The Island Games

Chapter 1: The Voice in the Night

When I wake up, the other side of my bed is damp. I wipe the sweat off my face, and hop out of bed. I look around the room. As I crossed through the room, I noticed my younger brother and sister asleep in their beds, and I smiled. I then hurried towards the kitchen for breakfast.

"Have you been having those dreams again," My mother asked.

"No," I replied. I looked up at her. We look nothing alike. She was tall and thin with short black hair while I was short and skinny with long hazel hair.

"Danutali Mariela Sepioni," she sternly stated, "I do not appreciate being lied to."

I sighed, and looked up into her eyes. She had been asking about my so-called dreams. I prefer to call them nightmares. At first, they were not that bad, but they have recently escalated into something even worse. Last night's nightmare was by far the worse. I was playing soccer with my neighbors. Everything was fine until I began to run. I started to run, but the soft grass turned into broken twigs and mud. I looked behind me, and saw a tall dark figure chasing me. I would trip, and stubble over the twigs while attempting to get away. I felt a sharp pain in my back, and I woke up. My nightmare was over.

"It was worse than the last one," I commented. I then went on to tell her what had happened. She seemed to give me a blank expression once I finished.

"So, what does it mean?" I asked.

"Sounds to me like you need some hot cocoa," she replied while giving me a stern look.

"Can I have some too," a squeaky voice asked. I looked down, and saw my little sister dressed and ready to go to school.

"Of course you can Tilly," my mother told her. She then gave me a look. I nodded back at her; we would discuss the dream later.

After finishing our hot cocoa my little sister and I parted ways. My little sister ran outside to run her little lemonade stand.

For the next 30 minutes I ran around the house trying to get ready for school in time. Running from my room back to the back to the bathroom several times.

"Hey, Nut," my mom yelled.

"What", I screamed back.

"Have you seen Toby this morning," she asked.

Toby was my little 12 year old brother. Every morning you had to literally pull him out of bed.

I ran back into my room to wake my brother, but he was already awake.

He was sitting in his room holding an old shoebox.

"Hey, watcha doing," I asked him.

He didn't respond. He just sat there with the box that was on his lap.

"Don't go," my brother weakly said.

I went over towards him, and sat down next to him. I reached my arm over his shoulder, and squeezed him hard.

"You have to come back," he says while fighting back the tears.

He knew what today was. Today was Congerence day. Today I will be taking some sort of test that I can not prepare it study for. That test will then put me into a group with 9 other people. We then have 5 minutes to choose our island. The islands are numbered 1-7, and each island is different. The only way to determine which island has what resources is a single clue. There are 6 groups of 10, and the islands are first come first serve. You then have to create a government, and survive. It teaches you about government, and shows us how all 6 Nations can work in harmony. At least that was the idea behind it.

Over the past 80 years things have changed. About 80 years ago, the island designers decide to make it harder. They thought that they should escalate the games. They wanted to push the players further because it was too easy. The year before there were no major conflicts. They changed it by decreasing the supplies. They added animals that kill, and they made sure that finding/ creating shelter was almost impossible. That year out 80 players went in, only 10 came out. It was horrific. It showed the Nations that we were not one. We would only work together if everything was fine and dandy, but the second we needed to fight for survival we turned against each other. That year there was a discussion on wether or not the Island Game was ethical or an unneeded bloodbath. It was determined completely ethical, and from then on it has stayed the same. Over the years the number of players has decreased, but usually stays at around the 60's. The players with the best government used to go live in Locanu, the capital of all of the nations. Locanu, the silver lining, is a place of peace and luxury. Many years ago, they began to play the 'game' on projectors. They would bring a projector to each family that had a child participating because they believed that the families should be able to know if their loved ones were still alive. At first this was an appreciated gesture, but many people in Locanu began to gamble on who would win or which player will die. It has been that way ever since I was born.

In total there are 6 Nations.

The Cloandonki, the leaders, live in the northern part. They are apparently in charge of all of the nations, despite on us having a democracy. Several years ago, four Cloandonkis were in the same group. The first night 3 out of the four died. I do not trust them. The people in charge of the Island Games never officially stated what happened to the 3 players who died. Also, they never aired the footage from that night.

The next group are the Bonateras. They are people of the sea. Their Nation is in charge of supplying fish, and other seafood. They are also trained in building boats/rafts. In my opinion these are the most valuable players. They can build a raft that allows you to travel to another island.

Also, there are the Monlopians. They are the athletes. They are in charge of keeping peace. I find that ironic because they are often the most destructive people.

The next group is the Patons. The Patons are in a league all of their own. They are the smartest people.

Also, there are the Dorminas. In my opinion, they are the real peaceful people. They do not care about themselves; they care for others.

Finally, there are the Umalitys, my nation. We are in charge of supplying power to everyone. In the olden days we would get power by mining for coal, but nowadays we don't. A majority of the nations decided that we all needed to shift towards a greener fuel source, like wind. Now, we have resorted on selling the coal for almost nothing on the black market. Many of the richer people in other nations but the coal because it is cheeper than paying the usage of wind taxes.