Insula Somnium, Isle of Dreams.

Chapter 3

I woke up gasping for air, and I looked around me frantically. I definitely wasn't on my beach anymore. But where was I? Who took me here? I was still on a beach, but it was different. I could see an outline of something in the distance. My happiness increased, thinking it was a place with humans. I jumped up and down, waving my hands in the air. I then realized that was stupid, because they couldn't see me. I sank back into the sand, upset. I'd have to swim all the way just to get there, and I knew even with my extensive amount of swimming, I would soon tire. I would need a boat. I didn't ever think about what happened to me, or how I got to a different beach. I pushed the thought of the cold hand wrapping around my ankle, and pulling me down, and me inhaling water out of my head. I got up, and walked the length of the beach. I walked and walked and never found an end. I eventually came back to face the island. It was quite small, and didn't have any signs of civilization. I sighed. Was there any way I would ever get back to civilization. Just then, I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I whirled around, and stood face to face with a girl. She wasn't yet a woman, for she looked too young, but maybe about eighteen or nineteen. She had a white billowing dress hanging off her, flowing in the breeze. She looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights, and her lip quivered slightly. Her hair long tangled was dark, as were her big eyes. Her skin was pale, and she was very thin. My heart almost leaped off my chest. A human, here! 

"Who are you?" She asked, trying to sound brave, but just ended up sounding scared. 

"Daniel Monroe." I said, raising my hands in an 'i'm innocent' sort of gesture. 

"What do you want?" She asked. She gathered the white fabric in her hand, and was holding it above the sand in front of her. 

"I only want to find my way to civilization." I said slowly. I felt like I was being interrogated, and any wrong word would put me in prison for life.

"Then go!" She jumped, "Go, now! You shouldn't be here, no you shouldn't." She said, dropping her dress. She shook her head, and I slowly approached her. She looked at me, and I saw she was fighting with something inside her. Closer up, her skin looked sagged against her cheekbones and tiny frame, her arms and legs looking like sticks. She looked anorexic.  

"What's your name?" I asked soothingly. She looked as if she wanted to cry.

"Sariya." She said cautiously, though I couldn't fathom why. 

"Sariya, why shouldn't I be here?" I asked. I kept her gaze, and she looked at mine uneasily. Sweat started to form on her forehead and upper lip. I was an arms distance away from her. She stood rock still, and she looked as if she was fighting not to breath.

"Go!" She said again.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I rested my hand on her small shoulder, and that set her off. She burst away from me, and closed her eyes. Her hands moved around her crazily, almost as if they were scratching the air. When she stopped, she inhaled deeply, then opened her eyes.

"They'll eat you," She said darkly, "They'll eat you and I will eat you too."

"You won't eat me." I said. Just the way she said it, so sure of my fate, made me wonder what was really going on inside her head.

"They will." She said louder, "You smell so tasty, you look so delectable. You like the water, no?" The question was so abrupt and strange, I stood there, surprised, before I answered.

"Yes."

"And you like the moon?"

"Yes." I said again, and she gasped. She looked away, then looked me straight in the eye.

"May all the demons have mercy on your soul." She said again, in that same dark way, and turned around and ran before I could say a word. I tried to run after her, but it was almost like the trees were moving so that I couldn't find her path. I went back to the beach, and sat down. I shrugged off the idea of looking for her again, it just wasn't my problem. I didn't care my stomach felt like it was eating itself, or that my mouth was so dry. I just wanted to rest for a little while. So, ignoring the pain in my stomach, I lay down on the sand, not caring what time it was, and slept. 

When I woke up, the feeling in my stomach was to painful to ignore. I got up, and had to go into the island a little, to find a mango tree. 

"Thank you God!" I grinned as I picked my favorite fruit. I bit into it, and the sweet juice gushed into my mouth. I swallowed, and I felt like I was tasting a bit of heaven. I carelessly threw the seed and skin away, and went for another. Then another, then another, and one more after that. I had to force myself to stop, to say I have to save my mangoes. But they were so good.

"Just one more..." I said aloud, and picked another one off the tree. I finished it off, and washed my hands in the sea water. My shirt felt dirty and disgusting, and so I discarded it. I then thought better of it, and found a rock to place on it so it didn't fly away with the wind. I stretched out my still groggy limbs, and then sighed. What am I going to do? I have my food source, and there's nothing I can use as shelter unless you count trees with big branches. I needed to set up some sort of desalinization for the water, so I could drink it. I couldn't think of anything smart to do, so I went looking for something I could use as a container. I found a ripe coconut, and my eyes widened. 

"Coconut." I said, looking down at it. I kicked it, to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I picked it up, and threw it across the beach. My face burst into a huge grin, and I jumped up and down.

"It's a coconut!" I exclaimed, "It's a coconut!" I then started to look at every tree, looking for where the coconut came from. I was starting to lose hope, when I finally saw it. The coconut tree. My water supply was right in front of me. Now to find out how to climb it. I looked at it from all angles. I decided my best chance was just to use my strength. I put my arms around the tree, and I tried to pull myself up. But it wasn't working. So I let my arms loose a little, and placed my feet on the bottom of the trunk. I inched them closer and closer until I was squatting sideways on the tree. I then slid my hands a little, ignoring the pain and splinters I'd have to go through later, and moved my feet a little. I kept repeating this, and soon I was about half a foot off the ground. I was feeling very proud of myself, for being able to climb the coconut tree already. Soon enough, I'd have my water supply. I smirked. I was moving my foot again, when it slipped. My whole balance went off, and I fell straight to the ground. I cursed. I went back to try it again. I got a little bit higher, when I fell again. It hurt more, and my back felt like it was burning. I shook it off, and tried again. Another fall. I decided I would take a small swim in the water, and then be back to getting my coconuts. I jumped in, and felt the nice cool water lick the wounds on my body. It felt so good. I slowly made my way out, and then was back to climbing that stupid tree. This time, I tried something different. I wrapped my legs around the tree, and with my arms firmly holding it, I pulled my legs up. I then held on with most of my legs, and pulled myself up with my arms.  Then I pulled my legs up again. I kept doing this, and I was going at a much faster rate then what I was going at before. It was also a lot easier. It didn't involve as much balance, just brute strength. I made it to the top, sweat dripping off me, and held on as firmly as I could with my legs and my arm. I then slowly proceeded to take on arm off the branch, and reached out for a coconut. I took a nice big one, and dropped it to the ground. I laughed, hearing the thunk of it. I was actually getting the coconuts. I spotted another one a little higher than my reach, so I moved up the tree a little bit. I grabbed and pulled the coconut down, and dropped it to the ground. I repeated this finding coconuts and dropping them until I had about eleven coconuts. Feeling extremely proud, I held on a bit more, before realizing I had no way of getting down. I looked down at the ground, and it was definitely too far for me to just jump down. But there was no other way. I looked for some branch I could climb onto, and then climb down easily from there, but there was none. Every branch was either higher, or lower than me. I had no other choice, but then to slide down slowly until I reached the bottom. I was dead afraid. If I fell from up here, I could easily break my neck. I released my grip, but not enough for me to fall backwards. I suddenly dropped on the tree, and I squeezed on to it as hard as I could. I stopped at once, and I looked down, panting at the sudden heart attack I just had to go through. I waited until my breathing slowed down, and then I looked at the ground. I was significantly lower down then I was up there, but still not low enough to be able to just jump. Taking a large intake of breath, I squeezed my eyes shut, and let my grip loosed on the tree. Immediately I was thrust down, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to scream. I stopped myself again, and looked down. I was almost there. Just one more quick slide, and then I was back on the sandy beach. I slide the little way, not feeling as frightened of it, and just jumped off, collapsing on the sand in contentment. I laughed.

"I actually did it!" I exclaimed to myself, "I actually climbed a coconut tree." I let out a giant laugh again, and I picked up a nearby coconut. I looked at it, and my face fell. Now if I could only figure out how to get the water inside it without anything metal or sharp.