Pumachia Island

Mysterious Island Adventure

Pumachia Island

We were getting closer. I could feel the ancient mystery and awe around me as my heart beat faster. The air was hot and sticky. One could not feel the cool sea breeze so deep into the island jungle. The birds chirped and sang, but as I entered the temple, they silenced, seemingly awaiting my fate. The sun shone through the broken walls and ceilings. Where the sun could not reach was pitch black and as cold as could be. As I went in and out of the shadows I shivered and felt my skin crawling. I closed my eyes for a moment and knew that trouble lie ahead.

I proceeded through the temple, taking in everything around me. The paintings that had once been done in such brilliant reds, oranges and blues had long since faded. The walls had long since faded and cracked with weather and age. Even still, I felt the energy and culture pouring through. Behind me, my guide was breathing down my neck. I turned to face him.

“I can hear you trembling behind me. If you are scared, then leave.”

“Be sensible. Without me, you will surely be lost.”

“I will be much better off without you I am sure. Why don’t you turn around and go…”

“But mademoiselle…” the Frenchman protested.

“Go,” I commanded.

He shrugged and turned to leave and I continued onward. My steps were unsteady and my hands shook, but I wasn’t going to let on how nervous I really was to anyone�"especially not my silly guide. My life’s work was coming to its climax here and I could not afford to lose. The museum was depending on this.

The Verde Pietra of the Pumachia Island tribe was my goal. It was a plant that grew in the heart of their most sacred temple. It could heal any wound it was said. I was about to find out if the legends were true.

A grinding noise came from the middle of the temple as I stood perfectly still. I waited and listened for something to happen, but nothing did. I continued on, praying that no ancient ax would drop and no poison darts would come flying at me. I had heard about the men who had failed at getting the White Heart for themselves. They had disappeared into thin air. Not a single trace of them existed any longer. People said perhaps they had been kidnapped by ghosts or spirits of some kind. Others thought a warring tribe on the other side of the island had captured them.

Certainly the constant eruption of Mt Sumis had created myths about angry volcano gods coming down to destroy people periodically. The volcano only covered three fourths of the island and the other fourth of the island was covered in jungle so dense that most of the tribes could not move within it. Instead, two separate tribes had taken up residents on opposite coasts and could not traverse the treacherous territory to see one another. It was a miracle I had made as far as I had.