Island Cultural Center

by Marilyn Foxworthy

Brenda said, “It belongs to Robby. We were there yesterday. Completely naked. All day. We want to walk with you,”

  Lisa said, “And maybe swim,”

  Cherry added, “And eat some fruit,”

  Brenda said, “And talk. This outfit is way too wonderful to hide.”

  Lisa said, “I’m wearing mine, or some other combination, at least one or two pieces, from now on.”

  I said, “Girls, I just thought it would be fun. It isn’t expensive or anything. It’s all cheap…”

  Cherry said, “Talk is cheap. Communication is precious. Roland, Tom asked me if I knew anything about The Afra. I do. I’m ready to tell you about it. Girls, I was trained for a while at a dinner club that Ronny is a member of. I was sent there and they agreed to train me even though I was not going to work for them. But I am a member, in a way, because of my association with them. They are the reason that I sought Roland out in the first place. I got a message saying that a member was on Kauai and that I should seek him out if I was interested in an introduction. I called Marilyn and got some background and decided that there was some kind of a strange attraction to him. Like you were told, I choose my own assignments and projects. I chose Roland. And the homeless woman and the store manager who was making big changes in her life and both of them also sensing a force pulling them together.”

  She went quiet for a moment and Brenda said, “Cherry, you were saying something. About talk being cheap.”

  Cherry said, “Oh, yeah. Talk is cheap. Meaningless most of the time. But communication is precious. Priceless. The word ‘communicate’ means to transfer something or to join or connect. Communication gives something to another person. It imparts something. They leave with something they didn’t have before. They say that The Afra is a place to facilitate sacred communication.”

  Brenda said, “Oh, yes! The things that we are wearing were cheap.”

  Lisa said, “Until Ronny gave them to us.”

  Cherry said, “Before we put them on.”

  Brenda said, “But they communicated something to us.”

  Cherry said, “Hold that thought, we’re almost there.”

  Car turned off onto a dirt road. It didn’t even seem like a road. Or even a trail. There was a little gravel turnout and a track where some grass had been driven over recently. A short way into some tall brush and grass, after making several twisting turns, I saw us approach a rusted gate that looked like it had been long forgotten. The gate swung open on its own as we approached and we drove through a narrow lane with high grass on each side. The gate swung closed behind us. A bit farther along, we came to a dirt road again and Car picked up the pace, finally coming to a stop in a small clearing with a sandy path leading into the trees.

  Car opened the doors and we disembarked.

  Brenda said, “It’s this way. Oh, Ronny, take off your pants!”

  I did as instructed and Lisa took my shorts and tossed them into the car.

  Car said happily, “Have a fun time storming the beach, Kids,” and the four of us walked down the path into the forest.

  Maybe 20 yards in, the path opened onto a beautiful beach. Maybe just 50 yards long. It was a sheltered cove and looked more like the lagoon from Gilligan’s Island than anywhere I’d ever seen. This wasn’t it, of course. Gilligan’s Island was filmed ion Oahu, not Kauai, but it was a close copy.

  Brenda said, “Look familiar? Buttercup said that Robby had it made as a private lagoon. He considered having a little shipwreck, but decided against it.”

  Lisa said, “But there’s a bungalow or something at the far end.”

  Cherry said, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? So alive. So at peace. Brenda, you were about to say something about the value of what we are wearing.”

  Brenda said, “I have been given a beautiful body. I have become a sexual being. I have become a woman. The necklaces make a place where I am part of space. They give my womanhood, my breasts, a place to belong. Ronny gives me that place of life. The one thing that I wish is that I had milk. I would take all of you to my bosom and feed you. I don’t have milk, but I will give you myself. The necklaces bind me to a place of love.”

  Lisa said, “I have a man. A partner in life. A family to share with. And a lasting reason to care. I have a legacy to create beyond the profit and loss of a store. The bracelets were given to me by my man and I wear them as a symbol of my place in our family. My hand set to beauty of being and spirit and wealth and harmony. They bind me to a place of purpose.”

  Cherry said reverently, “My heart is a slave. A servant of my lover. On one ankle I have a token of my heart’s bondage to him, and to his women. On the other, I have a token of how his heart is bound to me as my own slave, servant, and protector. It’s a reminder of the damage that I could do with a single thoughtless act of selfishness and my pledge to never forget. They bind me to a place of oneness and mutual submission.”

  We were silent for a minute.

  I said very quietly, “I’m overwhelmed.”

  Cherry said, “Wait. Car says that Robby and Tom want to meet with you, and then with you and me, and then with all four of us tomorrow for lunch, again. Ronny, he wants to talk to you.”

  I said, “You mean, now? OK, Car, let me talk to Robby.”

  A second later I said, “Robby, what can I do for you?”

  Robby said, “I’d like to send you and Lisa and Charlotte, and Brenda, of course, to New Mexico.”

  I said, “I’d love to.”

  He said, “Great. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

  The rest of the day, we were naked.

  End of Book One

  WE WILL END the first book of Roland Jackson’s adventures here. If you read on, it’s up to you. The story continues in the next volume. I don’t really know what will happen next.

  The world has changed in the past week. Roland came for a vacation by himself. He’ll be leaving for New Mexico with three very lovely girls. Robby has a job for them.

  If you are still reading my story, that was your choice. It was a lot of reading when all that really needed to be said can probably be summed up like this:

  1. Honesty and Intuition empower each other.

  2. Things and people have influence.

  3. Strange attractions can lead to wonderful adventures - if your relationships are supportive of them.

  4. And when you don’t know what else to do, maybe you should go for a walk on the beach or eat the world’s best hot dog on Kauai.

  If you choose to read on, I hope you enjoy it. I’m going to keep writing the story, whether you read it or not.

  END OF BOOK ONE

  About the Author

  MARILYN FOXWORTHY LIVES a peaceful life studying classical mindfulness, practical philosophy, and martial arts. A prolific writer of fantasy and adventure in the style of the twentieth-century pulp writers of the ‘Golden Age’ of fiction, she enjoys what she calls ‘Tom Swift for Adults’. Often blatantly and graphically sensual, her epic stories appeal to the adolescent parts of us that still enjoy a good vicarious adventure liberally sprinkled with interludes of boisterous romping in the hay.

  Ms. Foxworthy describes her writing process this way: “I never know what is going to happen. The characters tell me their stories and I write them down the way I hear them. A character comes to me and sits down for coffee and starts talking. I’m as surprised as anyone by what they tell me. If I like the story, I publish it. If you like the story, you read it.”

  Other Series by The Author

  SERIES BY MARILYN Foxworthy (without giving away too many spoilers):

  * The Nogud Legacy. What if you wake up on a road with no idea who you are? The place seems medieval, but is it the future or the past? The population is low and good men are at a premium. A smart guy like Joshua knows how to make a new life, even if he can’t figure out how he got here or what the rules are at first. And what's with these girls in the hoods and tunics?

  * The Guardian Maidens of Sturgil's Mark. Ronin i
s a novice Adventurer Monk out to kill some monsters and make a name for himself. The elven girls who join him don’t like wearing armor very much but overall, they’re a great team. Monsters beware. We’re coming to kick down doors and take your loot.

  * The Sea Nymphs. Robby is established now and wants to share his good fortune with his older brother Tom. Tom adjusts to Robby’s lifestyle quickly. He has his own way of doing things but he’s Robby’s brother for sure.

  * The Shrine Maidens of Barsoom. The “Red Planet” of John Carter’s stories is real but not quite the way we were told. The Great White Apes are real, and the princesses really are naked, but a lot of the details a hundred years later are different.

  * Lost in Time. Crashed and lost in a land that time forgot, John Raskin and the cave girls he finds there work to carve out a paradise of their own making. What do you do in a society where the numbering system only goes up to three and people are identified by their smell, not their name? No one is coming to rescue him. At least he hopes not. Fur bikinis are pretty rare here, and most of the cave girls go without, the price of animal fur being what it is these days. And that makes rescue sound like more of a threat than the giant crocodiles.

  * Honest Attractions. Courtney saw Dave at the rest stop off the highway. Alone and afraid and hungry and being pursued by thugs, she jumps into his car at the last minute as he’s pulling back onto the road and off into the desert for a vacation. Yeah, she’s desperate, but it’s still love at first sight for both of them. And as long as they are honest with each other, things just might work out. If they get away from Courtney’s past, that is.

  * Eevona Space Command. Jimmy is a guy who gets picked up by a passing space ship. A space ship crewed by beautiful manufactured clones. Female clones. They are considered to be expendable throw-away workers by most of the galaxy, but not as citizens of The Eevona Space Command Galactic Mining Conglomerate. That’s really just Jimmy and a handful of the clones, but they have cool uniforms and a fast ship and it sounds impressive. And they are making a life and a name for themselves along the outer rim.

  * The Girls on The Hill. They aren't really fairies. They're just the girls who work at the particular resort that Robby Jensen enjoys vacationing at. And this time he finds out that most of the female staff have a crush on him. And the robots are terrible scamps. It starts with a drowning girl in the river, and Robby just happens to be there in a canoe to rescue her.

  If you don’t see all of these series in the Amazon store yet, they’re coming soon.

  If you would like to keep in touch, hear about new releases, or anything else, you can find the contact information on the Amazon author page for Marilyn Foxworthy.

  And if you enjoyed the book, please do leave a review on Amazon or GoodReads.com.