When Love is Lost At Sea

A short story by Jermaine McAnuff

The green plants sparkled and glistened under Michaela and Daniels's artificial light. It bothered Michaela, however, just how much attention Daniel had been paying to the plants than to her. More, it enraged her. So much so that a silly cruel little plot grew in her mind and sprouted overnight into the morning. And by the time the dawn light shone in, Michaela had become pure evil. Daniel and Michaela had departed for research to the mountains on an island far away spending a large portion of their time camping out on a more-level plain of it’s topography. Their mornings were mostly peaceful and not without the sound of nature’s animals.

Michaela, the lesser experienced scientist, had fallen in love with this habitat and even considered living here for several months in her own little fantasy world. Yet today was a different day, for she thought it fit to end all this happiness, end this science trip, and possibly end her relationship with her boyfriend of a few months for a new future. Today, January 4th, was truly a cruel day. Our little scientist crept out of her blanket in an irritated mood. Thoughts spilt out into her morning routine. None of them exited her mouth. She planned to save them. There was an egg boiling in the pot. Michaela had almost forgotten that her favourite thing to do was to cook eggs for herself and Daniel for breakfast. Although, perhaps this was a sign her love had almost faded. She cracked the boiled egg violently with a spoon, then began eating over a beautiful balcony view.

Once her breakfast was eaten, Michaela seemed to communicate with nature. She petted the birds, which chirped and crawled along her balcony’s pole, whilst feeding them crumbs of a solid salty egg yoke. The birds seemed to chirp in excitement, and Michaela felt at peace. This was until she heard the sound of a waking man in the background. With every inch of her body, she wanted to love him again. As Daniel rolled about, yawned, and began escaping from an entrapment of several blankets he himself had made, Michaela called out these words:

‘Daniel, I forgot to make your eggs this morning, you’ll have to make them yourself as I’ll be going by the stream for a walk…’

‘Really??’ croaked Daniel whilst he ascended from the ground. ‘You used to hate going out this early, what’s changed today?’

‘I think I’ve found a new home.’ chuckled Michaela to herself, remembering to contain what she truly felt until the time was right to tell him the truth.

‘I don’t think you’ll love staying at a place like this dear. Remember, these are just our research grounds.’

‘Oh. That’s right’ muttered Michaela sarcastically ‘I guess I’m just a different Michaela today.’

Daniel could see something changed in her overnight. Despite the fact that she had forgotten his breakfast, she still wore that famous red scarf that he liked when they first met, but not in a caring fashion. It seemed as if she had almost stopped caring about absolutely everything. The same bird which she played with earlier flew by and vanished into the clear blue sky. Somehow, this signalled to Michaela that it was time to go, so she exited their marquee with no goodbye to Daniel.

Daniel watched her exit the experimental quarters they were performing lab tests in for the first time in months without saying goodbye.

‘What’s she up to?’ he thought to himself.

The two had been boyfriend and girlfriend for over 5 months. Daniel had met her as a sweet spiritual soul from Varadero in Cuba on one of his science trips. She had met Daniel as the charming intelligent scientist from England looking for help.

The both seemed a perfect match so far.

Suddenly, Daniel heard a sound from his radio antenna behind him seated on a brown desk. It was the sound that brought them to this land for research. The sound of a strange beautiful song they heard just 4,000 miles ago.

‘WAHA-HEEERA-HEEERA-OOOO-SHEERAAA-WAHA-HEEERA-HEEERA-OOOO-SHEERAAA…’

‘It’s playing again but I just can’t tell where it’s coming from in these mountains ...odd..’

Abruptly, a rush of monstrous wind overtook this blissful morning.

It pushed and pulled violently on the marquee. As he saw the pillars wobbling and tearing from their foundations Daniel feared their temporary home would come crashing down. The wind thrusted upon their advanced-looking science marquee and started to throw around small living room chairs.

CLUNK! CLUNK!

He ran outside to call for Michaela, but by then, she had long gone.

A yellow chair crashed into a whiteboard and hurled it into the ground.

Immediately, Daniel ran back in and tried to stabilise everything by closing the marquee’s entrance. There were three strings Daniela and Michaela used to shut the exit to outside together. It worked by a pulling mechanism. The faster and harder Daniel pulled, the quicker the door would close but the wind was ferocious, and many of their belongings began flying.

‘Dammn it!’ he yelled. ‘ I need another hand to pull the other rope. Michaela!’ he shouted into the distance. Still, he got no response from the outside world.

Little by little the rope gained more resistance until Daniel could no longer beat the wind.

Suddenly, the door flew open and flung out several research papers.

‘Dammn it!’ Yelled Daniel again.

He made for the door with his rope-burnt hands and pulled again, this time with double force.

‘Damnn it’

He noticed the wind getting stronger, but his efforts were paying off.

Unexpectedly, the wind stopped and the door shut aggressively, sending Daniel flying backwards into his sheets.

Abruptly, there followed after a faint scent of burning coming from behind the small miniature kitchen Daniel helped to invent. Whatever this could be, Daniel seemed to be completely unbothered by it. He crawled back onto his feet, adjusted his pants and cursed about his lost papers.

The scent then became stronger, and there appeared billowing smoke all around their yellow-themed temporary home.

‘Eeeeeeyaaaaaah!’ thundered a high-pitched female voice from outside.

A beam and staff-liked shadow stood outside. Then, more shadows followed with odder shapes. Men and women shadows surrounding the marquee, seemingly examining the outside before choosing to wreck it’s contents. After a little while, the figures began to move away from the door, one by one, until only two were left. They were notably male and female shadows, and they were holding hands. As the two figures encroached further, Daniel rummaged through his deep pockets and retrieved a small green pager the couple selected to have in contact for emergencies. Before Daniel could page, it was too late. The two figures holding hands had come in, and the more Aztec-looking of the two threw a dagger straight for Daniels's heart. The long blue dagger tore through Daniel’s shirt, just missing the top half of his body, only to drill a hole in the wall behind him. Daniel tried to shriek but nothing came out. Looking up at the man who threw it, fear leapt up in Daniel’s heart.

‘What have you done with my Michaela!??’ Cried a freakishly tall, warrior looking man. Beside him appeared to be his wife gripping his hand with good strength.

Tears came down her eyes.

‘Michaela!?’ she screamed ‘Michaela!??’ she left her husbands grip and began searching the room. Daniel’s eyes followed her in amazement.

Another dagger was thrust in front of Daniel’s face.

‘Who are you!? And what have you done with my daughter!?’

Angrily, Daniel adjusted himself.

‘We are scientists. We mean you no quarrel.’

‘Where is my daughter Micheala!? You thief!’

Behind them, the wife was turning Daniel’s home into a garbage dump.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about! Who are you?!?’

‘My Ifalta!!’ shrieked the women behind Daniel. He could see her more clearly now. The outfit she wore seemed tribal and fashioned very closely to her male companion. She also seemed to have a sharp stare whenever her and Daniel locked eyes. Such eyes as hers only said one thing: murder.

‘My Ifalta! Come quickly! Look!’

The husband stared down Daniel, retrieved his dagger from the wall it was lodged in, and went to his wife.

Behind Daniel, they both shrieked in agony.

‘You criminal!’ said the man. He held up what appeared to be a picture of Daniel and Michaela hugging.

‘She’s been completely brainwashed! Maulaba, Croshi, seize the Injaba here!’

Several more figures walked in. They came into Daniel’s home sequentially, all raising their daggers in the air, and chanting some super chant which rang long in the ears of everything that was nature around them.

‘I want this trickster hanged before the ritual tonight! He has stolen what was ours and fooled the world along with it.’

‘But our King, where is Michaela if she’s not here?’

‘Let’s hope she following our song to it’s source already. You two go and find her. Make sure she’s headed the right way.’

‘Yes our King.’ Nodded two freakishly tall men dressed in decorative yellow ancient fighting attire.

‘Wait, what is this song you’re talking about? I-‘

Before Daniel could comprehend, the remaining company of warriors had swarmed in on Daniel, taking turns to topple him over, and throw him into a large brown sack.

They tied it shut with ropes and began dragging Daniel out of the marquee and into the beautiful sunlight.

Daniel tussled and turned in the sack.

What followed were the sound of several horses hooting and stamping their iron-clad feet as Daniel felt himself ascend into some sort of carriage.

‘Forward! before we miss the ritual tonight!’ cried the Husband.

And the whole family of warriors galloped away from Daniel and Michaela’s cherished temporary home.

‘WAHA-HEEERA-HEEERA-OOOO-SHEERAAA-WAHA-HEEERA-HEEERA-OOOO-SHEERAAA…’

Daniel could see faintly through the brown sack, only a graded shadow of their little home as they got further down the mountain. What replaced it were more shadows, this time of large rocks, that only got larger once the group had made a faster descent.

‘ I wonder how tall and beautiful Michaela looks now dear? Oh, it’s been way too many months and years.’ Sang the wife which sat on the front horse which lead the way.

Fjlta, the leader, slapped the side of his horse. Out of all his family, Fjlta’s bright brown horse was the largest and swiftest horse of their clan. He rode it with pride.

His wife sat behind him. She rubbed her chin across his shoulder softly to which he reciprocated by leaning in to her.

‘What of dear daughter Michaela, my Fjlta,? How will she find her way back to the ritual site properly? Zeral knows little of where we moved our home now since you banished him years ago.’

‘Do not worry Dear, today is the day when we shall finally be reunited with our daughter Michaela. I’ve instructed Zeral to play our song for much longer today. She should be okay.’

‘Zeral cannot be trusted.’ Grunted an older man riding his horse at the back of the group.

It the distance, you could faintly hear the odd music Daniel and Micheala had come to this island to research. He paged Michaela inside of the sack. There was no response after waiting a few minutes whilst the group continued their treacherous journey. Her pager was switched off.

‘ Why has Michaela turned off her pager? These delusional warriors are going to try kidnap her as well!!’ thought Daniel

Stupendously, a gush of wind then violently struck them down.

All the horses toppled over onto the hard rocks and yelled loudly.

Daniel was dashed across the ground beside a small splashing stream.

Many of his kidnappers had all fallen off their horses and were struggling to recover. Some were bleeding whilst others were knocked unconscious due to the impact of the fall.

‘What’s wrong with this freakish wind?’ Daniel thought.

It seemed as if fate had blessed Daniel now.

Yet, he still couldn’t brake the ropes which tied his bag shut.

‘Fjlta! Fjlta!’ cried someone outside of his sack.

It was the wife of the leader. She seemed to be one of the only ones left unscathed and was searching for her husband.

‘Yes!’ he called.

Fjlta was lodged next to a tree pulled out of its roots. His regular armour appeared shattered but the rest of his body remained intact. With the help of his wife, he arose from the ground only to find his horse totally defeated and dead.

‘Have the god’s cursed us on the day of our ritual?’ he asked.

‘No my Fjlta, but look! The thief’s trying to escape from us’ said his wife and pointed towards Daniel, who laid quietly squirming around in his sack.

‘He’ll try to find Michaela before we do. Cut him out and kill him here.’ Shouted Fjlta.

She hastened to cut Daniel out with a sharp bronze knife.

A sudden wind then slammed into her hurling her into the small stream leading to a waterfall.

‘My dear!’ shrieked her husband. He drove himself into the stream, swimming after her drowning body. The current mercilessly moved her further along.

The king pumped out several strokes across the stream to reach his wife until both of them were eventually closely approaching the end of the cliff.

Daniel had only unleashed himself from this sack trap just to see two familiar bodies, his kidnappers, unknowingly floating towards a cliff leading to the giant waterfall below.

‘No! You fools!’ Yelled Daniel, and began climbing up to save them, but it was far too late.

Fjlta caught up to his wife to grab her hand yet he had reached the end of the stream…

Their bodies disappeared over the cliff as they fell to the bottom, husband and wife, holding hands.

‘My KING!!’ Roared a few men behind him which had recovered from the giant wind rush that had knocked them down.

‘Kneeeyah!’ screamed a horse behind them.

It galloped around to where the edge of the cliff was.

The rider was a tall, starkly warrior with long bluish hair.

Water gushed and poured out the sides of the stream. The wind continued pounding away, blowing Daniel’s brown sack off the ground and into the evil stream.

After a few moments passed, the blue warrior came riding back to his fellow companions who by now were sourly mourning.

‘Come!’ he ordered, ‘We must hurry home before Michaela gets there!’

‘You!’ pointed the Blue warrior to a small timid boy racing to meet them.

‘I need for you to go ahead and send a message to Uncle Zeral that Fjlta is gone.’

The boy nodded and took hold of a small parchment and sack.

He soon paused.

‘But Sir, where is aunty Michaela??’

‘You shall write on this parchment here, a small letter to Michaela. I shall tell you how to sign it off and which name to use. After this is completed, take one of the birds from Julta and it shall send your message eastward where our song is still being played for her.’

‘A song?’ thought Daniel.

The boy listened. A few minutes passed by in talking until the blue warrior patted the boy gently on his head and sent him off. A larger man of the two, which stood next to Daniel with spears, went off with the boy carrying a small fretting black bird trapped in a cage. They reached further up the stream and let out the black bird together, watching it fly directly eastward. After the boy hurried west on a little horse.

Daniel watched them closely as they rode off to their concealed location.

‘What could they possibly be thinking of doing to Michaela?’ he thought.

‘Tell me, who is Michaela to you people?’

The blue warriors blood boiled. He stamped his long silver dagger into the ground.

‘Michaela is a Injurta, our blood sister. Before we ever discovered this land and these parts in the mountains, our Michaela travelled with us but was he soon taken from us by your scoundrel people many years ago…’

‘You appear to have a different Michaela.’

The Blue warrior chuckled and tore his dagger out of the ground.

‘She is an Injurta! She will come and make things clear to you…’ the blue warrior looked saddened by Daniel’s conviction.

The brother of this storytelling warrior came forth with gritting teeth, almost piercing hatred. It was as if Daniel had become a true thief.

‘You know so little for a smartly dressed man!’

The brother sneered angrily at Daniel’s creased blue shirt and smart suede pants.

‘ I thought we were meant to kill him already? Why are you chatting with him for?’ the brother hastily replied.

‘We’ve been trying to reach Michaela for a long time. With today, it is July 4th, a time when we perform an inauguration ritual. At the 4th of every month we have such a special ritual and play our song with an array of different horns. Usually it is played only for a minute but after the loss of the King’s daughter years ago, the King requested that it be played minutes more just on the off-chance that our dear Michaela will be searching for us and hear it using modern technology. She always had a thing for science and studying different songs. Then she would finally come back to us. You see, it’s a very familiar sound in our family.

It’s the sound of our national anthem.’

‘Duno! Darish! Sing it to him!!’ he loudly barked at his clan members.

One by one, they began to hum and sing a sound all too familiar to this scientist’s ears.

He was struck by how accurately they replicated the song he’d been researching all these years.

He also recalled Michaela had not stopped vaguely humming this song before she went to sleep every night since he knew her.

The clan’s song became louder until the noise bounced off the trees surrounding them.

Like an orchestra, the blue warrior ordered them to stop suddenly.

Daniel could not believe this song could actually just be an ancient civilization’s national anthem.

‘As I already told you, our Michaela has fooled you. She’s come here looking for us – her real family.’

‘You’re telling me my girlfriend belongs to some ancient civilization!?’ shouted Daniel in Denial ‘I obviously need more proof.’

‘If you so annoyingly insist Thief.’

The blue warrior prodded out a small picture of Michaela from his pocket.

Someone that looked exactly like much younger version of Michaela was seen in the picture wearing a thin red scarf and hugging a group of small smiling children.

Daniel almost stared at it in disbelief whilst the man talked with him about the history of the photo.

‘ I cant fathom this, I can’t.’

‘I’ve held on this ever sine the day she was stolen from us.’ Cried the blue haired warrior.

‘We’re here for research. I don’t know what you’re showing me.’

Daniel’s fond memories of his four-month girlfriend now appeared to be a fade in his mind.

‘You must believe it. Free her of your cursed love bond!’

Daniel went into a cave of his own thoughts.

‘That same red scarf that she had when we first met. It’s there in the picture. This man has to be telling the truth. But still…’

‘Enough!!’ shouted the last of the men, ‘Let's kill him.”

A random gush of wind crashed down upon the group, this time discarding many into tree branches and tearing up the ground beneath them. Scores of nature were left hanging out of their roots, and the birds chirped for help. Daniel found himself shoved to the ground again and in even more possible pain than the last time. He saw a little black horse flail about the riverbank and slowly die.

Somehow Michaela, his now trickster girlfriend, suddenly appeared in his vision.

It was blurry, and certain winds distorted and churned her up. Her slim figure, which Daniel loved, came into his view but then shortly disappeared. A second later, it occurred once more. Eventually, there were several Michaela’s all laughing at him and shoving sharp spears into his face. The spears became men, all standing over Daniel with terrifying interest towards his facial expression.

Quickly his vision became incredibly partial, and he blacked out from the wind’s second attack.

‘Ha-ha, why should he look so scared?’ cried someone as Daniel woke up on what felt like a cold, wet ground.

‘Grab him some humus and some bread.’

‘Right.’ Replied another man.

What Daniel saw with clearer sight was unexpected. He was now close to the sea.

A bright blue sky reigned over the ocean and petrified him.

Frantically, he snapped his head back and forth around his radius.

There was nothing but large jagged rocks, a patch of sand, and a white boat.

He grabbed the arm of one of the men who were now carrying him above in the air on their shoulders to get food and hollered for them to put him down.

At his word, they put him down, almost as if he were the group's captain.

Looking at them, Daniel saw they were nothing like his former kidnappers.

He rubbed his eyes and looked around for Michaela.

‘I don’t understand. Where am I?’

The group chuckled uncontrollably. They were tall jockey fellows. Some radiated concern, whilst others seemed overjoyed.

‘You don’t remember us Dan? I’ll give you some slack. It has been some months since you set sail on your adventures. I’m Oscar. We briefly met in London. It’s been quite a while. How’s your little science project coming along with that hot girlfriend of yours?’

Suddenly it dawned on Daniel.

‘Where is Michaela!?’

‘Michaela? Well, shouldn’t she be with you?’

‘My word Oscar! Where are we!?’

‘At the bottom of the mountains. Didn’t you notice you was knocked unconscious and that the mountains were falling apart?’

‘The mountains are falling apart!? I only observed something strange was happening with the winds, like the oncoming of a crazy storm or –

‘Some freak natural disaster. Could have catapulted our whole ship. The mountains are splitting. Check out those cracks’.

The stocky sailor pointed to triple threaded cracks spread out over the island’s rocks behind them.

‘You got to get off of this island.’ finished the sailor in red. He grinned down at Daniel.

‘But even before that, I couldn’t get hold of you these last few days so I assumed you were in trouble with your reception here.’

Daniel took a cursory glance towards the mountains. Their shape had drastically changed.

‘What happened to those men who supposedly are Michaela’s family?’ asked Daniel.

‘Sorry Dan, we have no idea what you’re talking about. When we arrived, some savages living here were adamant about killing us. However, we had the advantage. We took two of them in for questioning. One of them is a girl. She said she found you by the river screaming her name.’

‘A girl?’ murmured Daniel confusingly. ‘Could it be?’

‘Where is she?’

‘She’s sitting in the basement part of the boat. Apparently, she’s just had some shock about a family issue and wishes not to be spoken to but she seems pretty fond of you…’

Daniel raised his eyebrow.

‘Take me to her. Quickly.’

Shortly, the sailors walked Daniel to the ship, which sat on the sea.

Daniel and the group walked onto the clean white boat, which glistened and gleamed at every corner. Each man was delicate not to blemish the boat and walked down on it with a certain pride displaying their admiration for this master class-looking vessel. Before Daniel was taken down to the basement, he asked Oscar a question as they went down the dark, dimly-lit staircase

‘These savages seemed to know Michaela. After kidnapping me, they said Michaela was one of their own and that she was going to turn up to their ritual and tell me the truth of about who she really is before they killed me… it was all so real… I’m sure of it…’

‘Well, to be honest, The women downstairs looks strikingly similar to that girlfriend of yours but there’s no way she would be dressing like this ….’

They had come to the bottom of the staircase. With Daniel in front, he stared motionless at the odd figure sitting before him.

‘Michaela…?’

A Face-tattooed woman raised her sulky head from the table and stared deeply into Daniel’s eyes.

‘Yes…my sweetheart...’

She blushed. He blushed back.

‘Wha-what are you doing… dressed like that…?’

When they both saw how deeply they were still in love with each other, they ran.

‘This is the man who stole you Michaela!?’ shouted a figure hidden in the darkness behind her.

To Daniel’s amazement, she nodded in agreement.

She wiped the tears from her pretty eyes. She was dressed head to toe in bright red and purple tribal clothing, indistinguishable from the savage’s attire that kidnapped him.

‘Michaela???’ questioned Daniel.

By a dark patch in the corner of the room stood a stalky man with a furry grey coat. Slowly, he emerged from the darkness.

‘With everything that’s occurred, it would be in my best interest to kill you’

He muttered and whipped forth a long sharp knife which shot out of his coat.

‘But… seeing this scene… I’ve come to second thoughts about when I should do it…’

‘So Michaela…’ said the man, stepping closer and clasping his hand on Michaela’s bare shoulder.

‘Do you really love this man…?’

Michaela nodded agreeably

‘Michaela…??’ cried Daniel.

Michaela’s heart filled with contempt.

‘Dan, this man is my real father.’

Daniel thought back to when he saw those two warriors claiming to be Michaela’s mother and father fall to their deaths in the waterfall and became very confused.

‘But I saw them both die‘

The grey-coated man took a yellow flue out of his side and sprayed poisonous darts upon Oscar and Daniel.

A great slew of darts rained across the room.

Oscar kicked a table down and hid with Daniel behind it on the ground who scampered for cover. Oscar pulled out his pistol and shot blindly over the table at the enraged warrior firing the darts.

‘Oscar! Oscar!’ cried Daniel as the captain shot off bullets.

‘Whatever you do, don’t shoot at Michaela. You hear me!?’

‘She’s no good. You should have dumped her a long time ago!’

‘It doesn’t make any sense. She can’t suddenly end everything we started!’

Back on the other side, the grey-coated man and Michaela were in deep conversation in their own language.

Abruptly, the man ceased fire.

Oscar stopped and stood up to shoot.

The grey-coated man swiftly ejected his coat in the air, which diverted Oscar’s whole attention away from the man rapidly darting from other the side of a pillar with a much larger flute in his hand. He blew it quickly, and a single great dart punctured Oscar’s chest.

Ocscar collapsed beside the barricade and bled profusely. Daniel saw his body flop and watched the blood spill from his top-half in horror.

‘Wha…you’re a monster…will you take everything from me now… Damnn the whole lot… all of you!’ sobbed Daniel and clenched his friend’s shirt over the chest wound.

‘It could not have been this way. Stay away from our Micheala…’ Said the grey-coated man.

‘My dear. Why should I not purge this other man now? He ordered his friend to kill us’

Michaela fell silent. She could not let her relative know more about the feelings she still had for Daniel. He deposited his yellow flute back into his side.

‘Say your last words to the man Michaela. Let there be no more delay in our family eliminating him! Let us get going!’

A significant knock came from upstairs.

‘Osc! What's going on? Open up!’

‘We heard shots down there! You guys alright?!’

‘Darn, we can’t open this thing now.’

‘Foolish, foolish thieves. I’ll get rid of all of them and Purify the whole of Injurta.’

Michaela lifted her hand to the grey coated man’s face.

‘That’s enough now. Let me say my final goodbye...’

Daniel picked up the now cold weapon lying half-clenched in his friend’s hand.

He clasped fingers around the gun in a tight clinch as he heard another step, then rapidly flailed his arm about over the table in their direction.

‘Stay back! Or I swear I’ll…’

‘Dan, put down the gun, dear. Let’s not let anybody else get hurt.’ Whispered Michaela as she approached. As she spoke softly, Daniel quietly calmed down until he finally lowered his weapon.

Michaela saw now Daniel hunched over his dead friends’ body in disbelief.

For the first time today, they both got closer than ten feet away.

‘Tell me the truth. Why Michaela??’ quipped Daniel to Michaela.

Michaela looked over to the grey-coated man to whom she called Father.

‘I didn’t know how to tell you the truth …

To be honest, all my life, I’ve never truly known myself until today …

Ever since we discovered that song back in Cuba I could never forget it later on. I heard it before years ago as a child. My parents would never tell me exactly where I was born. The urge to discover why it was so familiar to me was so uncontrollable.

When I left you this morning I went up the mountains dear. And the further I got up, the more I saw that the topography of the mountain change. I continued and I learned there was obviously someone other than us living here making that song, as we first suspected.

The first thing I came across were horses with red blankets wrapped on their backs drinking from a cold stream as if someone had let them out. They were several of them, carrying brown luggage sacks and sharp objects that looked like killing weapons. A small boy was with them and He kept whistling about the stream until he saw me and somehow shouted my name without us even having met. Other horses came charging out, the men on top of them scanned the area until they found me along the side of the stream. Their clothing looked like the clothing I constantly saw in my dreams. The ones I even had nightmares over. They had tribal patterns, beautiful patterns of red, black, and yellow satin. They somehow seemed to know me, they even called me by name. They offered me a small gift; jewellery, patterned jewellery,and then they took me to the person who had been making the sound we had been researching all this time. That person happened to be my father’

‘ And… now what…?’ croaked Daniel.

‘I’m sorry Daniel but now I finally found out what I had been missing. I’ve got to go back my real family!’ She shrieked.

BUUUUUU! Came a sound of a lurching storm current pushing on the boat.

Swiftly, another giant gush of wind struck the boat and rocked it off it’s anchor.

Immediately, the room flipped sideways tipping everyone off the floor and into the walls.

The grey coated man was shoved across the room, injuring his knee.

‘ Father!!’ cried Michaela.

Daniel bruised his shoulder on impact, and the boat landed back on it’s bottom until the winds hit it once more. No one was left unscathed.

Once the boat stabilized, Daniel noticed a loud clinging sound quickly come from the roof.

Someone had broken the lock of the basement upstairs and started down the steps in a hurry.

It was another old friend of Daniel’s. His name was Rupert. He was dressed in the sailor’s crew traditional blue uniform, surprised to see his general somehow seemingly asleep on the ground.

‘What’s going on Dan, the old man slept through all that? That crazy bugger’. Hey, we should leave because this storm is going craz-‘

Soon he saw that the red patch on Oscar’s chest was blood and a yellow dart lodged in it.

Quickly, Rupert pulled out his gun to shoot, but Michaela’s guardian had already cocked his flute and placed five darts across Rupert’s body. Rupert collapsed in an instant on the top flight of stairs. They all watched as Rupert turned and called through the basement’s exit to the rest of the men on deck.

‘Silooo, come quickly!’

‘Miraaaan!! Oscar’s dead, he’s bloody dea-‘

Without a second wasted a shorter man came and yelled down at Daniel who stood in a static shock over Rupert.

‘Wha- what’s going on?’ he cried

Daniel said nothing.

‘Get out of here Miraan. Just go! Before you get yourself killed.’

‘What? Dan, what are you say-‘

The boat got rocked once again by a furious wind current, it knocked the majority of people in the basement clean out.

Light waves gushed over the ship, wetting the surface.

Seeming like the only survivor, Daniel glimpsed across the room and saw a body lying motionless on it’s face.

It was Michaela’s supposed father; knocked unconscious.

One more body he managed to see with blurry vision was Michaela’s. She was angrily dragging herself across the room using only her arms and a good leg.

Her left foot had been injured in the fall, and she tried to reach higher ground via the staircase.

‘ Dan… get going… you don’t understand… they’ll kill you…’ she murmured.

As the water waves pounded at the vessel, the two got closer and closer. Daniel held her up.

‘Michaela snap out of it alright…’ cried Daniel, ‘Snap out of this! Lets just go home!’

Michaela rested her head on the ground. Whether this was on purpose or out of pain, Daniel could not tell. Yet, there was a long silence between the two. There came a crack in the boat which spat up water from the sea. She slowly awoke and looked up at Daniel.

‘Michaela, we have to leave this island dear…’

‘I will die with this land, my home! Dan, you must get out of here right now. My whole family is looking for you and wants you dead… ’ preached his former girlfriend and slumped on the pale wood afterwards.

Daniel checked her pulse. She was still alive but unconscious and terribly wounded from her injuries.

He placed his arms underneath hers and began lifting.

Eventually, he managed to carry her body up to the top of the staircase.

Luckily, the boat had stopped shaking but was still stranded at sea, floating them all aimlessly beyond the island.

Finally, Daniel pulled him and Michaela to the deck using his last bit of strength.

Exhausted, he collapsed at the basements exit.

They laid there for what seemed to be aeons, months, and years, as Daniel heard the sound of cascading waves and the sea creatures talking to each other. He dreamt they were boyfriend and girlfriend once again until he was awakened by a faint streaming light.

The sky's light had become dim, and a stiff silence seemed to overtake the atmosphere.

All things went quiet.

Once Daniel opened his eyes he was struck by a scorching sun.

Quickly he covered them and turned to lie on his stomach.

However, he noticed something was very different.

‘Michaela?’ he cried beside himself.

‘Michaela??’ he uttered again. She was gone again. Getting up and looking around on his knees, he was frightened by a familiar group of people.

They were surrounding him with sharp pointing knives.

The group butted the long knives towards his face each time he tried to turn his head.

He smelt their intent was to kill him for real this time.

He heard muttering between them. Someone spoke gently to one. Another gave an order.

A deep resounding voice boomed. More orders were shouted out; then, the whole boat fell silent.

‘Kill him now. He and his kind are most likely the cause of these winds on our land.’

Daniel felt an incredible gust of wind brewing but he could not see behind all the knives pointed at him. Then immediately, a terrible wind current shoved the boat around and shook many of the men onto the ground.

Many members of Michaela’s clan were soon pushed off the top of the boat and taken into the sea. One lady was sprawled onto the ground, clinging on to a jutting part of the boat, which kept her on. Meanwhile, many others were carried off to the waters and drowned without aid. Rain fell violently and splattered over the ship. Few remained dangling from the ship's railings for dear life.

He mustered up in his arms every ounce of strength left in him to get into the driver’s seat. Daniel dropped over the railings, slamming his back on the metal platform. The ocean tossed and turned on itself, throwing Daniel backwards into a familiar body.

It was Michaela’s.

She was laying on the ship, face down and crying.

Over the harsh winds noise, her subtle sobs could still be heard.

‘Michaela, if I can get to the wheel, I’ll be able to make sure we both make it out of here alive…’

‘I can’t leave my country, my people…’

She finally lifted her head from the ground and saw what remained of her mountain. Its entire topography had changed.

‘ INJuttaaa!’ screamed someone from behind over the charging winds.

A last surviving member of her clan hanged to the boat's edge. It was Michaela’s supposed father again who had somehow made it out of the ship’s bottom deck floor.

‘Daniel, please get him! He’ll fall if we don’t help him.’

‘Don’t touch me, Thief. I cannot accept even a grape by your people.’ Yelled the falling warrior at Daniel as he approached.

‘Daniel, get my father!’ she thundered.

There was a tussle between the two men. Daniel accrued slaps and jabs whilst lifting the man who killed his friends from falling to his death. Luckily, the winds had died down enough for Daniel to help.

He scrambled up on his feet once Daniel let go of his arms.

‘I’ll tell you something right now… about where our people have chosen to live…’ huffs and puffs fed out his mouth. Then, he regained his breath.

‘This country. You know it’s always been said that everything would come to shreds one day. The land’s position is too primed for stormy winds and thunders. I’ve- I’ve even protested that we Injurta must find another land to settle, as this one is too tumultuous for even three people like us to live on for much long.’

‘That’s enough said Father, sit! Daniel will help us out of here in that case... if we can’t stay home,’ Michaela sobbed ‘We’ll make another home…’

The elderly man bowed his head a little, it perturbed Daniel, the look in his eyes.

Michaela’s father pointed eastward with a long painted finger.

‘I shall show you the golden land our forefathers sought right now, Michaela.’

He beckoned at Daniel for him to be lifted and placed by the wheel to direct them all.

Michaela grinned a bright grin.

‘Will Mother be gone there already father?’ asked Michaela as though she were four years old.

‘Yes…’ paused her father in a crude suspicious tone ‘…most certainly….’

‘Are you really Michela’s father? There was another man with a lady whom claimed to be Michaela’s parents who kidnapped me.’ Pressed Daniel.

The man grimaced.

‘Why of course I am. I’m the one who has being playing the national anthem from the top of the mountains. Of course I’m her father.’

Michaela looked irritated but yet curious at the same time by Daniel’s question.

‘So it was you who had been making that sound.’

‘Michaela, that’s not your real father… he’s lying to you…’ whispered Daniel angrily.

Thunder tore down from the sky and struck the top of the mountain.

‘I think that’s a sign that we should go’ muttered the old man solemnly. ‘Let’s find the rest of our family.’

Michaela nodded reluctantly.

‘Why should we go with you? If we can’t be certain of who you are?’

‘Father, please forgive him he-‘

‘Micheala, your real father and mother are dead! I watched them fall to their deaths over a waterfall just hours ago.’

‘It’s either you come with me and learn the truth about who I really am or you both simply die here… now let’s get going…’ spoke the tatted warrior.

Daniel revved up the ship over an unconscious sailor’s body, and the ship stirred into action.

They set sail eastward.

The waves washed up many of the sailors and Injurta clan’s bodies as the crew sailed by.

Neither Michaela, Daniel or this old warrior took a glimpse out at what horror lay in the sea.

Instead, they kept progressing into the unknown east.

Silence reigned.

CLICK.

The boat seemed to stop and jutted.

Daniel revved it up again until they were on the move once more.

‘What occupation do you have that forced you to come here thief…? ’ he asked

Daniel thought it strange he should ask such a thing right now.

‘I’m a scientist.’ He replied.

‘Well I'm scientist myself you see. I was the first one to decide to create those signals for our dear Michaela. But I never knew that whenever she arrived, that it would be with someone else.’

He said and clenched his fists.

‘I can see you still hate me for apparently stealing your Micheala.’

‘Hate is a strong word.’ He answered, ‘but if you think I’d let you set foot in our new land, I suppose one might consider that as some form of a grudge, don’t you think so?’ he grinned sinisterly at the last sentence.

Tension ensued between the two.

Daniel could feel that this man’s intentions were far away from what Daniel and Michaela’s were of getting to safety.

‘Oh look!’ he jumped

‘We are arriving soon.’

‘What have you done?’ thought Daniel. ‘I can’t see anything over the horizon here.’

They stared off into nothing but a clear blue sea and soft clouds.

‘… where have you led us..?’ moaned Michaela

Michaela glimpsed at Daniel.

‘The problem with the Injurta is that they fall so easily in love with whoever. They know almost no restraint.’

The older man pulled himself up on the ship's mouth railing, revealing a large long spear hiding by his side. Michaela froze by the backseat of the ship.

‘Michaela, bid all your hopes and dreams farewell.’ He turned to Daniel

‘Along with your former boyfriends too….’

‘What are you doing!?’ shouted Michaela.

Suddenly this old warrior pounced like a 21-year-old and swung on Daniel.

Luckily, the first swing missed, but he came back at him again.

Daniel ducked underneath and into the ship's lobby area, where the old man chased him with devilish intent.

Daniel could barely run with his wounds and stumbled away.

‘Daniel…!’ cried Michaela ‘No….’

Michaela sobbed once more and reached into a sailor’s pocket.

Out of it she pulled a warm gun, fully loaded.

‘Thief!’ said the man whilst trampling over the now-stopped Daniel.

He held the spear over his head to bring down on Daniel.

‘You should have never come here. This is your fault that our land collapsed in advance. Now you shall pay for all my countrymen’s deaths!’ Raved the old man.

Michaela cocked the weapon in their direction with flowing tears coming down her face.

Closing her eyes, she fired.

BANG!

A few flocks of birds dispersed north to get away from the sudden shot.

Daniel looked away in awe.

The old man stood stiffly.

The gun laid still in Michaela’s grip whilst she looked at Daniel.

Spit slid out and down the side of Zeral’s mouth. Painfully, he spoke to Daniel words they could not comprehend at first. Losing various inhibitions, he said whatever came to mind.

‘Marry me insteaf…’ he mumbled. His body was failing him. Blood poured from the hole in his back.

‘Marry me instead….’

‘What? What are you telling me?’ bleated Daniel back at the dying man.

‘… will you marry me… Michaela?’

Even the rising sun stood still in shock at this statement.

Birds diverted west, and waves ceased to push up against the ship.

Michaela took a step back.

‘You see, marrying you will get us what we need. If you come with me now I can bargain you to many of the lands around here, such as the one I described and we’ll all be filthy rich. You’re an eye grabber, so I know many rich and promiscuous men will put up a price for you. And when you’ve been sold, I’ll lurk around as a servant for these men as part of the deal. Once the time is right, I’ll get rid of them when no one is around and rescue you so that we can be free to make another deal again. What do you say? There’s a whole lot of money in it for you…’

‘I say, you’re a dead man walking… who lied to me about my family…’ cursed Michaela

She tilted her head sideways.

The sun stood still.

They both watched in silence to see what he’d say next.

‘Well then…’ he mumbled with abated breath

‘…IF YOU WON’T MARRY ME, NO ONE WILL!’ shrieked Zeral.

He slipped out a piercing yellow dagger and made for Daniel’s head.

But before he could throw, Michaela loaded one more round and put a bullet through his back again.

He thumped to the ground like a sack of sand. His arsenal fed out of his strap belt.

All his weapons were striking sources of great fear, sharp and intended to kill.

Michaela excused a loud breath. She recovered through quick short huffing and puffing to calm her elated nerves.

She passed over the clan’s dead body to see how Daniel was doing.

He sat inaudible, with a pale expression.

‘Dear, I’ve come a long way from where we were before, I need you to help me go back home, please, steer the ship..’ she looked extremely cold with grief, speaking to her former lover.

‘Why should I help you after you lied to me?’

‘I know, I know I refused to tell you how I really felt. But out of anyone I’m the last person who wants you to see you get killed. So please just help me this once and I promise all this madness will end.’

Daniel witnessed how much Michaela wished for him not to die.

He got up with her help and the two sat in the two seats in front of the wheel.

The boat shuttered and stirred into action.

It became apparent to Michaela how much Daniel still cared for her, even though they’re from two completely different worlds now. It frustrated Daniel.

The two kept advancing along a few tumultuous waves. The ship fell up and down upon the sea’s surface until the menacing winds stopped. Then, Daniel’s memory jogged him.

‘These waves, that wind, all of these are products of a type 4 storm brewing here.’ He said to Michaela’s quiet demeanour.

Daniel sighed after noticing how much she wanted to get back home.

‘You know; I could tell you were still mad with me this morning after you left…’

Michaela fell even more silent, though there was a twinkle in her eyes from his statement.

‘The only thing which matters to me now is my home...’ said Michaela softly.

‘I’m sorry…’ whispered Daniel. His voice crackled.

‘Sorry for what…?’ queried Michaela

‘For last night, what I did before, and even before then…’

He pressed down harder on the boat's foot pedal.

Michaela held the cold metal of the wheel on top of Daniel’s hand.

‘I could never find the time to thank you for bringing me here to my home, so please, there is no need to apologise. ‘

‘Well...ehmm... where would you like me to drop you off…’ he said as they approached a broken mountain landscape.

‘By the mouth of the cave here. It is said that this happened to be the entrance to which the founding fathers of Injurta slept in…’

Michaela found one of the dead sailor's coats and wrapped herself in it’s warm embrace.

The boat shifted direction towards a dark cave.

Daniel began to study the cave’s shape and volume. He found himself disturbed at it’s sight and felt uneasy approaching. He reached into his back pocket, producing a small notebook.

‘You know this cave happens just to be the treasure trove for travelling scientists, Michaela.

I can’t express just how ecstatic I am to discover such an important monument of research. It’s causes me to…’

Daniel stopped midsentence.

He felt a soft embrace from Michaela’s hand on his shoulder, telling him something.

She bowed her head.

‘Please, Daniel, don’t make this about your science… just this time… I told you this is my home now.’ She cried.

He had noticed in the last hour since seeing his former girlfriend again that her voice and accent had altered. She sounded and seemed more like those members of her clan’s lower, darker voices who spoke in monologues.

Daniel could see the change in her face also. Something which had never been there before. Her face paintings made many things rough, rugged, and radical.

Daniel looked over the ship and stared into a reflection of himself. He too no longer had the same freshness as when they first arrived to this mountain.

‘Michaela, you do know you’re going to die living here?’

Michaela loosened her grip.

‘I have told you I am not coming back. Plus…’

She took hold on the wheel.

‘…If you don’t steer. We’ll die much sooner.’

Smiled Michaela as she fed the wheel back around until it straightened up.

They looked at each other, remembering the times they had together as former boyfriend and girlfriend. The sea was tumultuous but somehow still at ease, with the soft gleam of the moonlight dancing across it’s surface.

As the ship stopped, they only hugged for a while now as friends. Whilst they were looking over each others shoulders two parallels formed.

Over Michaela’s shoulder Daniel saw a toppling mountain land slowly being churned up by the wind and with no chance of surviving more than a week. Beyond Daniel’s shoulder, Michaela viewed the life she had left behind to be with her true family.

Michaela began to have second thoughts until Daniel said

‘Do you need me to help you across?’

‘Mmmm, no. All I wish is for you to get out of this island in one peace…’

‘Farewell, Michaela.’

‘Goodbye Daniel.’

Before Michaela could step off the boat, two familiar figures appeared out of this musty cave.

They limped whilst holding each other’s hands.

One looked out towards the ship and appeared flabbergasted. The tall figure stopped walking about the cave’s mouth.

Michaela took one step forward so that at least her eyes would be able to make out what figures were coming to see her.

Elated, she recognised their cloaks and their colours. A sudden glee filled up inside of her, and all of a sudden, the former freshness which used to be present in her face appeared again but greater. She appeared as a little girl who found self-containment of joy unsustainable until she burst out with tears. With one cursory glimpse at the foot of the man shuffling with his wobbling companion Michaela saw a marking on his ankle with a striking resemblance to her clan. She screeched, almost falling out of the boat.

Danny grabbed her side confused at why she acted this way.

She then thanked him.

Looking up again she yelled at the people coming from the cave.

‘Motger, Pagter!?’

The two figures appeared greatly familiar to Daniel.

They lurched forward before the moon’s light. There was a striking resemblance in them but Danny for some reason failed to remember.

He listened to Michaela

‘Motger, Pagter!!’ she cried again

‘Motger, Pagter??’ he thought and then asked

‘Michaela, who are these two people? What are you saying??’

‘They are my mother and father. I can tell by their markings it’s the same as the one on my ankle. Meaning we’re from the same branch in the Injurta clan.’ Michaela pointed to the hawk tattoo riding up her ankle onto her thigh. They we’re identical.

‘I suppose I cannot argue with your logic but they should have both died in the waterfall after they kidnapped me! Are you… there’s no way it could be…’ interrogated Daniel.

He peered closer at them. Their striking features were exactly reminiscent of those who kidnapped him earlier.

‘How did you survive such a magnificent fall!?’ questioned Daniel.

The older man appeared distasteful towards Daniel as the ship pulled up yet he quickly answered Daniel’s poking question.

‘We Injurta, are not the dying type for such things. We grew up here. Therefore, the mountains landscape has been ingrained so deep in our brains that we know every crevice, corner and tree. In other words, when you saw us taken by the water stream into the waterfall, we did not fall to our deaths. Only, we faced some injuries, as you can see...’

He pointed to a bandaged shoulder wrapped with the trimmings of a bamboo tree.

‘I just about managed to angle both myself and my wife here towards the opening to a cave. It’s a sloping long downward spiralling cave leading to the bottom of the island. As you see, I dislocated my shoulder and hip during the fall.’

‘And how are you, Motger(Mum)?’

‘I am suffering too Dear, but just in different places.’

‘I see, well…’

‘I have medicine.’ Stated Daniel.

‘You wish to help after we plotted for you to be killed??’ argued the injured man.

Daniel reached underneath the ship’s compartment and gave Michaela a first aid kit.

‘Because you are dear to Michaela, I will offer modern civilization’s help to you.’

The man looked repulsed at the idea of excepting help from an outsider and shunned the box before him.

Michaela stepped in.

‘You must see Pagter, this man is not like the others. He helped me, took care of me all these months and now, he has brought me to my family. For this, he is dear to me too.’

‘His kind stole you from us. The man must be killed.’

‘No Pagter! He is no enemy of ours.’ Defended Michaela.

The man looked befuddled. He looked around, fidgeted with himself, and looked back at Daniel. In both parents’ eyes were sustained feelings of hatred and frustration for all that had taken place today.

He sighed.

‘With the mayhem that’s gone on today. I've lost almost half my people to a cursed storm. Today’s triumph was finally getting back my daughter after many painful years. And so because of that...’

The man leant forward and clasped his palm over Danny’s shoulder

‘Because of this reason, I will let you go free… Daniel’

Seemingly beyond the cave, several figures, only noticeable by their shiny metal armoury scattered across their bodies, appeared to hold down what looked like long sharp daggers.

‘Stand down, my brothers,’ he called behind him. ‘We shall let this intruder go to his own country…’

Daniel smiled gracefully.

Michaela slipped off the ship and stood beside her parents, who quickly hugged her in a warm embrace.

‘Daniel, you should get going. The storm is growing, its not safe outside any longer.’

Daniel nodded.

‘May I say before I leave? This storm you are facing. It is quite unusual. I hope you understand what it means to stay here with your daughter and wife.’

‘We Injurta are not afraid of a storm, mark my words, we shall survive. As you have probably heard, we have other lands to make ours.’

Daniel thanked him and began observing what ferocious wind churned towards every one of them. They struggled in the dancing wind as the current licked them backwards.

‘It is past time for us to go back inside.’

‘Yes, my Injurta. Let’s get inside.’ things must be prepared to avoid any more of our people’s deaths.

‘Well, our Michaela, now it’s dually your hour to part ways with this man…’

‘Aunty Michaela!!’ a small orange-haired boy rushed out to meet Michaela but her parents held him back and commanded that he should wait until she got inside the cave to greet her.

Father could tell her body language had altered. With his last words about parting ways with Daniel, Michaela seemed to freeze up.

He sighed.

‘Please, make it quick, my dear.’ Said father and clambered back into the dark cave with his wife.

A small silence brewed.

Michaela spoke

‘Where will you go? This can’t be the end of your science trip?’

‘Back home.’

‘Where you will tell everyone about this land and our people. I can’-‘

‘You have my word. I will tell not a soul about your clan. This stays with me. Though I must inform everyone about this storm.’

Michaela grimaced in the wind. She was uncertain.

‘Daniel, listen. I know how much you love your science. I know how hard this will be for you to let go. But I urge you to forget everything you’ve seen her. That includes me…’

‘It’s been so long but yet you trust me so little…’

Michaela chuckled.

‘You should know me by now. We’re both still scientists’

Daniel laughed. Then slowly caressed the back of Michaela’s hair. They lent in for another hug, until suddenly a destructive wind ripped Michaela out of Daniel arms and thrust her close to the dark insides of the cave.

The ship which Daniel and Michaela had come here on bumped in the water.

In matter of minutes, the vessel would be toppled over in the sea. He looked at his fallen former girlfriend with glee.

‘I guess it’s time I go. Take care. Michaela...’

‘Yes... take care…Daniel…’

Daniel clambered back on the seat of the boat and wound up the engine by turning the key.

The ship appeared to have garnered some rust. In a few more months, it would stop working altogether. Luck seemed to be on Daniel’s side to get it even to work. He reversed out from the cave and took the ship northward.

Looking back, he saw Michaela watching him, hoping with the tiniest bit of feeling the former couple had left in their bellies that somehow, just somehow, things could have been different.

Soon enough, Daniel sped out of eyesight, and Michaela hurried back into the cave. And then you could faintly hear chants beginning a ritual…