When the group returned to the beach, the fire Ethan had kept going since morning was still smoldering beneath a layer of gray ash. A few half-burned pieces of firewood lay tilted beside the fire pit, thin smoke rising before being quickly scattered by the sea breeze. This scene, which had originally belonged to the difficult survival of Ethan and Lucy over the past two days, immediately lost its rare sense of peace after being trampled into by Eric’s group’s chaotic footsteps, like a temporary shelter that had just been built in a storm and then had its roof roughly torn open by someone else.
Ken dropped the pile of bananas near the base of a coconut tree, exhaled heavily, and plopped down onto the ground as if all the credit for finding the food belonged to him. Mary also tossed the bun
