Chapter 1: Part 2

“Zu take the body and bury it at the spot. Mal help your brother out and then run quickly to the flag post. We need to summon the Fifs and the Lawas for a meeting. And hurry, we can’t let any of the kids see this.” He knew the children would be out any minute now playing on the sand. As Zu and Mal fetched the body out of the water he overheard them banter back and forth on how many bodies have shown up in the past month. They argued whether it was twelve or sixteen. Both didn’t know how to count properly so what amused the Chief the first time quickly became something more irritable. As they passed him down the beach and headed off to the burial site, the Chief knew that was the twenty-eighth body. More alarming to him was the fact that it was the fifteenth in two months. What started two years ago has escalated, causing fear within him. He wouldn’t be able to hide this from his people much longer.

As he turned to head back to the village he glanced to the north east and saw the blackness. Far past their eyes could see of clear blue seas and tropical skies, a continual gloom had mounted in the horizon, every month growing larger and larger. At first the villagers thought a volcano had blackened an island many ages away where they have never ventured to, but after months they knew it had to be more than that. The chief knew that was something much worse, an evil engulfing life and love and slowly creeping towards them and their neighbors.

Chapter 2: Awake

“Whatup whatup! Thank God it’s Friday! It’s the morning wake up show wit ya boy, Chuy Gomes. For all of you lovers out there, this one’s for you...”

“She makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up
Just one touch
And I erupt like a volcano and cover her with my love
Babygirl you make me say (Ohh ohhh ohhhh)”

Lawrence, tired from his late night rendezvous, rolled out of the queen bed that occupied half of his tiny San Francisco studio apartment. Last night wasn’t a dream. His clothes were still on, the star-shaped stamp from the dance club was still on his right hand, he still needed to shower, and most importantly, he could still smell her sweet fragrance and feel her light touch.

But his 9:30 meeting wasn’t going to wait for him so he slapped the alarm off, trudged slowly across the 12’x16’ room, and flicked on the wall mounted HDTV he got as a graduation present last June. Only 9 months ago that he left Cal with an econ degree. He laughed to himself, no more getting up at 1pm, time to get ready for work.

With Stuart Scott on Sportscenter “boo-yah-ing” in the background and sunlight forcing its way through the drapes above his tiny desk, Lawrence meandered on over to his small bathroom and jumped in the shower. Once finished and toweled off, he flipped through his floor to ceiling closet and got dressed.

“Gotta look good for my meeting” he thought to himself. So he donned his finest suit, navy blue with pinstripes, silver tie, and black leather shoes.

“Ain't nobody dope as me I'm dressed so fresh so clean”

He loved that song, made him feel like a million bucks. After snatching his brown leather briefcase off the desk, slipping his iPhone into his pocket, and placing the headphones in his ears, he was ready. Not ready for work, ready for the night to come so he could see her again. Work just got in the way.

Chapter 1: Part I

The waves and the gnawing from sea creatures made it impossible to tell what it was but they knew it wasn’t from around the island. The mid section and chest were still in tack but chunks of the body were missing. Green pigment on the skin was still visible with clumps of ragged sunburned hair swaying with the ocean. The neck was flimsy and the head was completely missing aside from the left cheek. A thick full lip was half there, which also revealed some sort of tusk protruding from the jaw. It looked human but it wasn’t. Large muscular legs and boulder like feet made this creature ten feet tall.

“Zu stop that!” The Chief grunted, exasperated with him but more with the situation. Zu ended his curious poking of the body as it floated near the shore.

“Chief, what do you want us to do with it?” Mal, Zu’s brother asked as he was slumped over the body as well, curios for yet another body has floated ashore.

The Chief placed his hands over his face dreading this morning. Irritated that he was awoken so early, he was still thankful his less than perfect assistants were goofing around on the beach to see it. The sun had just cracked through the clouds that blanketed the horizon giving the island a golden glow. Birds and frogs began melodic songs as the smell of sweet pig and Longa rice were in the air to wake up this tiny coastal village. Turning back to view his home, the Chief paused reminiscing of his childhood innocence and happiness. He thought of his family and his parents and how in 67 years of living in this divine island, not much has changed due to his hard work to keep it that way. Fiery tattoos sprawled all over his face as aging wrinkles changed its appearance from young confidence to bedtime stories. His portly belly and relaxed stance was a metaphor for life on the island. His nightmares had caught up. He could not longer hide the truth and knew today was the day he would have to tell his homeland what lay beyond the waves.