NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Bianca - Day 1 of Landing
When I awoke, I heard the guttural squawks of blue sea birds bickering back and forth. The tiny break of land I found myself on was near the shore of a forested coast devoid of civilization or any signs of life or wreckage. The sun was rising as I walked through the shallows to the beach. The sands of the beach reminded me of a mix of turmeric and specks of green crystal sprinkles mixed in. Some types of clams were planted in rows and opened every so often to extend their wormlike bodies out of their granite shells towards the salty sea.
I tried to search for any signs of the plane wreckage or other human survivors on my travels across the sands, but nothing was on the beach except for shells, some driftwood, and seaweed. I walked what felt like miles down the beach and retraced my steps. When I got back near where I started, I found footprints that led to a clearing. The size of these footprints looked like they belonged to a child or at least a young girl. They led me to a clearing in the forest, and I followed them.
In the dirt, the shoeprints looked like they were made by small sneakers, suggesting it must have been a young boy or woman with small feet who made them.
Poor kid must be scared to death.
It looked like he was traveling in circles with no aim or direction. I followed them to a stream where the footprints disappeared. Figuring he must have retraced his steps or gone back to the beach, I did the same, only to find myself lost in the woods with no sense of direction to get back to the beach.
Wonderful, Bianca, just wonderful. First a plane crash, and now you are lost in the woods. I swear if some smoke monster comes out, this will be officially the worst day of my life. So far.
It was pointless wearing myself out wandering around. I didn’t venture that far from the beach. I just had to start marking the trail. I would make this my center point and venture out in each direction little by little until I finally saw the beach again.
A trunk of a fallen tree a yard wide near a cave and a clearing was where I made my first landmark. I grabbed a few branches as markers and placed them in a four-point system. The cave was only a few meters deep, indented on a mossy hill. On the cave walls were specks of blue crystal and gray slab. The sun was directly above my head, and I slapped my forehead in frustration. I’ll have to wait a while to see where it sets, and then I can get a good sense of east and west. Tomorrow I’ll head out in one direction.
I sat on the jagged floor of the cave for a few minutes before deciding it was uncomfortable. The bushes near the cave had leaves that looked like giant banana leaves shaped like green surfboards but attached to bushes with no bananas fruiting on them, and I gathered some to place on the floor of the cave. Once piled, they made an adequate flat place to lie down. My stomach growled.
Why didn’t the plane provide any food? I know it was a regional flight, but God forbid they give us some peanuts or something.
There were some purple fruits on the trees near the cave, but I wasn’t that desperate yet. Let’s call it a diet. I can go a day or two without eating. Now water... That is another thing. I would need to get some soon. The plane was just off the coast of Florida. Were we in Florida or some island off of it? How can I even make a fire? I know you have to hit two stones together or use a match and some fallen branches or something.
I tried to calm myself down, but as minutes passed, I started having a minor panic attack. No way to communicate. No phone. No internet. Lost in the woods after a plane crash. No humans anywhere. No water. No food. No toilets. Well, there was that, but... no toilet paper! A tear formed in my eyes, but I stayed strong.
Oh geez, look at you, Bianca. One hour without your phone and human interaction, and you are losing it. Get it together.
Laughing hysterically to myself, I blinked away the tears, and the light from the cave entrance before me vanished. The coldness of the dark surrounded me. It wasn’t a darkness of blindness or night but one of pure nothingness. As if I was surrounded by a completely black void like in an observatory, aware of everything, able to see my own body and hands before me and the distance, but unable to see anything on the horizon but dark cosmos. Instead of my throne of leaves, I sat on a crimson chair. The chair sucked me in like quicksand, making it difficult to stand up, though in my confusion, I had little inkling to do so. A hooded figure appeared before me, sitting in the empty chair, and I screamed.
“HELP!”
“Stay seated. The cards must be dealt,” the voice was soft and whispery. She, I assumed it was a she, reached into her palms and pulled out a card.
The card read “Founder” and had a single B on the top of it.
Stunned and dumbfounded, I sat there looking at the card and the hooded figure blankly. The dealer pulled a deck of cards from her palms. The deck swirled and shuffled itself, and she placed three cards before me.
“Is this some kind of tarot reading? Where am I? Is this for YouTube or something? I don’t get it.” I blurted one after another hysterically.
“Not reading, a playing. We are finding out who you are, not who you will be. That is up to you,” she said calmly.
“I’m Bianca, what’s your name? Look, if this is a prank, I don’t consent. I’m just a student, I’m not that interesting. Please take me home,” I cried.
“The cards must be dealt,” the hooded card dealer reiterated.
“I’ll play your game, but can I go home after?”
“You have not been taken away anywhere, holder, for this realm exists for you and in you,” she said.
“Where is this then? Florida? Am I still in the States? Look, I was on a flight back to New York, please,” I cried, tears welling in my eyes.
“The cards must be dealt.”
“If I pick a card, can I go home? Is this some magic trick prank or something? Please answer me.” I begged.
“I simply deal the cards, and the cards must be dealt.” Her flat calm tone angered me.
“FUCK YOUR CARDS!” I screamed. I got up from the chair and ran as far away from the ghost until it was no longer in my sight.
When I found the hooded figure and table in the distance again, I wondered if I had run in a circle. I gritted my teeth and ran in another direction in a straight line.
“Look, this isn’t funny!” I yelled.
Again, in the distance, the only thing I found in the void was a hooded figure sitting at a desk in front of an empty chair. I sighed and accepted my fate.
“Fine, I’ll play your stupid game but I’m suing whoever is behind this,” I picked the third card on the right and smacked it on the table.
The shimmering card read “Familiar: Golem” with a blank S on the top center. The description of it read: “Builder Golem. Will assist in building structures and basic tasks.” Like dust on the wind, the card faded into my palms.
Two more cards were dealt and placed before me. One read “Tracking” with 1 marked on top, and the other read “Builder” with a 1 marked on top. The cards again drained into my palms. I stared blankly and wondered how this magic was working. Lights? Holographics? Was this a trick?
“The cards have been dealt. Until we meet again, fellow holder,” the hooded figure said, and in the blink of an eye, the void disappeared, and I was back in my cave again holding four cards.
If this was a prank, they got me good.