Silas heard her words clearly before watching her drift off, back into the sea.
Seven days then.
Count on it, he thought. At that point, he was more interested in learning more about the woman whose name he had failed to catch, despite her knowing his. Sure, he would take up her offer to bring him back to the mainland, but no doubt he would shoot for a little more than that.
Of course, he failed to mention his own intentions.
Details.Day 1
The mermaid wasn't wrong - this little island he found himself on wasn't more than a mile long, and there wasn't enough substantial shelter for him to lay his head comfortably. He
did find a little shade under a dying tree, however, and that's the spot where he awoke that morning.
Sitting upright, he stretched his arms out and yawned as his vision focused in on his surroundings. The sun was already beating down on him, but at least the little shade he had kept his skin from blistering too much.
Okay. No food. No fresh water. How was he going to get through this for seven days? Well, the water didn't have to be
that fresh, so he may as well start there. He remembered seeing a small watering hole on his way to find shelter, so he got to his feet and tracked it down.
And he drank the most that it had to offer at that time. Crazy how parched a man can get while being stranded on a remote island by some sadistic sea goddess.
Okay. Now time to find some food. The woman said there wasn't any, but she
could be wrong. At least, that's what he kept telling himself as he searched high and low for any sighting of food, only to inevitably fail. It was only the morning and his stomach was already growling.
He was fucked.
Not only that, but he was fairly certain that water he just drank was doing
something to his stomach. He probably should have listened to the woman about that, but to hells with it, he was angry with her, and surely it wouldn't be that bad.
There was certainly one way to take his mind off of things, at least for a few moments. He peered around, making sure that there were no
legends nearby to watch him. Then, his shoulders sank and he leaned his head back as a brief moment of relaxation washed over his body.
Tinkle Tinkle. Tinkle Tinkle Tinkle."Ahhh," he exhaled in satisfaction. "Well.. I feel be-"
He stopped, eyes widened, as his words betrayed him and so did his stomach. The water he had previously drank came surging out of his mouth with very little warning, leaving him hunched over the sand with a burning throat and teary eyes.
"G-Gods," he choked, wiping his eyes. "How the hell am I suppose to survive for seven days on nothing?!"
The rest of the day went exactly like the morning, and he eventually found himself back under the dying tree with growing hunger and lingering dehydration.