My bare feet pound against the forbidden island that my mother warned me to stay away from. I didn’t listen. It was so enticing. The dense forest of palm trees and green swayed in the distance of the mainland’s coast. The land bridge between me and mystery was so short. All I had to do was walk across.

And I, being the idiot I am, did.

Palms and bushes slap against my skin and face as I push past them. The edge of the woods comes up so quickly I don’t have time to stop myself before I hit the sand. My foot catches on the cool soft surface and I fall forward; tumbling down the steep beach-y shore. Sand clots my vision and coats my teeth in an unbearable grit.

I sit on my knees, cough, and frantically wipe and scratch at my eyes and the stars in the night sky start to come back into view.

I look across the rough black sea back to the mainland; maybe small by the distance to its banks.

The land bridge that connected it to the forbidden island I now kneel on is nowhere to be seen. The high tide swallowed it up in its cold unforgiving grasp.

“Dammit . . .” I breathe.

I’ll have to wait till morning.

I look back into the forest behind me.

Luminescent flowers bloom off of low shrubs and curl up the trunks of palms. They open up slowly and hesitantly; waiting to make sure the sun is sleeping and the moon is full.

Their glow brightens as the forest moves closer to me. It’s as if ever part of it is alive and breathing. I fall into my mind with only one subject present inside; the island.

It’s consuming my thoughts leaving nothing but confusion, and yet a feeling of comfort and safety wraps itself around me.

“I think I’ll stay here,” I mutter subconsciously as I walk deep into the thicket.

I’ll never get out of here.