I dried myself off with the remainder of my white shirt and slipped my other shirt back on. I'd gathered some big leaves off a banana tree
earlier to use as a pallet to sleep on. I hadn't wanted to risk the climb to
reach the bananas since my head was still throbbing, but I had hopes that in the morning I would feel well enough to climb and add some to the
coconuts for breakfast.
I added two more logs to the fire to keep it going through the night and folded up my pants to rest my head on. Then Ilaid my head down and almost immediately fell asleep, without once thinking of webbed feet.
I startled awake a few hours later, not sure what suddenly caused me to jump up from a solid sleep. The fire had died down quite a bit, and my surroundings were extremely dark. It was a new moon, so I didn't even
have nature's spotlight to help me locate the source of my disturbance.
I threw a few more logs on the fire and couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched. I looked around, but there was no way I was going to see anything or anyone. The sky was dark and full of more stars than I'd ever witnessed. It would have been incredibly peaceful if only I could stop thinking about the fact that I might be some wild animal's late-night snack.
I decided to arm myself with a rather pointy piece of driftwood and try to get some more sleep. I was going to need the rest to gain back enough
strength to explore the island in the morning, so I drifted back to sleep with visions of the webbed footprint playing with my mind.
"Buzz off, Swamp Thing," I mumbled as sleep pulled me under once again.
The next morning,I woke to something poking me in my side, over and over again.
"Tully, stop with the claws,I will feed you in a minute," I grumbled at my overly insistent cat.
The poking just picked up the pace and wouldn't quit. The damn cat was just determined to get me out of my cozy bed and to do his bidding. I wasn't going to win this battle.
"Fine, ya bastard cat!" I yelled as I sat up in my bed.
Then I looked around to find I most certainly was not in my bed. I was on the pallet of banana leaves I'd gathered the day before to use as an impromptu bed.
It was also not Tully poking me with his claws.
I looked up to see four of the most beautiful, yet strange women I'd ever laid eyes on. The one closest to me, who happened to be poking me
with the end of a rudimentary spear, had hair the exact gray-blue shade of the storm churned water I fell into. It fell far past her waist, and intricate seashells were braided into the ends. She looked at me intensely with big green eyes that closely resembled a cat's eyes, including enlarged pupils that told me she was definitely on alert.
Come to think of it, her eyes reminded me of the eyes of Draco the dragon from Dragonheart.
Her skin was a very pale blue, with patches of moss green scales
running along her arms and legs, and even a patch that formed a widow's peak on her forehead. More scales scattered across her cheekbones and
drew attention to her leathery wing shaped ears which were poking out
from her hair. Her full breasts were hidden behind a halter top made of
creamy material, but I could tell more of the intriguing scales ran from her breasts, down her sides, and dipped below the matching pants that accented everything between her hips and thighs.
I blatantly stared at her and let my eyes run the length of her stunning body. She was muscular along her arms and abdomen, but full in her breasts and hips. Her legs were so long and smooth, and I started imagining what they would feel like wrapped around me. I was so lost in this daydream, I barely noticed the webbed feet at the end of those luscious legs.
This woman had apparently had enough of my ogling, though, and she poked me again, this time piercing my skin.
I jumped in response and found myself staring at three more spears for my effort. I half wondered if I was still dreaming, but the poke was all too real. I could see the blood as it seeped through my shirt. Maybe I'd hit my head harder than I thought. Maybe I was hallucinating.
Hallucinating hot, blue dragon-serpentine women with webbed feet.
I was going to need serious therapy once I finally got home.
For now, though,Idecided the best thing I could do was to try to express my situation to these women and communicate my needs.
Just call me The Mystical Dragon Whisperer.
"I … mean … you … no … harm," I said slowly, and I held my hands up placatingly.
The woman cocked her head at me, and her eyes narrowed. Great. It looked like she couldn't understand me.
"I … am … lost … and … need … help" I pleaded as I tried to use hand signals to get my point across. "Can you--"
"Are you addled in the head?" the woman cut me off, and her voice was as smooth as melted chocolate.
"Oh, hell freaking yes!" I exclaimed with a grin. "You speak English."
"We speak the language native to our people and to this world, among thousands of otherlanguages," she replied stoically.
I blinked in shock.
"Thousands? How did you--" Ishook my head, "Nevermind. My name is Ben Whitfield. Can you tell me how to get off this island? Do you have a phone? Is there a resort? A gas station? Hotel? Bait shop?
Anything?"
My barrages of questions trailed off as the four women stared at me incredulously. Then the women shared a glance and spoke to each other in a strange, clicking language before the one who had first spoken turned back
to me.
"Stand up!" she ordered. "We are taking you to our queen. She will know what to do with you."
"Wait,what do you mean by 'know what to do with me?'" I
questioned with a frown. "Who is this queen? I am not so sure I want to go anywhere with you."
"For the last time, stand up!" the woman yelled at me, accompanied with another poke of her spear.
I decided that if I wanted to keep all of my body parts intact, now
was a goodtime to listen to these beautiful women and stand up. When I
did, the woman pulled off a length of rope that had been wrapped around the staff of her spear and proceeded to bind my hands in front of me tightly.
Before I could even protest, she slipped a tightly woven sack over my head so my vision was completely obscured. I could hear the sounds of
shuffling and gathered they poured my hard-earned coconut water over the fire to put it out and were rummaging through the few possessions I had. If I'd been in a better predicament,I would have protested their intrusion, but it was pointless while I stood there with my hands tied and a bag over my head.
"Walk!" came a new voice from behind me, and having no choice, I did.
I walkeI dried myself off with the remainder of my white shirt and slipped my other shirt back on. I'd gathered some big leaves off a banana tree
earlier to use as a pallet to sleep on. I hadn't wanted to risk the climb to
reach the bananas since my head was still throbbing, but I had hopes that in the morning I would feel well enough to climb and add some to the
coconuts for breakfast.
I added two more logs to the fire to keep it going through the night and folded up my pants to rest my head on. Then Ilaid my head down and almost immediately fell asleep, without once thinking of webbed feet.
I startled awake a few hours later, not sure what suddenly caused me to jump up from a solid sleep. The fire had died down quite a bit, and my surroundings were extremely dark. It was a new moon, so I didn't even
have nature's spotlight to help me locate the source of my disturbance.
I threw a few more logs on the fire and couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched. I looked around, but there was no way I was going to see anything or anyone. The sky was dark and full of more stars than I'd ever witnessed. It would have been incredibly peaceful if only I could stop thinking about the fact that I might be some wild animal's late-night snack.
I decided to arm myself with a rather pointy piece of driftwood and try to get some more sleep. I was going to need the rest to gain back enough
strength to explore the island in the morning, so I drifted back to sleep with visions of the webbed footprint playing with my mind.
"Buzz off, Swamp Thing," I mumbled as sleep pulled me under once again.
The next morning,I woke to something poking me in my side, over and over again.
"Tully, stop with the claws,I will feed you in a minute," I grumbled at my overly insistent cat.
The poking just picked up the pace and wouldn't quit. The damn cat was just determined to get me out of my cozy bed and to do his bidding. I wasn't going to win this battle.
"Fine, ya bastard cat!" I yelled as I sat up in my bed.
Then I looked around to find I most certainly was not in my bed. I was on the pallet of banana leaves I'd gathered the day before to use as an impromptu bed.
It was also not Tully poking me with his claws.
I looked up to see four of the most beautiful, yet strange women I'd ever laid eyes on. The one closest to me, who happened to be poking me
with the end of a rudimentary spear, had hair the exact gray-blue shade of the storm churned water I fell into. It fell far past her waist, and intricate seashells were braided into the ends. She looked at me intensely with big green eyes that closely resembled a cat's eyes, including enlarged pupils that told me she was definitely on alert.
Come to think of it, her eyes reminded me of the eyes of Draco the dragon from Dragonheart.
Her skin was a very pale blue, with patches of moss green scales
running along her arms and legs, and even a patch that formed a widow's peak on her forehead. More scales scattered across her cheekbones and
drew attention to her leathery wing shaped ears which were poking out
from her hair. Her full breasts were hidden behind a halter top made of
creamy material, but I could tell more of the intriguing scales ran from her breasts, down her sides, and dipped below the matching pants that accented everything between her hips and thighs.
I blatantly stared at her and let my eyes run the length of her stunning body. She was muscular along her arms and abdomen, but full in her breasts and hips. Her legs were so long and smooth, and I started imagining what they would feel like wrapped around me. I was so lost in this daydream, I barely noticed the webbed feet at the end of those luscious legs.
This woman had apparently had enough of my ogling, though, and she poked me again, this time piercing my skin.
I jumped in response and found myself staring at three more spears for my effort. I half wondered if I was still dreaming, but the poke was all too real. I could see the blood as it seeped through my shirt. Maybe I'd hit my head harder than I thought. Maybe I was hallucinating.
Hallucinating hot, blue dragon-serpentine women with webbed feet.
I was going to need serious therapy once I finally got home.
For now, though,Idecided the best thing I could do was to try to express my situation to these women and communicate my needs.
Just call me The Mystical Dragon Whisperer.
"I … mean … you … no … harm," I said slowly, and I held my hands up placatingly.
The woman cocked her head at me, and her eyes narrowed. Great. It looked like she couldn't understand me.
"I … am … lost … and … need … help" I pleaded as I tried to use hand signals to get my point across. "Can you--"
"Are you addled in the head?" the woman cut me off, and her voice was as smooth as melted chocolate.
"Oh, hell freaking yes!" I exclaimed with a grin. "You speak English."
"We speak the language native to our people and to this world, among thousands of otherlanguages," she replied stoically.
I blinked in shock.
"Thousands? How did you--" Ishook my head, "Nevermind. My name is Ben Whitfield. Can you tell me how to get off this island? Do you have a phone? Is there a resort? A gas station? Hotel? Bait shop?
Anything?"
My barrages of questions trailed off as the four women stared at me incredulously. Then the women shared a glance and spoke to each other in a strange, clicking language before the one who had first spoken turned back
to me.
"Stand up!" she ordered. "We are taking you to our queen. She will know what to do with you."
"Wait,what do you mean by 'know what to do with me?'" I
questioned with a frown. "Who is this queen? I am not so sure I want to go anywhere with you."
"For the last time, stand up!" the woman yelled at me, accompanied with another poke of her spear.
I decided that if I wanted to keep all of my body parts intact, now
was a goodtime to listen to these beautiful women and stand up. When I
did, the woman pulled off a length of rope that had been wrapped around the staff of her spear and proceeded to bind my hands in front of me tightly.
Before I could even protest, she slipped a tightly woven sack over my head so my vision was completely obscured. I could hear the sounds of
shuffling and gathered they poured my hard-earned coconut water over the fire to put it out and were rummaging through the few possessions I had. If I'd been in a better predicament,I would have protested their intrusion, but it was pointless while I stood there with my hands tied and a bag over my head.
"Walk!" came a new voice from behind me, and having no choice, I did.
I walked to what would certainly be my doom.d to what would certainly be my doom.