You guys I'm the stupidest person on earth, I thought I updated this like three weeks ago but then I checked yesterday and realized I haven't. Sorry! Anyway here is chapter 1!
Somehow he made it. Four sunrises later his boat washed up on an island.
If you were to define beauty, the island was it. As Jeffery weakly walked through the island in search of fresh water, he took in his surroundings.
There were things he had never seen before. Flowers bigger than himself, trees reaching higher than he could climb, everything was bright and green, nothing was out of place. He came across a pond by the time the sun was blazing, he dropped to his knees and stuck his hands into the water, he brought water to his lips and drank it greedily. He then splashed his face with water and sighed as he felt himself begin to cool off.
A bush behind him suddenly began to rustle, causing him to jump. He stood up slowly and span around. The rustling in the bush suddenly stopped and there was nothing but the sound of songbirds.
"Hi! I'm Nick!"
Jeffery shrieked as a boy with brunet hair leaped from the tree above him and landed only a couple inches away from him. The blond stumbled backwards and landed in the pond with a large splash. He quickly got to his feet and began to run across the pond, hoping he wasn't going to slip.
The boy giggled and raced after him, "Where are you going?"
Jeffery shrieked again, "get away from me!" He slipped on the muddy earth and his robe ripped off of him, leaving him in only a pair of pajama pants. Nick came to a stop in front of him, his eyes wide as he stared at the pale skin of Jeff's chest. Jeffery huffed in annoyance.
"Excuse me! Why are you chasing me!"
Nick's eyes snapped back up to his face, a smile spread across his face. "I wanted to see you. Everyone's talking about you!"
Jeffery raised and eyebrow and got to his feet. "What do you mean?"
"Well this morning one of the Matres saw you walking through the forest and she told everyone in the village. Who are you?"
Jeffery looked around, wondering if they were being watched now. "I'm Jeffery Sterling. My boat, which was on the way to America, sunk."
Nick grinned happily, "I knew it was you!" He looked around, "Jeffery? Interesting, I think i'm going to call you Jeff."
"But that's-"
Nick looked so proud of himself that Jeffe- Jeff didn't say anything.
"Where am I?"
"Insulam de arboribus, or the Island of Trees."
Jeff nodded, "Well is there, an airport? Or a train stations that you can take me to or something?"
Nick tilted his head to the side, "What's that?"
Jeff sucked in a breath, "Never mind. What about a leader or something?"
Nick's face lit up, "My Mamas almost done tending to the children. She knows a lot.
Before Jeff could reply Nick grasped his hand and began to lead him deeper in the forest.
And for some reason, Jeff trusted him.
Eyes of every color stared at him as Nick led him through the crowd of people that lived on the island. Jeff took them each in as fast he could noticing little things, like how they all wore skins of animals as shirts and pants (or skirts for the women), or like how they all somehow had short hair that didn't go past their chins. Nick had brought him to a large clearing that was surrounded by trees that had shacks made of wood that were lined up in rows. There was a scent of something cooking on a fire, and children running around laughing. As soon as they passed everyone grew silent and stopped what they were doing to watch them.
"Nick, is this him?"
Nick led them right in front of a woman that resembled him. Jeff blinked down at her, he realized that he was taller than the both of them.
Nick let his hand free and nodded, "Yes. I found him near Willow's pond."
The woman looked him over, "He's filthy. I'll clean him up and have Holly make him some clothes with last nights kill. Why don't you go and collect some berries for him."
Nick nodded, "Okay! I'll be back soon!"
Jeff watched him leave, along with everyone else. Nick's mother beckoned him towards her and led him to a stream behind one of the shops.
"I'm Jeff."
The woman smiled kindly, "I'm Elli." She tugged at his pajama pants, which fell apart. He looked down sadly at them and allowed her to sit him in the grass beside the water. She reached for a bucket which sat on a branch in the tree and scooped water from it.
She left him with bucket and allowed him to wash himself with cool water. When he was done he called for her, and she came back with a neat pile of some sort of cloth. She handed him a square of cloth and he began to dry the water from his body. She handed him the rest of the cloth.
"Nick should be back soon, so hurry up and then you can meet the village."
She smiled at him and turned to walk through the trees leaving him alone. He set the square of cloth down and looked at the clothing she had brought him. There was a sandy colored shirt that looked like it was made by a professional and the same material was sewn into a pair of loose shorts. Jeffery sighed as he put it on, feeling a bit silly.
He made a feeble attempt to fix his hair and followed the path back to the clearing.
