Island Paradise

Chapter 1

Hey, welcome. Hope ya'll enjoy

I sprint through the trees, my breath caught in my throat, my long hair streaming out behind me. 

I skid to a stop, my breathing hard. 

A crunch of leaves behind me spins me around on the spot. 

Oh no. He's found me. 

A pair of glowing eyes peer through the darkness. I'm done for. 

Before I can breathe, the eyes lunge towards me and I wait for the end. 

A large body collides with mine and I shriek as I'm pushed to the floor. 

"Jauq!" I cry

A long wet tongue lick up the side of my face and I grimace. 

I open my eyes and a large, grey cat with dark blue eyes grins at me before attacking me with more licks. 

"UGH" I groan before shoving the large cat off. 

"Ok. You got me Jauq." I laugh as I stand up. "Game over".

Jauq presses up against me and purrs. Proud he won the game of hide and seek. 

My wrist buzzes and I look down at my watch before seeing the time. 

10:30

Wow, time has flown. 

"Come on Jauq" I say. "It's time to see mum!"

I pull up my bikini top before taking off through the trees. 

----

I slide to a stop before the sand and wait for Jauq to catch up before walking quickly across the hot dirt to the small building at the edge of the sand. 

I push aside the driftwood door before entering the cool, softly lit building. 

Of all the places on our island this has to be my favourite. The walls are lines with tanks filled with injured fish or coral, lit with blue lights. 

with a large work table in the centre and whiteboards on the walls. Always depicting details drawings of marine life, equations or information. 

And most of all, its mum's work space. 

"Hey Mum!" I call out into the large room. 

"Hi Isla" I hear her call back from the back of the room. 

I pad over to her, ignoring the sand on my bare feet. 

"Whatcha doing?" I ask from over her shoulder. 

She laughs quietly. 

"I found a rare bioluminescence in the reef on the west side of the bay" She responds quietly. "Want to see?"

I nod quickly and she flicks off the lights. Causing small particles in the water to glow blue, purple and green. 

I watch as they float around in the water and I hear mum laugh at my wonder-filled expression. 

"Are you studying them?" 

I ask after mum flicks back on the lights and removes the underwater thermometer she was using to study the lumens, from the water. 

"Yes" she replies. "Understanding our home is very important in keeping it healthy and making sure our island lasts."

I nod serious before getting an idea. 

"Are you finished work for today?" 

Mum nods. 

"Do you want to go surfing?" I suggest and her eyes light up. 

"Sure"

Mum taught me how to surf when I was little. We arrived on our island, Lua Pele (meaning volcano) over 21 years ago. Five years before I was born, so learning to surf was one of the first things Mum taught me. 

After putting away mum's extra tools we pick up the two surf boards leaning against the outside of the work lab and head out onto the sand. 

We run quickly, eager to get into the water before splashing in the waves. 

"The line up's pretty good today" I hear mum call. "Get out past the whites first though".

I agree quickly before mounting the board and paddling out. 

Like usual I catch a wave pretty quickly. Standing up and centring my weight a few inches behind the nose of the board. 

I glide 'round the shoulder and carve up the lip of the wave and settling in the pit of a barrel. 

As I sweep through the tunnel I slowly stick my hand in the wall to my right and feel the current pull. 

I remove my hand as I twist out of the tunnel and flick my board over the crest to ride it out. 

As I settle I crouch back down and sit on my board, looking to the left and seeing mum finish her wave spectacularly. 

"Nice Mum!" I yell over the water. 

Even from this distance I can see honu, a turtle mum raised sitting on the front of her board. 

"You did well too!" She calls back. "That last flick was tricky."

I grin in response before we continue hunting waves and tiring ourselves out before dragging out of the water. 

And we've made it to the end of chapter 1. I hope you've enjoyed yourself so far. This is an original story ofc and therefore I reserve all rights to the publication of this story. 

The names used for this story (aside from the ones in English) except for  jauq are spoken in Hawaiian. Lua Pele means Volcano (for reasons that will be explained later) and Honu means turtle for obvious reasons. 

If you would like to republish this book in different languages please contact me privately and we can discuss options. 

Have an amazing day!

xx

Jess