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 forgot to take water, but he had a packet of purloined crackers in his ragged pocket.
    He did not look back. The boy brandished a stick - sword like a real warrior and moved confidently, leaving all the annoyance of squawking babies and infants, and worse, adult moans. Dennis felt unnoticed by one person. Easy prey, thought Elijah. Dead kids tell no tales. He grabbed a drink bottle.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
DESTINY  By Tessa Harvey          Exhausted, Captain Edward Starkey reached his cabin for a few hours of vey much needed sleep. He glanced around the small area. There was a small desk and chair bolted down, his bed and a more comfortable couch which he thought ruefully had seen little use lately.     Slumping to his knees by the narrow bed, he said quietly "God, if you are real, well I need help. Please help me see."     Pulling himself up on the bed, he slid off his thick boots, worn but still serviceable.  Within minutes he was deeply asleep. In a dream, he saw a member of the passengers, an older stern looking gentleman, standing near the ship equipment room where most electrical gear was stored. A crewman saw him, but the other waved some money beneath the young seaman's chin, also showing him some sort of identification.      The captain woke up and pulling on his boots, roused Lester Shayle, first mate. Togeth...
Read more
Image
DESTINY  By Tessa Harvey      Then Dennis startled her. "Can you hide my bag in your cabin, Connie? My parents are more noticing of my stuff than yours."     "Okay," Connie was puzzled. "The door isn't locked. Just hurry back. Let's go talk to our parents." It was more obvious now that something was wrong with the ship's engines - a strange, alarming grating noise.      Slowly Connie walked to climb up to top deck, waiting for Dennis who caught up quickly. They raced up the metal steps, trying to outdo each other and giggling, almost careening into an engineer. He edged past, his overalls very grimy, and hurried away without a word.     On the deck, their parents were clustered together, being anxious. So were other passengers.     Connie's parents looked warmly at their pretty daughter in her pink shorts and and animal-pictured short sleeved top.     Angelo thought how much like her mother she looked and Helen w...
Read more
Image
DESTINY  By Tessa Harvey     As usual people queued for food, much like a school or college canteen. The food choices were excellent, well presented and appetising. You could choose warm food. Toasted sandwiches were a favourite, or freshly made salads with tomatoes, crisp lettuce, and other options such as fruit.           The cheerful banter was sadly lacking. There were not many children or young people on this particular voyage. An older man seemed to be in charge of two boys in their early teens. The boys were nearly always subdued and reticent to engage with others. Two small girls were looked after by a young woman. The three were cheerful and outgoing.     As the meal finished, workers quietly collected used plates and utensils as quietly as could be managed. Many passengers helped, glad of something to do. The mother of the two young girls gave them some coloured pens and paper.     "We bought some new equipment from r...
Read more