The Dark Atoll

by Marilyn Foxworthy

  Ariel shouted, “All of you! Inside now!”

  She and I took a quick look to see if anyone was still out on the beach, but everyone was either already inside or moving in that direction. Some of us tried to stop on the covered porch but Ariel insisted that we all go inside.

  As soon as we were all together, I asked, “Is anyone missing? Quick! Who is missing?”

  All of my girls were there. Unfortunately, we were missing both Scout and one other Nomad.

  Toni had to yell to be heard over the roar of what was about to hit the island.

  She said, “They were at the canoes. I don’t see them! They were right there a minute ago!”

  I said quickly, “Bebe, Toni, and one more of you, grab the sturdiest table we can find!”

  The three chosen women and I rushed to the dining area and looked at the tables there. There were two. One of them had seating for six and a thick wooden top.

  I called out, “Grab it! Get underneath and come with me!”

  With one of us positioned at each corner, we carried the table out onto the porch.

  I climbed underneath and motioned the others to do the same. There was no way to be heard over the noise of the storm. We held the table above our heads as a shield and started walking out into the wind. Half way to where the canoes were beached, the hail hit.

  It hit hard. So hard that we were knocked to the ground. We kind of saw it coming and braced ourselves a bit and were able to duck under the table as we fell but the Nomad called ‘Tweeter’ didn’t get all the way under in time. She cried out in pain as several hailstones the size of large cherries hit her on the back of her right shoulder. Toni checked on her and they assured me that the arm wasn’t broken and that they could continue, if we found a way.

  The hail was truly hellish. The thick wood of the tabletop was protecting us for now, and it looked like it would continue to do so but standing up like we were before wasn’t an option. I was thankful that I had called for the strongest, both physically and emotionally, of the women for this rescue mission. The noise was fierce, and it sounded like our table could be splintered at any moment. If that happened, we’d be dead in a minute. It would be like getting stoned with musket balls. And it made me wonder if our canoes, or even the roof of the house would survive. If Scout and the other girl were in the jungle, we’d be carrying them back, and I wasn’t sure that they would be alive when we did.

  I organized a plan, and moving into the center of the table, as close to each other as possible, we carried the protective covering on our backs, step by step in the direction where the two missing women had last been seen. It wasn’t far, and it didn’t take more than a minute, but it seemed like an eternity.

  When we reached the side of the canoes, all of them covered with branches, I faced the jungle and asked if anyone could see the girls we were here to rescue.

  Toni said, “No! They’ll be here!” and she pointed at the closest canoe.

  I looked and she yelled, “Under the canoe. It’s what you do in a storm. They’ll be here!”

  I yelled, “We can’t lift the canoe to get them out. It’s too awkward. And the hail is holding them down!”

  Tweeter screamed to be heard over the crashing of ice above our heads, saying, “Get close. And dig!”

  We maneuvered the table so that it covered the back end of one of the closest of the canoes and started digging the sand out from under that part. Sure enough, a minute later, we were greeted by the fingers of a hand reaching through the hole that was forming. It took a few more minutes, one of the girls under the canoe pushing sand up and the rest of us moving it out of the way but we quickly had a hole just big enough for one of the women to crawl out under the table with us. Then we pulled Scout free as well.

  The six of us huddled close under our shelter and the two nomads assured us that they were both fine. They had gotten under the canoe a few seconds before the ice began its attempt at crushing them to pulp. We didn’t huddle long.

  I yelled, “Look! The table isn’t going to last. We have to get moving! There’s six of us now. Link arms!”

  We made two rows under the table and linked arms with the person beside us. The table rested on our backs and we lifted with our legs and started to move. It seemed to take even longer to get back on the porch than it had taken to get to the canoes. One end of the porch was already splintered and missing, having been torn apart at a spot where the protective branches and leaves hadn’t been enough to prevent it. I was starting to feel cracks developing in the tabletop by this time as well and hoped that we’d make it the final eight feet to the front door.

  We did make it and as soon as the edge of the table touched the doorway, we all scrambled out and into the house, leaving the damaged dining surface outside on the veranda. Then we checked again on our status.

  As for the rescue party, Bebe, who had been in the rear, had taken a few hits from the hail on her left ankle. Again, it wasn’t broken, and she was still walking on it for now, but it looked to me like she’d be limping soon. Tweeter, of course, had a badly bruised shoulder. And as much as the tabletop had protected us, I was sure that our backs had taken a beating and would be sore by morning.

  Toni checked with one of her lieutenants and told us that everyone, including my girls, were now accounted for.

  Ariel was bedside me suddenly and said calmly, “Shut the door. Come with me.”

  We did close the front door and Ariel held my hand and motioned everyone to follow her. She led us toward the middle of the house, to a closet beside the kitchen, and opened a door. We had a little electrical power from the batteries, and when Ariel flicked the switch, a light came on, illuminating a stairway leading downward.

  She said, “Come on. It’s safe down here,” and we followed her down the stairs.

  At the bottom of the staircase, just a little more than eight feet down, we entered a concrete room, about 25 feet on a side. Along the walls were shelves stacked with various supplies.

  CHAPTER Twenty-Six - Slumber Party Games

  Ariel said, “This is the safe room. The ceiling is thick. I’m sorry, I didn’t know it would come so soon. It came faster than I thought. It’s going to get worse. But listen. See, it’s quiet here. Nice and safe. Allie and Christie, see those blankets? In those zipper bags? Bring them out here.”

  Allie and Christie followed directions and found large storage bags full of blankets and bedding.

  Ariel said, “Everybody take a nice blanket. We are safe here, safer than ever but we are going to be here for a while. Over there is a little bathroom with a sink and a toilet. I hope everyone remembers how to use a toilet. We have running water, so we’ll be fine. The food we gathered is upstairs, but we can go get it when we need it. It’s going to be OK.”

  There was something about Ariel’s voice that made it seem like she was right; that it was all going to be OK. And as Allie and Christie passed out blankets, we seemed to relax. How long had it been since these women had felt a nice piece of cloth? Something to wrap themselves in?

  Ariel said soothingly, “Now, everyone take a blanket and sit down. Find something to lean against. And find someone to snuggle up with.”

  At the words, “snuggle up with”, several of the girls looked startled but quickly relaxed. It seemed like the idea of enough safety to allow snuggling was a bit of a shock but a very welcome surprise if it could really happen. My own family quickly gathered around me and we sat together and pulled some of the blankets around us.

  Ariel said, “Stay close together. It’s scary but we’re fine. Let’s play pretend. Let’s play house. I’ll be the mommy and you are the brave little girls and I’ll tell you a story. Snuggle up with a special sister and squash in with everyone and we’ll pretend.”

  I saw the little groups that were forming move closer to each other as two, three, or four women smiled shyly and pulled blankets close around themselves. I had Ariel crawling in under my right arm and Christie under my left. Allie and Beb
e sat down in front of us and leaned back against our chests warmly.

  It was crazy. This was probably the most comforted that I had ever felt. At least since we started preparing for the cataclysm. Ariel was mesmerizing. Her voice spun a web of safety and warmth over us as she spoke.

  She nuzzled against my arm and said, “See? Snuggle someone. Oh, there you are! Come here!” and she smiled at someone across the room.

  Two girls across from us looked surprised to have been called out but after a brief hesitation, both smiled and stepped over to our pretend mommy. Ariel grinned and pulled aside our blanket and nodded. The girls again looked surprised but quickly dove under the cover and Ariel pulled them into a hug.

  Ariel said, “There. See? How nice? Isn’t that warm? Everybody kiss somebody. Two people at least. We’re all safe and cozy and everybody gets a kiss and we all love each other.”

  Ariel kissed one of the two girls that I didn’t remember having seen before on the mouth and whispered, “Welcome home. We’ll take care of you. You have nice lips.”

  Then Ariel kissed me and said, a little more loudly, “I love you. I’m here for you. Lean on me and I’ll be here from now on. For you and Bebe and Allie and Christie and every little girl in our family.”

  Ariel nodded at me significantly and I took the hint and tilted Allie’s head back toward mine and kissed her, and then said, “Sweetie, I love you. We’re safe now. We’re family.”

  Allie kissed me back and started to cry but then quickly grabbed Bebe and kissed her and said something loving and reassuring along the same lines. Then I took Christie in my arms and did the same. After that, there was murmuring all around the room as the girls all spoke comfort and love to those that had huddled with them. And there were plenty of emotional tears and even a bit of giggling between them.

  When it seemed that the kisses had traveled around the room as far as they needed to, Ariel spoke up again.

  She said, “See? It’s all fine. See how quiet it is here? And how warm. This is a nice slumber party. All my best friends, all here for a sleepover. Hey, don’t tell anyone but there’s a boy here too. We don’t mind. Boys aren’t so bad. We kind of like this one. Even if you don’t want to marry one, because ew yuck but some of us like some boys, and Florin, don’t tell but Florin is really nice. And I know you were peeking at him before, even if you think boys are yucky, I saw you peeking. You were curious, weren’t you? It’s OK. I know, I know, we’ve all seen penises before but wasn’t it kind of different now? Since he isn’t weird and creepy? I think he’s cute, and just because I happen to like boys, well, this one boy but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think that girls aren’t pretty too, right? Stupid boys are ugly but stupid girls are ugly, too. So, nice boys are kind of interesting, and maybe even kind of handsome, even if you’d never want to marry one. I wouldn’t marry Toni but she’s really pretty. Hey, Tweeter, sweetie, how is your shoulder?”

  Tweeter said, “Oh, um, it’s fine.”

  Ariel said, “No, we don’t have to lie here. It hurts, doesn’t it?”

  Tweeter looked suddenly terrified and said, “No! I’m um, it’s fine. I’m good. It’s cool.”

  Ariel smiled sadly and said, “Tweeter, sweetie, you’re safe. You can tell us. We won’t hurt you.”

  Tweeter grabbed her shoulder and started bawling and said, “It hurts! It feels like it’s broken! It hurts so bad. I feel sick to my stomach!”

  Ariel stood up and crossed the room to where Tweeter sat on the ground rocking herself in pain.

  Ariel said, “I know. It hurts bad. Here, let me see it.”

  Tweeter cried out, “No, I’m fine. It just hurt for a minute. It’s better now.”

  Ariel crouched down beside the injured girl and put her hands on Tweeter’s body, one on her shoulder and one on her chest above her breasts. She leaned against the now terrified girl and pressed hard against the muscles of the woman’s neck above her injury. Then she stretched the injured arm above the girl’s head and popped it upward with a quick movement. Lowering the arm again, she stroked the girl’s chest and cradled her head for a few minutes.

  After maybe three minutes, Ariel said, “See, you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you. You are going to be as good as new very soon. If you can’t go with your canoe, you can stay here.”

  Toni said, “No. Tweeter, you’re safe. We won’t ever hurt you. You are going to be as good as ever soon. And listen. Even if you aren’t, we are going to take care of you. Ariel is right. From now on, we take care of our sisters. From now on, I don’t care if you have a broken leg, we take care of each other. You break a bone; we figure out how to set it and make a splint. You get sick, we stay with you until you get better. Tweeter come here. You’re family,” and she gathered the scared, injured girl into her arms and comforted her.

  Ariel said, “See? Everyone is safe. And, believe it or not, we’re all friends. And you girls who hate yucky boys need to get over it. Well, you can hate yucky boys, I guess we all hate yucky boys, but Florin is a nice boy and we don’t hate him. He’s a really good brother and won’t it be fun to take care of him and tease him and even let him play? He didn’t hurt anyone. Well, he hurt the bad men, but he doesn’t hurt girls. Look how he led the rescue of Scout and Gigi? Nobody made him do that. And he didn’t demand anything for doing it. He did it because he could. He likes you and he won’t hurt any of us.”

  Someone coughed and said, “Um, but, well, he did that thing to Bebe.”

  I couldn’t see who said, it. I think that they hid behind a blanket, not wanting to be called out for questioning Ariel.

  Bebe laughed and said quickly, “No, no, no, no. You guys, I just did that because, well because…” and she went silent.

  Toni said, “Bebe did that because she was afraid of us. I saw what was going on. Florin is a good man. Bebe pretended that he magically mind-mushed her to get away from us.”

  Turning to Bebe, Toni said, “Bebe, I’m sorry.”

  The girl that I assume made the accusation in the first place said, “Maybe she just thinks that. Maybe he made her think that.”

  Bebe smiled and said, “Why would he do that? He had no reason to do that. What did he gain from it?”

  The girl said, “I don’t know. So why did he do it?”

  I said quietly, “Because Bebe asked me to.”

  Bebe said, “Yeah. See? I’m the only one who gained from it. I’m sorry you guys, I care about all of you, but the world was changing, and I wanted to change, too. I wanted a way to change tribes. I kind of like feel like I’m in love, and no, he didn’t make me. I was with you guys for a long time because it was safest for us but see how things have changed? I love him. So, I asked him to pretend that he made me belong to him. That’s what we understood. We understood forcing each other to belong to us. So, I played a game that everyone would understand. But we can be honest now, right? Just like Tweeter? I was afraid to tell you the truth. That I wanted to go with him and his tribe. So, I made it look like it wasn’t my fault.”

  The other girl started to say something, but Toni cut her off and said, “Don’t you see? Don’t you see how it’s been? Tweeter was hurt but she couldn’t tell us because we would hurt her more. Bebe was hurt too. And she thought that she’d be better if she was with Florin. She realized that she liked him. A boy. She liked a boy. She wanted to kiss a boy. To be hugged by a boy. Like Allie and Christie and Ariel. But not breeders. Family. They’re a family. And we’ve been stupid and mean. Damn it! Zena, until a few days ago, we were mean girls! The bitches of the beach! All in our cliques, all in our canoes. Did we have any friends? Real friends? Even our lovers? Did we love them? I don’t think we did. But you know what? Today I do. When I thought that we might lose Scout and Gigi, I was scared shit-less. Why? Because I love them. And Tweeter, I love you. Like Ariel said, I love you. And, I don’t care if you like it or not, I love Florin. He is my brother now. Yeah. That’s right. He’s my brother and that makes him family, and nobody messes wit
h family. I hate to be bossy but damn it, things have to change!”

  Zena said quietly, “Um, Toni, I was just asking. I just didn’t know what was what. I just didn’t know. I don’t want to fight. I’m just scared. It’s like we just got here, you know?”

  Toni softened and said, “Yeah. Um, Sorry. I’m scared too.”

  Zena asked, “So, are we good? I really was just asking.”

  Toni said, “Yeah, I’m sorry. I just got mad because, well, because I’m ashamed. I can’t forget what we’ve done. Or what was done to us. Sorry.”

  Ariel climbed back under the blanket beside me and said, “See? We’re all fine. No fights. Girls fight sometimes but this is a slumber party. And we don’t have pillows to fight with, so no fights. But we have plenty of games.”

  One of the two girls beside Ariel perked up and said, “Games? What kind of games?”

  Ariel said, “Well, slumber party games.”

  Most of the women looked confused and stared at Ariel.

  Ariel said, “OK, since we’re being honest and stuff, I admit that I don’t know. I think I saw a really old movie once and it had this scene where a bunch of girls had what they called a slumber party. They went to one girl’s house and all put on pajamas and mostly talked and laughed and giggled about how dreamy boys were or something. I hoped no one would ask any questions that I couldn’t make up an answer for.”

  One of the Nomads, a girl called Carrie, said, “Um, I know what a slumber party is.”

  Ariel smiled and nodded, and the girl said, “Yeah, I was even at one once. I had this cousin in a really rural part of the country, and we went to visit, and she had her friends over. Um, the slumber party games weren’t as fun as the boy-girl party games though. Um, and those could work with all girls too, but we have one boy, so, well, they were kind of childish and mostly involved kissing and embarrassing each other.”