It was strange, it’s as though I felt it. That morning, I awoke softly, as though I had never been asleep, no need to wipe sleep from my eyes or even stretch. I arose and looked up out of my hut to the morning sky, colorful, stretching from blue, to brown, to red, for the first time, I saw what looked like a shooting star.
The difference, is that this did not streak across the sky and dissipate, but instead made direct connection towards the ground far off to the East.
That was a person! Someone joining me!
I leapt from the hut and grabbed my spear, sheathed the axe along a belt I had fashioned, and dashed down the beach in its general direction. It seemed to land South-East enough that I would hopefully locate it by straddling the beach. The trees and forest had proved to reveal the most dangerous sort of creatures.
The gator I had slain which killed Lyssa proved very useful. Not only was there a lot of meat to cook, but its hide provided ample stretches of skin to form into rough pants that were closer to capris. The shirt I fashioned probably resembled more like armor, stretched across me in panels.
The gator-skin outfit also seemed to slide through the water better than cotton or cloth would, not weighing me down as I swam quickly directly across the treacherous waters. The sting-rays left me alone and I hadn’t seen a piranha on this side yet.
I emerged on the beach and sprinted. There was no telling the frame of mind the person would be in as they came to, nor the danger they would spawn around.
I passed the odd chickens along the way, the massive tortoises, downed trees and seagulls who look like they might dive at me.
A good 5 minutes into my run, I was winded. I stopped to catch my breath, keeping my eyes out along the tree-line all the while. And I realized the landscape was changing. In the direction I was headed, large boulders, rocks, jagged and piercing into the sky, dotted the beach which would begin to stretch out before me in a long strip, water on either side, an even larger rocky structure protruding up wide in the distance, slightly obscured by the morning fog.
I proceeded along my route to where I imagined the star or meteor would have landed. My first instinct that it was a person being transported was hopeful, and I realized as I moved along, alone, that it was doubtful at best.
The large stone structure in the back had come into view and it was not simply a stone, but it also could not have been man-made; it was a number of long flat stones, some in a long vertical pillar, jutting into the sky, some on their side or slightly askew, others lying high in the air, flat between two of the large jagged stones. The center laid bare, sand and sunlight strewn through the gap between the rocks. It reminded me of a sundial in ways and I looked for deeper meaning while I stood there examining it…
Coincidence.
Off in the distance, where the beach ended, between two large boulders, I heard a cough. Distinct and not like any of the animals I’d heard; human.
Invigorated, I left the faux sundial and came out to the beach between the rocks, looking around.
Only beach to my right, and to my left, a woman, sitting on the beach, as naked as I had been with under-garments made of the same material I had come-to in. He hair was blonde it seemed, as it was cut very short. She sat huddled, her knees close to her chest, looking out at the water. I caught a better glimpse of her profile as she rotated her gaze slightly to her right.
Esther…
Seeing me in her peripheral, her eyes caught mine and she got to her feet very fast. My heart swelled and we only stood, frozen in disbelief for a moment.
“Esther,” was all I uttered.
“Asher?” she muttered and as it escaped her lips, her knees began to give and I rushed forward to meet her. She had fainted. I chortled as I drew close to her side, it was adorable, really.
You silver-tongued Devil, you. I thought to myself and smiled.
I sat next to her and fanned her face, letting myself be mesmerized by her delicate features as I waited for her to regain consciousness.
She awoke a moment later and looked up at me, first confused and weak, then strong and with a smile.
“Asher,” she said, soft and sweet.
I kissed her deep and crude, for I had not shaven in 40 days.
“Come, let’s get home. It’s not safe here,” saying as I helped her to her feet.
“What do you mean, home? Where are we?” she questioned.
“We can talk about it all when we’re safe. I have quite the tale for you,” I fed her as I moved back along the beach, leading her to safety. The swelling feeling in my heart had not diluted in the slightest, I was no longer alone, and the one person I longed to have at my side, was here. Her safety, paramount.
Explorer's Wrotes 