Richard

Richard’s excitement for the new stranger began to sour before he even reached the prone form. Although Richard could spot no movement, the man was emitting a terrible groaning noise through the sand that half immersed his face. The stranger’s scraggly black hair was as water logged as his jeans while the rest of his pale skin made Richard wish it wasn’t such a brilliant day. Eventually, life began to spread with a gentle swelling and deflating of the stranger’s bony back. Richard mused that he was witnessing some sort of primordial sea creature taking its first steps into becoming an air-breather.
“Should I help?” He thought. “Or should I just get a stick and poke him?”

As if in response to Richard’s thoughts, the stranger let out an even greater groan and flipped himself over onto his back and blinked his eyes.
“Hey…Hey there.” Richard said uneasily. “Are you ok man?”
The only immediate response the stranger gave was labored breathing.

“So,” The stranger’s voice cracked like dry mud. “I guess you aren’t one of the boys.”
“Huh?” Richard said.

“The Boys…never mind. I guess you ain’t gonna kill me.” The stranger rolled to his side and sat up and looked out at the surf.
“Beach huh? I don’t guess you know where here is?”

Richard rocked himself backwards and sat indian style.
“No, I don’t. I guess I was hoping that you might know. I just woke up myself.”
Richard absent mindedly brushed sand from his shoes. “On the other side of the island.” He added.

“Island!?” The stranger looked back at Richard. “How the hell’d we end up on an island? Did you piss off The Boys too? You don’t look the type but I guess even preppie’s get bored and need a fix.”
Richard shot back a shocked look.
“What, daddy cut you off or something?” The stranger continued with a chuckle. ”Hey, I ain’t judging or nothin’ so don’t give me that look. Lots of people have trouble paying back The Boys.” He looked back out to the shoreline. “Though I never heard of anyone ending up on an island…”

Richard was becoming annoyed. “Look, I don’t know who The Boys are or what the heck you’re even talking about.” He looked further out to the mainland. “I don’t even know where we are but I do know we need to get off this small island and over to that mainland somehow. You know, find food and shelter.”

The stranger followed Richard’s gaze and finally spotted the tree-filled mainland for the first time. A broad smile spread across his face putting Richard on edge. The stranger looked back to Richard and hit the sand in front of him.
“Holy $#@%! I didn’t even see that. Good job F^*k!@ eagle-eyes!”
The stranger stood and slapped Richard hard on the shoulder.
“Home free baby! Lemme go take a brine-bath and then we can figure out how to get to tree-land over there.”

Richard frowned in frustration. “God,” Richard began in earnest. “Where am I and what did I do to get stuck with this guy?” Richard stood to go after the stranger. He hated it but deep down he knew that he needed this rough companion to get off the island.
“Where are you going?” He called out to the half naked man. “And could you please stop swearing every other word?!”

Raphael

Raphael’s head spun around and round and round. Swirling, whirling, winding, spinning, rushing, pushing.
Crashing. Sliding. Crashing. Sliding. Crashing. Slide. Crash.
Slide…crash. Slide…pause…crash.
Slide…
…
…crash.
Bright light washed through his eyelids. Salt burned his nostrils. Bits of sand scratched at his skin and ground between his teeth.
“Good thing I’m used to feeling bad.” He thought to himself.
It was also good that his brain was making coherent thoughts. First things first.
“Ok brain,” He constructed some more thoughts to himself. “Since you appear to be the first one up, I’m relying on you to get us started. Let’s have it. Let’s get up yes?”
Throbbing.
“Oooh, $h17 that hurts! Ok, ok, ok… I get it. Everyone’s still not up yet. Lazy 4$$ body. Let’s at least figure where we are alright?!”
Raphael’s ears were the next organs to wake and they gave a more accurate report of the crashing surf along with some approaching footsteps.
“Are those footsteps real?” He thought to himself. Suddenly, the grogginess he was fighting lifted and his body went cold with panic. “Did they catch up with me? No! They couldn’t have figured out where I went. I just grabbed that $#i7 and ghosted. No way they knew!”
Uncertainty pulled him back and forth. “Why didn’t I wait until things were clear until I got high?”

Richard

Richard balanced his way across the island’s rocky interior like a schoolboy walking a curb. Up ahead, the man he had spotted earlier was unsuccessfully trying to raise himself up. Richard completed his short journey, climbed back down to the beach, and trotted over to help the now groaning man.

Sara

She ran through her mind all of the drugs that could have caused her to loose her memory. She didn't know how she knew this, but it was readily apparent that some memory was still intact. Certain drugs she could think of could induce unconsciousness and memory loss, but the effects were usually on short-term, not on everything related to one's identity.

She ran a hand through her long brown hair as she continued to play scenarios in her mind. She stood up and began to pace slightly, but nothing seemed to fit the symptoms as they were currently presented. Her green eyes flicked around to the others laying around her, each of them coming to in their own time. Each of them looked as confused as she.

In spite of the lack of answers, her anxiety seemed to fade the more she tried to work through the details of her situation. As her mood calmed, she felt a tap on her chest. Her attentions were drawn down to the necklace she had not noticed before. The gold pendant resembled half of a broken heart. She started to examine the engraving, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a man struggling to her right.

"Are you OK?" she asked. She knelt down by his side, and reached for the ropes that held his hands together.

Richard

Floating.
Richard was floating deep within the sea. An endless navy blue cocoon surrounded him with only a faint bubbling noise reaching his water-filled ears. Most people would revel in such a comforting dream but to Richard, the world of water brought nothing but terror. He flailed his arms and legs in a panic until real water splashed onto his face and snapped him out of his sleep. Still breathing hard, Richard sat up and shook his head as if to loosen the dream’s hold on his reality. He looked around and found himself laying on a small beach half emerged in water. The sun sparkled over top of the gently undulating surf. Standing, Richard walked further inland, and surveyed his surroundings. He appeared to be on a small flat island floating alone in the sea. He wouldn’t call it anything more than a glorified sandbar if it weren’t for it’s half-mile diameter. Going further up the shore, the sand beneath his feet became denser. Ahead, the island’s rocky interior was comprised of volcanic rock the color of rust. Richard discovered hundreds of little pools of fresh rainwater as he ran his hand along the rock’s sharply pitted surface. He tried to stick his head inside to get a drink but gave up as the water was settled too far into the pits.
Not knowing what else to do, Richard climbed the rock face to get a better view. As he came to the top of the rocks, the tree line of a larger landmass came into view. Hope swelled as he excitedly scrambled higher but his heart dropped when he saw a similar rocky beach running below the dense line of trees. The distance of ocean separating him from the mainland appeared insurmountable. He was about to climb down in defeat until he spotted another person lying along the opposite shore of the island. Hope renewed, Richard began to make his way across the rocks.

Sara

The air rushed into her lungs with a gasp, as one waking from the dead. Her heart was racing, which only seemed to increase the pounding in her head. Her eyes flicked open, quick, alert, adrenaline flowing. She sat up with a start, and then wished she hadn't, as the blood rushed to her still throbbing temples. "Where am I?" The clearing beared no resemblance to any place she had been before. The trees were odd somehow, in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was as she stared closer at the trees that she heard the first groans. Others around her, seemingly coming to at the same time. Each looked as dazed as she felt. She wracked her brain for how she had gotten here. But no memories came. She began to bite her index nail as anxiety rose in her slightly. She tried and tried, but her mind was a blank slate. As her pulse quickened again, she barely noticed that the necklace she was wearing began to float, the broken heart shape catching the light with a glint...

James

"Oh $£€¥" His head was throbbing as he sat up from the ground. "What did I have to drink last night?" His muscles ached like he had run the iron man and lost. As the haze started to fade, he quickly realized his surroundings were unfamiliar. A grove of trees, with a clearing in the center. It was also readily apparent he was not alone. There was a feeling in the air, a taste of confusion, as others seemed to be sitting up as well. "Must have been one &%#€ of a party." None of these people looked familar to him.

As his other senses cleared, he was aware of cold metal on his chest. He reached for the sensation, brushing a small pendant hung around his neck. Fumbling clumsily with the clasp, he brought it to where he could see it. It was half of a broken heart, with engraving on both sides. "...Best friends by choice." one side read, clearly mass produced. He fliped it over. Only two words. "Sara" above, "2005" below. "Hmph," he thought. "Best friends. Never a good sign with a chick." He wracked his brain for a Sara, wondering if it was someone from last night.

It was then, for the first time, he realized he could not remember last night. This would not ordinarily have disturbed him, given the hung over feeling that was just now starting to fade. But then he couldn't remember the night before that either. Or the night before that. The more his brain churned, the more he realized he couldn't remember. "Sara." Then it hit him. "Oh my--what's MY name?" He began to feel the fear of one completely out of control of his universe.

Introduction

A group of strangers wake up in a wooded clearing, with no memory of who they are, or how they got there. Each posseses a token of who they once were, or perhaps who someone else once was. As they try to piece together what has brought them to this place, they soon discover that, whoever they once were, they have been changed, given abilities beyond normal humanity. And that's just the first surprise...

Rules of the story:
1) This is a closed group. If you are interested in writing, let me know. But for now, it's just us.
2) Make the title of your post the name of your character. Even if they don't know their name yet... : )
3) Keep your language clean. If your character has a tendency for colorful language, use some ^&#* typewriter symbols instead.
4) You only control your own character. Please do not speak for other characters, include their reactions to your actions, or kill them, without clearing it with that author first.
5) Please keep the abilities of your character within reason. Yes, this is sci-fi of sorts, but nobody likes the guy whose character is omnipotent.
6) Limit 3 characters per author.
7) Please keep the number of posts per week within reason. Remember, we all have real lives too. : )