The Island (18+)

Chapter Ten - Diana | Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Chapter Ten : Something Borrowed, Something Blue

When I opened the cupboards in the bunkers, I found supplies. Supplies that seemed way too advanced to even appear on an island that had wooden cabins and leaf bowls, but supplies nevertheless. There was something entirely too odd about our circumstances. I didn't think on it too much, today had been a long day.

Kit had made a fire using a fire plow, because none of us had snuck in any lighters. The cupboard had empty glass lanterns, only about five of them because the others were cracked into glass shards. But I grabbed one, a spare shirt from my case and walked towards the fire. Using two wooden branches, I lifted some burning kindling into the lampshade and suddenly I was holding a soft light. It would run down fast since there wasn't any coal inside, but it would be enough for me to find the stream ahead and wash myself.

When I reached the stream, I could hear the night creatures lightly humming. The island was bigger than I expected. It would perhaps take multiple days to walk the entire expanse of land but then meant we could possibly find other sources of food, perhaps even another settlement area. I heard a soft whimpering sound come from a distance and I whipped my head to look.

The water in my hand was cool but I poured it back into the stream. I pulled the new shirt over my head and began to be comforted by the earthy smell of cotton. I picked up my make-do lantern and walked towards the sound. It was human. I could pick out what crying sounded like from a mile away, I knew it well.

There was a girl hunched down by the stream with her hands covering her face as she sobbed. I stopped, not knowing if I should approach her or not. Most times when I cried, I wanted to be alone. So, I moved to turn around but the dry leaves and rock beneath my feet betrayed my presence. The girl jumped slightly and looked toward me with distressed eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," I rushed out. "I didn't mean to – disturb you. I heard a noise and followed it" Which is actually the opposite of what I should have done, retrospectively.

"Oh," she croaked out. "It's nothing. I'm just –"

"Scared." I finished for her.

She nodded and then burst into another fit of tears. She looked young like this, but she could have been older than me for all I knew. Everyone looked younger when they cried. Tears had no age.

I shuddered before inching closer. I set the lantern down beside us and looked at her smudged and crimson cheeks. I moved her hands away from her face and then reached down into the stream to wet my fingers. I wiped away her tears with the fresh water and she looked at me with quivering lips and swollen eyes.

"I just want to go home," she breathed. I nodded.

I didn't want to go home. I didn't really have a home, but I could understand why she must. I remembered her from the introductions on the beach but I wanted to make sure.

"Your name is Aspen, correct?"

I needed to move my hands away from her skin, I needed to stop touching. It was too much. Everything seemed too much. I placed my palms face down on my thighs and waited for her to reply.

She nodded, "Yeah, but my friends-" her voice broke. "My friends back home called me Penny."

I frowned. "We're going to find a way to get in contact with the psychologists, Aspen."

She shook her head. "What if it's not?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

She started crying again and I felt my heart break for her. She must miss so much. She started twirling her ring around her finger. It was a ruby red ring and I could hear my mother's voice, "See, Hayden. Pretty girls wear pretty things."