It all started when my bananas went missing. I had left them near a patch of aloe Vera and came back to find them gone. I looked down at Sandy and gave her a questioning look before turning back to the empty spot of leaves. I was sure I left them there. I walked over towards the plant and hopped back when I saw something.

          Footprints. Small, human footprints, and they were nothing like mine. I looked at Sandy again, and then back at the footprints. Someone had found my island…and I had no idea who. My immediate response to this was to make a shelter for this intruder. I sprinted down to the cove, which was where the bamboo grew rampant during the summer and then dug out a good amount of sticks before running over towards this spacious piece of land I had used for weaving.

          Yeah, I weave but it’s only because I have nothing else to do. On an island full of plants, insects and sand, there isn’t anything else to do other than weave things together and produce useful things. That useful thing being a hammock. I’ve made around 4 of those and hung them up in different locations around the island. One in my own shelter, one at the cove, one at the waterfall and there is one near the willows, my favourite place on the entire island.

          I decided to take the one from the cove since I gathered it along with the bamboo sticks. Considering that the feet were small, I suspected that whoever they belonged to would be pretty much harmless. I’ve never had a visitor before, so I was pretty ecstatic. With the building coming along well, I decided to take a break. I walloped around in the forest for a while and inched towards the beach. 

          This stranger could have only gotten here by a boat. My face suddenly lit up when I had the plan to go snooping on the intruder. I poked my head up from an oleander bush and spotted him, a really young boy lying with his back flat against the sand and my bananas resting between his shins. I sort of thought it would be a girl since the prints were quite small, but surely enough, it was a boy. I could only make out the features of his hair and his legs. He had really small legs covered by a pair of trousers that had been rolled up above his ankles. His hair was a dark shade of red and his skin was much, much lighter than mine.

          Just when I peered closer to try and sneak a look of his face, I managed to crack a branch beneath my foot and on instinct, I shied away and barrelled back towards the mini construction site I had going on.  I’ve always been a shy person, even back in Busan when I used to go to school. I hardly ever had a decent friend and when girls flirted with me I couldn’t do anything except blush and stumble away like a ball of tumbleweed. I could assume that the boy would be scared of me too since he knows absolutely nothing about me or the island.

           After feeding Sandy some raw fish I’d stored, I cooked my own and left it on a leaf to cool, then I went back to plucking palm leaves to use for his shelter. Once I gathered the leaves, I went back to my fish to find his footprints nearby. He must’ve been hungry. I shrugged at the thought since this island was swamped with fresh fruits everywhere, and figured he’d probably be able make some dinner arrangements himself. And besides that, I don’t think I can face him just yet…

          The day went by with me tying and binding things together. It’s what happens when you lack certain equipment. After a whole day’s worth of work, I took Sandy down to the fall to cool off. Sandy is my female Labrador. I had her since she was a pup and I’d brought her over to this island when she was only a few months old. When Sandy turned 2, she had somehow managed to eat these poisonous berries she found at the lagoon and ended up losing her bark. Since then, she could only communicate with me by wagging her tail and clawing at my clothes.

          I picked up my flints and lit a spark into a pile of wood I collected for a fire. Every evening, when the sun hides behind the horizon I tend to watch it with a flickering fire burning before me. Every aspect of living on this island was calming. Being here, rather than being back home was so much better. I had so much freedom to enjoy the blue waters and yellow sands; no one could stop me or tell me otherwise.

          I looked to my left and saw a small white boat in the distance, dragged far away from the shoreline. It must’ve been the stranger’s. After a couple of hours, I walked down towards it and peered inside to find the stranger asleep, curled up in foetal position against the base of the boat.  The light of the moon glittered down onto his form, giving me a fluorescent view of his delicate face. He was sure pretty for a boy. I don’t know how long I stood there, watching over him as he slept. The moment he stirred was the moment I chickened out and began making my way back towards my own shelter with Sandy tailing along. 

          As soon as I woke up the next morning, I began tying up a bunch of banana leaves together into the shape of a fan. I made a few of those before I placed them onto the top of the shelter, to block out any rain or sun. Proud with my makings, I dusted my hands off and strode over in the direction of the fall, only to hear one side of the shelter collapse. I swiftly stood it back up again and made sure that the bindings were secure so that it didn’t collapse again, or else the boy might get injured. Just as I was finishing up the last knot, I heard a crunching noise come from the Allamanda bushes.

          I was about to walk over to it when Sandy came running over to me, curling her body around my ankles and asking for attention with something in . “Hey Sandy, what you got there?” I asked, ignoring the noise. Sandy dropped the crab before my feet and I almost shrieked when I noticed the claws. This crab wasn’t the type to mess around with, it’s claws were large and sharp. I scooped it up with a spare banana leaf and made my way over to the river where I plopped it back into the water and watched it sidewalk away.

Then I went to go find myself some mangos for breakfast because my stomach wouldn’t stop growling like the waves on a stormy day. 

~*~