The Forgotten Island

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

A NEW HOME

-Arya-

With an indelicate slide, our boat made impact with the shore; right next to an old metal bed frame, complete with a mattress, halfway buried in the sand. Just like the water, the beach was littered with random objects; boxes, packages, furniture, suitcases, and many other things I didn’t recognize, all in various stages of neglect. There was also an astonishing number of socks, small ones, big ones, some with odd shapes; there was even one I saw that looked like it was made for a hoof of some sort. As I looked, I also noticed a hat that was larger than it should be, with two holes at the top, as if it was made for an incredibly large rabbit. What the hell, I thought, were we in *Wonderland*? I sat down at the edge of the boat, skootching so I could jump down while I took in as much of our new surroundings as I could. My big toe hit the sand, and I looked down to watch as it spread around my toes while I lowered myself down. With a small shove of my arms, I divorced myself completely from the boat, and stood for the first time in months on solid ground. Ahead of me, maybe a quarter of a mile, looked like a fairly new horse trailer…interesting. Without thinking, I stepped forward, intent on investigating; and promptly fell flat on my face. Fish must have seen the whole thing because I heard her delighted laugh from back on the boat. I multi-tasked between glaring at her and spitting sand out of my mouth as I stood up and brushed myself off.

Behind me, the others began to disembark with similar struggles with their sea legs, causing sporadic bouts of chuckles from the group as we all fell and waddled around like toddlers. We all stayed relatively close to one another while we each investigated items laying along the shoreline. The beach itself only went up about half a mile, with an abrupt change into a dense forest that had both familiar and unfamiliar flora and fauna within. I had a fairly extensive knowledge of plant life, as I was naturally drawn to the subject as an earth-born, so I eagerly looked at the assembly of foliage. I spotted a handful of red oaks, bamboo stalks, cedar and rain trees, but nearly half of the other species I didn’t recognize. I filed that information away to dissect later, when I felt more mentally capable of understanding it all. I continued on wobbly legs towards the horse trailer, somehow drawn to it amidst all the debris. I needed to take frequent breaks, my legs screaming in pain from all the sudden movement. Whenever I stopped though, I rifled through some of the items, fascinated for a short while with a polished wooden chest with a large golden lock on the front. I gave the lock a few tugs, but it didn’t budge; so, I settled for tracing the carvings along its sides and front with my fingers. They were depictions of some demon-like creatures, with horns and hooved feet, and a writing along the edges that was more like filigree symbols than letters. The craftsmanship alone made the chest exquisite and I felt a small stab of disappointment for not being able to see what was hidden inside. Occasionally as I walked, I would see blue colored crabs scuttling about, comical in their frantic movements from one point to another. I bet if I made some nets, we could catch a few for dinner; I would have to make sure to bring it up to Darnell so I didn’t forget. Too bad we didn’t have any butter to dip them in; man, I missed butter. Ignoring my cravings, I navigated as best I could through the rubble, barely able to go more than a step or two without having to walk either around or over something. I bet we could find just about anything we could need here if we just looked long enough. Eventually I was able to get a nice clear view of the horse trailer as I got closer, and noticed that it was leaning dramatically towards the side I couldn’t see. When I approached it, I was shocked to learn the reason why; the whole side had been caved in by the impact of a large stone statue. The stone was carved into the figure of a man…no, not a man, but definitely a male. It looked, for lack of a better word, like a gargoyle; with large bat like wings folded against his back, and horns that curved out from above a furrowed brow. The figure was kneeling on one knee, his elbow resting on the other, with a look that seemed like he was almost disappointed by what he saw. The eyes were mesmerizing, and I ran my hands over the full lips, shaped into a small frown by the sculptor. Finally, turning away from those haunting eyes, I made my way back to the group, the statues gaze burning holes into my back.

By the time I reached the group, Darnell and Val were already resting, having used all their built-up powers to guide the boat to shore. As all eight of us huddled back up together, there was a pervasive feeling of uneasiness among us. It was obvious to me that this island wasn’t inhabited, otherwise there wouldn’t be such a build up of items littered everywhere; some of these things seemed priceless, and yet they sat here, untouched. Shouldering our packs, we slowly walked up the beach, not bothering to give a backwards glance to the boat that was almost our tomb.

We stayed walking along on the beach, unanimously deciding it would be easier for us to see any oncoming threats while out in the open. I swear it felt like we walked for hours, but in reality, we couldn’t have gone more than a mile or so. When Darnell, at long last, pointed out a small alcove between the forest line and the sand where we would stop for the night, we all sighed in relief and dropped our packs from our aching shoulders. After a short rest, we began pushing things away from our camp site, making room for us to lay our mats out and have space to move around. We rolled out our mats out on the ground, and ate some fish in relative silence. We were all so tired it was a wonder we didn’t fall asleep mid-chew. We quickly came up with a night watch schedule; Chris and Tammy would take first shift, then Nate’a and I, after which Reggie and Darnell would take the watch. If we were lucky enough to get more sleep than that, Fish and Val would pick up after them. With everything figured out, I laid down on my mat and immediately fell asleep.