Leona opened her eyes to a bright blue sky with a speckle of clouds. The sun made it difficult to adjust at first, but as she sat up, the view became clearer. Nothing but blue water. Waves breaking onto shore was the only noise heard. She looked down at her feet and kicked them together to shake the soft, white sand off. She ran her fingers through her hair, but there wasn’t any sand in it.
Leona had the energy to stand up and scan her surroundings. To her left were palm trees for days. To her right, powdery white sand and the ocean blue. And a couple more palm trees. Not a soul in sight. “What do I do now?” she thought.
Leona looked up when she finally heard a noise from behind her. It was a squawking sound of what looked like a macaw in the tree tops. She couldn’t tell from the distance she was at, but what she could see were bright red and blue feathers and a black beak. The leaves of the trees blowing in the steady breeze made it look like the bird was flashing on and off which made her giggle.
As Leona walked a little deeper into the palm forest, a couple of light green and yellow finches flew down on a branch protruding out of the ground. Their heads moved back and forth quickly as they began to chirping. They were in sync with one another as though they were singing a duet. She snapped and bobbed along with the beat which reminded her of one of her favorite songs. She couldn’t help but belt the words out as she began to dance in the sand. She just closed her eyes and let the music take her away. After a moment, Leona opened her eyes to an empty branch. The birds had flown away, but they had left a smile on her face.
A cool breeze rushed by. Leona simply closed her eyes again and held out her arms as she let the wind wash over her. She took a deep breathe and caught the smell of something rotten which caused her to choke a little. It made her hold her hand over her nose. She wasn’t interested in finding out what it was so she walked back toward the sand. It was then she heard splashing. Just as she looked up, she noticed what looked like a tail peaking above water. What was that?
Leona wasn’t afraid to investigate and walked right up to the shoreline. It had been a few seconds and no sign of what splashed. Her eyes narrowed as her curiosity heightened. She stood for a couple more seconds, but still nothing. Disappointed, she turned around to walk back up shore. She didn’t get even three steps when she heard the splash again, but before she could turn around, water blanketed her from head to toe. Everything from her hair to her clothes were drenched. Water dripped off of her like a leaky faucet. She brushed her hair away from her face in time to see a glimpse of what splashed her. Was that hair? Couldn’t be. She squinted her eyes again to focus on the water, but couldn’t make out what she thinks she saw.
How could it be hair? Marine life doesn’t have any hair. Could it be…a mermaid? No, mermaids don’t exist. Or do they? What if it was a mermaid? That would be so cool.
Just then, a dolphin poked his head up from the ocean. It started squeaking as if it was laughing at her. Leona was saddened, but she couldn’t be mad at a dolphin. All she could do was laugh along. She also noticed some seaweed hanging over its back fin. Oh, maybe that was the hair I saw.
The dolphin sank fast as loud music started to play. Leona turned toward the noise, but it was behind the trees. She waited a few seconds and saw a yacht approaching around the bend. There were men and women yelling and laughing. Some were singing the lyrics to the song that was playing which Leona had never heard before. She stood and watched as these people were having a good time. She couldn’t help but bob to the beat. She got a little nervous though as one woman pointed at her. The woman told a couple next to her and they both looked where her finger was pointing. The man flipped his sunglasses up to get a better view.
Leona stopped bobbing as more of the partiers discovered her. The one manning the wheel even cut the engine. They all just stared at Leona, not saying a word. No one knew what to say. It was as if they were surprised that someone could be on this island. The silence was deafening and it got awkward the longer it lasted. A woman finally broke Leona’s concentration as she reached into a cooler and threw Leona a bottle of water.
The bottle was in the air. Leona knew her catching abilities were not top notch. This is gonna be bad. I’m going to completely embarrass myself in front of these people. She reached out her hands a little too late as the bottle approached, making it clip her fingers and land in the sand next to her. Leona lost her balance and her knees struck the sand as well. She got back on her feet and picked up the bottle by its top and brushed the bottom off a little. It was a good thing it didn’t land upside down. That could have been worse. She unscrewed the cap and took a sip.
The water was ice cold. It almost burned the back of Leona’s parched throat. It made her shiver a bit as the water made its way down her esophagus. She swallowed and raised the bottle to say thank you. The boaters started to cheer to celebrate the communication barrier was broken. They motioned for Leona to come aboard, but seemed disappointed as she shook her head ‘no’ though. A few of them talked among themselves and figured they would go onto the island instead.
Leona drank her water as the boat started to drift towards the shore. A couple of the guys jumped into the shallow water, but the rest waited until they were beached. The first men came up and greeted Leona. “Hey! Are you okay? How did you get here?”
Leona just shrugged.
“Well, thanks for accepting our invite. Since you didn’t want to get on the boat, we decided to bring the party to you.”
“She’s pretty”, one of the girls said as she walked up. The others agreed.
“That’s what I was going to say”, the man in front of her said.
“Really?” Leona questioned. “I don’t think so. I bet I look like a mess.”
“Woah. You know beauty goes beyond skin deep.”
Leona turned away in embarrassment.
“Are you hungry? We have some food left over” one of the girls said. “You should come hang out with us.”
“That’s a good idea”, one of the guys in the back added.
Leona didn’t know what to say. She just looked at the seven strangers through her dark, curly hair. They sure did know how to make someone feel good though. It took a minute, but she finally uttered okay.
The six of them started cheering again as another milestone had been reached. One of the guys told the owner of the boat to go turn the music back on. Leona watched as he high stepped into the water, splashing around him. He climbed the chrome ladder and hit the play button on the stereo. Everyone started dancing once again. The guy onboard went into the cooler and pulled something out. When he returned Leona saw it was a sandwich for her.
The eight of them carried on without a care in the world. Everyone was dancing and most of them were singing the lyrics. A couple of them were even showing off by doing flips and cartwheels. They just enjoying the moment.
After what seemed like an hour, the music ceased. Leona noticed the captain checking his watch and he walked over to one of the other guys to show him. He then made his way to Leona. “It was really fun hanging out with you, but it’s time for us to go now. We have to get back home.”
“What a buzzkill”, one of the girls said.
“It was nice meeting you. We have to do this again”, the captain said.
“I’d like that.” Leona smiled as she put her hair behind her ear. She watched as the strangers ran back to the boat, still celebrating. The engine roared back on and one of them got to the stereo and turned on some more music. They all waved to Leona as the boat gradually disappeared from her sight. She noticed flutters in her stomach as she thought back in excitement at the fun she just had. She’d never been that comfortable around people she didn’t know.
Leona sat down on a stone up shore, still reminiscing of the good things on this island. She looked next to her and saw a thick stick. She picked it up and starting writing in the sand, listing what she liked about the place. She wrote a few words when another loud noise caught her attention. This one from above. It was the stuttering of an orange helicopter propeller. The massive wind caused her to turn away and shield her face from the pelting sand. She could hear a faint sound of metal clanking. It sounded like a door opening, but all she could focus on was the roar of the motor which caused her to plug her ears.
After a few seconds, Leona felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up a saw a man in a big helmet and goggles. She couldn’t see his eyes, just her reflection in the goggles. His beard was coming through the chinstrap of the helmet and she noticed a small microphone poking out the side. He was in an orange and white uniform with a couple of patches on them. She couldn’t get much else as she saw him try and yell over the propeller, “Ma’am, are you hurt at all?”
He stood in between the Leona and the chopper so she was able to hear him. He also blocked much of the sand spitting up at her. She didn’t want to yell back so she just shook her head no.
“I’m from the Coast Guard. I’m here to take you home. Can you come with me?” his hand still on her. He had a pretty deep voice, even over the sound of the chopper.
Leona looked down at her list, but it had disappeared under the sand. All she saw were ripples of new sand rushing over from the helicopter. Once again, Leona just shook her head no. She looked up to see the man’s jaw hanging open.
“Listen, I can get you to safety, but you have to come with me.”
Leona didn’t want to go home. She liked being here. On the island. Everyone liked her here. It’s where she felt joy.
She shook her head a third time, this time with a little more force. She also turned away from the man’s hand.
"Are you sure?"
Leona nodded her head.
The rescuer backed off a bit and stood there looking at her. He backed up slowly before turning and climbed the rope ladder back up to the chopper. It hovered for a few more minutes and then ascended back into the air. Leona finally picked her head up and watched as it flew over the trees. The faint sound of the engine lingered for a moment.
Leona looked back down with her eyes closed, thinking if she made the right decision. She was happy here. She was the center of attention. People liked her. She knew it was the right choice. Her eyes opened up at the sand in front of her. This time it said SESSION ENDED.
Then it all went black.
Leona took off the virtual reality headset. Her eyes took a second to adjust but once her vision cleared, she wondered why she didn’t hear anything. She set the game down on the table in front of her and turned around to see darkness. Not a soul in the game room. Where is everyone?
She turned back around to see a piece of paper on the table beside her. She grabbed it and read what was on it.
“SORRY. COULDN’T WAIT FOR YOU. JUST LOCK UP WHEN YOU LEAVE.”
She could tell it was her boss’ handwriting. Not even her boss could wait for her. It was very typical in the real world. Does anyone care about me?
Leona got up and crumbled up the note forcefully. She tossed it toward the garbage can, but it fell short. She didn’t care though to pick it up. She walked towards the front of the building where the lockers were. She snatched her sweater and cell phone and slammed the door. She went up to the front desk and peaked under a decoy trophy for the key to the business. She snatched that up too, and headed for the front door.
It wasn’t as cold as Leona thought, though there was a cool breeze. She just kept her sweater in her hands. She closed the door and inserted the key. She heard a click as the deadbolt went into place. As she pulled the key out, she couldn’t help but wonder if a deserted island was what she needed.