Almost Paradise

"Another drink, darling?" Jack Oden asked his wife.

"Yes dear please." His wife Ana gladly accepted. Jack grabbed her glass and started to pour.

"You know Ana, I can't think of any better way to spend a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend in Costa Rica, than with you on the open sea." He smiled at her happily.

The Oden's yacht lapped softly at the waves as the boat ambled forward through the water. The sun was showing bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"According to the maps, and GPS, there is a chain of islands about ten miles west of here. Want to do some exploring?"

"Why, Jack, you haven't been this excited in years. Exploring, just like old times." She smiled, raising her glass up to her mouth to take a sip of her cardeni'a. "Why not. It will be fun."

Jack walked into the bridge and set the rotor due west. He bent his head out of the widow and called down to Ana. "We should be able to see one of them in about two or three minutes."

The yacht sped on west shooting water up into the air as the bow chopped through the waves. In the distance Ana saw a tiny dark dot on the horizon. "I think I see it Jack!" she said, excited at her find.

"I do believe you are correct." Jack said walking over to her over by the railing of the boat. "We should be there in about ten minutes."

Closer, the island grew into view. Massive mountain ranges protruded from the vast land mass. Sharp rocky cliffs ranged around a curve on the right side of the island. A constant low fog stuck to the ground layer of the island growing denser as the forest rose up through the island.

"Looks like we're going to have to go to the left and find a landing area. With all those steep cliffs to the north, we will never get on the island."

"Nice observations, Jack."

Ana said cautiously. "Are you sure we should go on land here. This place kind of gives me the creeps."

"I'm sure it's fine. Just a little overgrown is all." Jack said looking into the dense jungle only a couple hundred yards away.

Jack pulled just off the coast of the island making sure not to get too close so the boat wouldn't run aground. The yacht swayed on the water just at the point where the waves were forming. The waves barreled out into the shore crashing into the sand.

"Let's head a ways up the coast. I'm sure we can find a clearing, and then we can take the rower out to get to shore."

Jack started up the engines, and with a whirl the boat lurched forward. With a sharp shudder the boat sprang forward, water spilled over the railing to the lower decks. The two grabbed onto the table that had been bolted to the floor. The boat rocked back and forth violently, and then suddenly, the yacht jolted to a sudden stop.

"What in the hell was that?" Ana asked franticly, not letting go of her grip on the table's leg.

"I'm not sure. Let me go into the brig and check." Jack got up and headed for the stairs to go down to check on the engine. Walking through the door, smoke instantly filled his lungs. He coughed and cupped the collar of his shirt to his mouth. Walking into the room, he heard a crunching noise as he walked. Bending down and scooping up the ruble. He saw that the engine had blown a gasket. "Damn. Shit." Jack turned around and headed back up to Ana. At the top of the stairs on the deck, Jack opened his hand and let the nuts and bolts roll out onto the table. "Blown gasket."

"Blown gasket? What does that mean, Jack?"

"It means we're stuck here until we can get a new gasket. I'll call the coast guard and try to get them to send a troller out here to tow us back to the main land."

Walking into the bridge, Jack leaned over the CB and pushed the talk button. "Hello? Coast Guard?"

"hola? Hello? This is the Costa Rican Coast Guard." A small Spanish voice came through over the radio.

"Yes, hello, my name is Jack Oden. My wife I and are on our yacht off the coast. We seem to have blown a gasket on our engine and require a little help."

"Okay sir, can you please give your coordinates."

"Our coordinates…" Jack fumbled through the papers on the table trying to find the right map. "Ah, okay, our coordinates are… Our coordinates are eighty five degrees, twenty two minutes north, one hundred and twenty degrees, sixty eight minutes west.

"Im—so-ry sir, I ---don't un—r-tand. Yo—r bre-k—ng up." The static voice came through the CB. Then with one last static burst the radio went dead.

"Damn!"

"Jack. Jack." Ana came running up from the deck. "The sky is getting dark. Did you reach the coast guard?"

"The radio went out; it must be the signals getting scrambled by the weather."

The sky was growing darker and the ocean started to churn. The boat rocked back and forth. Light rain started to fall over the deck of the boat. A crash of thunder and the sky lit up.

"Let's take the rower out to shore, maybe we can find a place to get out of the rain."

The sea grew darker with each roar of the ocean. Waves stirred up and thrashed along the shoreline. The rain pelted the Oden's, as they quickly rowed to shore. Waves thrown the little boat left and right; up and down over the waves, Ana started to feel sick.

"Are we almost to the shore?" She yelled hysterically.

"Yes, just about ten yards."

With one final shove from a raging wave, the boat crashed against the sand on the shore. Arriving on shore, the Oden's were encased in a low mist. Rain fell in a steady fashion as Jack pulled the boat up the shore towards the jungle.

"The boat should be fine here." He said tying the bow securely to the trunk of a tree. Let's head this way up the shore. Maybe we can find a place out of the rain."

"Up through the jungle? Are you sure the yacht will be okay, Jack?"

"It will be fine. It's anchored far enough out it won't hit ground. "

Heading up through the jungle, the light grew darker. Looking at his watch, Jack noticed it would almost be dark. "Six-thirty," he said to Ana. "We'll have to find something soon. When we were on the boat, I could have sworn I saw a large grey building through the trees."

"You did?"

"I could have sworn."

Ana stopped in her tracks. "Jack, did you hear that?"

"What? I didn't hear anything."

"There that hissing sound."

A third hiss traveled through the jungle from the left; although it was quiet, Jack heard it.

"It's probably just a snake somewhere around us." At that moment, straight ahead, an animal stepped out into their line of sight, blocking their path. The large animal was lizard like, about six feet tall, and stood up on its two hind legs. Its dry scaly skin had a dull sheen as the setting sun hit its back through the tops of the trees. The animal was slouched on a tree limb that had fallen to the ground, clicking one of its claws against the bark.

"What is that, Jack?"

"My god, it looks like a…" He took a step backward, and out of nowhere a second animal burst out of the trees to Jack's right. He was thrown to the ground, and a searing pain ran from his neck down to his spine. The animal was on top of him, slashing its claws into his back and nipping at his head and neck.

Ana watched in horror as the animal clawed and bit at her husband. She was in shock and couldn't move, she stood there frozen. From behind a third animal ran up and charged her from the left. Hearing the noise, she turned her head. She was instantly knocked down onto the cold jungle floor, and there was a deep pain in her legs. Turning her head, she saw that the animal was on top of her legs, holding her down. The animal bellowed to the others around. Two more came out from the jungle and started to slash and stomp their prey.

The sun started to fall faster over the island. In the jungle Jack and Ana laid motionless on the jungle floor. The creatures surrounded them and Jack pulled out his hand towards Ana. She took it and the couple laid there together. With one last bellowing hiss, the predators swarmed and jumped through the air as if in synch on the two humans. With one last bite, the unfortunate pair saw darkness.