Blink

Then: Breaking Wave

Then

I woke up with a massive headache, partially from the glaring sun, and partially from dehydration. Sitting up in a daze, my eyes adjusted to the light bouncing off the water.

"We're almost there!" sang Mom cheerfully, and handed me a water bottle.

I took a sip gratefully, but rolled my eyes. "Joy. I'm excited."

Doug frowned at me, even though I'm sure he knew he was fighting a losing battle. "Melle, don't be like that. This is a great time for us to bond!" A hopeful smile spread across his face. "Negativity isn't necessary, or productive."

"Actually," I said in a completely unhelpful sort of way, "It is." Before he could reprimand me, I heaved myself from the bench where we sat, and crossed to the railing at the edge of the boat's upstairs deck.

The island had emerged from the horizon, sitting before the boat in all of it's puny glory. I glared at it. Even though we were still at least a few minutes from docking, I could tell that the structures ashore were few and far between. Black specks that might have been cows dotted the fields like ants. The only thing I would grudgingly admit was interesting were the expansive white sand beaches, clearly visible from my current vantage point.

The boat rocked slightly as it neared the dock, and people started to stand, making their way towards the staircase that led down to the exit. I looked behind me and saw Mom and Doug gathering our things, that we had somehow managed to spread over three different benches. Shoving my way through the growing crowd, I stopped right in front of the gate blocking the exit stairway, giving me a perfect view of the rolling green pastures that spread across the visible side of the island. With a shiver, the boat knocked against the dock.

"Entschuldigen Sie mich," a man's voice called from behind me.The dense group surrounding the exit parted for him, so I obediently stepped out of the way along with them. He unlatched the gate with the flip of a wrist, and hastily jumped the three steps onto the dock. People pushed at me from behind, so I stumbled out into the sunlight and casted my eyes down from the blazing sky.

"Melle!" I heard Mom shout from behind me. I wheeled around, and spotted her waving furiously, her purse dangling from her still arm. I slowed, but hopped down onto the pale, sandy beach and sat. The ground was a silken blanket that enveloped legs. The waves crashed, traversing the speckled sand, and splashed the tips of my toes, that were barely visible out the end of my sandals.

"Nice, isn't it?" said Mom admiringly, who had come up towards me and was gazing out over the sea.

"Sure," I said, as apathetically as possible. "Aren't we supposed to be following them?"

Mom's eye-line followed my pointing finger onto the hill, where a group of people were gathering around a man dressed in a hideous khaki uniform and receiving leaflets.

"I suppose that would be our guided tour," she said, and I heaved a sigh. "Doug!" she yelled. "Get over here!" I winced, her shout rattling my eardrums. Doug jogged over as I stood up and brushed off the sand that clung to the back of my legs. Mom grabbed my hand and pulled me back up onto the trail, and we walked towards the gathering congregation around the man in offensive beige. I glanced around to observe who I assumed were my fellow tour members. A family of seven stood directly on my right, their youngest still in diapers. My eyes continued on their semi-circular trajectory, gliding over the majority of the group, before stopping with a bump on a boy and girl who were my age, or slightly older. The boy caught my gaze and held on to it. I couldn't seem to look away. His hair was an ashy-blond, and his face was speckled with a spray of freckles. The girl snapped her head up too, and her resemblance to the boy was so startling, they must have been siblings.