Page 2

Chapter two

Darla

A fter doing my best to work my fingers through my super long, blonde hair, I braid it back so it’s out of my way.

I make sure I have my waterskin and McStabby, then make my way to the kitchen hut to grab my spare pouch.

When I see it, I throw it over my shoulder, shove Steve inside and head back out.

This bag is a sling and perfect for when I need my balance to climb.

Bob’s home is located pretty high on a cliff, in a cave I scoped out years ago. I’ve climbed it hundreds of times since. Just because I’m afraid of getting hurt, doesn’t mean I take any less risks.

I’m not sure if Bob has a wife that lays eggs or if he is, in fact, a girl, but it's the only place I’ve been able to find eggs on the entire island. And when you’re as limited in choices as I am, you know that beggars can’t be choosers.

Instead of using the ladder to climb down, I grab a nearby vine and swing across the clearing, the bottom of my feet hitting the tree to stop me, then I grab another vine, and swing back the other way, finally ending on the ground.

The ladder might technically be easier, but the vines were quicker…

and more badass. Plus, now the ladder was still tied up safely.

Besides, with Mo-Mo watching, I need to keep up my street cred or he’ll think I’ve gone soft.

“Morning, buddy! You ready for our hike?” I yell in Mo-Mo’s direction, where he sits on a nearby branch.

He trills at me, coming over to sit on my shoulder and give me a morning nuzzle.

“Hey Mo-Mo, did you have a good sleep? Did your lady keep you up all night again?” He makes an indignant noise, turning his head away from me and crossing his cute little arms.

“Sorry! Didn’t realize it was a sensitive subject for you,” I tell him as I reach up and give his black and white striped tail a little stroke.

We take a detour through the mango grove for breakfast. As usual, Mo-Mo waits for me to break off pieces for him instead of getting his own.

“Lazy lemur,” I grumble, grabbing a second mango before we head towards the cliffs.

We walk along the edge of the beach for a short while before we have to detour through the jungle.

This part of the island is thick and it’s not as easy to see your surroundings.

It’s one of the reasons we chose not to live in this area.

Preferring to see any threats headed our way.

The other reason we chose not to build here was because it’s home to a large family of wild boar.

And me and Brutus have a long history. In the first five years I was here, it was easy to pick off the occasional small boar for food.

But when Brutus was born and started to grow into the alpha of his pack, he was not happy with letting me get away with that anymore.

He seems more intelligent than any of the other boar, meaning I have to be extra careful when hunting these days.

Since I had to be in close range to kill one, with only my six-inch blade to aid me, I could only take the chance when I got one of them alone, otherwise I’d be pig chow.

Or would it be a boar-kabob? Either way, if Brutus caught me hunting and I was lucky enough to get away, I’d find him in my territory over the next week, looking to catch me off guard. That dude knows how to hold a grudge.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo exclaims, leaping from my shoulder to a nearby vine.

Hearing the rustling of the underbrush, even over the sounds of the birds singing and crickets chirping, I quickly jump up to the closest branch.

Grabbing it with both hands, I heave my legs up until I can wrap them around it, then pull myself on top of the branch.

Glancing down, I’m just in time to see Brutus and two female boar come sniffing through the area.

If he smells me, he doesn’t react, he just walks straight through as I hold my breath.

If he knew I was up here, I know he’d sit his fat ass at the base of this tree and try to wait me out.

Of course, I could use the trees to get myself out of here without touching the ground, but it would use up a lot of energy, and I have a cliff to climb.

I wait a full minute after he’s gone from sight before jumping down, landing in a crouched position and surveying my surroundings.

“Alright tuff guy, they’re gone,” I call out to Mo-Mo, who comes swinging down from his hiding spot to sit on my shoulder. We quickly move through the jungle until we finally come out into the clearing at the base of the cliff.

I stand at the bottom and look up at its 200 foot height. “Alright, Cliff. You gonna give me any problems today? Or are you gonna be solid as a rock?” I fight down the fear of falling that’s quickly rising in me and try to think about what waits for me at the top. Eggs .

It’s not exactly difficult to climb, there are plenty of good handholds and footholds, but at the end of the day, it’s still a 200 foot climb straight up with no harness or safety rope.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo hollers before leaping to the ground and running back to the jungle.

“Coward!” I yell after him, shaking my head. I look back at Cliff, the giant rock wall, and rub my hands together.

“Come on Zee, you got this!” I say, trying to pump myself up as I begin to climb.

“You can have fried eggs, or maybe scrambled… If there are three, you could have one a day for three days. Or…. you could devour them all today.” My breaths start to get labored as I climb, so I keep my egg-cellent motivational pep talk internal for the next 150 feet.

It’s slow going, as I try to be as safe as I can in this situation, and when I finally reach the top, I pull myself over the ledge and sprawl out on my back, arms and legs stretched wide as I let my racing heart calm down.

Climbing up was the easy part. It’s climbing down that I really hated.

Being unable to see where you’re stepping was more than slightly terrifying.

I have to keep my body as close to the wall as possible, or I’d risk falling backwards and plummeting to my death.

Or worse, I would end up crippling myself.

It was a miracle I’d survived this long already.

When I finally feel like I can breathe normally again, I sit up and look around, seeing no signs of Bob or any other seagull.

I make my way into the cave behind me and to the side where the nest is.

Bob doesn’t usually leave any eggs alone, so I worry my trip was for nothing.

But as I get closer, his big ugly head pops up from where he’s sleeping in the nest, making me jump back and get into a fighting stance, McStabby in my hand and aimed in his direction .

He doesn’t move, just sits there glaring at me, so I try to reason with him.

“Look, Bob, I get it. Father of the year and all that. But I climbed all the way up here and I’m not leaving empty-handed.

” He gives his feathers a little shake and sinks down deeper, clearly not planning on going anywhere.

“Bob, you don’t even like kids. I’ve seen you squawk at the younglings. I’m doing you a favor, really. Think of all the free time you’ll have to do bird-yoga and hang out with the ladies!”

When he still doesn’t move, I slip my free hand into my pouch and pull out Steve. I lift him in front of my mouth as I quietly whisper, “Don’t actually hit him, we just want to scare him a little.” Then I toss him towards Bob, aiming for a spot right in front of his nest.

It has its desired effect as Bob squawks and jumps up, flapping his wings before flying from the cave.

“YES! Team Zeve for the win!” I shout out Steve and my couple name, with both arms in the air as I run around in a few celebratory circles.

With a grin on my face, I reach down and grab Steve, returning him to my pouch before turning to the nest.

“Sweet baby boar, that's a lot of eggs!” I exclaim, seeing four eggs in the nest. Normally, I’d be lucky to get two. “I’m feasting tonight!” I say excitedly as I gently place them in my pouch.

I turn around and walk to the edge of the cave, gazing out at the vast ocean that surrounds me.

I wonder how far away the next island is?

Or is it a continent out there past that horizon?

We were pretty positive we crashed in the Indian Ocean, but I had no idea how far we were from anything.

Clearly, we weren't under any flight paths, as I’d never seen a single plane since we crashed here .

I shiver, remembering that terrible day we arrived here.

You’d think crashing into the ocean and ending up on a deserted island would be the worst day of your life, little did I know, that was still to come.

I quickly try to push those memories aside before they take hold.

Those are the ones that bring the nightmares and panic attacks.

Luckily, I’m distracted by a flash of movement in the distance. “Steve, did you see that?” I ask, even knowing he can’t see anything from his hiding place in the bottom of my bag. Plus, you know… he’s a rock.

I narrow my eyes, hoping to glimpse it again. And when I see it, I gasp in shock and fear. “What is that?”

The object starts to become clearer as it gets closer, moving fast across the sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind as it gets lower to the water.

“Sweet baby eggs, is that a… plane?” My jaw drops open as it gets closer and I watch in horror as the plane nose dives into the ocean, at least fifteen to twenty miles away.

I wrap my arms around myself and shiver, despite the blaring humidity.

Is that what it looked like when we crashed?

Were there any survivors? A ball of fear in my gut starts to take hold.

I haven’t seen anyone else arrive on this island in fifteen years.

Not since the men who came here by paddle boat, four months after my dad and I arrived.

We thought we’d have a chance to finally get off this island, but the strange men chopped their paddle boat up and used it for firewood.

They spoke another language, so we weren’t able to understand one another, but we figured out non-verbal ways of communicating, and soon, we felt happy to have three new men on the island.

They seemed eager to help us build our hut and hunt.

The likelihood of survival for a thirteen year old and her dad had just increased, three fold .

But something about them was a little off. The way they looked at me made my skin crawl. Dad noticed too, never leaving me alone for a minute, not even to relieve myself, much to my embarrassment. I didn’t really understand what he was worried about… until it was too late.

That horrible day, and the ones that followed, will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. I’m still not entirely sure how I was the only one to survive it, and I’ve never been able to decide if that was a good thing or not.

But as I watch the dark blob of the plane sinking in the distance, I wonder who was on board, and if anybody survived. I’m not sure I will survive another round of stranded visitors.