On a Island: Part One

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?" I asked Shamus, the blue Jetsam captain of the ship I was going on. My name is Bloom, and I'm a speckled Aisha.

      Shamus chuckled and patted me on the head like I was a spardel and told me in a deep voice, "Little lady, I am fully sure you will enjoy your time on the S.S. Peaceful. This ship has been in my family for generations. I trust that you can get from the lovely coast of Altador to Krawk Island to see your cousins in no time. It'll be a fun trip! Climb aboard!"

      I really was nervous about this. I never left the coast of Altador as long as I lived. My uncle sent me a letter asking me to come visit him and my twelve other cousins far, far away in Krawk Island. I had no choice but to go. I lived all alone on the coast. Everyone went home after the leaves on the trees by the Hall of Heroes turned a deep orange like the colors of Altador, the wind chilled to the point where water neopets froze, and the schools reopened everywhere. I had no one to talk to, nowhere to go. I grimly accepted the invite and send a letter to my old friend Shamus asking him to get me to Krawk Island. I packed a suitcase filed with clothing, and such, and dressed up in my best clothing, a long, silky pink dress from a shop in Altador, a long pink hat with a flower near the brim, and a small golden pin I got from the Altador cup a long time ago. I looked behind me and took one long look at Altador's rocky coast. I then turned my head away and climbed aboard the ship.

      The SS Peaceful really needed a good repair. The sails looked as if they never were fixed properly. The wooden boards on the ship creaked and moaned like a hungry kadoatie every step you'd make. The crew was Shamus's entire extended family, Jetsams of every shape and size were everywhere on the ship. I was the only passenger. I looked longingly at Altador, slowly disappearing from view, wishing I could've stayed behind, no matter what the weather was. I felt something brush past my foot. I turned around and saw a young schnelly, tugging at my pink dress like it was a toy. I smiled a little, and patted it on the head. "I see you've met Shelly. She's supposed to be downstairs, being a babysitter to the little Jetsams. She must've left while they had their naps," Shamus whispered, picking up the little schnelly. He walked downstairs with Shelly. I had an extremely confused look after he left. Who ever heard of an schnelly that babysat? I may run into something like that in Krawk Island, I thought.

      That night, my whole life changed completely. It was the middle of the night on the ship. Shamus was still awake, piloting the boat. He must've drank loads of coffee to keep awake. I was in the guest room of the ship, wide-awake. I couldn't sleep at all. I was still in my pink dress. I gave my pink hat and golden pin to one of the younger Jetsams that was using it to play dress up with her other siblings. I wondered what it would be like in Krawk Island. According to the letter my uncle sent me, the whole place was filled with adventure and excitement. I really was worried about all of that. I attempted to sleep again.

      Five minutes later, I heard Shamus shouting, "All passengers and crew on the main deck! This is an emergency! Everybody up now! This is not a drill!"

      I bolted out of the bed, and dashed up the stairs. All of the family was on deck. Shamus was frantically pointing at the sea. "We've run into a mass of sharp rocks. The bottom of the ship has a major hole. We're going to have to evacuate," Shamus babbled frantically. He fell over and fainted, filled with major shock. His prized ship had been destroyed. Shamus's cousins picked him up and placed him on a lifeboat.

      Shamus's mother shouted, "Everyone, calm down. We can all swim except the guest of his. Get another lifeboat quickly." I suddenly remembered something. What about Shelly? I dashed back below deck. The water was over my feet. The young schnelly was curled up on a hammock, snoozing away. I scooped it up and dashed back up the steps. The whole boat was deserted. The lifeboat reserved for me was next to the ship. I heard a cracking noise. The ship was breaking apart! I looked at the lifeboat, secured Shelly in my arms and jumped towards the lifeboat.

      I woke up with a cold breeze slapping my face. I opened my eyes slightly. I was no longer on a ship, but in the middle of the sea. I didn't see any land nearby. Shelly was on the floor of the wooden lifeboat, snoozing. I realized I was sitting on a cabinet. I opened it. Inside was a week's worth of food, eight bottles of water, and six life jackets, one extra large, one large, one medium, and three petpet/baby sized. I slipped the medium one on, and zipped the smallest one on Shelly. I pulled one bottle of water out and drank from it. The sun was very mild, so no heat problems.

      I sat on the boat, waiting for some sailor to pop up in a boat, willing to take an Aisha and schnelly to Krawk Island. It was probably midday, judging by the position of the sun. So far, all I've seen was Shelly, playing with a loose thread on my dress. It really needed a good repair. It was still soaking; it had tears on the bottom from Shelly. I looked around for a while, and then saw something in the distance. Could it be an island? Or maybe a boat? I paddled towards it. It began to grow, and grow with every paddle I took. It was a tall palm tree, on a sandy coast. I paddled faster. Maybe that could be Mystery Island, I thought, grinning. Shelly sat up, and climbed on my head, batting at my ears. She was meowing loudly. CRASH! We landed on the island.

      I got up, took both of our life jackets off and dumped them on the beach, and secured the boat as best as I could on the shore. I walked on the shore. Even though it's autumn in most of Neopia, this place felt like it's summer and spring all year. I felt warm breezes all around me. The sugar white sand on the beach felt like pillows on my tired feet. The six leafy palm trees were tall and relaxing, like it directly came from a Mystery Island postcard. There were a few bushes covering a large hole. I climbed down it for a second. It looked as if millions of symols dug in this hole for centuries. It was big enough to live in. The floor was the same sugar white sand as the outside, and it was as big as the guest room on the SS Peaceful, which was rather large. I climbed out of it. The bushes covered the hole well. Shelly was stretching on the sand. The island was very small; you can walk circles around it. I gathered the supplies on the boat and placed them on the shore. I sat down on the shore, with Shelly lying down on the beach with me. If I really wasn't stranded on this island, I would've lived here, no questions asked.

      Suddenly, I heard a creaking noise. I opened my eyes and saw the boat was floating away! "NO! NO!" I screamed. Shelly sat up, and leaped along side me. I ran into the water, and tried to swim towards the boat, but it was too late. I slumped my shoulders, and trudged sadly back to the island. Suddenly, reality changed for me. I gulped. Shelly gave me a sad look and trotted towards me slowly and sadly.

      Night was slowly falling. I scooped Shelly up in my arms and slid past the bushes and into the hole. I pulled out a thermos of soup. I handed a small bit to Shelly, and a small bit for me. I closed the lid on the thermos, and placed it on one edge of the temporary shelter.

      I lay down on the sand. It wasn't really gritty or hard on my back; it was similar to lying on pillows. When it became dark out, so did the inside of this hole. It was pitch black inside. Shelly was snoring loudly. She already was asleep. I closed my eyes slowly and fell asleep. I kept on thinking one thought. When I woke up, I heard Shelly meowing. I got up. The hole was filled with bright light. I turned towards the opening of the hole, where Shelly was trying to jump up to the opening. I scooped her up, and then climbed up the hole. Shelly was going crazy, meowing even louder. Then I saw what she meant..

      I looked on the shore, and saw a soggy wooden crate. It had holes for breathing on one side. It moved every five seconds, and made some strange noises. I quickly placed Shelly on the ground and dashed towards the box. It was hard to open, like those toy boxes. I dashed over to one of the palm trees, pulled out a hard piece of bark, wedged it in a small gap in the box, and pried the box open, with Shelly close by my side. There was two petpets inside, who looked like they haven't had a proper grooming or a proper meal in days.

      I picked up the two petpets. One was an angelpuss with a sugary sweet smile, and the other was a plumpy that looked like the angelpuss, but had a sour expression scrawled on his muzzle. Shelly shoved the box to the side, jumped down the hole, and brought up two bottles of water and a box of dried bacon. The plumpy made a direct beeline to the bacon, chowing down greedily. The angelpuss crawled to the water bottle, opened it with its paws, and began to drink from it. I chuckled as Shelly acted like a nanny to the other two pets, making napkins from the fallen palm tree leaves, talking to them in petpet language. I could obviously see she was very good at her job. I went back down the hole to check on the food supplies. We had only had six bottles of water, six days worth of food, and the life jackets were still huddled in a corner.

      I climbed back up the hole, with breakfast for Shelly and I. Shelly was too busy keeping an eye on the two newcomers. "This must be a petpet island now." I chuckled. I ate some breakfast, watching the morning sun shine a silvery reflection on the crystal blue sea. I took a long deep breath and kept on thinking, Don't worry, Bloom, I know Shamus and his family would be looking for you, he'd go find you... soon.

      I never left Altador ever since I was little, and I never knew how to live in the wild, and I'm worried out of my mind. I miss the smell of fresh Altador bread streaming from the bakery next door to my house. I miss the excitement from the Altador Cup when somebody scores a goal. Most of all, I miss my house overlooking the sea.

      I sat down on the shore. Shelly managed to get the two other petpets on the shore. I stared at both of them, and pointed at the cheery angelpuss, and said, "I think I'll call you Honey." I then pointed at the plumpy, and said, "I'll call you Cloud."

      Both of them seemed to like their new names. Honey sweetly smiled, then started to fly inches off the ground, and then landed on Cloud. Cloud ignored Honey, but gave me a small wink. The four of us stared at the ocean. There was no cloud left in the sky for now.

      Suddenly a patch of gray caught my eye, and it began to grow, and grow. The sky darkened until it was pitch black. Booming noises accompanied the darkness. I scooped the three petpets up and dashed into the hole. I tried to cover the hole. No luck. I heard the loud rush of water in my ear. Suddenly, I felt something cold and wet at my feet. "WATER!" I screamed. I ran up the hole, with all three following me at an extremely close pace. The rain was bucketing, heavier and heavier by every pawstep. I ran to a palm tree. The petpets grasped the tree tightly. I dashed towards the hole to get the supplies. I felt a tug on my ruined dress. Shelly, Honey, and Cloud were pulling me back, like an anchor. I placed them back to the palm tree, and dashed towards the hole. The petpets tried to run to me, but I told them, "Stay right there. I don't want you to get hurt!" I crawled into the hole. The walls had cracks, and it as if the hole would sink into the water, to the point was it would be a part of Maraqua. I grabbed as many items I could carry, and dashed up the hole. I was grateful I left earlier, because the hole was caving in. The three petpets were dutifully waiting for me by the tree. The storm was still bucketing down on us, but thankfully the palm tree served as an umbrella. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

      When I woke up, the storm was gone thankfully. I noticed something. The only thing that was on the island now was the lone palm tree, and a huge patch of sand, completely surrounded by water. The wooden crate was floating in the water. The three petpets were sound asleep. I checked our supplies there was only four bottles of water, and four days of food. The water was littered with palm tree wood. I gathered as much as I can carry. Even thought our original boat sunk, I plan to make a boat and oars, and paddle to the nearest hospitable island. Judging by that freak storm and mysterious fog to the west, we may be near Lutari Island. That's definitely not an option, because the island is deserted and nobody's allowed to enter the island. SO the next possible option is Mystery Island. Honey, Shelly, Cloud and I can go to the island, stay for a day or two, and then finally go to Krawk Island. It seemed like a possible solution. How we'd get there is a mystery... Suddenly I saw something floating towards us. A lifeboat! It was completely empty, nothing inside the cabinet, no one in sight. This time I recognized it, from the chipping white paint and the words SS PEACEFUL carved into the sides. It was the lifeboat Shelly and I used. But if we were to travel to Mystery Island, we'd need oars, and we'd need to escape another freak storm, not to mention we need more supplies.

To be continued...