The Island at the End of the World

an old story but my favorite thing I've ever written

I squinted through the rain at the tempest swirling above the ship. Around my bound position against the main mast, the crew scrambled to regain control of the ship. A few days earlier these detestable pirates had taken control of my small merchant ship, but now the storm has taken control of their ship. With a brutal wind, the storm drove us towards the outer arc of a crescent shaped island. I heard a yell as a pirate was washed overboard, and the sail he had been tying down whipped through the air. The captain’s command to brace for impact barely carried over the pounding rain, but the crew understood. My last view before the wreck were small dots of light bobbing along the coast of the island at the end of the world.

Ten

A small source of light glowed golden through my eyelids. I was soaking wet, cold, and lying on a beach. I blinked up at the people running chaotically around me. The island we had wrecked on was inhabited by a group of normal looking humans who were trying to rescue us. I watched as three of the islanders pulled one of my original crewmates out of the wreckage and dragged him to the beach next to me. He groaned and rolled over. I’m not the only one who survived.

After another hour of watching the islanders search, they began to drift back over to where I was sitting. It appeared that they had found every crew member they could and sorted us into two rows. My row of ten contained the only survivors.

The crowd parted to allow a man who seemed to be their chief to walk forward. He extended a hand to me and helped me to my feet. He spoke almost perfect English.

“We saw your ship in the storm and rescued you from the wreckage. You ten are the only ones to survive so we invite you to a feast to celebrate and your escape from death.”

He turned without waiting for my response and walked up the beach. I rushed to follow him. As I crested the hill, I was amazed. The rain had stopped, and a massive bonfire illuminated a haphazard town square of metal and wood houses. In the distance, I could see more houses built on docks in the smooth interior water of the crescent. Shadows danced across the faces of islanders feasting and celebrating. A statue of an imposing male figure loomed on the other side of the fire. The local people seemed to be celebrating something more than just our arrival.

One of my crewmates pulled me down the hill, and a locals shoved a cup of some liquid into my hand. As I drank the liquid, I began to feel light headed. Through blurry vision I watched one of the surviving pirates walk down a boardwalk with a woman. He would show up tomorrow. I allowed myself to be swept away in the freedom of the celebration.

Nine

The sounds of a family preparing a meal woke me from my dreams of storms and the monstrous beings who caused them. At some point during the night someone had moved me to this family’s house. As they gave me a meal, they informed me that I had slept for most of the day and celebrations for their god would resume within a few hours. Upon my request, one of the children led me to where the rest of the refugees were staying for the day. On the way through the maze of buildings and boardwalks, I saw one of my crewmates heading out on a fishing trip with one of the locals. He waved and said he would see me at the celebrations later tonight as I passed by him. I passed the few hours before nightfall with seven comrades.

Eight

At nightfall, the celebrations commenced again with renewed intensity. This time the strange drink didn’t cause such brutal effects on my mind. I was able to observe more of the rituals, but the fire kept drawing my attention. One of the pirates also seemed entranced with the flames. He had joined the circle of dancing and spun to the other side of the flames. As the fire flared violently, a woman came up to me with another cup of the drink. I passed the night away in the same blurred state of consciousness.

Seven

The next day I woke up in time for lunch with two of the other survivors. A young boy was leading us to a house that we could eat at. One of them remarked that he hadn’t seen much of the other survivors recently. I replied with something about how they liked fishing and hunting more than us and turned to ask our other comrade what he thought. He wasn’t there anymore, but I probably just missed him saying he had to go get something or other. Right?

Six

We arrived to lunch still complaining about how our crewmates preferred fishing and hunting over us. My friend proposed a toast to us being forgotten by everyone and drank deeply from his cup. I laughed and began eating. I looked up at a choking sound. He clutched his throat with his eyes bulging. I tried to stand up to help him, but my legs gave out. His chair flipped over in his struggles before he stopped trying to breathe. I blacked out.

Five

Screams pulled me from darkness. I looked around for my friend, but I was back in my host house. The screams were coming from outside. I stumbled out of bed and wrenched open the door into blinding sunlight. People were streaming into the village square, and I followed them. The sight that greeted me was horrific. Local men were struggling to pull a raving man off a bleeding corpse. He was foaming at the mouth and screaming. One of the islanders noticed me and quickly pulled me away from the scene explaining that one of the survivors had been killed by a man who had caught the sun sickness a few days ago and who would be put to death for his crimes. I walked away in shock.

Four

I lost track of where I walked. Eventually two other survivors coaxed the story out of me and invited me to go hunting with them. I supposed they hoped it would cheer me up. I agreed because I had nothing better to do.

They led me to a side of the island that I hadn’t visited yet. At some point I had acquired a spear of sorts. I didn’t participate in the tracking or their conversations, but followed silently. Eventually we stopped in front of a small cave. They bet that there was something worth killing in it, and one of them crept inside. He screamed.

Three

His sudden scream pulled me from my melancholy state. A low hiss echoed from the cave, and we turned to run. We broke through the underbrush at a breakneck pace, and reptilian creature followed close behind. We reached a flat stretch of land, and the other survivor pulled ahead of me. I pushed to catch up. I drew even with him, and we could no longer hear the creature behind us. We looked at each other with grins on our faces, but he dropped out of sight. I tripped over myself to stop and discovered that he had fallen into a pit. He was dead, impaled on the spikes in the bottom of the pit.

Two

By the time I got back to town, it was almost sunset. A large crowd was still gathered in the village square. I drifted around the edges uncaring until I saw another one of my crewmates being shoved through the square. His hands were bound behind his back, and he was blindfolded. I pushed through after him. A male islander stopped me before I reached my fellow survivor. Another man stepped up to my friend and began explaining that he had been found guilty of theft. He was to be put to death at sunset. His protests rang out, but the people ignored them. I yelled as the sun went down.

One

The survivor’s body was dragged away, and the celebrations began again. The mysterious liquid refilled my cup many times that night. I wanted this all to end, and slowly, everything was drifting away. A man I had never seen before came out from behind the monstrous statue. He beckoned me toward him, so I obliged his wishes. His clothing was elaborate, and the intricate beading flashed in the light. He bound my wrists to the small ring at the base of the statue. My mind was still spinning from the drink, but everything came into sharp focus as the knife flashed in his hand.

Zero

A young man squinted through the tempest’s brutal rain. The storm was driving them toward a small crescent-shaped island at the end of the world.