Shangri-La

In the beginning

Jekx pulled up around the point slowing down the boat, rose riding in the bow of the black bow rider.

"Welcome to Shangri-La" Jekx said pointing to the sign about the green cottage which read 'Shangri-La'

Jekx tied the back end of the boat and made his way to the front to go tie it up as well but was surprised to find it already tied. Jekx stared at it puzzled.

"Told yah I was a country girl, I wasn't kiddin" Rose said giggling the way Jekx remembered from the calls.

The two unloaded the boat and carried it all up into the cottage. Jekx unload the coolers and put all the food in the fridge, and the beer back in the cooler to keep cold. He recently had put solar panels on the roof to have power all day instead of only when the old generator was running. Meanwhile rose was just a few rooms over and dragged her things into her room and returned to help unpack anything else.

The lake was calm and it was sunny and bright, the air was hot and humid. Birds chirped from the trees and hummingbirds whizzed around some wild flowers.

Jekx had gotten everything opened up and ready for their vacation. The two relaxed in the sun taking in the island paradise that was all theirs.

The two watched the sunset on the dock and went inside because the mosquitoes got too bad. Rose and Jekx stayed up talking till beyond midnight and finally went to bed.

When rose woke up she was hit with the smell of food, Jekx had made a big breakfast. After they ate they went out and went for a boat ride, to a secluded spot where the water was crystal clear, to go swimming. Nicknamed 'The Keyhole.'

They stayed and had a shore lunch there and headed back at around 6:30. Similarly to the night before they just talked and listened to music well into the night. 

"Ever seen any bear on the island." Rose asked.

"Never on the island, but across the bay we have seen them up in some trees, it was pretty crazy." Jekx responded with a laugh. "The craziest thing I experienced was a tornado, on water, its called water spouts. They tore down our flag pole and uprooted hundred year old trees leavening 50 foot craters of dirt where the roots used to be." 

"Holy shit, that is kinda crazy, were y'all okay?" Rose Said surprised but also concerned.

"Yeah we were out in town, when we came back it looked generally 'Evil' in the sky so we made a quick trip back here sparing no time. Right as we got to the dock the rain just came down in buckets." Jekx said almost proud of the feat.

"We've had storms like that before back home." Rose added.

"Yeah I was a lot younger it was kinda scary, the cottage held up well though and we just got a little wet!" Jekx laughed. "The lightning that followed was dull colors, kind of yellow and blue but occasionally one would light up the clouds orange." 

"I have never seen that before, strange."

"The worst I've gotten hurt here was when my dad and i were walking in the forest and he stepped on a hornets nest in an old piece of moss. He got stung eleven times and I got stung four.  Jekx made a contorted face of disappointment.

Roses husband and kids couldn't come up with us as we left halfway through the week they were supposed to show up on Saturday it was currently Thursday. The next day they went into town and stocked up on a lot of food, they bought twice as much as they would have needed for their arrival.

The town was dead... No one except some workers were out in the town. The stores were empty. This came off as strange as a town of 12000 usually more people are around. Jekx asked a cashier what was up.