Ship Wrecked

Chapter 12: A Tale of Old

"How is the kid?" Sarah replied as she fiddled with Noel's hair. Noel was sprawled out on the hammock with her head on Sarah's lap; eyes closed. "His name is Zankari. He should be fine, but his injuries are very severe that he will be in the hut for quite some time. I will have to check on him after every meal. His wounds have been... infected. Some have become swollen, but I am pretty sure I will be able to tone the swelling to a mimine." Eila wiped her hands against her shorts and leaned against a palm tree. The sun was almost gone. It had seemed that the Moon had kicked the sun so it could take its place.

Thomas and Matthew were chopping wood for the fire and were whispering about something. Jules rolled to one side and crashed to the dirt floor. She jolted awake. "Sorry," she murmured. Jules heaved herself up with the support of a palm and brushed the dirt and grime from her hands. "Where do you guys bathe? I feel very itchy," Jules questioned as she scratched her neck. "Noel, could you show her," Jae replied as she carried wood near the fire pit. "I would be most obliged to go." Noel picked up her knife and guided Jules to the bathing area. "Hey, Noel! Can I come?" Thomas smirked. Noel stuck her tongue out and marched not too far from camp.

"Just wash off here at the pond," Noel replied as she examined and cleaned her knife, "Make sure you leave some clothing on or the men will see you naked. They really don't. Not those two anyway. Others did." Noel sighed as she glanced around the pond. Jules had her undergarments on and sent a confused look towards Noel. "Others? Were there more of you?" Noel nodded. "It is really a frightening tale to tell and we, the group, don't really like to talk about it. Thomas can tell you more about the tale when you are finished." Jules looked back down at the water and began to clean up. "So when you're done with the bath, I'll hang your undergarments up near my hammock so they can dry."

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Jules rang out her hair, so Sarah could braid it into one of her unique styles. "So you want to know about the past. The dark tale of what frightens us to this day?" Thomas leaned forward and threw his twig that he was chewing into the burning pit.

"Will you just get on with it! I hate that you make it so creepy that it could frighten the daylights out of every living soul."

"Sorry, Sarah. I'll get going. Let me tell ya Jules, you might want to hold a friend because this tale, this experience, is one that won't ever leave our memories till the day we die."

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Thomas sighed and began the tale.

"Captain Zerna and most of his crew survived the shipwreck of the Sunrise. All 7 of us were just little kids. We dared each other to get on the ship before it left. Big mistake. We were all around 4 and 5. We are now 26 and 27. So we landed on this island and it was paradise to us. We made this place our home until we could be found again. I knew I was going to marry Mary when I was old enough. We all had dreams, but they were crushed into nothing, but to a tiny grain of sand. I lost my dream that I would marry Mary so did all these people; their families, hope, and their hometown.

"Zerna was determined to get help and get everyone home. He built a raft, took some food and fresh water, and was gone. We don't know if he made it or not. We lost all hope. Ten men and five women went mad and killed themselves. Four fought against each other and killed each other. The rest of us just kept the little town moving. We had one wedding and it was Jenny and Cristophe. They fell in love on the ship and decided to get married when they got back from working on the Sunrise. It was a beautiful day. We never suspected anything evil was coming our way."

"It was 5 months after the wedding and no one thought about any creatures that could live here. We did when we first arrived. Didn't find anything at first. Anyways, it was one night when one man was lost and we found his right hand ripped off. It scared the crap out of us. We searched all over the island to only find a cave. No one would go in so we just thought that it was just a predator that was starving. We then would keep two people on watch. That night was the bloodiest bath I ever took."