Land One

“Note: This is a full written story, and what you will be reading now in Land One, is a part of Chapter One of the story.”

At 3:00 AM,
we arrived. I got off the airplane, left the airport, and when I stepped into the town of lights, I was surprised. The town was loud and noisy; the people were dancing, singing, and laughing loudly.

I looked at the sky. The music was so loud that the echoes were rising into the quiet night. Suddenly, someone stood in front of me while I was looking up and said, “Hello, pretty!”

I looked at him.
“Hello.”
“Would you like to have a drink?” he asked.
“No, thank you. I don’t want to drink anything!”

We were both shouting because the music was too loud.
“Are you a tourist?” he asked.

I put my left hand over my ear, trying to hear him.
“Sorry?”
“I said, are you a tourist?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Then follow me.”
“Where?” I asked.

He grabbed my hand and led me to a glowing table.

“Sit here,” he said, then left.

“But where…?!” I wanted to ask more, but the music was too loud, so I didn’t.

I looked at the people to my right. They were dancing on the dance floor, laughing, and drinking. Then the same person shouted from the other side, “Drink this!”

He sat down on the chair across from me, smiling. I just looked at him silently.
“This is our special drink for all the new tourists who come to our town,” he said.

I smiled.
“Ahh, thank you, but I don’t drink alcohol.”

He started laughing.
“Don’t worry, there’s no alcohol in it. We don’t drink alcohol here. It’s just a colored juice with a special fruit flavor.”

I smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked.
“No thanks. I actually have to go,” I said.
“To where?”
“Deaghostd Island.”
“I can’t hear you! Where did you say?”

He leaned closer, and I did too.
“To Deaghostd Island,” I said.

Suddenly, he leaned back slowly in his chair. His smile started to disappear. He stared at me with a strange, almost scary look, then got up and left quickly.

“Hey, you... Wait… Where are you going?!” I shouted, watching him walk away, but he didn’t answer or look back.

I turned away and muttered to myself, “Weird!”

I stood up and walked toward the beach, leaving the noise behind.

When I arrived, I found a lot of boats.
“Hello,” I said to an old man standing beside one of the wooden boats.
“Hello.”
“My name is Lucy. I’m from Lucy’s Travel and Tourism Company.”
“Welcome, darling. How can I help you?”
“I actually want to go to Deaghostd Island, and I have no idea which boat I need to take!”

The old man suddenly panicked.
“What?! No!”
“Sorry?!” I asked.
“It’s… it’s closed,” the old man said with a trembling voice.
“Closed?!” I frowned and looked at the other boats.
“But people are still riding the boats!”

He nervously said,
“I told you it’s closed. I don’t have any trips to that island.”
“But listen, I—”
“Please… I don’t have any trip. Just leave. It’s a remote island, and no one can take you there at this time.”

“Okay, sorry!” I said, feeling strange.

I walked back, thinking about the old man’s face — how suddenly it had changed!

I stood back a little, watching the old man.
Then I looked at my wristwatch — it was 3:29 AM.

Suddenly, I heard someone shouting from a distance, calling the old man.
“Bro!”

I looked at the old man. He left his place and went to talk to the person.

No one was guarding the boats.
I hurried over, took the small wooden boat, and began sailing away.

After I had moved away, the old man noticed and rushed back to his place.
He saw me and began shouting,

“You girl! Come back here! You’ll die there! Please come back!”

I looked back at him and paddled as fast as I could, so he wouldn’t be able to follow me.

Then he whispered to himself,

“You’re in danger. In very big danger.”

By the time he said that, I was already far away, fading from his sight and disappearing into the darkness of the sea.

That was the last time I saw the town of lights.
At 3:29 AM.