by M. R. Polish
“Hello, Sweet Thing. What are you doing here in this dark paradise? I bet you're just as curious about me, wondering what I’m doing here in your home.”
The bird continued to dance around. Karis moved slightly, causing it to fly away. Her shoulders dropped as her loneliness became reality.
Terpesona Island, Present Day
“There've been more storms than usual this year,” Karis spoke to the newest young bird on the island as she closed the shutters on her windows. Over the years, she’d become friends with a family of yellow birds. She watched as her only friends were born, and then died.
The small bird perched on her shoulder and cooed as she paced the matured floorboards. Even after ninety years, her quaint home had aged well. It was only every few years that she needed to fix a leak in the roof, or repair a step on the stairs. At first, she wasn’t sure how to accomplish such feats, but soon she figured out how to thatch patches of her roof with new leaves.
Karis reached up and gave her little friend a light pat. “Shhh…it’s okay. The storm will be over soon.”
Each clap of thunder made her think back to the first storms she experienced on the island. It was then that the yellow birds became her friends. She opened her home to help keep them safe from the winds and earned their trust.
It was a sad day after almost ten years when the first one died. It was a day that brought a new reality to Karis. She would be on the island forever, no death to take her away, but she’d be around to watch the creatures around her die. Every generation of the tiny yellow birds lived with her and became her single source of companionship.
Off in the distance a clap of thunder rumbled in the skies, and her tiny friend flittered off around the room. She walked onto the porch and looked out over the darkening sea, pulling her shawl closer to her as the wind whipped through her hair. After many years of wearing the thin material on the island it did little to keep the elements from reaching her, she did it more for comfort than anything. Even after so many years of being on the island, she still found the storms to be unsettling and wished for human comfort.
At least her immortality never changed on Earth. She was still just as young and vibrant as she was the day she arrived on the island, forever looking the part of twenty.
The little bird followed her out, landing not too far from her. Karis raised her eyebrow. “You might blow away, it's best for you to stay with your family until after the storm.”
Just the notion of losing her tiny friends made her upset. She cast a glance out over the sea. The churning ocean made an eerie scene and she shivered at the thought of watching any other innocence beings die because of her punishment. Tiny boats reduced to splinters. Swimmers drowned as waves swallowed them. It gripped her heart that so many people died in vain trying to reach the island. The council had created a powerful barrier around the entire island to keep her there and others from reaching her.
A crack of lightning split the sky. She held her hand high over her head, using her ability to create protection over her island and home. She might not have the power to break the spell that kept her from leaving, but she had enough to defend herself.
The clouds were now dark as night, and thunder continued to rumble through the air. The wind picked up and she watched as the sea crashed on the beach in violent waves. The trickling rain began to come down in torrents.
Karis dashed inside her home and pushed the door shut, leaning against it. Inside she knew she'd be protected, but she still felt helpless as she watched her walls shake under the wind’s brutal attack.
Off in the distance she heard something unusual, something that wasn't the storm. She tried to focus on the noise. She didn't have enough time to figure it out before another clap of thunder vibrated the entire island, drowning out the unfamiliar sound. Suddenly a loud crash of metal grinding against metal sounded over the squall.
Her heart raced inside her chest. “What in the world?” She used all her strength to yank open the door that sucked closed in the wind. Her hair whipped around her face, obstructing her view. She grabbed the doorframe, then reached for the railing on her porch and pulled herself outside.
She held her hand out, using her energy to calm the wind around her body, making it easier to walk, though it was still arduous. Her body became soaked within minutes in the pouring rain. She made it to the beach, but couldn’t see through the storm to determine what made the awful noise. Karis shielded her eyes with her hands and trudged through the stinging sand and spray off the sea.
The scent of smoke filled the air. Karis twisted around and saw black smoke through the pelting rain. It was on the other side of the ridge just past the cove. She wasn’t sure what she’d find, but after being alone for so long, she took her chances and went off in search of it.
She coughed and gagged on the smoke that now surrounded her as she climbed over rocks and up the side of the hill. She wrapped her shawl around her face, leaving only her eyes uncovered to keep from breathing in too much smoke.
Over the ridge, she could see what caused the smoke. A large flying machine was scattered in pieces in a fiery crash. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was since she’d never seen one up close, but she watched them in the sky for the last sixty-five years or so. There wasn’t anything like that in Shamike because of the portals, so it was interesting to see such an amazing transportation device up close. It was silver with a streak of black up the side and a fin that stuck up taller than the rest of it. The front of the strange machine was buried in the sand, but she could see where a window used to be.
Karis jumped as another burst of flames came from the wing of the contraption. What a cruel death for whoever was on board. If the storm didn’t kill them, the curse would have. Tears filled her eyes from both the emotion of another death and the smoke. She turned to leave when she heard a deep groan.
It was impossible. Wasn’t it? She ran toward the wreckage and moved pieces of the machine that was everywhere on the ground. She didn’t imagine the sound. It was real, it had to be. She stopped and listened. A quieter grunt came from the other side of the broken wing.
She climbed over debris and moved everything in her path. A large portion of the wing was all she hadn’t moved on that side. She pushed with her strength and inner power, budging the tip enough to move it off the body of a man. She rushed to his side and felt his neck for a pulse. Under her fingertips, she could feel a slow beat from his heart.
“Thank you, oh thank you for being alive.” She turned him over, revealing an injury to his chest. She cringed. “But you won’t be alive for long.”
Karis cradled his head in her lap and cried. She barely noticed the wind and raging tempest that brewed around them. Wiping the tears from her face, she glanced back down at him and his wound. After years of not using her power to heal, she wasn’t sure she could help him, but she needed to try.
A soft glow came from her hands as she placed them over his chest. The familiar hum from the pendant around her neck vibrated through to her soul. A flash of light shot out from her hands and a force pushed her back, knocking the wind from her chest and reverberating across the crash site.
She laid there and gasped until she could breathe again. Nothing like that ever happened to her before, not even in Shamike. Once she could take a deep enough breath, she sat back up.
“Oh my,” Karis whispered as she looked around. Not only did the storm dissipate, but all the trees around the crash site were leveled. The once-tall trees lay on the ground in a perfect circle around them. Even the sea was calm.
She checked the man’s pulse, hoping he still lived. A strong and steady heartbeat throbbed under her fingers. She continued to sit there with his head in her lap and watched his chest rise and fall. It seemed so surreal to be with another living being. All she could do was stare at him.
His eyes stayed closed with his mouth slightly agape. He looked peaceful, but she worried because he wasn’t awake. Shifting herself out from under him, she beg
an to sift through the wreckage in search of something she could make into a travois.
At that moment, she wished she could use her powers for transportation or to materialize objects. There were some royals in her family line that could transport physical objects, but she was never blessed with that ability. Well, that she knew of anyway. Being gone from Shamike for so long, she hadn’t trained to find out what other powers she might possess.
“Ugh.” Karis threw down another useless piece of wreckage. The heat from the main fire was intense, but she saw a white box with a red cross on it. She wasn’t sure what it was, but went with her instinct and moved closer to it. She untangled the strewn netting around it and took the box back to the stranger.
It wasn’t what she hoped to find, but it might contain items she could use. She dropped to her knees and opened the box, rummaging around until she found a roll of tape. Stretching it out, she began to twist it until it made a rope of sorts. Her shoulders sagged. “It might work,” she whispered to the stranger.
Quickly, she began looking for broken tree limbs, and brought them back to where he was. She took her makeshift twine and tied the ends of the branches together. Row after row, she did this until she produced a large enough platform to place his body.
His eyes never fluttered as she moved him to her bed of limbs, worrying her even more. She slumped to the ground. “You are heavy.” She knew he couldn’t talk back, but talking to someone other than a bird gave her joy.
Karis gazed over the man’s resting body. Dark ash covered his white shirt from the fire and a slash ripped open the front of it, revealing his chest where the wound once was. It amazed her that she was able to heal him so fast, especially being several years out of practice.
Her eyes scanned down to his lean waist and even further to his ripped jeans that gave a well-defined image of toned thighs underneath. He shifted slightly. Slowly, she let her eyes travel up his body and to his face. A trimmed line of hair trailed his jaw line and around his mouth. His nose was prominent, and she wondered what color his eyes were as she stared at the scar that ran under his right eye. His hair was short, but she could see the chocolate brown color under the dirt and ash. She noticed a black marking on his forearm that ran all the way up to his shoulder, and leaned in closer look at it. Sharp points and swirls made up the detailed design. She sat back on her heels and mused over it. The marking was familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen it at the moment. It was buried in her memories.
He still wasn’t awake, so she decided it was time to move him and hoped that she could get him to her bed, where she could look after him easier. She lifted the skirt of her dress up enough to tie it so it wouldn’t get in her way while she pulled the stranger home.
It would be too hard to pull him over the small ridge by the cove. She would have to go the long way, through the sand on the beach and up the path she used almost every day for years.
The family of yellow birds flew around her house as she approached, but stayed a safe distance away from the stranger. She frowned at the steps leading to the front door and then back down to the man. “Maybe you’ll sleep out here for a bit.”
Karis sat down on the ground and leaned against one of the braces of her home. The sun had already set, and fireflies began to flutter around. She could hear the gentle waves lap on the shore in a calming rhythm, putting her to sleep.
The morning sun’s rays beat down on her, awakening her from her half slouched sleeping position.
She jumped when she saw the stranger’s eyes open and staring at her.
“Sorry,” he said with a cracked whisper.
“No…I just…your eyes…it's okay.” She shook her head as everything came out in a stutter of words.
“Water.” She barely heard him but understood and rushed into the house where she kept a flask of fresh rainwater.
Hurrying back down to him, she took his head in her hands and lifted it slightly. She placed the canteen next to his mouth and let the water run into it.
He lifted his hand to stop her efforts. She placed the water down beside them.
“Where am I?” He looked up at her, and she could see his brown eyes under the moonlight.
She smiled. “I believe you call it Terpesona Island.”
He jolted up into a sitting position but winced. “Ouch. Damn, what happened? How’d I get here?”
“There was a storm, and you crashed. I found you under the tip of the wing. You were barely alive.” She played with the hem of her dress as she spoke.
“You found me? Who else is here?” He wrapped his arm around his waist and grimaced again.
“Here, let me look at it, I can help.”
He stared at her through narrowed eyes. “You haven’t answered my question. Who else is here?”
She shook her head. “No one.”
“I don’t believe you. There is no way someone as small as you could drag someone as big as me across an island, or move a wing on a plane, alone.”
“No, it was just me. I guess it was adrenaline.” She let out a nervous laugh.
He bit his lip as his face contorted with pain. She scooted closer to him. “Let me look.”
He hesitated, then lifted what was left of his shirt. She gently touched every rib, sending out a wave of her power feeling for injuries. A slight warming in her hand told her she found a place that needed healing. Her hand hovered over one rib she knew was broken and thought about whether she should help him or not. Her natural compassion won. She let her energy form around his rib, then gently drew her hand away from his body enough to pull the bone back together and seal it.
“Ouch! What was that?” he yelled at her as he jerked his shirt back down.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was helping.”
He stood up. “Don’t do it again.”
Nothing about him being awake was how she hoped it would be. Tears filled her eyes, so she looked away. “I’m sorry.” She got up and went into the house.
Throwing herself on the bed, she let the tears fall. Years of being alone and this was the first conversation she got? So many things she wanted to know, things she wanted to talk about.
A knock on the wood made her turn her head. He stood at the doorway leaning with his arm raised up against the frame. “I’m sorry. I’m a little confused about everything. I should thank you for saving me.”
She sat up onto the edge of the bed. “You’re welcome. My name is Karis.” She wiped her face with her fingers.
He gave a slight nod. “Karis? Cool name. I’m Brady.”
She sniffed. “Thanks. Nice to meet you.”
“So, how do I get out of here?”
She let out a scoff. “I wish,” she said under her breath. “You can’t.”
“I can’t, or you won’t tell me?”
Karis stood up. “You can’t. If there were a way, I’d have been gone a long time ago.”
He stood there, contemplating her answer. “I don’t buy it.”
She rolled her eyes. “What do you know about this island?”
“Not much. The natives think it’s cursed. That’s why it’s abandoned.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re wasting my time. You have a radio or something?”
“For communication?”
He raised one brow. “Well yeah. Music won’t get us off the island.”
“No. I don’t have one.” She walked to the door and slipped under his arm that he still braced himself with.
“Hey, wait, where’re you going?”
“To show you what I mean.”
She hiked up the hillside, looking behind to make sure he followed. Once she was on top of the knoll, she pointed out to the water. A fishing boat was close to approaching the barrier. Just as she suspected, after any storm anglers tried to get close to the island for the rare fish.
“Hey, great. It’s a boat.” He waved his arms in the air. “Over here!”<
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“They can’t hear you. Besides, they’ll never make it to shore.”
He stopped waving his arms. “What do you mean, they won’t make it?”
“At least not alive.” She watched his expression go from confused to upset. “I told you, there is no way off the island.”
She nodded toward the boat. “Just watch.” She sat down, pulled her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She saw this happen too many times, and it was always a horrible thing to witness.
Brady sat down next to her and watched helplessly. Without a warning, the boat capsized and a colossal tidal wave swallowed the crew.
“What the…” he trailed off.
“I told you. The same would happen if you try to leave.”
He moved to face her, but his eyes never left the water. “How long have you been here?”
She shrugged. “A while.”
“And you’ve been alone the whole time?”
She nodded.
He ran his hands over his head and down his face. “This is too much.” He continued to gaze over the boatless ocean. “Where’s the plane?”
“I can take you to it, but there isn’t much left.”
He stared off across the sea. “I just need to see it.”
She threw her arms in the air. “Fine.”
Karis started down the hill and back toward the house.
“Hey wait up. I thought we were going to the plane?”
She stopped and turned his way. “I, for one, am hungry. You can go on and look for it. I’ll point you the way, but I am eating before I go traipsing around the island with you.”
He held his arms up in surrender. “Whoa, where’d that come from?”
She rolled her eyes and tipped her head back. She didn’t remember this much frustration when having contact with another person. Without saying anything more, she finished her descent down the knoll and to the trail that led to the house.
She marched up the stairs and let the door slam shut. “Hey, watch it,” Brady scowled at her.
She wasn’t sure why she was so upset, but something about him and his attitude put her nerves on fire. She rummaged around through her makeshift cookware until she found her fishing basket and string, and then pushed past him to go outside.
