The Island's Inhabitants

Only six hours later, I'm on a boat heading for Sunshine Island. I had called my boss after calling Julia and he said it was a great idea. He sounded really pleased, and was glad I was getting out of the city for a while. He was one of the few people that actually cared about me a bit.

Sea spray spews in my face, but I don't mind. It felt really refreshing. I was up on the dock by myself. All the crew was working and the only other person on the boat was going to a different island. Surprisingly, it hadn't cost me much for a ticket.

The sea breeze blows in my face. I close my eyes and let the wind caress my features. I loved the wind. It seemed to fit right in with the country. Although I had to admit that I hated rain; I could stand sea spray.

Suddenly an Island comes into view. I pull my hat farther over my eyes as we approach. As we dock, I sigh gently. I knew that someone would be there to greet me, and that would involve talking to people. Knowing my cousin, she'd want to introduce me to everyone on the island.

One of the crew members calls for me and I get off the boat. I nod at him as thanks and then they depart, telling me they'd be back at 11pm on Thursday night to pick me up.

I turn around when I'm suddenly caught in a huge hug. My eyes widen and I pull my hat closer over my eyes. Roughly I push Julia off of me.

She smiles, as cheery as I remember her. "Vaughn, it's great to see you! I don't think I've seen you since you were a senior in high school."

Julia's blond hair fell around her face like a waterfall. Her face was bright and happy as always. She was two years younger than me, but she looked like she was six years younger. I notice that her clothes are still a tad bit revealing, but not so much that it was unpleasant.

I nod at her. She sighs slightly and then turns to a girl I hadn't noticed before. "Chelsea, this is my cousin Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer here."

The girl walks up to me with a smile on her face. I notice that her cheeks are slightly flushed. I wonder what for.

She sticks out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm the farmer here."

I take her hand and shake it as I observe her. She had vibrant brown hair that looked slightly orange the sunlight. She was dressed sensibly for farming. T-shirt, vest, shorts, sneakers and a rucksack all adorned her person. There was also a red bandana she had wrapped around her head, and it reminded me of the purple one on my hat.

Unconsciously I scowl at the thought. Her beautiful blue eyes crease in confusion and she drops my hand.

I wish I could kick myself. It wasn't like I tried to be mean. It just worked out that way.

"So you're interested in animals?" I ask gruffly.

She brightens again at my comment. "Yeah I am. Actually, I was just about to go ask Gannon of he could build me a chicken coup and then Julia dragged me down here to meet you."

I nod and pull my hat closer over my eyes. She had been staring at me, and I just knew she must be thinking what a freak I was for having purple eyes.

"Well, I should teach you how to take care of them. I don't want to sell an animal that will die within a week."

She gives me a shocked look. "I won't kill the chicken!"

I could kick myself again. That wasn't what I meant. I was really bad with words. "Not on purpose."

She glares at me. "I'm not going to kill any of my animals!"

I shrug, unable to think of anything else to say. It was probably best. She seemed to get madder and madder with everything I said.

"So…" Julia interrupts the awkward silence. "Chelsea, you want to introduce Vaughn to everyone on the island?"

Chelsea doesn't completely perk up, but she gives Julia a smile. "Sure Jules."

Julia begins to walk away but Chelsea stops her. Chelsea begins to whisper to her, but I can hear. "Is he always like this?"

Julia glances at me. "Like what?"

"Mean and kind of silent."

Julia sighs and puts a hand on her shoulder. "You have to understand Chelsea. He's had a very painful past. I think it's made him bitter. And he's always been quiet. It's just who he is."

Chelsea's voice drops a bit and I can't catch what she says. Julia's face looks like she's going to hurl at whatever she said. "Ew, that's gross Chelsea."

She shrugs, but I can see that she's blushing. Julia rolls her eyes and leaves. Chelsea walks back over to me, her face still a little rosy.

"So." She starts. "You ready?"

I nod and pull my hat farther over my eyes. I had a feeling that whatever she had said had been about me.

We start walking along the beach. I wish I could take off my boots for a minute and feel the sand beneath my feet, but the feeling passes quickly.

She stops at a little shack on the far side of the beach and raps her knuckles on the door. "Denny! Come out, I need you to meet someone!"

She raps her knuckles a few more times and then she stops. The door opens and a boy appears. His skin was slightly browned and very tan. He had brown curly hair and smiling brown eyes. There was a necklace around his neck with a shark's tooth attached. A small parrot was on his shoulder, and I could see fishing rods in his house.

The boy also had a purple bandana on his head. I pull my hat over my eyes tighter, and I scowl. His smile falters for a second, and I nearly roll my eyes. At this rate, I was going to offend every person on this island.

"Denny." Chelsea starts. "This is Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

Denny smiles and stick out his hand. "Nice to metcha man. I'm the local fisherman here. With an island like this, there's bound to be plenty of undiscovered fish."

I take his hand and shake it briefly. When I let go, I nod my head slightly. Denny nods back and doesn't say anything else. I almost smile. He could be a friend.

"So Chelsea." He turns to her and then leans against his door frame. "How's the fishing going?"

She groans. "Denny, you know that I am awful at fishing. Besides, it's still spring. I have crops to tend to!"

Denny chuckles. "I guess so. But eventually you're going to need those fishing skills. When winter comes around you're not going to be able to raise crops."

Chelsea points a finger at him. "But until then, I don't need to fish."

He rolls his eyes. "Well, since you've now waken me up at the ungodly hour of six in the morning, I'm might as well go fishing."

Denny grabs a fishing rod that must have been right beside his door. He closes his door behind him. "Well, see ya later Chelsea." He nods at me. "Vaughn."

I nod back and he heads off to the dock, his parrot squawking at him. Chelsea chuckles as we begin walking again. "Denny's really nice and can be pretty funny. Although we try not to let it get to his head."

We leave the beach and come to a wide open grass area. There were a few building, but there wasn't much there.

Suddenly a voice calls out. "I'm going to kill you Elliot!"

Another voice calls back. "It was an accident Natalie!"

There was a surprised scream from the guy that made me wince. Then two people come running out of one of the houses.

The boy is running from the girl and when he sees Chelsea, he runs over to her and hides behind her.

The girl comes over and she has milk all down her front. Her brown eyes flash in anger. "Chelsea, let me get to him! I've finally had enough with him!"

"It was an accident!" The boy Elliot repeats.

They both have red hair that looked almost pink. The boy had round dorky glasses on and a weird green apron thing on. He also had a blue t-shirt, suspenders and light blue shorts on. Talk about out of style clothing.

The girl had a green t-shirt and navy pants on. There was a yellow apron tied around her waist. She also had a red bandana on. What was with this island and bandanas? I would probably end up cussing someone out for it later.

"What happened Natalie?" Chelsea asks the girl.

"The clumsy idiot spilled milk down my shirt!" Natalie cries.

"I'm sure it was an accident." Chelsea tries to calm her.

"That's what I keep telling her!" Elliot confirms.

Her rage seems to simmer down a bit. "Fine. But do it again and I'll have your head."

Elliot finally comes out from behind Chelsea. "I'll try." He tells her.

"Who's this?" Natalie finally notices me.

"Oh." Chelsea gaps. It seems like she's forgotten about me in the argument too. "This is Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

I couldn't help but notice the slight blush in Elliot's face when Chelsea's name. That's interesting. I wondered if Julia liked him too. He didn't seem like her type.

"Vaughn." Chelsea turns to me. "This is Natalie and Elliot. They're siblings. Their mother and grandfather live with them."

I shake each of their hands in turn. They look at me funny and I pull down my hat again. Desperately, I wish I could go look at the animals. People bug me so much.

Suddenly an old man and a woman come out of the same house the other two had. The woman had the same colour hair as her children. I couldn't tell what colour her eyes were. She wore a pretty brown and yellow dress.

The old man was bald but had busy white eyebrows and a mustache that was just as bushy. He clutched a gnarled walking stick with hands covered by white gloves. He wore a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans as well as a red ascot that hung loosely around his neck.

"Chelsea it's so lovely to see you this morning." The woman says when they come within earshot.

"Good morning Felicia. Good morning Taro." Chelsea greets them warmly. "I'd like you to meet Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

They both shake my hand. "It's great to meet you." Felicia gushes. She smiles at me, and I pull my hat down.

"My tricky knee tells me it's going to be sunny tomorrow." Taro says.

Chelsea smiles. "Thanks Taro. I'll have a lot of watering to do."

He nods. "You all better get back inside and finish your breakfast."

Natalie grumbles about having to change her clothes as they all head back to their house. Elliot waves back to Chelsea before going back inside.

I raise my eyebrows but Chelsea doesn't notice. "They're really nice. Natalie gets angry very easily, but she can be very sweet. She actually loves her brother but she has a weird way of showing it."

She shakes her head and looks at me. "What did you think of them?"

I'm surprised she asked for my opinion. "Is that everyone?"

Her eyebrows crease. "No, I was just wondering. They were the first people here, along with me. We were shipwrecked on this island together. But we all love it a lot."

I nod, but don't give her an answer. She sighs. "Taro is a bit of an odd character, but he's a good person to go to for advice. Felicia is a very motherly type of person, and Elliot…"Chelsea trails off.

She snorts and continues. "Elliot is a klutz. And I'm pretty sure he has a huge crush on Julia. We're pretty good friends."

Did she mean she was good friends with Julia, or Elliot? Just from her attitude, she probably was good friends with everyone on the island. They all seemed to respect her and enjoy her company. Almost the exact opposite of myself.

"So, you ready for the rest?" She looks up at me.

Her face was actually really beautiful. I quickly pull my hat down and nod at her. She nods back and walks over to another house. This one was a little finer built. Chelsea knocks on the door twice and then waits.

A huge man opens the door. My eyes widen in surprise. This man was hunched over and wore only shorts and a white muscle shirt, but he looked like he could kill me if he got the chance. His biceps were bigger than my head and hat combined.

"Chelsea." He grunts.

"Morning Gannon." She smiles at him. "I want you to meet Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

Gannon shakes my hand and I quickly release his before my bones turn to jelly. He had quite the handshake.

"Gannon, I was wondering if you could build me a chicken coop. I have enough money." Chelsea pulls some money out of her pocket and I'm reminded of what she told me earlier.

Gannon takes the money. "It'll be done tomorrow."

"Daddy!" A high pitched voice calls out.

A little girl appears in the doorway. She had wavy blond hair and exotic aqua eyes. She had a red and yellow dress on and a red bow in her hair. She didn't look like Gannon's daughter at all.

She notices me. "Hey Mr. Cowboy. Are you Chelsea's boyfriend?"

My eyes widen and I pull my hat over my face to hide the blushing I could feel. This little comment made me blush more than I had in years.

Chelsea's face was pure scarlet. "N-no Eliza. He's n-not my b-boyfriend."

I smiled slightly beneath my hat. Her stuttering was really cute. She continues in a steady voice. "This is Vaughn and he's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

"Is he Julia's boyfriend?" The little girl asks.

I nearly gag right there. Chelsea is at a loss for words. Quickly I speak up; because I was pretty sure she didn't know the answer.

"She's my cousin."

The little girl, Eliza, looks at me thoughtfully. "Well you're pretty cute."

I was horrified. Gannon speaks up. "Alright young lady. You're going inside now."

Gannon quickly ushers her inside. Just before the door closes, she calls out. "Remember Chelsea, if you want beauty tips, just come ask!"

The closes and I stare at it. My face has regained its stoic look, but a glance at Chelsea shows her red face.

She takes a deep breath before speaking. "Sorry about that. Eliza is a bit full of herself. Gannon is pretty nice, and he works really hard."

Her face has gained its regular composition. "Okay, there are only two more people on the island."

I nod and take a step back. She gives me a weird look and I gesture for her to lead the way. A smile lights up her face, and I almost wish I could take a picture.

I walk beside her to a house just a little while away. This one is done up nicely and looks like it had been recently remodeled.

She knocks on the door a couple times, when the door opens to a small Asian boy. He had brown eyes and messy black hair. He wore a professional looking outfit, though it looked loose enough to play in. He had a brown bandana wrapped around his head.

Chelsea leans down. "Good morning Charlie."

"Morning lady." The boy replies.

"Charlie, this is Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

Charlie looks up at me with bright eyes. "Can you get me to see a sheep mister? I love their fur."

Chelsea smiles at him. "Maybe later Charlie. Vaughn is very busy. Can you get your dad for us please?"

He smiles. "Sure lady."

Charlie rushes off into the house and Chelsea stands up. An Asian man comes to the door. He had black hair like his son, and he wore a traditional purple Asian suit. He also had a brown bandana around his head.

"Good morning Chen." Chelsea smiles at him.

He smiles back at her. "Good morning Chelsea. How are you doing?"

"Fine, thank you Chen. I'd like you to meet Vaughn. He's going to be the animal dealer for Mirabelle and Julia."

He shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you son. You ever need anything, be sure to come around and get it."

I nod to him. He nods back and turns to Chelsea. "Well, I have to go fix Charlie breakfast. I'll see you later."

"Bye Chen." Chelsea says as he closes the door.

She turns to me. "Chen owns a little shop. He's always very concerned with his work. Charlie wants to grow up to be just like his dad one day."

I nod slightly and she smiles. "Well that's everybody. What did you think?"

I'm surprised again. I still can't believe she was asking me for my opinion. "Fine."

"Alright. You want me to walk you to Mirabelle's?" She looks up at me, and her face is slightly red.

"I can find the way." I tell her gruffly.

She stiffens and her face betrays her hurt. "Okay then."

Chelsea and I stand there awkwardly for a minute. Then she speaks up. "Well, you want to come over tomorrow? I still need to learn how to take care of a chicken. And Gannon will be done with my coop tomorrow."

I nod at her. "Fine."

She smiles at me slightly and then walks off into a direction I assume is the way to her farm. I watch her walk for a minute and then turn to the only house in the area that we hadn't gone to, obviously Mirabelle and Julia's.

That's it for the first chapter! Sorry it's so long. I don't think the rest will be this long. Maybe. I'm not sure yet. Has anyone ever noticed that neither Felicia nor Chen ever open their eyes? That's kind of weird. How do they know where they're going? Anyway, hope you liked it! I'm going to try and update soon. Please Read and review!