I sat there on my bed, thinking about my life and how little I had done, how little I had accomplished. I had so little to show for my life. I felt an overwhelming sadness as I reflected on my rather generic and riskless life, one that had followed the books from my youth, but without any of the fun elements. It was a life that wasn't always fun but far from a failure. As I lay there, I let out a deep sigh, alone and quiet, as I closed my eyes. My mind was content with what was and what had passed. My time had passed, and I knew it acutely.
When I opened my eyes, I expected to find myself in front of some judge or gate. I might have found nothing; I wasn't sure. But I opened my eyes and pushed myself up slowly, finding myself far from the bed I had once called my own. I was sitting in a rowboat in the middle of nowhere. The water around me seemed endless as I looked and let out a sigh. Was this the other world? A place where I would be even more alone than in my past life, on a boat in the middle of the ocean?
I pulled myself to the side and looked at the water, seeing a reflection of myself—not an old man, but a young one. My body was back to a younger, more lively age. The skinny brown hair and soft blue eyes looking back at me were familiar, as I had stored them away in the past. The simple gray shorts and white shirt were unknown to me as I looked down at this younger self. I guessed I was in my teens. Yet, nothing else came to me—not my name, not my place of origin. As I looked at the water, the memories of the other life faded as if they were the illusion and this life before me was the real thing. I looked around the boat and found a simple bag with food, some water, and a couple of jars. I took a deep breath, guessing where to go. Based on the angle of the boat, maybe I knew, and if I went in that direction, I might run into something.
I took the paddles and pushed, moving the craft through the water, putting my back into it. I pushed and pushed for hours before stopping and resting, having some of the hard bread, fruits, and water I had. It was a hard ordeal, but I had to overcome it because there was no other choice.
A few days passed, though honestly, I wasn't sure because time tended to blend together as I worked, ate, and rested. Nothing seemed to change. On the third night, my gut told me I had made a horrible mistake, that going in this direction was the worst thing I could have done. I lay there carefully, looking up at the countless stars and smiling. There was something peaceful about them, and laying out under them was amazing. I couldn't help but love the sight of each star hanging in the sky above me. I wondered where I was and if anyone else was looking at the same stars as me at that moment. I hoped they were. I hoped someone was out there, but only time would tell.
As I dreamed, I dreamed of odd things—friends, family, and events of a life that seemed so alien to me that I couldn't put any words or ideas to them. I dreamed of missed chances and ruined opportunities. Of a quiet, solitary, and simple life that was solemn yet had moments of light, hope, beauty, friendship, camaraderie, and true human joy and goodness. It was an odd dream but one that left me perplexed as I woke up the following morning. I didn't feel the rocking of the boat at all under me as I lay there.
I looked up and found myself no longer in the ocean but washed along a beautiful island. The beach stretched in each direction as far as my eyes could see. I looked and smiled, praying a prayer of thankfulness as I got out of the water, grabbing the bag and a container of water—the last one. I had little food and few supplies left, but I was on an island somewhere.
I could see the dense palm trees before me, towering up and providing shade for the first time in days. I could feel the warmth of the morning as I walked forward. I looked at the trees and thought about going into the jungle or following the beach. The thought crossed my mind a moment later: What if I wasn't on an island but just the coast? It was a concern, but either way, it beat being out in the middle of the ocean alone on a small rowboat.
I looked back and forth, closing my eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. Either path could lead to nothing, and I could be walking into an endless trip. If it was an empty island, I would walk back to this location at some point. I could use the boat to figure that out. If I saw it again, it would mean I looped around the island. I started off heading to the right and towards whatever I would find in that direction.
Walking along the sand, I saw some bananas from a tree not far off the shore. I knew what they were somehow, and they looked fine to eat. I took them and started eating quietly, wondering what I would run into and what I would do when it got dark. I might not find anything in a day of walking. A person could walk a few dozen miles on average, and despite being in a younger and better shape, I figured that would apply to me too.
About four hours in, sweating a lot, I found a small outlet where a stream from the island's interior ran into the ocean. I walked out, feeling the cold water against my feet, and jumped in, letting the cold water soak my clothes. I filled the water container, finding a new source of water if nothing else. I looked upstream and found nothing but jungle and rocks, a much more dangerous path if I chose that. So, I decided to continue along the coast.
As I walked, the sun got warmer and warmer. The sand below my feet was hot and reflected the heat of the sun back at me. I wasn't a huge fan of this, but what could I do but move on and continue my path to an unknown end?
I stopped after another hour, eating and resting as I rubbed my nose. My mind wondered if this place was an empty world without another person but me, an isolated world without humans to talk to. I felt a growing sense of isolation, but I pushed it aside and focused on the mission at hand and nothing more.
I pushed myself to my feet and moved along the path once again. I wanted to find something—I didn't want to be alone in this isolated world. I continued to walk and walk, uncertain if there was anything ahead. Suddenly, I heard tropical birds and saw them fly overhead, and a peace washed over me. It was comforting to know that there was other life beside myself in this world.
I smiled at the thought of there being life on this land or whatever it was. Feeling a spark of energy, I walked on with more determination. Later, I saw a hermit crab running along the beach. It felt as if my whole body was adapting to this place, changing and growing. As I traveled, the silence was broken more by the birds, by nature, by the waves, which had been the only sounds before. I felt a curiosity about the world I was in. Where was I? What was I doing here? How did I end up in this part of the world?
As night began to fall, I needed to find a place to rest. Luckily, I found a small cave in an outcropping of rocks that stood about 30 feet high—the highest point I had seen on the island. Climbing up, I found it quiet, with a few lizards scurrying away in fear of me. I gathered as many palm leaves as I could and stacked them together to make a makeshift bed. I also dragged in some sand to create as comfortable a place to sleep as possible. It wasn't comfortable, but it was a place to sleep, and luckily, I found it just in time.
As the sun set, the rain came hard, falling over the area as I looked out from inside the cave. I watched the rain and took a long, deep breath before lying down quietly. My mind thought about the journey so far and the adventures yet to come. I thought about the things I had seen and blocked out along the way: the beautiful coast, the ocean, the birds, the clear water. It was all so perfect and beautiful. I couldn't help but admire everything I had seen since waking up on the boat to now, days later, under the roof of a cave, watching the rain fall upon the beach. It was an odd experience, and somehow, I knew it was one of those transformational ones that change a person forever.
I laid down as I took a deep breath curling around as I rested my head quietly on the stack of leaves. I fell asleep as I remembered other events. I remembered events where I could see other great things but this was different. I could see so many places that were so diverse and unknown to me that nothing at all stood out from the rest. It was as if they all kind of blended together in a unique but also really cool fashion. I could see all this beauty, and all these unique places and it felt good. It made my heart feel light and warm and good, and then I would wake up the next morning with a lizard sleeping on my face.
I wanted to get up before the sun really came up. The rocks were not too hard to hold as I worked myself up from rock to rock as I worked my way up the formation. I could feel my body was getting closer to its limits as I moved up, it was being pushed every day for some days since I first got to this. Yet all I could do was push myself on and continue onwards hoping the next horizon would give me some sign of civilization and a chance to rest and figure out where the hell I happened to be at.
As I climbed, I slowly came to realize the tree that I thought was small was actually pretty sizable, and its status as a sentinel of the coast even felt more and more correct as I got closer. I grabbed one more rock and felt a rock fall, my hand moving quickly as I grabbed another rock, luckily it held as my heart grew quick for a moment. Each movement was a challenge, and each was growing harder the higher I went, like I was pushing through some barrier, some mental desire to just give in and stop and to give up this journey that I have been on. I could feel the weight of it all, the weight of the challenge as I took a deep breath as I had this feeling that I shouldn't give in and give up this path. I looked at the tree again as I grinned, focused, and started back moving up the cliff face, moving through loose rock after loose rock in the sandstone surface.
I looked at the tree and found a funny fruit or what looked like a fruit before myself and walked over to it. I looked at it very carefully, it was slick and shiny with a gray color dominating it with darker gray spots on it and lighter gray swishes on it as well. I walked over and found it the only fruit from the tree, it was odd to look at this gray fruit. I held it feeling that it felt like any other fruit that I had held from memory.
I pulled it to my nose, and it had no real smell as I then looked, deciding that it was worth a shot to try and taste the fruit to see if it tasted any good. I was without food and hungry, so it wasn't the worst thing ever, or so I thought as I took the huge bite. I ate it and took the bite before falling to my knees. It tasted like shit, like I had eaten something that wasn't supposed to be eaten by a human being at all.
I looked at it as I had tasted it and regretted it right away. I then looked up towards the other side of the coast. I looked for anything at all. I noticed a ship with a sail on it, but it was too far away to make up anything other than that from where I was. I blinked as I knew I had something or someplace now to head towards. My head felt a bit funny as I stood up. Well, that was the destination, to figure out where I was going and what type of world I was on.
I ran up, jumped, and slammed into the side of the boat. I grabbed onto the rope quickly, avoiding the water. I pulled myself up one hand at a time, my feet slamming into the wood. Without knowing, small metal spikes emerged from the soles of my feet, giving me a natural hold. My fingers turned into a strong and malleable metal-like substance.
As I moved up, I felt many eyes on the deck watching me with interest. I worked my way up, using these unknown and strange powers until I reached the top and pulled myself onto the large deck of the boat.
"Hello, sir. I know this might be odd, but I have no clue who I am or how I got here. May I come aboard for your trip to wherever you're going right now?" I asked, standing there as the old man smiled broadly and the others looked at me cautiously.
The old man, wearing a dog hat and a huge smile on his face, looked me up and down with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. "Well, well, you're a tough one, aren't you? Climbing up here all shipwrecked and battered. Tell you what, kid—anyone with that kind of determination is welcome on my ship. Come aboard, and we'll see if we can't figure out what to do with you."