The next morning, Antonio came back the island alone.
"Fraiser is busy, so I thought I'd come back by myself," he said. Then speaking directly to me, he said, "Have you made your decision then?"
I nodded. "I will come with you to civilization, but only if my friends come too."
He smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
When we finally got to the ship, I was amazed. How could something so big, float? It was so interesting and I was absorbed. But there are bad things about learning things new.
As I looked back at the island, growing smaller by the second, I could feel my friends tense. I turned away and looked at Antonio.
Why does he look through circles?
Why does he hind his feet?
Why do I feel so shy when we meet?
Is this the tree he sleeps in?
What does he see from there?
Could there be new horizons to share?
All these
Questions keep churning and burning,
Inside me,
What are these feelings I feel when he's here by my side?
I need to know these answers.
I need to find my way.
Seize my tomorrow.
Learn my yesterday.
I need to take these chances.
Let all my feelings show.
Can't tell what's waiting,
Still I need to go.
I need to know.
I sighed and walked to the main part of the ship. Should we be there by now? It was taking awfully long. Wasn't it?
What did I know anymore? I left the only home that I've ever known, brought my friends with me, was looking for my family who didn't know how to find and I had strange feeling towards someone I didn't even know. What was wrong with me? I used to always have good judgments.
But maybe this was a good judgment, even if my friends didn't think so. Maybe this was what I was supposed to do. Find my family.
I went over my problems again. I couldn't go back and I couldn't bring my friends back. That left the strange feelings and finding my family. I couldn't very well look for my family on the ship. So I'd have to work on my feelings.
First, I had to figure out what they were. Antonio was at the front of the ship looking through his circles again. (Was that normal?) I took a deep breath and marched forward. If I wanted answers, I knew I'd have to ask him directly.
He heard me and turned around. My heart fluttered and I hesitated.
Stop that. I commanded myself. Why was I acting so dumb?
"Ro," Antonio said, "Is there something I could help you with?"
His smile made my insides feel weird. My heart was fluttering. I felt my face flush red.
Stop it. I commanded myself again.
"Actually, I-I was wondering," I said. Well here goes nothing. "I was wondering… What are you looking through?" Chicken!
Luckily, he took my stuttering the wrong way.
"Oh, this?" He held up the circles. "It's called a telescope. It's a new invention. Nothing to be ashamed of not knowing about."
If only I said what I wanted to say.
After Antonio turned around and walked away, I couldn't bring myself to confront him again. Not after what I just experienced.
I turned to walk to my cabin. Maybe there would be a use for a "bed". I thought my tree back home was nicer, though.
Home.
The thought made me want to cry. I couldn't cry, not with Antonio there. I just had to make it to the cabin.
I started walking towards the door when I heard my name.
"Ro?"
It was Tika.
"Ro where are you going?" Tika asked.
Act like nothings wrong.
"I'm just going to my cabin. I'll be right back." It wasn't a total lie. It wasn't the total truth either. It hurt not to be totally honest with Tika.
"We'll come with you then."
Sagi and Azul. Should have known they would have been close behind.
"Actually, I was going to get some sleep," I admitted. "I didn't get much last night and I'm really tired from all the excitement today."
Tika looked upset, but Sagi stepped in.
"We understand Ro. Go get some rest."
I smiled with gratitude to Sagi. Then I turned and walked into my cabin.
The bed was the only thing the room contained. I'd have to deal with that later.
I crawled into bed and felt the tears stream down my face. I immediately fell asleep.
I dreamt of the lady again. She was singing to me in the sweetest voice yet. I yearned to see her face, but it was still blurry. One thing was different this time, though. This time it seemed like we were on a ship. I pushed away the thought. It was just because I was on a ship right now.
I woke up and it was beginning to turn dark. The colors in the sky were so beautiful. There were mixtures of reds, purples and oranges.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Antonio was now beside me.
"Yes. On the island, we would see the most beautiful sunsets," I said.
He smiled.
"Ro, you're up!" said Tika.
I reluctantly turned away from Antonio. "Hey Tika! Want do you want to do first?" Good keep yourself busy. Tika needs you more now.
"Well… I found the perfect spot to do our relay," Tika said.
"Great! Go find the others and we'll get started."
Tika turned to walk away. I smiled a sympathetic smile at Antonio and followed her.
Hopefully Tika didn't notice I wasn't really into the game. I just wasn't feeling it. Telling Tika I didn't want to play would hurt her, tough, so I joined in. Besides, I couldn't talk to Antonio anymore. Not when he was sailing the ship.
Something must have clicked, though, because I found myself more and more involved with the game.
"I win!" I said as I came down. The ship had the best vines to swing on.
"Break!" called Azul. "My feather are getting too ruffled. If I keep playing much longer, I'll never be able to control them in the morning!"
I smiled. Good ol' reliable Azul.
I grabbed the nearest rope and swung myself around. I was now standing on the outside of the ship. I'd always wondering what it feel like to go out to the middle of the blue water (now I knew it was called the "ocean").
"Ro! Come here!"
What did Tika find now?
"Just look at this view! I know it's dark, but you can see it! Civilization!"
I looked to where Tika was pointing.
"You're right! We're almost there!" I hugged Tika. Finally.
I wanted to get a better look, so I climbed up to the top of the ropes. A few minutes later I noticed Antonio behind me on a different rope. He was looking at me. I blushed. Hopefully he couldn't see it though. It was dark…
The next morning Antonio came up to me.
"False alarm."
What did he mean by that?
"The ocean can often play tricks on you we still have a little ways to go before we get to civilization."
"Oh," I said. So much for getting my hopes up.
Antonio walked away and I turned back to the ocean. I saw dolphins passing us.
I waved to them. Dolphins were fun and easy to get along with.
As they swam by, I felt jealous. They were so free on the water. I was so… not.
Tika came up and stood beside me with Sagi and Azul. I smiled at them. We were going to be okay. I just had to keep telling myself that.
The next couple of days passed when we finally got the news.
"We're coming up to civilization!" Antonio exclaimed.
I studied the place. It had big, majestic buildings and people like me everyone. Tika noticed the same thing as me.
"No trees. No waterfalls. No beach."
"We just have to adapt, Tika," I tried.
"Just as long a we don't stay long."
I couldn't think of a response to that. Who knew how long it was until I found my family. If I found my family.
It was when we came to dock and I heard "Welcome home" did this place was in fact, my home.
Welcome home, indeed.