The Islanders

The Awakening

My eyes fluttered open with a start, granting me a view of swirling lights.

I was panting heavily, and rivulets of sweat were snaking down my face. Had I fallen asleep on the beach? I lifted up my hands to see a fuzzy image of black sand escaping down the gap between my fingers.

Black sand?

I shot up into a sitting position. My neck ached with every movement, and my head was dancing in circles. I let out a low moan that sounded so dry, took a moment to steady myself, then carefully looked around.

The sky above was charcoal black and moonless. To my left, miles and miles of shimmering black water stretched towards the horizon. Small, oddly shaped islands dotted the sea. Suddenly, a disturbing thought occurred to me: Am I on a similar island?

I stood up. The temperature suddenly seemed to drop thirty degrees. It was impossible to explain why, but something felt very, very wrong. Frantically, I whipped around to the other side, hoping to see Mum, hoping to see Dad, hoping to see a human. No such luck. All I could see were the dark grass blades curling around towering trees that lined the entire shore. I staggered across the sand and fixed my eyes on the trees, scared to take another look at the sea. My heart thumped louder and louder, echoing in my head, and yet unable to block out a certain question: Where am I?

***

I continued dragging myself forward with great effort for what seemed like hours. My throat was dry and my stomach rumbled. It was like walking along a never-ending eerie shore that seemed to get darker by the second. I was exhausted, I was hungry, and mostly, I was frightened out of my mind.

The sequence of events that happened next went by in a flash; my legs gave up and I collapsed onto the sand, managing to catch a faint spark of light in the distance during my fall, and hearing the wail of a little girl from behind me.

And then everything in front of me faded into the dark.

I saw a blurry version of my best friend, Kristen, hugging my little sister. Tears were streaming down both their faces, and it was impossible not to notice how puffy and red their eyes were. I couldn’t move, even though I was dying to reach out to them, to ask them what’s wrong. It felt as if every single part of me was held down by unbreakable chains. I felt suffocated. Their cries only grew louder. My head started spinning – it seemed to be doing that a lot recently. But then I noticed something. My grandmother stood in the background, smiling at me.

My dead grandmother.

After a moment of shock, I realized that I was dreaming. I suddenly felt light. I was free to move. I went over to Kristen and Miku, my sister, and told them everything was alright. They nodded and hugged me back, smiling. And then, everything started shaking as if an earthquake was taking place.

I woke up, only to be greeted by a chubby boy’s face a couple of inches away from mine.

“Ah!” I yelled. Any traces of sleepiness were definitely erased. I pulled myself up to my feet, and then almost fell down again. I did something that looked like dancing in order to steady myself. Great job, Rin. “Who are you?” I said, eager to break the awkward silence.

The boy grinned so widely, it must have hurt. “I’m Jay,” he said, extending his hand. “Jay Lee.”

“Rin,” I managed, shaking his hand. I noticed I was still on the beach shore, with the same black sand beneath my feet. “Where are we?” My voice was weak and shaky.

“I don’t know. None of us do.”

“None of us? You mean there are more people?”

“Yep, two more. My guess is that there are still others scattered around. C’mon, let’s head back to them.” He said it with such enthusiasm; it actually made me feel better.