The last thing I could recall before everything that happened on the Ark, was her hair, the smell of it, the feel of it against my face, and whether I’d feel or smell it again, I’d never know.
With a rush of hot air, abrasive and cooling all at once, blinding light shot through my eyelids, so bright I thought perhaps my eyes had never been used before. Then I felt it, the sea air, mist upon my face, and it was sand, abrasive and itchy, it was in my hair as I lifted my head. My hands dug in as I lifted myself to a sitting position. I scratched the sand from my head, crunching across my scalp through my now wetted and matted hair.
And then the sting of it, itching like the sand, a grey-blue metal shard, diamond shaped like the playing cards, embedded in my skin. No, not on my skin, an implant, buried into my arm. My mind raced, I imagined pain beyond belief and a surgery without my consent. I pictured old dirty scalpels, rusted blades, rotting flesh, and dirt and grime beneath the implant, gnawing away at me from the inside. I felt as though I couldn’t breathe. My panic evened a bit as I set myself to find a solution; I would dig it out, but I would need a tool, bandages for the wound after, antiseptic, antibiotics–
My surroundings hit me like a brick, why the sand and sea air hadn’t occurred to me, I know not, only that paradise lay before me; palm trees, sand, crystal clear waters, the sound of waves, the sprinkle of mist keeping you cool in the hot sun, even the sound of what looked to be seagulls not far off. Marvelous…
I realized the pain in my arm had been imagined. Yes, I could feel the implant, but it wasn’t a feeling of pain, just that it was there, moving with my skin and arm as I moved. This set my fears to rest for the time being, as along with re-examining the implant and realizing there was no pain, I had also checked my persons, and was rather naked. Down to just a pair of briefs that themselves were not even my own or honestly anything I myself would have ever acquired. Thick and a little rough, heavy as if from potato cloth, though not scratchy.
Someone else must be here… And Esther!? Where is my beloved Esther?!
It was time to find some answers, if not some help and maybe some clothes, although had he spent a day at the beach of his own accord, his attire might’ve resembled pretty much what he wore at that moment.
The shore I stood on stretched before me as a peninsula, with the water I had woke to, now at my back. I worked my way up the beach to find the place teaming with wildlife I had never seen. A rather large and slow lizard looking creature was crawling around up the beach to my right.
What I believed (at the time) to be a dense forest, canopied between birch trees and palm trees, stood before me.
Slightly startled, I heard the squaky caw of a pelican just in front of me flying out of the trees. Far too late, as I stood like an imbecile in marvel at it, the pelican swoops out of the sky and headbutts me hard in the shoulder.
I only barely lost my balance from the hit, but I felt as though my shoulder were going to bruise immediately. Surprised, I look up over my shoulder, feeling apologetic to have startled it in such a manner that it felt the need to charge me.
“I’m sorry!” I began muttering to the bird, when I saw that it had circled around with some purpose.
I believe its about to attack me again!
I realized for the first time, that I was in some relative danger here. It’s caw caught me off guard again as it sounded off with a dive. I ducked just in time for it to zoom over my head, and it immediately circled again.
I set myself to a nice run towards the trees from which it emerged. I needed to find something to defend myself, though every stick on the ground was far too small, and I came against a boulder and turned my back to it. The seagull was upon me and it dove. I dashed to the side and let it slam into the stone beside me. The largest stick I had seen thus far lay at my feet and I picked it up and swung, but missed as the bird began to rise again to circle around,
Why are you so aggressive?
A short radius around me in the air and it dove for me yet another time. This time, I ducked and tried to grab at it. I had caught its legs and it panicked, first trying to flap away from me, and then rebounding right into my face, knocking me flat on my back and forcing me to release it. My nose was pounding with pain.
I began to get angry.
Again it dove for me and I stepped aside again, this time grabbing for its neck. My hands gripped firm, I rushed it forward to the rock, slamming its head and then body into the boulder at my side.
It struggled, pecking at me with great gasps, then, upon the second slam forward into the boulder, it went limp. My body was surging with a bit of adrenaline in my testosterone induced fight instinct so much so that I forgot about my nose until a few moments later when my heart rate returned to normal.
I examined the bird and then looked around, no other animals could be seen, but I began to notice other noises, from animals I certainly hadn’t heard before. I continued along through the trees and felt thirsty, so headed to the beach. The shade of the tress had kept me cool, for I began to sweat the instant I stepped back out to the sand.
As I reached the water, I hesitated… Is this saltwater? Will I remain thirsty?
The shore had no foam, but the water was so clear and cold on my feet, blue and refreshing looking. I knelt down and took a drink; cold and clear, no salination. It was a great relief to know that I wouldn’t dehydrate at the least.
My heart-rate picked up as I caught a glance of something from the corner of my eye, and fascination and fear swelled within me all at once, my eyes failing me, a Triceratops, a dinosaur, long thought extinct, walked the beach in my general direction. Panic, again, swelled, though only for a moment as I realized it was not hostile. I relaxed and looked around as if to ask companions who were not there, “Are you seeing this?”
Majestic, the triceratops thundered towards me one small, slow step at a time. It stopped at a small bush, where it opened its beak-like jowls and chomped it away, pulling it out of the sand, root and all, and with every mastication, the plant grew less and less visible.
Cautiously, I stalked over to it, getting closer all the time, careful not to pose a threat. It continued to chew and I noticed that where the bush once stood, a few berries from it had dropped to the ground, blue and bubbly from where I stood and I realized that I would indeed need food.
As I examine the berries on the ground at its feet from afar, it glanced up at me and I tensed up, but its body language did not change, it continued to chew and then looked away as it slowly turned from me and headed the opposite direction back down the beach. I looked back to the treeline next to a downed tree and spotted more bushes.
Upon closer examination, each bush contained a plethora of berries, each bush in various stages of growth, berries of different colors and sizes; red, yellow, blue, black, white, and purple. I picked a few of the blue berries, as they looked most appetizing at the time and resemble raspberries to me but with different coloring. I was delighted to find that these at least were not as heavily seeded as raspberries, but also fleshier more like a grape in each little pustule of fruit.
I then pulled a black berry from a bush a bit further back and rolled it between my fingers and it was juicy and soft the way I imagined. It reminded me of a blueberry. As I examined the berry, slightly juicing onto my fingers, something arose from the bushes in front of me, obscured by shadow. My focus shifted to it as it took a step towards me…
A dinosaur I was not familiar with stood before me, and as it emerged from the shadows I thought, “a small raptor?” It’s wildly colored pink spikey back and green chest flared at me as it let out a strange hiss, a shuddering, high pitched croaky caw with vibrato, and it charged. I stumbled backwards, my adrenaline kicking in, flight instinct gripping me as my legs sped out of control back onto the beach.
To my feet and running, I looked back and it had stopped; a cowl of reptilian skin unfolded out from its neck, wildly colored and shaking rapldly, distracting. I tripped as I ran, a stone had rolled as my foot landed on it.
A droplet of green goo slopped at my feet as the majority of it shot overhead. My eyes followed nad it slacked against the side of the triceratops.
The triceratops let out a fearsome and pain-stricken deep howl of alarm as the apparent acid or venom, began to burn its side. It’s body language changed dramatically, where before it almost shambled about, it was now most certainly charging. On my hands and knees I scrambled out of the way as it rounded me and went towards the venomous dino which had attacked us. The offending dino was still looking at me when it was impaled and then trampled by the triceratops, quite unexpectedly.
After the dinosaur lay motionless, the triceratops calmed, but still dragged the body around on the ground, searching for life, nuzzling it in the sand to and fro with its nose and front feet. When it was satisfied that it would not harm again, the triceratops walked away, still groaning every few moments.
Maybe I should stay close to you, I am grateful for your presence.
The triceratops had saved me…
My first night was a very cold one, berries and water, the only thing in my stomach. I would need to, if not find shelter, than construct it myself. And the first day’s rather close call would have me staying close to the beach where my Trike friend resides. Fear was my companion now, for the first time.. Real fear…
And it began to finally sink in to me, that this was a pure survival situation, and I was not safe on this island.
Explorer's Wrotes 