From the Islands

Chapter 1

          The coral on the sea floor beams with color. I know I saw clams lying around here somewhere. Kika, Lani's voice rings in my head. She's following a few yards behind me. The tone in her voice let's me know I'm too close to the bay. I float slowly to the surface. The waves push me away but I can see people laying out on the sand. I can almost hear the children screaming and laughing with joy. "Kika! You're gettin' too close!" I turn around, Lani's head is also poking out of the water. I smile big at her and she shakes her head trying to hide her smile. I duck down into the water and head back down to the reef. The water is clear I see the small pile of clams. I did swim past them on purpose. Lani shoots me a look; we continue to catch small fish and more mussels. We come once every 7 days and each time I grow more fond of the suface above the water.

       Lani and I make it back to the tribe theres a small under water cave far off in the north direction of the bay. At least thats what my compass tells me. The last time I was near a human was 300 years ago at least. He was filled with facts about life on land. He taught me to count and tell time. He gave me the compass that stays in the cave. He always said if I needed to escape the place I was that a compass can take me anywhere. As long as I stay in the right direction, the possibilities are endless. Although he taught me these things he never told me what his name was where he was going. I remember his eyes were dark brown and his hair was thick and black. I will never forget his smile. When I saw him he was wading in a small pond and i stayed behind a waterfall. Its where i spent most of my time alone.

          I remember seeing him through the water and I could not take my eyes away. I watched him and watched him each day until finally I had the nerve to swim as close to him as I possibly could. I saw his hands dip into the water, and back out. I wanted to touch them. Many days past as I gazed at him and studied him, until suddenly he didnt show up. I swam slowly back behind the waterfall to stretch out, and there he was. Sitting on the slanted rock behind the water fall. He frightened me and I splashed him soaking his clothes. He didnt move, we just stared at eachother. I couldn't believe my eyes he was there waiting for me. He held out his hand to me. My heart was beating hard, all I could think of was the others telling me to stay away from man. "They will manipulate you and kill you," but this man was not menacing. His eyes were soft and I could see his hands were gentle.  So I held my hand out and we stared at eachother as we discovered new life together.