rainsford “Here we go.”
The enormous kitchen contained various foods from a variety of countries. Rainsford decided that he had enough food to last him at least a month or two.
“After eating, I have to find a way to get out of here.” He thought.

Rainsford opened the front door and shut his eyes. The intense light from the sun blinded him so he stood there waiting for his eyes to adjust. Then Rainsford started out into the thick jungle.
“I must find the ocean” Rainsford thought “It's my best chance to get of this island”

He tried to recall the trail he had taken to the sea but another thought ran across his mind: It might be a long time before a ship is even seen passing the island and almost no one dared come near it. He had a good supply of food with him and he could always go back for more at Zaroff's home. But it would run out eventually. Maybe far before someone rescued him. He tried not to worry about this and pushed the thought from his mind. Then he realized he made it to the tree where he spend his first night in the jungle. It was already very dark, so Rainsford decided to stay there. He had brought a backpack with him along with things he found in the house: Food, water, a box of matches, a blanket, a light rifle, and a knife. It would be dark soon so Rainsford prepared to get some rest. He ate a piece of bread with some water, covered himself with the blanket, tucked the backpack underneath his head and closed his eyes.


Rainsford awoke to a sudden boom. He sat up. It was still dark, he probably didn’t get to sleep for long. Rainsford could hear rain falling on the ground. Then he heard the boom again, and realize it was thunder. Rainsford got up and put his things in the backpack. Then he concentrated on the thunder strike that had woken him up. It was loud so it must of fallen near the island. Rainsford squinted to make out the jungle, looking for something that would provide him with more shelter. He had no time to do this however because the rain was poring faster. It was falling quickly and the tree he was under could not hold the water out. Rainsford ran, traveling deeper into the jungle hoping the rain would be blocked out by the trees. Just then he heard a strike of thunder so loud it made him lose balance and fall to the ground. Stunned, Rainsford stayed there and looked around, trying to find the spot the thunder had landed. He saw nothing but he did hear a different noise... a snapping sound like that of twigs and sticks breaking. Then a Thump! As if something had fallen. Then the snapping sound again. It didn’t stop. Confused, Rainsford took the matches from his backpack and lit one. All he saw was a figure falling toward him before he was tumbled over and knocked unconcious.

It was morning by the time Rainsford came to. He opened his eyes and lay there for a while. He tried to turn on his back but a sharp pain in his right leg stopped him. He turned his head as much as he could and saw a huge tree right behind him. On his knee rested a branch, about the size of a log pressing his entire leg down against the ground. Rainsford tried to pull his leg out from under the branch by grabbing it tight with his hands and pulling towards his body. The log rolled downward and stopped at his ankle. It was almost off. Rainsford took a deep breath and braced himself to pull his leg . He clenched his teeth to stop his screams of pain. He realized the log was off but the damage had been done. He managed to stand and looked towards the direction the tree had fallen from. Trees lay on the ground, one on top of the other making a straight path deep into the jungle. The strike of lightning he had heard proobly hit a tree. It must have fallen and hit another one and they continued falling like dominoes until one landed on him
“Just my luck.” Rainsford mumbled to himself.
He turned away from the scene and focused on his leg. He snapped off a branch from the tree and put the blanket he had brought with him between it and his under arm. This would provide support for his right side so he wouldn’t have to use his leg.
“Now,” he thought, “I have two choices, I can go back to the house or I can keep going towards the ocean and wait for someone to rescue me.”
He was further away from the house and he didn’t want to take a chance of someone going by the island while he was back at the mansion recuperating.

He decided to keep going. His bad leg made it very difficult to walk and he made very slow progress throughout the day. Rainsford stopped to rest at a nearby tree and wondered if he had made a smart decision to keep on going. He knew that there might be someone looking for him because the ship he came to the island on never returned to it's original location. It was more likely that someone would come soon, so the more time he spent out here the less chance of being found he had. He got up again to continue. As he walked his mind kept revolving around that thought, it made him nervous. He could not stand to be on the island any longer, he had experienced things here he would never forget and he wanted to get away from it as soon as possible.

He managed to make it to sea by the next day. He was tired, he had barely slept the night before and he had continued walking long after the sun had set the previous day. He sat next to a tree where he had a clear view of the ocean and any ships that might happen to pass by. Rainsford still had a bit of food in his backpack and ate some of it. He had to be smart with how much he ate because he predicted that he might be her for a long time. After eating he made a fire with the matches he had brought along with leaves and sticks he found around him. The heat of the fire calmed him, it was the only thing that gave him comfort. Rainsford covered himself with the blanket and waited.

It was almost dark and there was no sign of a ship or anything else for that matter. Rainsford was beginning to feel drowzy. He shut his eyes for a minute... than he felt something drip on his nose. Rain. Again. He thought back to the day he killed General Zaroff. Even though he was gone it was as if the general was still with him, throwing as many obstacles as he could at Rainsford.

The storm worsened quickly, it was the same, if not worse than the previous one he encountered. The fire burned out from the rain and wind started blowing debris in Rainsford's face. The storm got so bad Rainsford could not even get up to look for better shelter, all he could do was cover his face with his arms and wait for the storm to subside. The wind blew even harder and rain hit his head as if there were pebbles falling from the sky. He could hear trees falling all around him and hoped the one he was next to would remain standing.

Rainsford had never been in a situation like this before, he felt helpless and he was sure he would meet his doom soon. Then he heard a horn sound somewhere out in the storm. He looked up for as long as the rain would allow him and saw a light not very far floating away from him. A boat! It was actually a boat! He knew he had to signal it before it was out of view so Rainsford gathered the remaining strength he had inside him and stood up. He walked as fast as he could towards the ship and waved his arms frantically at it hoping it would see him but the boat did not stop. He tried shouting at it but the wind muffled his cries for help. Rainsford panicked he had to do something to get the boat's attention. Quickly he pulled out the rifle from inside his backpack and shot at the sky then he dropped the gun and desperately waved his arms once again. The boat showed no signs that it had seen him. Rainsford dropped to his knees and started to scream. He knew it was over. It was the end for him. Then, the heard the horn again. Rainsford looked up. The boat seemed to have stopped and.. .Yes! It was going towards his direction! Rainsford stood up again and threw his arms into the air. The boat landed on shore and a man with a rain coat came out of the cabin to help him inside.
“Good God!” the man said, “What were you doing on that island and in a storm as bad as this one.Are you mad?!
Rainsford opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He just fell to the ground and cried. They were tears of happiness though because he knew that he had finally won. It was finally over.