Character+vs.+Non-character+story

It was early when he woke to the sounds of birds chirping. The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, instantly he knew something was wrong. His whole body ached and he felt as if he had been in a car accident. He struggled to sit up but as he tried he felt a sudden sharp pain shoot though his entire left side, including his arm. A gasp escaped his lips from the pain and he felt as though he was going to scream in agony, but he was able to contain himself and took a few deep breaths to keep himself calm.

He continued to lay flat on his back but he opened his eyes to examine his surroundings. He could feel that the grass was covered in dew,that must be why he could feel water seeping through his clothes and as if on cue his body shivered. He could see trees, not like the trees that were planted in the park across from his apartment in New York City. These were huge, the trunks were thick and the leaves were just starting to turn different shades of yellow, orange, and red. These were the trees that his niece, Lilly, would absolutely adore.

Lily. All of a sudden his thoughts returned to him. He had been on a plane to Chicago to pick up Lily. His sister and her husband had past away in a car accident the day before. As the legal godfather for Lily he was now her guardian. There was a storm. He remembered being on the plane and hearing the captain say that they had to land, but how had he ended up here? Laying face down in the grass.

He had to get up, he knew he had to sit up and he had to find help. It took almost all of his strength but with much effort he was able to sit up, pains shot through his left arm and below his chest. He thought to himself how he must be seriously injured. After he sat up he immediately wished that he hadn't. Straight in front of him he saw a murky lake. The lake was large in fact he could just barely see the land on the other side, but it wasn't the size of the lake that caught his attention.

The tail of his small plane was the only thing he could focus on. He had inherited the jet from his father after he passed and both his sister and him had used it often, now it was gone.

Automatically he assumed the the other two men on the plane had perished in the crash. They were both in the cockpit and has he continued to look around he saw no sign of them.

He continued to stare at the submerged plane, and finally his body took over and he just fell asleep.

When he woke he knew he had slept for too long. It was night time, and the dryness in his mouth told him that he was already severely dehydrated. He once again used much effort to get up and even though he was still sore it was a bit easier then the last time. For the first time he looked to his left arm and saw that it was bent awkwardly and the elbow, immediately he knew that it was broken. Using his right arm he lifted his shirt to check his chest. It was bruised, badly, but he had no way of knowing if anything was broken or not.

He walked to the lake and began to drink the murky water, not caring that it was dirty. After he drank he sat on the waters edge and tried to decide what to. He had absolutely no supplies, and it would be stupid to try to swim into the plane to get any with a broken arm and possibly broken ribs. He had no clue where he was but he could see no signs of any human life, not even on the other side of the lake.

After a few minutes he decided that he should walk, maybe there would be a highway or a town somewhere nearby. He figured that if he didn't find anything in a few hours he could just come back to the lake.

He walked, slowly, trying to keep his mind off of Lily, she had just lost both of her parents, and now her only close relative was missing. Poor child. He wasn't even thinking of himself being the sole survivor of a plane crash stranded with absolutely no supplies and injured. The image of his little niece being put into an adoption agency was the only one occupying his mind.

Days past by in a blur and he was living on only lake water and some berries that he found around his camp. As the days went by he begin to lose track of how many days it had been since the crash.

One particular day as he woke he decided that the was no longer hope. The chances of him being found were slim, but just as the thought crossed his mind he noticed two spots of yellow on the lake.

Kayaks.

He screamed help as loudly as he could.