The rain was pouring down hard while thunder and lighting was cracking every few seconds with barely a pause between. Alone in his tent, a man in his fifties was looking over the last few pages of the notes he had written, contemplating what was to be done with his research. When he finally thought of an answer, he pulled a tape recorder from his pocket and porceeded to record a message.
"Recorded Journal entry of Dr. Edward Hamiliton. It is day ten since my arrival to the mysterious island that seemed to appear out of nowhere on the earth's equator. I orginally came on this experdition solely to study the geology and biology of this uncharted piece of land only to make a discovery that is unlike anything I have ever seen. Not only does this island serve as a habitant for animals of different regions and climates, ranging from tropical to temperate, but these creatures are hybrids of different species. Snakes merged with lizards, birds merged with butterflies, hyenas merged with wildebeests, rabbits merged with chipmunks, apes merged with bears, wild pigs merged with hippos, panthers merged with eagles, frogs merged wtih fish, field mice merged with ants, and countless others. For this reason I have dubbed this island The Binomial Isle."
He took a moment to pause before continuing.
"These last few days I have studied as many animals as I could here, taking D.N.A samples and disecting the corpses I have found. I'm afraid I could not find the origin of how these unusual creatures came to be but I have learned that they posses remarkable skills and intelligence. My colleagues have suggested bringing a few of these animals back to the states to share our discovery and make profit. However I have never been particualrly fond of using wildlife as a form of income and I believe that bringing any of these speices back home would be unwise. The lot of them are extremely aggressive and easily provoked, prone to savage violence. It would be too risky to bring them into human civilization."
He paused again and this time he made sure that no one else could hear what he was about to say next.
"When I told my colleagues my decision to leave these creatures be, they all said that they would respect my wishes. But I have reason to believe that at least one of them is about to betray me. Half of my equipment is missing and my files have been hacked. Also both my lawyer and receptionist have recently disappeared. I'm certain that they've become lost on the island though a part of me fears that there may be a connection between their disappearances and whoever is stealing my work. I think it best, that until further notice, this isalnd and my discoveries on it remain secret. I've already hidden my notes and as soon as we locate the two missing members of our group, we'll leave this island."
"Dr. Hamiliton?" A voice outside the tent called.
"Yes?" He stopped his recording.
"Dr. Hamiliton I'm sorry to disturb you but I saw something strange in Professor Goetia's tent. I think you need to look into it."
"Oh no, don't tell me Stolas is trying to smuggle that avacado-flytrap we found."
"No sir. He's not even in there. He's preocupied at the moment, having another over the phone argument with his wife. Soon to be ex wife I'm sure. Anyway I saw someone sneak in and I think I saw blood."
"Alright don't panic. Let's take a look."
He put his recorder away and left his tent to investegate. However the investegation ended in tragedy, and because of the rain and the thunder, very few could hear what happened that night. Come the next morning, Dr. Hamiliton was found dead. He had always had terrible heart trouble so it was presumed that he had died from a heart attack. Two more days was spent looking for those who had gone missing and when none of them turned up, they were presumed dead. After that the remaining members of the group left the island and returned to the states. But this was not be the last time humans would come to the Binomial Isle.
Moxxie Hamiliton looked over the mortgage bill with unease and anxiety. Oh what a time to lose car insurances, he had to pinch into the mortgage savings to pay off the damages his car recieved from the accident casued by a reckless driver. He also had to pincj into it to pay the medical bill for when his arm got dislocated from that accident. Now he was far behind from paying the mortagage and what he earned at work wasn't going to make the payment faster. He was a high school biology teacher.
"Oh Moxxie you've worried enough about that bill for today. Come to bed before you give yourself another headache."
His wife Millie was thirty years old, a beautiful woman with a busty figure and straight black hair though on rare occasions it could become wild. Many had wondered how someone as vivacious and attractive as her ended up married to such a scrawny geek. Of course Moxxie wasn't by any means ugly. He was very nice looking with a distinguished face but his body wasn't very muscular and he had never been the athletic or macho type. Not like all of Millie's past boyfriends. Moxxie had always been the shy and nervous type with valued brains over brawn. So it came as a huge shock to everyone when Millie agreed to marry him.
But if you know how they fell in love then it wouldn't be a shock at all. Millie found Moxxie to be sensitive, thoughtful, and charming. She enjoyed listening to him speak of his passion for biology and she swooned over his musical talent. But it was most likely his utter devoution that won her heart. Once Moxxie loved for you, he'd move heaven and earth for you. It applied to his wife and to their children.
"Alright Millie I'll come to bed but I won't be able to sleep." He said.
"Then we'll just talk." She said. "Talk about something positive and uplifting. Like our family vacation."
"Well we can't do anything really expensive. How about a trip to the science museum?"
"Oh honey, we've gone there so many times. Why don't we do something different this year? Like camping."
"Camping?"
"Yeah. We could hike and fish and canoe, the kids would love it."
"But Millie I don't think camping is very safe. I mean we're out in the middle of the wilderness. We could get attacked by bears or what if we get lost? As for the canoeing, think of the rapids."
"You know for someone who really enjoys biology, you don't really like to be around it."
"I'm just not a big nature guy. I'm also not experienced in the outdoors. If something happend I wouldn't know what to do."
"You worry too much, and that's one of the reasons why I think we need a change of pace. You've been worrying yourself sick about the mortgage and I can understand that. I worry about it too, but I'm also worried about what it's doing to you."
"Millie I'm sorry but you know that they're getting impatient with us. If we don't pay off this mortagage soon, we're out of here. What kind of a husband and father would I be if I let my own wife and children live on the streets or in one of those shelters?"
Millie wrapped her arms around Moxxie's neck and kissed his lips tenderly.
"What was that for?" He asked her.
"For reminding me why I fell in love with you in the first place. You're always thinking of your family."
She smiled, he smiled back.
"I wish Dad was still here. He'd know what to do." Moxxie said, thinking of his father. It had been ten years since he had passed away and Moxxie still mourned him. He still mourned him because he always wanted to be just like him. He still mourned him because he always helped his son find the answer to a problem when it seemed impossible. He still mourned him because he had died just when he was going to tell him that he was about to become a grandfather.
He could still remember that day he found out about his father's death. He and his wife Millie were waiting for him at the airport, wanting him to be the first to know that Millie was pregnant. How thrilled he would have been to have heard such wonderful news. Oh the smile on his face when he would hold his newborn grandson for the first time and four years later, hold his newborn granddaughter for the first time. But he never had the chance to feel that kind of happiness because he had died of heart attack on that trip. Poor Moxxie was in tears the minute he heard the tragic story.
"I should have gone with him." Moxxie said.
"Don't do that to yourself." Millie said.
"He'd still be here if I had gone with him."
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do. You know how forgetful he was, he probably forgot to take his heart pills. I was always the one to remind him to take them. If I had gone with him I would have reminded him to take the pills and then-"
"Moxxie, Edward was a grown man. He knew how important it was to take those pills everyday. But sometimes even if you take the right medicine on the right schedule, it still doesn't help. Sometimes it's just your time to go, and that's what happend to your father. It was just his time."
"Well time could have at least let me say goodbye to him. Time could have at least let me tell him I loved him one last time."
"He knew how much you loved him and he loved you. And don't forget, he's always with you even if you can't see him anymore."
Moxxie's smile returned. He wondered what he ever did to have a wife like Millie.
"Mommy! Daddy! Dark!"
Suddenly they heard the cries of their five year old daughter Maisie. She was crying because she had woken up to find that her nightlight had gone out and she was so very afraid of the dark.
"Mommy! Daddy!"
They quickly went into her bedroom and turned on the light. They sat down on her bed and Millie pulled her into her lap.
"There, there, Maisie what's wrong?" Millie asked.
"Dark Mommy! Dark! It was dark!"
"The bulb in her nightlight died." Moxxie said checking the device. "And we don't have any extras. I'll buy more tomorrow."
"Don't make me sleep in the dark Daddy!" Maisie wailed. "The monsters will come and get me if it's dark!"
"Oh no sweetie, we'd never make you sleep in the dark." Moxxie said. "We'll leave the door open a crack and the hallway light on. That'll keep the monsters away."
"Can I sleep with you two tonight?" She asked.
"Now Maisie we talked about this." Millie said. "You're not a baby anymore, you're a big girl now. That means you can't sleep with us anymore."
"But we'll stay here with you until you fall alseep." Moxxie offered as a substitute.
And when little Maisie drifted off, her parents retired to theor own bed. Though Moxxie looked checked his email one last time to make sure that no more bills were coming. He found no bills, but he did find an email from a Blitzo Walker which requested his presence the next day.