Islands

ISLANDS part 1 - The Island

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

It was on her thirteenth birthday, by her reckoning, when she left the island of her birth.

It was nighttime and the monsters, her sworn enemies, would be sleeping, but still she rowed her father's fishing boat as swiftly and as silently as she could. She had seen how well they could swim.

At last she felt a little breeze. She shipped the oars and hoisted the sail. The boat sprang forward as she skillfully adjusted the sail to catch the wind. She chanced a look backwards, checking for swimmers, but she was alone on the ocean.

The boat sped on. She closed her eyes, hoping against hope that her plan would work and that she would be far enough away if it did. She heard a distant ''Boom''. Turning round she waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing. She swore silently. Nothing. Then came a noise like distant thunder. And then the old, dormant volcano at the centre of her island exploded. Smoke and flames shot high into the air.

The girl turned away, hauling at the sail and bracing herself as the shock wave hit the boat and sent it scudding across the water. Finally the wind abated and the girl relaxed, sighing with relief. That had been a close run thing. She looked back. The island was now aglow as lava poured down the mountainsides. Flashes of lightning lit the skies and the girl nodded. It was done.

The girl sailed on. She had packed stores of food so she could feed herself and the animals she had brought. Many islands she just ignored. The smoke curling above them indicated that they were inhabited and she discovered that she did not want company. Other islands were too small or too rocky to support life, and somehow, she felt she was being drawn on.

Finally she saw it and felt it. This was a friendly island.

She sailed all around it. It was not so big but not too small. It was surrounded by tall grey cliffs, but for a single cove. The cliffs had many waterfalls cascading down their precipitous sides, indicating that finding fresh water should not be a problem.

She made up her mind and sailed into the cove, beaching the boat on the silver sand. She felt welcomed as if the island was pleased she had arrived.

The girl's first task was moving the animals to the grassy edge of the forest next to the beach. Then she cleaned the boat of their mess. After that it was time to explore. She armed herself with her bow and arrows, taking the slingshot as well as the throwing knives in case of trouble.

The way up from the beach was quite a climb, but after that the ground was level and covered with trees of all kinds. Ahead she could see a line of grey cliffs, and beyond that another, darker line reached to the sky, meeting those surrounding the island.

She was wondering if she would be able to climb the ridge when she realized that the rock was tumbled to the right. Easy. And the area before that was amazing. A beautiful waterfall fell into a crystal clear pool. There was grass all around it and it emptied into a stream, which presumably led to the beach. The girl was especially pleased to find the pool. It would be good to have a proper wash. But the island provided another gift. Under the vines which covered the cliff to her right, it looked like there was a cave. She would be most grateful not to have to contrive a shelter. This had to be investigated. She looked round for some kindling to make a fire and was surprised to find that the wood was wet. She picked up a coconut husk. She took her tinderbox from the pocket on her belt, lit the dry inner part and stepped up into the round entrance.

The inside of the cave was like a huge flattened bubble of grey rock. And it was completely empty. Perfect. With a good fire in the doorway, the cave would be safe from any predators.

''Thank you, island,'' she said, walking back towards the beach.

At the boat she assembled the trolley and filled it with all she thought she'd need for the night.