Colonization

by Scott McElhaney

  By the time we returned to the house, it was already dark out and Kepler was high in the sky offering us a significant amount of its ‘lunar light’. While I knew this term to be incorrect, I often used it as a description for the evening light provided by Kepler. When you come from a race that is accustomed to a moon reflecting the sun’s light onto your world at night, you get phrases like ‘lunar light’. Only now we were living on the moon, and Kepler was the lifeless orb which so happened to be classified as a planet. I didn’t think ‘planetary light’ really had the same effect or carried the same romantic qualities, so I would have to stick with old fashioned references.

  Both of the bikes were covered in mud and each had at least one cracked or busted fender and the headlight had busted off on Zane’s ATV. We rode them both up to the base of the deck where we parked them for the night.

  “I need to shower,” I said, brushing some of the dried mud off my arm, “Want to take turns guarding the bikes while the other gets cleaned up?”

  “Sounds good to me,” he replied, squatting down on the bottom stairs, “Looks like we really know how to do some damage.”

  We both laughed. I headed into the house and proceeded to take one of the quickest showers in my life. The thing that took the most time was trying to decide how to dress. I didn’t want to wear anything uncomfortable, and at the same time, I didn’t want to sweat all night. A bikini would be nice, but it would make me feel like I was spending the night outside in my underwear. That was more for the beach when the sun could improve my tan. I finally settled on a light set of pink, loose-fitting pajamas consisting of thin shorts and a camisole top. I then grabbed some blankets from the linen closet to lay out on the reclining lawn chairs so they would be a little more comfortable.

  He was still keeping watch over the bikes when I returned and tossed the stack of blankets onto one of the chairs. He stood and was about to pass me to go into the house when he stopped and leaned his face toward me. His lips suddenly pressed onto the top of my bare left shoulder.

  “Mmmm… you smell so good,” he breathed against my neck and then kissed me on the cheek, “And I smell like sweat and grime.”

  “You do!” I laughed.

  He then squeezed my shoulder and started quickly for the house. While he was showering, I scooted both of the reclining lawn chairs to the edge of the deck near the bikes. I then folded the blankets long-ways and laid them out across the chairs. We might end up stuck outside all night, but there was no reason we couldn’t be comfortable.

  Zane returned, carrying two tall glasses of iced tea. He found me already seated comfortably in my extra padded lawn chair. He handed me a glass of tea, admitting that he remembered I preferred mine southern style. He then set the unsweetened one for him on the deck next to the other chair.

  “Both ATVs are still nicely damaged,” I said, tilting my glass toward the vehicles.

  “Glad to hear,” he chuckled, standing next to me and staring out toward the jungle.

  The crickets filled the silence of the moment. I took a long drink of my tea and then set the glass down on the deck. Just then, Zane sat down on the edge of my chair and turned to me, leaning over me and resting his hands on both sides of me. His lips quickly found mine. My hands fumbled for the reclining chair release while his hand slid up the back of my camisole and tickled my back with his gentle caress. I finally found the release and the back of my chair dropped down. I drew my hand behind his head and then slowly lay back, never breaking from our passionate kiss.

  The gentle hand that had been exploring beneath my top was now caressing the curve of my waist. By the time he glided up and cupped my breast, I found myself covered in goosebumps. His lips left mine, only to explore my chin and the front of my neck with electric kisses. His gentle hands both held onto my waist as the kisses trailed down my shoulder and found their way to my belly button. I raked my fingers through his hair as his lips and tongue located my sensitive breasts.

  I reached down and tugged his shirt off, forcing a pause of only a few seconds. His kisses returned to my body, trailing down my belly and then dangerously close to my panties. I wanted to cry out as his lips pressed gently to my inner thigh and I think he caught on to my uncontrollable desire. He slowly kissed his way back up the center of my body, pausing only a short while at my breasts where his tongue danced across my nipples. It was only then that I discovered that he had already removed anything I was wearing down below that separated me from him. When his lips met mine again, he tugged my legs around him, gripping my backside as I suddenly felt him easing himself into me.

  It took a moment before we found our rhythm. While our attention was most definitely on each other, we both randomly glanced at the vehicles nearby. He slowed down at one point, apologizing to me because he was afraid he would finish too soon otherwise. I actually enjoyed it more when he slowed the pace and I think he quickly realized this. I cried out in orgasm shortly after. He then returned to the faster pace that he apparently enjoyed and it didn’t take long before he was crying out in ecstasy as well.

  Afterward, he remained inside me while he nibbled my ears and kissed my neck, whispering repeatedly that he loved me. I whispered the same to him because it was true. I wanted this night to never end. But alas, that night would end eventually whether we wanted it to or not. And it happened at the same exact time every single night. One moment… one crazy moment about an hour later… after we had both sat up and he held me from behind, me sitting Indian style in the curve of his body… both of us talking about meaningless nonsense, when suddenly while mid-sentence, instantly, it was morning and we woke up lying together in the lawn chair, me resting my head on his bare chest.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “We were just talking, right?” he said, standing at the edge of the deck looking at the spotless ATVs on the lawn in front of us, “We didn’t fall asleep. I’m certain.”

  “That’s exactly what I remember as well,” I said, equally as confused, “I was the one talking at the moment and then suddenly I was waking up to the sound of a bunch of birds.”

  “Have you ever stayed up all night before?” he asked, now cautiously walking down the stairs to the grass.

  “No, I’m usually in bed shortly after it gets dark,” I replied.

  Now I was equally as curious as he was. I never gave much thought to all the peculiarities of this island before. But now that I realized for certain that things were getting repaired overnight and that I was being knocked unconscious as well, it really bothered me.

  “So, how do we proceed?” I asked.

  He shook his head, running his hands along the rear fender.

  “We obviously won’t be able to lie awake at night to see what’s going on, so we have to somehow conduct our investigation during the daylight hours,” he replied, “But I’m not really sure how.”

  That question would eat at Zane throughout the day and into the following night. He started wandering the island, oftentimes alone. Sometimes he’d take an ATV and sometimes he’d just walk. One day he mentioned fashioning a raft out of some of the shelving in the shed and then taking it out in the direction that the plane crashed, but he never got around to doing that. After eight days together on the island, Zane disappeared completely. The next time I saw him, a couple days later, he was lying on the beach with a square pillow next to him. He was wearing a uniform and claiming that his plane had just crashed into the ocean.

  Zane

  Chapter Sixteen

  Things on the island keep magically resetting?

  I keep magically resetting?

  “You mean to tell me that I lived here with you, loved you… made love to you, and then I just magically disappeared only to return over and over again without any memory of it all?” I asked, “And you’re saying that you know me… like know me, know me?”

  “This will make the eleventh time that you’ve washed up on my shore with the exact same story,” she stated, matter of fact.

  �
��Eleven? And each time, you have to take me in, pretend it’s the first time we met, and what… just let me live here with you?” I asked.

  “Don’t ask me about the purpose of it all. Don’t ask me why it keeps happening. I don’t have the answers. But what I do know is that I love you and have loved you for many years. Each time, it might be new to you, but rest assured that I’ve known you for eighteen years now and have lost you ten times to what might as well have been death,” she said.

  “W-what was the longest time I stayed?” I asked, feeling dizzy all of a sudden, “Is this okay to ask?”

  She sighed and then looked down at her hands in her lap.

  “You’re going to need to be a little forgiving, especially knowing that I’m being completely honest with you now. The second time you arrived, I almost thought you were joking. I quickly realized that I had to play along because you truly didn’t remember me at all. By the time we got back to the house, I realized that I was going to need to concoct a story to keep you from getting too curious about all the oddities of this island. It was your curiosity that made me lose you the first time,”

  “You see, I might not be a genius and I might not have a lot of memories, but I had just fallen in love a man and then lost him just a matter of days later. I didn’t want to lose you a second time,” she said, looking to me with pleading eyes, “I supposedly had a delivery boat that arrived randomly to bring us gas, food, clothing, laundry detergent, and best of all, repairs. To keep you from waiting up for the boat, I told you that there really wasn’t a set schedule or a set place where the boat docked. It worked and you and I stayed happily together for five and a half years. I did it again with the lies another time and it lasted a little over three years. Each time, you eventually find your way off this island and I’m never there to know what you did. Nevertheless, your exit always brings you right back to the beginning and leaves me here shattered and having to start over.”

  I placed my hand over my mouth, startled by all this information. I was crushed inside for all the damage that I’d unwittingly done to her. I just stared at her, wishing I could somehow make things right.

  “Can I ask you something and you promise not to get offended?” I said.

  She shrugged but didn’t give any verbal reply.

  “Although I don’t know you and although I’m not the same guy from the story you told me… would it be okay if I held you… sort of as an apology for all the times I’ve hurt you?”

  She seemed to crack, then choked out a sob and leaned forward with her arms spread. I took her into my arms and held her, feeling the sobs rattle her against me.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, “The man you described surely wouldn’t have abandoned you had he known that’s what he was doing. And if that man was me, which it surely sounds like, I have to apologize.”

  “C-can I ask you s-something and you won’t be offended?” she sputtered.

  “Definitely,” I replied.

  “We w-were fighting your last two weeks h-here, so it’s been a while since you’ve held me. A while since you’ve kissed me,” she said, “I know there won’t be any love behind the kiss, but could you kiss me so I can pretend I was forgiven for the words I said before you left?”

  I drew back and looked into her tear-filled eyes. This was a woman who fell in love with me multiple times over the last several years and all I kept doing was hurting her. She was right to say that I didn’t love her, but most likely I would again someday. And she obviously loved me.

  I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers, hoping I was kissing her the way the previous Zane would. I discovered quickly that I most likely wasn’t because she touched the side of my face and kissed me more deeply, tenderly, and in such a way that goosebumps tickled my flesh. I followed her lead and kissed her back with the same hunger that I felt she had for me. It was amazing, especially knowing that this was a stolen kiss from someone I barely even knew. It felt adventurous. I raked my fingers through her hair and held the back of her head, tasting her lips and tongue and wishing suddenly that I knew her like the other Zanes had.

  She drew back from me, breathing heavily against my lips. I wasn’t ready for it to be over already, but I had no right to be kissing her in the first place.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, “Now, if you believe my story, do you know of any way you can save me from this place?”

  “Save you? Wouldn’t you rather I just stayed this time and we lived out a perfect life with all the peculiarities in place?” I asked, violently hungry for more of this beautiful woman.

  “I tried that… I tried all this the last time you arrived here. I told you I was fed up and wasn’t playing along anymore. I told you the whole story of your first life here and then I asked for your help. You convinced me that we could just live here together forever and that you wouldn’t let curiosity get the best of you,” she said, “You were here a total of seventy-three days before you disappeared.”

  I was startled by this revelation. I looked at her, wondering how she could survive such a life without losing her mind.

  “This recurring character is sounding more and more like me every time you talk about him,” I said, “Apparently when I follow my gut… my instincts… it’s always the wrong way to go.”

  “So, will you help me get out of here?” she asked.

  “How? And once we’re out… well, where will we be?”

  “I’m fully convinced that we aren’t on Earth. I can believe that there’s a possibility we’re truly here on Kepler Moon Alpha, but I’m not sure that this island is really all there is. And for some reason, we’re being kept from whatever else is out there,” she said, “Your continuous escape is never actually an escape because you come right back.”

  I breathed out a long sigh of worry. This was a lot of information to be given on the day I almost drown and it wasn’t something I really looked forward to dealing with at the moment. Truth be told, I was somewhat frightened by the whole situation, although since I hadn’t died the previous ten times I visited this place, perhaps the danger wasn’t all that real.

  “So the island is essentially a holding cell or a prison,” I said.

  “Probably, and I don’t believe you ever attempted an escape via the open sea,” she replied, “So we can always keep that as a possible method of escape.”

  I pondered this, struggling to wrap my mind around it all.

  “Do you have any idea where I went when I did actually disappear?” I asked.

  “No,” she said, “Each time you left, you had wandered off alone. Most times you brought some food and flashlights, so it was like you had planned on being away for a while.”

  “But no tent or bedding.”

  “No, just the food, flashlights, a knife sometimes and other times you brought some rope,” she said.

  I had a lot to think about and very little to work with. The only thing I could do is try to predict my own instincts and choices. I obviously made the same mistakes over and over again, so I was going to probably do it again if I allowed myself to follow my own instincts.

  “Yes, I’ll see what I can do to help.”

  She hugged me, thanking me repeatedly for something I wasn’t really sure I could help her with.

  Chapter Seventeen

  She offered me the use of her shower and then presented me with some clean shorts and a shirt. There was no need to ask where she got them. They either belonged to a previous Zane or they had magically appeared. I could totally see why the previous Zanes succumbed to the demands of their own curiosity. It wasn’t very comfortable living in a world that most likely wasn’t even real.

  It was dark out by the time I came downstairs and located Sarai on the living room sofa. She had a book in her lap which she closed when I entered the room. The night sky beyond the living room window worried me as I recalled the way she said that they were suddenly knocked unconscious at a particular moment each night. She noticed my attention drawn to the window behind t
he sofa.

  “We’ve got a couple hours yet. It happens sometime after midnight although we never pinpointed the exact moment,” she offered.

  I sat down on the sofa opposite her and nodded to the book in her lap, “So did you ever get around to showing me the library? Not me, but rather did you ever show the first Zane the library?”

  “Yes, you were quite impressed,” she smiled, “And rightly so because as I said, I have an awesome library.”

  “You’re proud of your books,” I observed, “What are you reading now?”

  “A science fiction novel from nearly a hundred years ago,” she replied, “I’d read it before, but now that I’d just been relaying all the details to you about what’s been going on here… well, it got me a little curious. Science fiction is funny like that sometimes.”

  “Curiosity isn’t your friend from what I gather,” I said with a smirk, “Perhaps you shouldn’t be reading it.”

  “In this particular case, I think curiosity might be a good thing. Let me ask you something and please feel free to tell me I’m crazy,” she said, pausing to look down at the book, “What if none of this is real? What if the house, the land, the beach… all of this – what if it’s not real? I’m being completely serious.”

  “How so?” I asked, “Are you suggesting that we’re in some sort of holographic imaging chamber with defined borders or walls that we can’t see or feel?”