AYDA

Motunui is Dying

I woke up the next morning feeling strange. The fern on my bedside table was black and wilted. I shot out of bed in a flash. Gramma had warned me about this, but I didn't think it would happen so fast. 

"Mother! Father!" I shouted, shoving through the dead undergrowth to the Council Building. No one was there except for black piles of dust on the ground. I ran towards the Peak, where each Chief placed their stone and the bottom stones were covered in moss.

The village was gathered at the peak. I burst into the meeting, panting from my run up the mountain.

"Mother! Father! The Darkness is here!" I shouted.

They looked at me like I was crazy. "Motunui is dying, we have stayed here for thousands of years. We will die with our island."

"You're crazy!" I raged, running my hands through my hair in a panic.

The Heart and Maui's fishhook were lost to the Ocean.

The Ocean. The Heart of Te Fiti. 

I spun on my heel and grabbed one of the few healthy leaves. I jumped onto a palm tree, using the trunk as a zipline and the leaf as a stabilizer. I dropped to the ground and ran flat-out to the largest waterfall on the island. I swam under the water and emerged into a cave full of boats. I shot over to one.

This was my secret place, where I came when I wanted to relive the memories of our ancestors. If you banged the drum on the largest ship three times, the history of Motunui would be shown to you.

I closed the sail, shoving the boat into the underground river. I ran along the sand and jumped into it, with the oar I loved. The boat sailed slowly out of the cave, and the waterfall soaked my hair all over again. 

The moment I made it out to the reef, the Ocean gathered under my boat and shot me towards the rising sun. A small green stone was spit onto the deck by the Ocean. I spun in the seat, opening the sail and tightening it so the wind gathered behind it. I attempted to tie the sail rope to the oar that I held but missed, almost dropping the oar. In the distance, storm clouds were gathering, with lightning forking between them.

I tried to tie the oar again, but slipped again, my hands too clumsy.

The storm was upon me too suddenly, throwing my boat to and fro. I screamed for the Ocean to help me, but no one came. The sea tossed my boat upside down, the mast hitting me in the head.

And then the world went dark.