Deserted Island Sayori

It was so peaceful, drifting along the undercurrent. My light, frail body floated and swayed from the back and forth of the waves. My face poked through the surface, baking under the heatlamp in the sky. With my ears filled with the salty brine, I could hear nothing save for the echo within my own mind. And there was nothing to be heard. It was magical. A blessing from God.

The past few days, it was like a woodpecker lived in my brain. It kept pecking, its relentless hammering a testament to its desire to escape. I couldn't take it any longer. And so the bird found a gap in my mouth, and rode my final breath into the morning light. Me, bidding him goodbye with a kiss. Now, I'm here. Aside from a few details, I can't remember much about my past. The memories are fuzzy. But I don't care. I feel free, more free then I ever have in my life. I could stay like this forever. And then some of the seawater waded its way into my nose.

I start flailing about, a knee-jerk reaction, destroying the delicate balancing act of floating in the water. My head plunges down and my face loses the warmth of the sun, replaced by the chilliness of the depths. I try to hold my breath but I barely had any saved before I started acting like a dummy. With a bout of strength one only seizes in the face of death, I swim upwards and my head breaks the surface. I gasp for breath, and wildly spin around looking for land, and I spot an island a click away. I pray the adrenaline will last.

After an eternity, I grip the soft, wet mixture of the coast's sand and climb out of the water and onto the beach. With no energy in my arms, I roll slightly to one side, and then a full roll around to get myself lying on my back. Well, that's that. As much as I managed to survive the torrents of the sea, I now laid here hungry and thirsty, and too tired to change that. I guess I'm going to die a second time, I thought as my vision blurred underneath the shining sun.

When I came to, the sun was gone, replaced by its nightly best friend. I was lying down in the same spot as when I fainted, except I had found a light blanket placed on top of me. I could feel the warmth of a bonfire, its cackle calming and dulling my worry for danger. I tried to get up but my unbelievably sore body refused to do so. I grunted, tried fighting it with all my might.

"Hey easy, easy!" A voice behind me said. I heard the swish of sand coming closer, and I saw a man crouch down beside me. He propped me up, and brought a cup of water to my mouth, which I drank gingerly. As I drank I took a better look at the man and was astonished at how different he looked compared to the people I'm used to. Maybe he was from another country? I drank the whole cup, and with a quick gasp, I asked who the man was. He takes a moment to consider the simple question.

"I guess you can call me...Anon."

My eyebrows scrunch up. "I've heard that name before. I know...or at least I knew, someone who had that name."

"Is that so?" Anon said, not looking too surprised. "Where I come from, it's a common name."

"And where is that?" I say, curiosity itching my brain.

With a pause and a tut he replies, "It's been so long that I fear that the name that I know it as wouldn't be what the townsfolk nowadays call it. So long that, truth be told, I've forgotten the name." He begins to laugh from the belly.

I hum in response, unable to muster a real response. The man's mysterious disposition and very friendly laugh put me in edge. But he saved my life, right? I should place some trust in him.

"And now, fair lady, is there any chance I can know your name?"

"Sayori."

"Now that's a name I've never heard of. Quite exotic!"

Underneath my blanket, I twiddle my thumbs in reaction. "Ehe, well not everyone is named Sayori, but I wouldn't call it special."

"Nonsense. Now, let's see if we can get you standing up at least. You must have had quite a journey, to have fainted in the middle of the beach. You looked so pale that I was afraid to even move you." He said as he helped me up to get me seated.

"Mhm. I never swam so much in my life! I'm glad I took lessons as a kid, ehehe."

"Hahaha! Talk about luck! Now, you must be very tired. Do you think you can get up and walk to my hut?"

He lets go of my back and I instantly collapse back to the ground, my muscles offering no resistance at all.

"I guess not! Bwahahaha! Well, no worries. I'll be back with some food. Sit tight, Sayori!" He jumps up and sprints away.

"Ah-wait!" I reach my hand out in a vain attempt to grab his attention, but he's already gone with the wind. I wasn't sure why I called out, maybe it was because I didn't want to be alone. All I could do was wait here, unfortunately.

The island was silent, save for the sound of the waves crashing along the beach. What was once unsettling, became what I was used to as time passed. The first day on the island was spent lying down, slowly recovering from my swim for survival. Anon would, without fail, come back and help me eat, drink, stretch and strengthen my muscles and by the time the sun set I was up on my feet. He showed me the way to his hut, and what I saw put me in awe.

The hut was mostly made out of mud, wood, and shaped like a dome. But it was huge! We went inside and he showed me around the first floor, furnished with a few drawers and two rocking chairs. I was amazed at the fact that he had furniture, but he explained that materials and other fantastical items often came across shore daily.

"It's as if this is the island of garbage disposal! Hahaha!"

We climbed up a rope to the second floor, finding just a bed. He told me I could sleep here tonight. "But where will you sleep?" I asked.

"Don't worry. I got a sleeping bag to rest outside, and I'm more then used to doing that!" He said grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Well, as long as he was okay with it. I couldn't turn down such a comfy looking bed, after what I'd been through.

We headed back outside and he showed me his tiny farm. Rows of tomatoes, onions and carrots that all looked too good to be true. Chickens were grazing in a pen, and a cow laying on her belly, already resting for tomorrow. Anon told me he would show me how to tend to all the animals, and the plants. I was so excited, it looked all so fun! Much more fun looking than being cooped up in a school desk all day. Anyways, it was getting late at that point and Anon tucked me in. He bid me good night, and I told him to sleep tight. I wrapped the covers closer to myself with a smile and I slept comfortably, and soundly.

Anon spent the next few days guiding me around the rather tiny island, a tropical jungle filled with critters and beasts. He said nothing would harm me, as long as you knew how to walk in the jungle. He said it was like walking down the bad part of town so I puffed my chest out and applied a swagger to my walk. He looked behind me and had to stop so he could hold his stomach as he laughed. What a meanie! He should have used a better example if he wanted to be understood! He explained to just look tall and not to worry because he knew the dangers here inside and out.

"You must have lived here a long while then, huh Anon?"

"Ohh yeah, as long as I can remember." He said, scouting ahead through the leaves of a bush

"Did you live here alone all this time? It'd be terrible if you did."

"Thankfully that's not the case, people come and go. But they have places to be, and if they have to leave, they have to leave, haha."

I wanted to know what he meant but he brought his hand to his lips. He nodded ahead of us and in the clearing was a white rabbit nibbling on something on the ground. Anon pulled an arrow from his quiver and readied his bow, and himself. Oh no! I closed my eyes and but wasn't quick enough to cover my ears and I heard a tiny squeal - the sound of lunch.

"I haven't figured it out yet, but my theory is this place is a layover of sorts." He said as he took another bite out of the grilled meat. "Things just drift onto the shore's island - furniture, documents, records, people-" He said, pointing his stick of rabbit at me. The smoke of the campfire was rising high and vanishing into the night sky.

"So there's more people here?" I ask, whipping my head around because I think they're going to jump out of the bushes and yell "Surprise!"

"Hahaha, no, they're...gone." He said, looking downcast.

"Gone?"

"Yeah. They stay for a while but there would always be a morning where I'd check in on them and the bed would just be empty..."

My eyes widen. "So..were they taken? Abducted?"

"I don't know...but it would be like any trace of them ever being here would be erased. And it happens to objects too. Hahaha, there was a time when I went to sleep and woke up on the floor, realizing the bed vanished over night."

I turned and looked back at the hut, thinking it would vanish as I stared at it. "Wait. If so many things and people disappeared, why have you been untouched for such a long time?"

He doesn't answer, as he gets up and slowly walks towards the shore in bewilderment. I look to where he's looking and I'm only stunned for a second before I race to the shimmering waves. We both crouch down beside the lifeless body, and flip her so her face faces the sun. I gasp and cover my mouth as Anon checks her for signs of breathing. That light, frail body. The pale complexion. That short, blond-ish hair.

I was looking down in a mirror - I was looking at a spitting image of myself.