Madison awoke with a gasp and jerk, jolting upward and beginning to cough. Her mouth tasted of salt water and sand, a disgusting combination. She managed to get her coughing under control and sucked in a sharp breath, lifting a hand to her head and shielding the bright sun from her eyes, feeling a bit woozy. She could barely remember... oh. The screams, the sound of the ship creaking as it went down, the water, the choking fear she had felt. She didn't even know how she had gotten onto this beach. She didn't even know how to swim. She felt the water lapping at her legs, soaking the bottom of her red dress. 

She pushed her wet, sand-covered hair back behind her shoulders; it had fallen down from the up-do it had been in. She slowly lowered her hand, blinking hard and letting her vision adjust to the brightness of the sun. She jumped once she heard shouting; it was different people, at different times. Her heart jumped. There were other people. The relief she felt was immediate. She wasn't alone. She ignored how heavy her limbs felt and began to wobble to her feet. She nearly fell down because of the way her heel highs dug into the sand. She fell down onto her hands and kicked the offending shoes off, straightening herself up. She swayed but managed to keep upright.

Her dress felt heavy with water and sand. She went around a stray piece of wood, trying to lift her dress up to make it easier for her to walk. She was already tired, dress weighing her down and making it harder to move forward. The sand was warm underneath her bare feet, sand wiggling between her toes and it almost felt nice. She concentrated on that feeling. "Hello?" she called, thinking she saw people ahead; they seemed to be moving. "Is someone there?" she shouted, nearly tripping because of her dumb dress. She had to do something about that.