The Glowing Island

Chapter 1

Moving to Georgia was not on the top of my list of things I wanted to do this year, but it doesn't look like I have a choice or I wouldn't be here. The house I purchased is definitely what one would call a fixer-upper, and I'm in love with it. The old wooden floors that somehow don't creak at every step glisten in the cloud-covered sun. The grey paint exterior that could easily be covered by navy blue and a bright red door has chipped and cracked around the door frames and has the remains on the floor of the faded white wrap-around porch. I begin setting up my bedroom in the biggest room in the house, which matches the outside with grey walls that are seemingly fresh and an old wooden door. The bed will sit in the middle of the far wall with windows on each side facing the sea and an island in the distance.

Moving out of the bedroom into the hallway and into what would be the living room, I imagine a small red couch in front of the bay window facing the driveway and a mounted TV on the opposite wall above the brick fireplace. A study room develops in the room across from the living room, with my trusty white desk and rolling chair. The computer and printer set up nicely in the room with the bookshelves placed on either side and a couple chairs in front of the desk, making the study den look like a stereotypical home office. After the study and bedroom are set up and the living room is somewhat placed, I order some pizza and get a soda from the fridge and sit on my couch to figure out how to mount a TV.

When the doorbell rings, I'm taken by surprise having been invested in reading a manual that I'm trying to understand. I hand the deliverer the cash for his troubles and he leaves as I observe the neighbor's dog run down the street and children chasing it and laughing. Just then, a green and white light catches my eye. The island in the distance is glowing. A white light slowly fades in and out as a tiny green light comes from a lower part of the island and remains on. A figure moves in front of the white light and disappears. I shake the fear of being haunted out of my head and take my eyes off of the glowing island to head back inside and mount my TV.

The next few weeks were spent settling into the house and trying to find a job so I can start renovating. After quite a search, the music store downtown decided to hire me as their buyer. Being from New York City had its advantages as I know quite a few big-name music manufacturers as friends from my job in NYC. I head home after a long day and sit in the den contracting old catalogs from different shops when I hear a knock from right outside my den window. I freeze and slowly turn around to find nobody at the window. As I'm turning back around, I hear another knock. I was supposed to be leaving the haunting feeling back in New York but the feeling decided to stick with me. I leave my den and practically crawl outside onto my porch to see a white van in my driveway.

"Ma'am?" I freeze yet again.

"Hello? It's all set up for ya." I hear a man's voice come closer. It's the handyman who has been assigned to set up my Internet connection. I turn back around and thank him and head back inside. My paranoia is getting the best of me yet again. I settle on trying to relax in the bath with a book and some bubbles which makes the world around me settle back into its peaceful place. After getting out of the bath and making a sandwich, I decide to take my book outside with me and read on the old porch swing that was in place before I moved in. The crickets are chirping loudly, fireflies fill the sky and light up the neighborhood where the full moon can't go.

A ship full of containers makes its way past the harbor as I turn to the next page of my book. The children run to the sand of the harbor and yell for the horn as the ship replies with its loud siren. They all scream for joy and high-five. It is then I notice the green and white lights of the glowing island yet again, only now I can see a lighthouse which explains the white light. The same shadow figure goes across the white light as it did the other night, and walks back across like it's taunting me. I decide to head inside after that, realizing how tired I must be if I'm seeing things again.

The next morning I'm making breakfast when I see a small boat retreat from the island and a man in the boat. Maybe I'm not crazy then. He parks the boat by the dock and ties it up. The man leans into the boat to take off his life vest and leans back up. His eyes are about as green as the light on the island. His is hair like the night sky with no moon. He's quite attractive I must say, so I linger my gaze out the window and watch him. As if he knew, he turns directly towards me and we make eye contact. I quickly try to look back down and finish making my eggs and bacon when I see a flicker of a hand wave in the corner of my eye. I look up and he's smirking and waving at me. I don't need to wave back. I don't need to give him that satisfaction of embarrassment.

About an hour later, I'm headed out to go to the store to purchase some paint when that same man is walking down towards my house and to the dock. With a quick nod in our passing, we both move on with our day. One of us moved on without another thought, and another moved on thinking about the flicker of gold in his eyes.