The Island

Part Two

I wake up to Lexxra placing a damp cloth on my forehead. It's the first time I really notice her features. She is a shorter woman, with long dark hair, and tan skin. I look around and we are in a hut. The walls only look about 7 feet tall, with a lot of beds that fit inside this space. The hut itself is probably only about 20 ft by 20 ft. The hut seems cozy. However, it's a bit cramped. Almost all the beds in here are filled with girls of all ages.
"Lindsey, today you must learn the way of the island," Lexxra informed me.
"I feel a lot better, thank you for helping me." I thank her.
"Of course hun, you are going to learn a lot about this island. You just have to promise me that you'll pay attention to the lessons we'll be learning over the course of these next few days." She cautioned.
"Of course I will, I promise." I pleaded.         
    Lexxra helps me off my cot, and onto the trail to the elder's hut. On the trail, I see so much greyness. It's almost as if every single plant on the island is dead. Instincts tell me because it's another dimension, that the balance is just off. I don't know why instincts tell me that. The "switch" in my head really has turned though, because I would never have thought of anything like that.
I hear something in the woods, it is breaking the branches it steps on, crunching the leaves with a single touch. I am scared, but I have this sense not to worry because Lexxra is here. She knows what she is doing. However, I am still curious so I ask her.
"What is that," I whisper.
"I'm not sure, but I think it's an abori, don't worry they won't harm you," Lexxra reassured.
    Then out of the woods, came an animal that was like no other creature I'd ever seen before. It stood 8 feet tall, with 4 huge horns on its head. On each horn, there were lanterns hanging off every branch. It was a lilac color with hints of deep dark blue. The creature was stunning, everything about it was magical. It reminded of a bull, but with the lovable qualities you'd have for a puppy. Then I noticed there was a woman on the back.
    "Powder! Your back just in time to introduce the newcomer," Lexxra exclaimed to the woman who'd been riding what is apparently an abori.
    "Lexxra! Oh, how I've missed you. My trip was just amazing! I brought us back so much food from the forest." Powder spoke out of breath as she hopped off the creature.
"Lindsey let me introduce you to my wife Powder." Lexxra pleaded.
    Powder was a very petite looking woman, with silver long hair. Her eyes were the color of liquid gold. She wasn't very tall, looking at the most 5"5. She was wearing what seemed like armor, but her skin was a tannish color. She seemed very strong, considering she supplies food for the whole island.
"Hi, so you must be Lindsey. We've been planning your arrival for a while now. I brought back some extra food just for you since you're a newcomer." Powder informs me.
"It's nice to meet you," I say politely.
    Lexxra and Powder start taking the bags upon bags of food off the abori. I offer help and they only let me carry the one bag. I can't help but wonder what they're idea of a home cooked meal is, so I look inside the bag. All that's inside it is greens, not necessarily vegetables but just leaves and what looks like spinach.
    They notice me looking inside the bag, and they say that there's a bag for any food group you could think of. I just happened to get the bag of "salad", they also said everything they eat is natural. So steak to them is probably some other weird animal on the island. Same for pork and chicken, it's probably a weird creature. I don't think they eat abori though, because I think that animal can possibly hold some kind of magic.      
"How many abori do you guys have?" I wonder aloud.
"Just a couple, probably around 3. We have a family, with a mom, a dad, and a baby." Powder informs me.
"We have a lot of animals here, you'll learn about them during your lessons. Some are very pretty, but also deadly, which is why you must learn." Lexxra explains as we come to a halt.
"We are here." Powder announced.
    We arrived at a hut, a smaller one, only able to fit a couple people. It is the elder's hut, these are the people that are going to teach me. An older lady comes through the makeshift door made out of fabric. She has long white hair, and aged pale skin.
"Come in, come in." The elder says.
    We walk inside the hut, and it reminds me of a museum. There are legend books everywhere, old statues, and old drawings all scattered about. I wonder how old everything is in here, or what my first lesson is.
"Oh Lindsey, were so glad you've joined us." The elder exclaimed.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you." I introduce myself.
Powder and Lexxra go to sit down in front of the table. The elders have written down a schedule on a scroll and hung it on the wall for me to look at. The list goes, heritage, animals, combat, and then housing. That reminds me of my grandma, I miss her so much. It was only me and her because my parents gave me to her when I was born. At least that's what happened in the ARD.
"Sit down dear, your first lesson is what your heritage is. Would you like anything to drink?" The elder asks.
I sit down beside her on the couch, which is made out of old wood from a palm tree.
"Some water please, um could I have your name?" I ask.
"Oh call me Azy." She says as she hands me a coconut halve, full of water.
    The coconut halve really reminds me that this place is an island. It's a weird feeling, I used to live in a small town in Alaska, now I live on an island. The vision of swimming to the land, going to my friends, then having it turn into an island stuns me.
"Okay Lindsey, so family is important on this island. None of it is biological, because this island is all women. Which means none of our children are our own, which is why we take children from the ARD. Then families wait for the new children's arrival. The family that has been waiting 14 years to have you is Powder and Lexxra."
I look to powder and Lexxra, they have waited so long for me. They never gave up on me, even though I was 13 and a half years late coming here.
     "How this all works is, we choose a handful of children from the altered reality dimension, the ARD, to come to our world. Then there's a signup sheet for whoever wants a child. You were different Lindsey, you were supposed to come to the island when you were 6 months old. Instead, you came when you were 14. That's why the grey didn't take you. Because the grey only takes the souls of the altered reality dimension, and your soul belongs to our dimension. Its eyes are also the balance between the ARD and our dimension. That's why its eyes were changing colors." Azy informs me.
"So my whole life was an illusion?" I ask her.
"Basically, but at least you're here with us now, your real family. We'll take care of you here, Lindsay." Avy reassures me.
"Okay, I have one more question. Why did Aleria say there was a switch in my head?" I ask Azy.
"So when you were born, we had a doctor from our world go to the ARD and put a chip in your head, it would make it so you'd believe everything they told you. Also to make you not think like an islander. Then when the chip detects that you're on the island, it switches gears to put the thoughts of an islander in your head." Avy explains.
"Oh well that makes sense, I guess," I say trying to understand.
"Oh dear, I know it's confusing right now but I promise it'll all make sense once you've really experienced life on the island," Avy reassures.
    I just nod, I don't know what to say. Powder and Lexxra stand up and tell me that we have to go back home before it gets dark.
"Okay, do we have to go back to that place with all the beds?" I ask them.
"No, that is just the place for the children that haven't been claimed yet." Lexxra answers.
"So like an orphanage?" I assume.
"What's an orphanage?" Powder asks me.
"In the ARD it's the place for all children that were born without parents, had lost both their parents or had been given up," I answer her.
"Who in their right mind would give up a child?" Powder exclaims.
"I'm not sure, but I would've been put in the orphanage if my grandma wouldn't have taken me in," I tell her.
Powder forms a frown on her face. Lexxra can tell this topic is upsetting her, so she insisted that we be on our way home. We say goodbye to the elders, who gift us with some of their coconut water as a way of congratulating Powder and Lexxra on the new member of their small family.
On the walk home, it's starting to get dark. The island is scary when it's dark. Not as scary as when I was at the lake, that moment still haunts me. I sometimes think about if I would never have checked out that library book. I think about the fact that I would still have my grandma, oh how I miss her. Tears start forming in the back of my eyes, but I push them away.
All of a sudden, I hear a sound. It's music! It's tribal music, but it sounds happy. You can hear the tapping of drums, and the voices of women singing. Powder and Lexxra follow the sound of the music and tell me to stay close.
When we reach what seems like a thousand miles away, it's a ceremony. It's for me, all for me. When people see me they yell "Welcome Home," and others say it's about time. It's dark by the time we are here, which is why I am kinda hesitant. I still don't know much about this island, especially what lies in it. In the middle of the ceremony there is a stage, and around it is benches made out of the logs of palm trees. They have a table with coconut halves filled with coconut water.
I pick up a couple cups (A.K.A coconut halves) and I bring them to Powder and Lexxra. They say "thank you" and tell me to sit down with them and watch the show. On the stage, there are hula dancers, and women holding torches. They aren't flamethrowers though, but I don't think this ceremony is about cool tricks. I think it's about the beauty of a new life on the island.
I'm not too excited for this new life, I miss my old life. But Powder and Lexxra were meant to have me. Clearly, they've been waiting a long time. They even had the whole island come to a ceremony just to welcome my arrival. I have only been here one day, and their already this kind. I mean, how bad could it be. At least, I gained more family than I lost. At home, it was just me and my grandma, but here it's two moms, and dozens of aunts and grandparents.
    The show ends with all the dancers bowing. I assume it will be time to go soon, but one of the elders insists I try their homemade coconut milk ice cream. She gives me a coconut halve full of coconut milk ice cream, and a spoon carved out palm tree wood. I feel like everything on this island is coconuts and palm tree wood. I take a spoonful of the ice cream and plop it on my tongue, and it's delicious. It's creamier than any other ice cream I've ever had. The ironic part is, it's just regular vanilla ice cream. I share the rest of it with Powder and Lexxra.
    Powder, Lexxra, and I, finally start to head back home. I have no clue where our hut even is, so I am a little paranoid about those "monsters" the elders warned me of. I wish they wouldn't have told me about them on my first night here. It really did make me paranoid, considering it's pitch black outside. The only light source we have is a torch that Lexxra's carrying. This makes me wish I was back home. I just need to realize this is my new life, and I'm here to stay.
I have to admit, I may not be a baby or a toddler, but this is a new life for me. I was not born on this island, I wasn't even born in this dimension. So coming here, and leaving everything behind me was a choice I made when I jumped in the water to swim here. I didn't know the things that were going to happen, or I guess you could call them consequences. However, it was my destiny, and you can't choose your destiny, but I didn't choose to even have this new life, but this new life chose to have me.