From Sand to Nand

Chapter One

It's never easy seeing someone in severe pain—poignant pain. Even self-righteous parents don't deserve the agony of looking down at their seven-year-old daughter's supine, pale corpse, half-buried in the sand on the shoreline of a nearby beach. The man's horror washed over him when he discovered her. The realization that the girl was clearly beyond resuscitation sank in almost immediately. He didn't even try. It was obvious. She was gone. She had been gone for hours.

"JUDITH!" he cried, devastated. His screams echoed as his hands trembled, slowly reaching into the sand around her tiny head. "JUDITH!" The man poured every ounce of emotion into his voice as he called to his wife for help. His cheeks flushed with torment, turning a dark purple while he gasped for air in between sobs. His blood pressure had clearly shot to the sky as his lips drained of their color. He was dangerously on the verge of dropping dead. The man was not muscular, but thick. He appeared physically strong and very violent—almost unpredictable—in his contemporary state.

Everyone on the beach was tending to a family member or stranger in need as more and more passengers arrived on pieces of debris and half-inflated lifeboats. Those with only life-vests for protection from the 17-meter waves arrived lifeless. Some, including Joseph and Judith's daughter, had already been partially buried by the time they were found. Those who had been injured laid crying as the able-bodied continued ushering more survivors inwards.

Others attempted CPR on strangers, stopping for a brief moment to grieve and gasp for air. Joseph's screams only reassured the rest that something terrible had happened—something more terrible than what had already transpired. Although there were many other families mourning nearby, his loss was especially difficult to watch.

This tragedy struck only hours prior on the deck of the Elevation—a cruise ship belonging to an Asian tour company called Zepplinz. Slowly, the rocking started as the sky darkened and rain lightly drizzled. No one thought much of the weather; daily rain was common in tropical areas. So, the passengers continued listening to the crewman, Semoure, as he spoke about the abundant plant and animal life on the distant island. It was massive and easily visible from 10 kilometers away.

"This island is 1 of nearly 2,000 in this part of the world that remain uncharted. To this day, it has never been populated by humans," he declared through his megaphone.

"So, if there's an uncharted island here in front of us," one young Chinese man began, "does that mean there's no record of it or that it's never been discovered—like explored—before?"

"Ah, good question. Uncharted in this sense means that this island has yet to be explored, named, or added to most conventional maps of the area. We only know of some of the features of this island, like the plants and animals that inhabit it, because we observed other islands in the vicinity that have already been explored. Also, on Zepplinz tours, we always like to take our passengers on a purely unique experience. Therefore, the island on this route here is one that even I have never seen before. So, yes, there is a good chance that we're in fact some of the first people to even lay eyes upon it. What a great question! Does anyone else have any questions?" Semoure paused and looked around. "Alright, and just remember folks, here on the Elevation, if you have any questions at all, please stop me at any point and I will be happy to clarify."

The tour guide went on with his explanation about the features of the landscape and mineral deposits commonly found in this area of the world.

At first, the distant greys of the clouds didn't appear intimidating to the passengers nor the crew, but that changed very rapidly. In a matter of minutes, the wind had increased drastically to what felt like sticking one's head out of the window of a moving car on the highway. Most patrons managed to ignore the subtle rocking of the ship throughout their voyage, but it became so severe to the point where some people began to vomit. Furniture on the lower levels moved and clashed, causing injuries and minor panic. Glass broke behind the bars and food counters as the crews tried to keep up with the mayhem.