Lost

Chapter 2

Irene shouted, "finally!" And my panic subsided.

Alex gently pushed me forward.

"...uh..." I shifted from foot to foot, suddenly aware of how sandy and sodden I was.

"Any memories?" The oldest boy stood up. He had short curly blond hair and he stood a head and shoulders above me.

"No." Alex and Irene spoke almost in unison then glared at each other.

Another boy stood up. He had short straight blond hair and he was about my height. He walked up and stared at me.

"Age? Name? Last name? Hometown? Family? Color of your eyes? Height?" He fired off, all the while staring at me with brown eyes.

"I-I don't know." I stared back at him, feeling completely lost.

"Don't upset her, Will." One of the older looking girls stood up. She spoke with authority, her light brown hair pulled back into a French braid. She had a dark tan and freckles covered her face.

"I'm not upset." I lied, smiling, "just confused."

"I'll take care of her." Another girl stood up, her voice soft.

She walked over and supported me.

"I'm fine. I don't need help." I lifted my chin defiantly but the strange girl ignored me. She dragged me off into the forest, her grip strong on my arm. We reached a pool of clear water and the girl slowed to a stop.

"You're covered in sand. You should clean up." Was all she said.

As I waded into the water, I studied the girl's face. She had long red-brown hair falling down to the middle of her back. A large beauty mark graced her right cheek and her eyes matched her hair color perfectly. She sat down, hugging her legs to herself, her porcelain pale skin glowing in the sunlight. She reminded me of a pixie, with her high cheekbones, her teasing smile and her long eyelashes. But she was strong. There was an underlying power which made me think that she was a person who wouldn't take crap from anybody.

"Do I know you?" I asked, wincing as the cold water reached my stomach.

"How should I know. Everyone on this island has amnesia." The girl fiddled with her hair, obviously distressed.

"Why are we here?" I looked down at my feet and realized I still had my shoes on. They were familiar. A pair of beat up converse, pale blue with fraying laces. Underneath them were mix matched ankle socks.

"We're here 'cause we're lost." The girl explained, watching as I struggled to pull off my sodden shoes, "by the way, my name is Rachel. I don't expect you to remember your name." 

"Yeah we're lost. We're like survivors of a shipwreck or something." I managed to pull off one of my shoes and I sat down hard, frustrated.  

"That not what I meant. This island is where lost things go. Did you see the beach? It's covered in lost things." She smiled softly.

"So that's why there were so many socks there?" I laughed, "the mystery is solved! This is where socks go after they disappear from the dryer!"

"Uh...I guess so." Rachel stared at me, confusion written clearly on her face, "why aren't you more upset? When I came here, I cried. I didn't know anything. I had amnesia. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know the people here."

"That's understandable. I don't cry though." I pulled the other shoe off of my foot and sank lower in the water.

"I find that hard to believe." Rachel stood up, "how do you even know? You have amnesia, remember? Anyway, can you find your way back to camp? I'm leaving. I have to start making dinner."

"Yeah. No problem." I lied. Truth was, I could hardly remember which direction the beach was in. Apparently, I was bad with directions. No wonder I was lost. As Rachel disappeared, I sank under the water, disappointed with myself. Why did I always do that?! I always lied to make myself seem...tougher? No. I just hated getting help from people. Was I too proud, or was it because I just didn't want to bother people? Probably pride was the reason.

I came up for air and felt eyes drilling into the back of my head. I turned around to see one of the boys sitting there. He had blond hair, bleached by the sun, pale blue eyes and tanned skin.

"Um...can I help you?" I asked, tucking my wet hair behind my ear.

"No. Just wondered who you were. You can't help me with that." The boy smiled.

"Then...why are you here?" I asked, mildly curious.

"You seemed familiar to me. Maybe we're were friends or something before we came here." The boy sat down and crossed his legs.

I studied him more closely. His smile was easygoing, and he seemed comfortable in his own skin. It was like he didn't really care what people thought of him.

"My name is Isaac." He grinned.

"Hey Isaac. I'll tell you my name when I remember it." I floated on my back, eyes turned to the snippets of blue sky peeping through the branches of trees.

"Did Rachel tell you about the island?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah." I said quietly, hoping he would go into more detail.

"Sometimes animals show up. Usually they're blind or lame and they can't keep up with the herd. We use those for food." He pulled a knife out of his boot for demonstration, "dogs and cats show up too. We don't kill those. We just let them live on their own."

"How come no little kids show up? Little kids get lost really easily." I turned to face Isaac, confused.

"My guess is that for a human to show up here, they'd have to be...emotionally lost." He traced his finger through the sand, "dinner is gonna be ready soon."

I paddled to the shore of the freshwater pool and pulled myself up, "right. Lead the way."