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SWALE LIFE > FICTION
The Island
A short story by
Briony Jones
Incandescent light filled the dark sky as it revived my
dwindling hope of being found. In my hand was my last
distress flare, I knew no one would be near enough to see
it, as my other failed attempts had taught me, but somehow
the warm yellowish crimson blaze still gave me a feeling of
promise and strange optimism. The vibrant light began to
flicker out, but my feeling of positivity needed to stay
alight .Miles of frenzied sea stretched ahead of me, yet
sitting in the now dishevelled boat with the familiar mast
and sails made me almost feel as if I was at home. I must
have been sitting there in the bitterly icy conditions for
hours, desperately clutching the insides of my sleeves for
warmth; I found my mind wandering in and out of
consciousness. The boat lurched forward; prompting my eyes
into focus, the obscure glare affecting my vision faded, and
visible in front of me was land!
Elated, I
staggered hastily onto the ground ahead of me, I scoured my
surroundings. The most exultant, uplifting feeling brimmed
inside of me, if there was land, there must be someone
around I could get help from. Beaming inside and out I
continued to investigate the land.
Vacillating
back and forth I had to come to terms with the grim
realisation that this land was nothing more than a gloomy,
desolate island. Finding myself back at the original spot I
arrived at I looked on at the ketch in front of me almost in
awe. As comforting as looking at the boat that I had had so
many solacing memories was, the sailing boat was falling
apart and certainly no use to me now. I needed to desert it
and forage for food. A single salty droplet trickled down
the side of my cheek as I walked away from the one thing
that linked me back to my home.
Lurking at
the back of my mind was a terrifying thought. I desperately
willed it to go away, but it failed to, and deep within my
pit of my stomach I knew it was true. I was stranded here.
I slowly
moved my painfully frail head upwards towards the sky; it
appeared to be a depressingly monotonous shade of dark grey.
Splattered across it were dark aggressive streaks as if a
mad man had spread them with a paint brush on to a canvas in
a fit of anger. Murky clouds seemed to loom over the island
like a villainous character in a horror movie. At that
moment the sky was filled with white light, just for a
second, and with it came a penetrating, high pitched sound.
The sound began to echo all over the island, over, and over
until every single morsel on the island had been inflicted
with the chilling sound. It was the start of a vicious
storm. I felt the sand on the soles of my aching feet; the
sand was uncomfortably damp and clammy in texture. Looking
down I saw how filthy and dull the sand appeared, it lacked
any richness or beauty, like on tropical islands i had seen
in holiday brochures. It was just bland.
Something
was bustling in the distance; I squinted to see a small
rabbit scramble across the land. I began to stumble towards
it as briskly as I could, my breath quickly became violent
and uneven ,but I forced myself to keep going as I needed to
catch this animal I had to eat. My eyes stayed firmly
focused on the creature and the angry growling of my
anguished stomach fuelled my desire to carry on. The strange
cloudy blur in front of my eyes returned. I felt a sharp
sensation in my foot and before I knew it I had tripped and
was face down on the ground. Opening my eyes i noticed an
impact on the sand, it was a clearly defined foot print,
bizarrely I was sure I hadn’t walked over this part of the
island before. I stood up to see that the rabbit was close,
I made one urgent step towards it but it briskly went out of
view.
Succumbing
to the dizziness and faint mistiness I collapsed to the
ground once more and gave up on my hope of nourishment. A
distinctive aroma lingered around my nose. It was the
unpleasant smell of sea salt. I breathed a much needed gasp
of air but with it came a brackish taste. Intimidating
towering above me were lanky hostile trees. A chilling
shiver began to run down right my spine. Icy rain droplets
began to fall on my fragile skin.
Why was
this happening to me? Why was I stuck here?
The sky was
pitch black now, as if someone had thrown a dark blanket
over the island. As I gazed upwards I felt the energy being
slowly drained out of my body, everything was blurry...
vague...the storm was getting
worse...hazy...distorted...Before I was aware of it I was
drawn into a restless sleep...
A whispery
voice called my name.
The end.
Short story
"The
Shoes that Took Her Away" by Mary-Laine Friday
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Contributors
Mary-Laine Friday
Briony Jones
Nnorom Azuonye
Hannah Edeki
Sharon Williams
Christine Locke
Jennie Wakuche
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