Bermuda

Chapter 3

I tried opening my eyes for the third time. This time they opened but shut again forcefully because of the Sun. It was as if my eyes were water and the Sun cesium, which was, of course, a recipe for disaster. I tried opening them again and even though it was excruciatingly painful, I managed to. What was around me, shocked me. At the bottom of my feet was something blue. After letting my eyes focus some more, I came to the conclusion that it was the ocean. It was a piercing blue mixed with emerald green that made it look like the colours were vibrating together, which was where I finally understood the saying of 'the tango of the sea'.

On the horizon, there were pale white clouds that enveloped the sun in a kind embrace. I lifted my hand above my face, blocking my eyes from the Sun, since my eyes hadn't fully gotten used to the beaming sun rays.

I turned my head and saw the beaming palm trees that were growing right were the sand of the beach stopped. They were springing out of the ground just like the crown of a pineapple. I looked farther than the trees and saw a few mountains and hills, that weren't that big, and they were covered with bushes and trees. I turned my head again, to the right this time, to discover something big lying a few feet away from me. I was curious.

The waves were drenching the sand and were slowly creeping towards my legs and I wanted to head over to see what the big stick figure was, so I decided to tear my eyes away from the beautiful sight and try to sit up.

While sitting up I felt an agonizing pain on my lower leg, making me look down and what I saw had me even more shocked. Right before my ankle was a bruise that was as big as a hand. The bruise was a nasty colour of purple blended with blue and green. On the side there was a bit of dried blood, making me wonder how long ago it was I ended up here. I was biting down hard on my lip, trying to stop the sobs from escaping.

I looked around frightened, to see if there was anything that could help me stand up. Next to me, there was a stick that was quite long. I grabbed it and pulled it up vertically and pushed down, with all of my strength, onto it.

When I was able to stand up, I made my way over to the other stick-like object. I was hopping on one leg because when I walked on the other, it was like a thousand needles stabbing me over and over again.

When I was about 10 meters away from it, I could see what it was. It was one of the sails from my ship.

I looked around once more too see if there was anybody else that had ended up here with me after the shipwreck. There wasn't anything more than the palm trees and sand as far as the eye could see.

Deciding that it was better if I moved around a little bit on the island, I made my way over to the ocean again. Once I was right in front of the waves, and a few meters away from where I had previously woken up, I picked up a rock that was laying in the sand. The rock was a soft beige colour. I threw the rock high up in the sky and hopped back a few steps, so it wouldn't land on me. The rock fell down at lightning speed, thanks to gravity, and when it hit the sand it bounced lightly to the left.

I had always done this as a child. When I didn't know which way to go, I would pick up the rock and throw it up in the sky, and when it bounced back, I would go the direction the rock had bounced to.

So I started walking left.

I'm exhausted.

I think I have been walking, or hopping, for about two hours. I hadn't gotten anywhere. There was still only palm trees, sand and of course the ocean, as far as the eye could reach. The only difference was that I couldn’t see the sail anymore. I needed to sit down.

I made my way over to the trees, where there were a couple big rocks where I could sit down. Before I knew it, I was face down in the sand. My leg started to sting, and I bit back another sob. I pushed myself up and steadied myself on my arms and looked back at what it was I had tripped on. It was a shoe. A boot to be more exact. I stood up and used the stick to steady myself again. I picked up the boot and looked around again to see who the boot belonged to.

There was nobody. Not even a body.

I proceeded to make my over to the rocks to sit down, with the boot in my hand. I saw something on the other side, so I peeked further. The silence was broken with my loud gasp. The somebody I was looking for before, the owner of the boot, was laying right on the other side. His face was horrifying. His skin was peeling off and the wound was a bright orange-reddish colour. His body was covered with brown clothing and on his feet were black socks with one boot. The other one I was holding in my hand.

I quickly made my way around the rocks, pushing the leaves and branches from the trees out of my face. I kneeled down close to his head and examined the wounds closer. I placed the boot on the rocks so that my hand was free and I could grab his head and place it on my lap.

He was almost unrecognizable. The only reason that I did in fact recognize him, was because of the pin on his brown jacket. The seal of the proud lady was engraved in it, which meant that he was part of my crew.

“Please be alive. Please be alive." I whispered in a raspy voice. I hadn't said anything since I woke up, it hurt too much. My voice was strained and dry because I hadn't found any drinkable water yet.

When I was lifting his head, he winced, and I thanked the Lord that he wasn't dead. I don't know what I did, or what he did. But somehow the boot that was on the rock came tumbling down and landed right on his head.

That's it. I had officially decided that the boot was cursed and we had to burn it. I removed the boot fast and threw it over the rocks. I failed to notice that his eyes had opened. I would recognise those misty blue orbs anywhere.

“Alexander.”