The Forgotten Island

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

LOST, WITH A HINT OF DESPAIR

-Arya-

I have been wandering for days, and I was inexplicably and unequivocally lost. During the days I walked for hours, going in the direction I thought would take me back to Fish and Darnell, and at night I hid in the trees. Every trunk looked the same, every leaf the same design. Granted I was no cub scout, but I had thought I could at least find my way back. My feet were covered in blisters, and I had been eating groundnuts since yesterday. To top it all off, I had watched my friend get eaten. Actually eaten, and not even by the cannibals whom we knew wanted to eat us. She was eaten by zombie wolves who screamed at each other. This whole place was a living nightmare. I was haunted by the deceased at night, while I cowered in the trees; hoping for a miracle. My pity party seemed as endless as this damn jungle.

I was currently wallowing in said self pity in what could reasonably be described as a wooden seed pod that I had made to sleep in, high up in the treetops. I was nestled inside like the green pistachio nuts inside their shells. My thoughts were all over the place. Did we really need plants, or did plants need us? I mean, didn't they feed humans oxygen; and then feed off our decaying corpses when we die? Were we being farmed by plants? I turned on my side, my fingers twiddling with my turtle pendant of their own accord. My fingernails held weeks of grime under them, and I am sure I smelled as bad as a teenage boy locker room. I turned onto my other side with a huff. Realistically I couldn't hide in my pod forever, I just didn't know how I could face reality on my own. If you were born deaf, what language would you think in? How long would it take for me to lose my mind out here? I turned back to my other side again, a splinter in my pod jamming into my hip. My stomach growled, I was so hungry, maybe I could die from starvation while I slept. I tried to ignore myself. How did the first person who made a clock know what time it was? Useless questions circled through my mind as I tossed and turned, eventually falling into a restless sleep.

Morning came, despite my internal objections. My stomach woke me up with its grumbling, along with the birds happily chattering around me. I stared up at one such insolent bird and shouted "Oh yeah? And what's so happy about the day that you have to sing about? huh?" The bird stared back at me, not understanding what the strange featherless creature in its tree was making such a fuss about. I closed my eyes and tried to go back to festering, but my stomach growled again, forcing me to acknowledge my need for food. I sat up and stretched. I saw a movie once where one of the main characters said "You either get busy living, or get busy dying." I really felt like this was that moment in my life. I was alone in a forest/jungle hybrid, and I couldn't hide up in this tree forever.

Lowering the pod to the ground, I slid out of it and stared up into the morning sun through the treetops. I shouldered my pack, picked a direction, and started walking. I continued like that for a while, lost in my thoughts. A sound interrupted my inner monologue, and directly in front of me stood a small pond, fed by a small creek. I laughed, the irony of the situation not lost on me. Whether or not this was the water Val and I had heard before I wasn't sure, but I was grateful for the opportunity to wash. Quickly disrobing I grabbed my bar of Caress soap, and a travel size bottle of Pantene Pro-V Shampoo from my pack. I waded into the cool waters, letting them rinse away some of my dirt and grief. I washed my hair and body three times, until my skin felt raw, but it was worth it. I felt a little more like my old self as the dirt came off layer by layer. When I was finished I put on my last remaining pair of clean clothes, and washed the ones I had been wearing in the pond. I felt oddly sad about washing Fish's snot off the material, knowing it was the last bit of my friend I would have with me. Tears slowly ran down my face as I scrubbed, I couldn't help it. I wiped them away with my arm, and walked up to the little creek to refill my water bottles. So lost in my emotions was I, that I hadn't noticed the green tint to the water. I stared at it for a while before shrugging and closing my bottles. If green water was the way I was going to go, then so be it. I just didn't have the mental capacity to be scared anymore. I camped above the pond that night, creating a small platform and another sleeping pod, and eating some plants I had found growing around the banks. I chewed on them as I listened to the screaming around the forest, now knowing the origin of the sounds. Growls came from right below me, and the sounds of a dog fight erupted in the air. Looking down, two of the hell hounds were fighting, tearing into each other for reasons I didn't know. It was over quickly, the winner leaving the bloody scene as quickly as it had arrived. Below me the torn corpse lay on the ground, blood running into the water. I am glad I washed before this happened, there was no way I was getting in that water now. Letting the scene slip my mind, I made myself comfortable and went to sleep.

My dreams were mercilessly boring; I dreamt I was buying Yule gifts for my family in a local department store. I woke a little less emotional than the days prior, and a flood of relief went through me at the realization. Maybe I could do this after all. With the added confidence I packed up and went groundside. I picked a direction to go and started moving, seeing the canine corpse from the night before, I planned on making a wide berth from the carnage. Whimpering sounded as I got closer, and I walked up to two pups huddled against the cold body. A small sense of satisfaction filled me at the thought of their impending death. They wouldn't make it on their own, not as young as they looked. Serves them right for being monsters, and now I will have two less to deal with. I kept walking "Good luck surviving, amigos! Too bad mom can't help you!" I called to the pups as I went by, a little extra pep in my step. I smirked as I left the area behind, my feet pointed towards the future.

I only made it a few minutes before turning around. Back at the female hounds corpse, I stared down at the pups who looked back at me with sad eyes. A few dark hairs stood out along their extra wrinkly skin; folds falling into their red eyes whenever they blinked. Sighing, I shrunk down my sleeping pod to chest size and added a thick vine strap. Taking off my pack I put on the pod, resembling a baby carrier I had seen in commercials. After making a few adjustments I was satisfied, and put my pack back on. Picking up the still whimpering pups I placed them in the pod with some soft moss and walked on, hopeful that we could all find a place to call home.