DESTINY

THE ISLAND  By Tessa Harvey     To the struggling men trying to reach the sandy shore, it seemed wonderful to see young Lester Shayle leading a group of five or six mostly able-bodied men towards them.     "The boy Dennis saw you leave for the beach. A nature girl helped him back to us. But....." Lester's voice trailed away. He knew the captain, Edward Starkey had been friends with Don and Dee from years ago in some college or other over in the States. But seeing how badly hurt the older man was, Lester faltered, wiping a grubby hand over his bristly face. Edward noticed at once. "What a blessing you are," he said, cheerfully.     Turning to one of the seamen in the small group, "Jones, can you organise a stretcher? There was at least one in the lifeboats we managed to salvage." Lester regained his composure.     Somehow the younger men carefully rolled Don onto the collapsible stretcher. They had to drag him carefully. Some of the passengers...

THE ISLAND  By Tessa Harvey          Thinking, well it can't hurt, Edward ran praying into the shallow water, staying in the sandy bits as much as possible, wary even now of the dangerously beautiful, harmful coral. "Don!" he called, almost weeping. "Don, hang on, I'm coming. Don, your wife is here. We have Dee. Dee is here!"      The last words seemed to touch the almost dying man. A glimpse of his battered face sent dread plunging into the captain's heart. Without words, he grabbed a handful of half a shirt stuck under the man's big round arms. They were scarred by sea, rock, coral and God knew what else, but the man was responding. He kept trying to say something, but his breathing was badly laboured.     "Captain, you have to hear," so exhausted and weary himself, the fallen ship's officer leaned on a large rock just offshore. "I'll listen if you keep breathing, okay! Don't die. Don't! I lost Taffy. I can't lose...

THE ISLAND  By Tessa Harvey          Edward Starkey sat in the shade of a pebbly part of the sandy beach, totally exhausted. Grief swept over the middle-aged man, threatening to pull him under like a raging tidal surge. He missed Taffy, his Chief Engineer and mate for almost all of his long naval career. Several times Edward had faced precarious situations, financial concerns, adequately supporting his precious family.     Taffy, formerly known as Emrys Jones had a heart as big as his pride in his Welsh heritage. But he also never lost his faith in a good God. "God didn't want robots," he had said once, "so he gave us free will."     Some people are genuinely honest and hard-working, but if they have any faith in God, it turns on a dime. Taffy meant, if inconvenient, following the easier path of never taking responsibility. Two of his sayings were: "misers like company," or as his wife had once said "liars need an army of sycophants to s...

THE ISLAND  By Tessa Harvey     Dennis marched with confidence for about twenty minutes. He had no phone, but even if he had, there was no coverage. Slowly the jungle seemed to become more and more tangled. Then the little boy stopped suddenly. A very pretty green snake was dangling down in front of him. The reptile slowly opened its wide mouth as though lazily yawning. The boy felt mesmerized by those black glistening eyes. The snake swayed. Dennis froze. The forked tongue flickered.     Staring in to that mouth, Dennis had a bright thought. It could not swallow him! He had a chance. Behind the snake appeared a nasty, leering face. Elijah! Agh!     Then, as though in a scary movie, a boy's voice whispered very low down. "Fall down child. Snake ok. Man not. No noise. Follow me. I am friend, Malati."     If he had been a few years older, Dennis would have thought something like "Yeah, so what. You're just a random like rescuer. Get lost. I got...

THE ISLAND  By Tessa Harvey     When the person called Dee opened her eyes, the boy sighed heavily and walked disconsolately away. Those odd boys had said it would be great to be on a real island. Tom said it had coconuts. So what! You could buy them at mum's supermarket. No water - none! But the sand was just like sand anywhere - except it wasn't. There were bits of clothes, ripped bags. A dead kitten. It was all awful. The kitten was tiny and sad and very much not alive. It lay limp and dead.     His mind veered away, but it was still the truth that real people might be like that somewhere. Where was his mum? She had heart problems. She did not run after him when he was little and ran away, giggling and hoping, looking back.      His dad was hurt and limped, but had hugged him hard, glad to see his boy had escaped physically unscathed.     Where was Connie? Fine. Dennis was eight. Time to be strong and brave. - a warrior.  He forg...

THE ISLAND  By Tessa Harvey     When Deidre opened her eyes again, it was still dark. Her face hurt so badly, tears were no longer possible. She felt a presence near her and was afraid. "Who are you?" she asked, querulous.                  A very small voice answered. "Dennis, miss. They sent me with a drink." Dimly, Deidre could see a shaky hand holding a juice carton containing a fixed straw. "Heaven," she thought. The child patiently held the container steady, even though she felt him crying. The drink did something amazing to the brain. She could think! Best of all, words were possible. Blinking, Deidre could see the small tousled boy. She searched her aching head for a name.     "Dennis," she croaked. The boy looked inordinantly pleased. Then his face quivered. "I can't find Connie," he whispered, afraid. "The people say we have food, but some of us are missing. I can't find my mum," he added.     "What...