It was the early 1900's and sea travel was dangerous and reserved for the wealthiest individuals, business trade, or the very brave. Danger came in many forms, not the least of which was the unpredictable weather. Reporting of weather was crude or nonexistent and there was rarely any warning when tropical storms formed.

The Tern Schooner, Pacific Trader, had been thrashed for hours by the extreme waves brought on by a deadly typhoon. No one had predicted the storm before the ship left the port of San Francisco ten days earlier. So large and fierce was the storm that even if the captain had received a telegraph it would have been too late for the doomed ship, crew, and its three civilian passengers. The Pacific Trader was a thousand miles from the nearest deep water port, sailing on the wide open Pacific Ocean, headed for the Philippine Islands. While it was a fast vessel, it was no match for the huge and fast moving storm.

Anil, his wife, Sapna, and their son, Aryan, were preparing to undress for the night when they began to hear screams of terror from the main deck outside their cabin. Peering out into the black night Anil saw a flash of lightning which highlighted a giant wave thundering onto the deck. The brief moment of light enabled him to witness the crew struggling hopelessly to free lifeboats. Then another flash of light and another wave crashed across the deck. One moment the crew was there and the next the deck was a mass of turbulent water washing away the six poor souls.

Anil rushed his family onto the deck in a desperate attempt to find a life boat, but they had all been ripped from their moorings and torn to shreds by the angry sea. Seconds later Anil and his family were clinging to the railing for their lives. Salt water stung their skin as the hurricane force winds whipped the salty spray across the deck. Chairs, ship parts, deck equipment, and anything not tied down thrashed too and fro on the swaying deck. Loud crashes echoed from stem to stern of the doomed vessel.

Suddenly a giant lookout tower snapped and crashed just feet from the three desperate family members. Anil screamed for his wife to jump into the water. Sapna grabbed Aryan and they jumped over the side, plunging into the dark, churning water and quickly sinking under the thirty foot waves. Mother and son clung together as they somehow pulled themselves to the surface. Now they were above the swirling waves and saw Anil jump over the side and disappear into the murky water as they had done moments earlier.

After a few tense moments Anil surfaced and swam to them, helping Sapna and Aryan onto a large plank of wood torn from the rapidly submerging ship. Seconds later the ship moaned like a beached whale and then snapped into two pieces. A loud groan screeched above the screaming wind and thundering sea and suddenly most of the ship disappeared under the breaking waves.

The three survivors clung to each other for their lives as the storm tossed their makeshift raft without mercy. Hours passed as the three lay on their stomach gripping pieces of rope tied to the wood beneath them as the storm raged into the night. Near dawn the sea suddenly lost it's fury, the rain ceased, and wind abated. Somehow the family had survived the night.

When dawn finally arrived the sun was shining brightly and a gentle breeze belied what had happened hours before. On the surface lay what remained of the once proud Pacific Trader. Pieces of the ship, equipment, and personal remains of the crew floated on the now tranquil sea. Anil, Sapna, and Aryan were the only survivors.

Just before dawn, as the storm had begun to ease, the three had fallen into a deep sleep. Sapna was the first to awaken. When she opened her eyes she thought it had been a terrible dream, but the sound of waves lapping at the raft quickly reminded her that it was only too real. She shook Anil and he opened his eyes and briefly smiled before he too realized what he thought was a nightmare was in fact true.

The two stared out at the vast ocean and could see the debris of the ship they had been aboard just hours earlier. Despair overcame them as violently as the storm that had overcome the ship. With nothing but the tattered clothes on their backs they were doomed to die of thirst or be eaten by sharks.

A few minutes later Aryan awaken and sat up, rubbing his eyes. When he saw the fear on his mother and father's face he knew something was seriously wrong. "What happened?" he asked. Looking around he could see nothing but ocean. His eyes grew wide with fright and he said, "Are we going to die?"

Sapna reached to comfort him. "It will be okay. They will be searching for us. There are lots of ships in this area and we will be rescued soon."

Unfortunately the odds were against them ever being found. They were the only civilian passengers on the ship and, while the company would certainly search for them, there were thousands and thousands of square miles to search. The storm had pushed them hundreds of miles from their original route and now they were a thousand miles from the nearest inhabited land in an area known as a graveyard for wayward ships. Dozens of ships had been lost in this area over the decades and none had ever been found.

Anil cleared his throat so that Sapna would look over at him. She saw him nodding for her to look down. She almost gasped when she realized that her shirt had been torn to shreds and her breasts were totally exposed. She tried to pull her jacket closed but it was in tatters as well. She looked at Anil and he shrugged. Her face turned red and she covered her exposed breasts with her arms.

The three of them floated aimless on the wayward currents for several days, without food, water, or the ability to catch fish. Sapna, a modest woman, was mortified that she could not properly cover herself, not to mention the embarrassment of having to perform bodily function just feet away from not only her husband but also her son.

On the fifth morning, Anil shook Sapna to awaken her. "Look, look, is that land?" he asked excitedly, hoping it was not another mirage. They had begun to hallucinate from dehydration and believed they had seen land on numerous occasions.

"It looks like it," Sapna answered, "But we have been mistaken before."

"No, no, I think it really is land this time."

Sapna began to feel excitement building. She woke Aryan. "Look, Aryan, it's land."

The small dot appeared to be several miles away. Excitedly Anil pulled a piece of wood from their small raft and began to paddle frantically. When he grew tired, Aryan took over. As the land grew closer and closer they grew more excited. It took several long hours of fighting the outgoing tide and the treacherous currents before they eventually reached the island. Exhausted the three of them pulled themselves through the waist deep water and onto the beach before collapsing. They lay on their backs in the sand, gasping for breath, their hearts pounding, feeling exhausted but grateful to be alive.

"We made it," Sapna exclaimed when she had caught enough breath to speak.

"I wouldn't get too excited yet," Anil cautioned as he pulled himself to his feet. "We are a thousand miles from nowhere and it is unlikely that this is an inhabited island."

"But there should be food and water here, right?"

Always the practical one, Anil said, "I hope so. We need to find some fresh water quickly."

They were extremely thirsty and hungry and the sun had toasted every exposed body part, but other than a few bruises they were okay.

Anil said to Sapna, "You and Aryan get out of the sun and I will see what I can find."

Anil searched for only a few minutes before he found a fresh water spring not far from shore. He realized that this would be a good place for them to make a camp while he checked out the island and found them something to eat. The spring was surrounded by a stand of trees and would provide a modicum of protection from the elements. He hurried back to Sapna and Aryan to tell them the good news.

After they were settled Anil explored the island for hours, making his way to the highest point. There he could survey the entire island. It was small, maybe three miles in length and about as wide, and he could see from one end to the other. He could see birds flying and small animals scurrying around in the forest. Although small, the island appeared to have enough wildlife and vegetation for them to survive for some time. Then he saw something on the rocks near the northern most point of the island. It appeared to be debris of some kind. He tried not to get too excited as he made his way down the slope and to the shore. When he was close he realized with growing excitement that it was debris from the ship. In fact an entire section of the ship was perched precariously on the wave beaten rocks.

Amazingly he found a suitcase of clothes belonging to Sapna. It wasn't all of her clothes by any means and most of it was not appropriate for their environment, but it was far better than nothing. He also found various utensils for eating and cooking. They could use what was left of the ship to build a shelter. He knew he had to hurry and strip the remains of the ship before the tide carried the most valuable things away.

Over the next several days Anil found enough material to make a crude tree house in which they could live for the time being. He would have rather built something on the ground, but he didn't know if there were dangerous animals on the island and wasn't going to take a chance of being prey to a prowling cat. He used wood and other furnishings from the ship until it ran out. Then he constructed the rest with branches and vines from the island. Over time he added comforts to the house including a means to transport water from the pond up to the house with a lever system. Sapna used fabric from sails to create curtains to give them some privacy and a bit of protection from the elements.