Chapter 1
Isadora sat lonely in the snow-white sand!. The sun beat down upon her pale skin, burning it severely, though she didn’t seem to care!. For 730 days and nights, she had been left alone on this island!. She couldn’t quite remember how she got there, but nothing seemed to matter anymore!. Her food sources seemed to be disappearing or dying as the days passed by, and every attempt she had made to escape the island failed!. It was as if the world had forgotten about her, and she had forgotten about the world!.
So, there Isadora sat: dazed, lonely, confused and hot!. She gazed at the horizon, where a lovely blue sky and fluffy white clouds met an endless blue-green sea!. To any normal human, this view could be considered beautiful!. But to Isadora, it was only a sickening sight of which she had gazed upon for the last two years of her life!.
Her tattered clothes clung to her sweaty skin, and the heat of the day wore Isadora down!. She slowly stood, sunburned and drowsy, and stumbled back to her small, leaf-made shack!. Regrettably, Isadora sunk into her straw bed and settled down for another afternoon’s rest!.
When Isadora woke up, she was not alone!.
She wasn’t sure if the figure before her was male or female!. It had a normal shaped head balanced precariously on its long, thin neck, which arched gracefully into its shoulders!. There were paper-thin wings sprouting from its bony back, the tendons clear through their leathery black surface!. The Thing’s legs, long and thin, were tucked under its body!. It sat motionless, and watched Isadora with its black, pupil-less eyes that were set in emerald, vein-webbed skin!.
Isadora didn’t dare move a muscle!. She did not know if the creature meant her harm!. Her dark blue eyes darted from the creature to her pocketknife, which only lay a few feet from her!. The Thing sighed heavily and rested its head upon the foot of Isadora’s bed, closing its eyes!.
Isadora had never encountered a creature like this on the island!. In fact, she had never had much interaction with any sort of animal, other than wild boars and fish!.
The Thing seemed to be sleeping, so she reached for her pocketknife slowly!. The minute she flipped it open, the creature let out a loud wail and flew out of her shack!.
Isadora’s heart raced with relief!. She threw the knife aside and settled back down to sleep!.
She dreamt that night, for the first time in two years!.
“Why are you here, child!?”
A disembodied voice!. Isadora looked around, wishing for something different than what she saw every day, but once again, it was that same, sickening view of the sea, the view most people would be thrilled to see!.
“Who’s there!?” Deep down she was afraid, but she could push it aside easily because of the want, the need, for another person!.
“Why are you here, child!?” It was liquid, a smooth, unbreaking voice with a ringing quality to it!.
She was silent, listening to the waves crashing on the shore fifty yards away!. Why was she here!? All she remembered was the flight attendant apologizing for the malfunction through his tears and then the plane filling with water!. She didn’t know where she had been going!. All she had were those memories of the crash, and then dragging herself up the beach after spotting the land a mile away!.
“What do you wish to see!?”
She looked up, squinting at the sun as if she could see whoever was speaking!.
“What are you, God!?”
“What do you wish to see!?”
The water was never-ending in front of her!. Just blue, clear and sparkling in the sun!.
“Home!. I want to see the city I live in!.”
Where did she live, anyway!? A crowded place, an apartment, in the city!. New York!. Near the bridge that connected Manhattan to Brooklyn, that was where she lived!. Brooklyn, New York, USA, Earth!.
There was a sharp blast to her eyes and then she was floating in pure white space, the only non-white things were Isadora and her shadow a few feet below, though there was no light source!.
And then another blast and she was standing right in Times Square: people and cars and sound and birds and ads and blaring lights and honking horns and the huge, trademark Coke sign right in the middle of it all!. Isadora stared, and then reached out and lightly touched a withered, tired-looking old woman hunched over, waving her hand for a taxi!.
“This isn’t the best place for that, ma’am,” she said softly!. There was no response from the woman!.
She tapped her harder!. “Ma’am,” she said loudly!. “This is such a busy place, ma’am!. You won’t be able to get a cab!.”
The woman kept waving, wrapping her shawl tightly around her shoulders!.
“Can’t you hear me!?” Isadora waved her hand in front of the wrinkled face!. “Hello!?”
She stared right through her!.
She shrieked softly, turning around and running into a tall, balding man in a business suit!. He kept walking, talking loudly into his cell phone, staring straight ahead!. His briefcase swung up and hit her in the ribs!.
“Oof!”
He kept on going!.
“Hey, you!”
Isadora chased after him, punching his back!. He showed no sign that he had noticed her!.
“No!”
She staggered into a small shop that was empty of customers!. The lady at the counter was reading a book, and didn’t look up when she came in!.
“Hello!? HEY! HEY, CAN YOU HEAR ME OR WHAT!?”
Nothing!.
She kicked the counter as hard as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs and then turned and ran, pushing people as she sprinted down sidewalk after sidewalk!.
“CAN NOBODY HEAR ME!?”
She stood right in the middle of the street, and in the middle of groups of talking people, cut in lines for movies (not that the workers acknowledged her), ran screaming through shops, and then finally collapsed on a curb, sobbing as the cars and people zoomed by!.
There was a touch at her shoulder!.
“Help me home,” said the voice, and then she saw the emerald skin and black eyes!. “Help me home…”
She woke up drenched in sweat!.
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