Far From Paradise (standard:fantasy, 3728 words)
Author: Lauren H.	Added: Aug 27 2007	Views/Reads: 2996/1981	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This story is actually three chapters taken from the middle of a very long series of chapters about a make believe island in the Caribbean during the 1400s. It is a story of adversity and survival.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

been shifted by the storm. "What are we going to do Jero?", Huka 
whined. 

“We need to paddle", answered Jero. "Which way?", asked Huka." Jero
wetted his index finger and raised it to the wind again. "The storm 
came from the south." "It moved off to the west of us." "We will go 
that way", answered Jero pointing to the south side of the boat where 
the sky was clearer. They began to paddle. Huka prayed to the Spirit 
Gods that they were going in the right direction. 

They paddled with what strength they had left after battling the fierce
storm. They had to take frequent rest stops. They paddled for an hour 
or so. But still they could not see land. Then the wind began to pick 
up again. Dark clouds moved in and it looked as though the storm was 
returning. "Oh no!", wailed Huka. She prayed silently to the Spirit 
Gods to send the storm away and get them home. But to no avail. The 
storm was upon them once again. 

They gave up paddling. The storm tossed them hither and thither. They
were at the mercy of the sea. They held on once again for dear life as 
the waves grew higher. It was only due to the sturdy construction of 
the boat that it did not overturn. After what seemed like hours the 
storm ceased as suddenly as it had come. Jero and Huka lay exhausted in 
the boat, breathing hard, drenched with sea water and bone tired. But 
they were alive and not drowned as they had feared. Huka lay in a 
stupor and drifted in to an exhausted sleep. 

Much later she woke up. She had not been aware that she was asleep. Jero
was leaning against the side of the boat looking sad. When he saw that 
she was awake he said, "I have no idea where we are, or how to get back 
to our island." At Jero's revelation, Huka's eyes filled with tears. It 
was no use complaining or giving in to despair, so she said nothing. 
Jero moved close to her and hugged her. She tried to be strong for him 
but she felt like weeping. She hugged him back and they kissed briefly. 


The sky stayed cloudy but the storm did not return. Time passed as the
small boat drifted along on the waves. Jero and Huka were very thirsty. 
They felt too queasy to be hungry. Huka looked around the boat and saw 
that most of the supplies and gifts that their fellow villagers had 
packed were gone, washed overboard during the fierce storm. There was 
no food and no water to be found. Their small bundle of clothes was 
still there nestled tight in one corner. Eventually the night began to 
fall. The clouds disappeared and the stars appeared. They lay spoon 
fashion in the boat, saying nothing, and looking at the stars until 
they fell asleep. 

They awoke to a blazing hot sun and a brisk wind. They sat up and looked
around. Nothing but sea all around and no signs of land. "I am so 
thirsty", sighed Huka. "So am I", replied Jero. There was a puddle of 
sea water in the boat. Huka dipped her hand in, tasted the water and 
spat it out. It tasted salty and was no good for drinking. She leaned 
against the side of the boat and began to despair, they were going to 
die of thirst. 

Then she remembered that she had brought a small clay jar among her
things. Huka saw the jar sitting partially upright in the corner of the 
boat jammed among her belongings. She picked it up and discovered that 
it had some water inside. She tasted the water and discovered that the 
water sloshing about inside was fresh rain water. "Jero taste this!", 
Huka exclaimed. Jero took a sip of the water. He handed it back to her. 
She took another sip. 

We must conserve it", Jero stated the obvious. Huka tucked the bottle of
water behind their clothes. Both of them felt the rumbling of their 
empty stomachs. Jero leaned over the side of the boat. The water was 
crystal clear. He could see fish swimming near the surface. If only he 
could catch one. "I'm going in the sea to catch a fish", Jero said. "Oh 
please be careful Jero, there may be sharks", cautioned Huka. 

Jero dived from the boat. It took him awhile, but eventually he caught a
large silver fish. He threw the fish in to the boat as Huka helped him 
climb in. Soon the fish stopped squirming and died. They had no way to 
cook it. They were too hungry to care that they would have to eat it 
raw. They both took turns biting chucks off of the fish. After awhile 
their hunger was satisfied. 

As the hours wore on the boat became more uncomfortable and they were
both feeling cramped and sore. In addition, they felt the pressing need 
to relieve themselves. They took turns holding on to the side of the 
boat while emptying their body wastes in to the sea. They were too 
depressed and tired to care about feeling embarrassed. As the day 
passed they found no shelter from the hot sun. Their skin began to burn 
and their lips blistered. They both took one more drink of the warm 
water from the clay bottle. 

Jero and Huka sat and talked of their home and how they wished that they
had never left it. After awhile they grew tired of talking and took a 
nap. They awoke much later to find that the sun was beginning to sink 
in to the horizon. They ate the remainder of the raw fish and had 
another sip of water. They watched sea birds flying above. "See the 
birds up there Jero, they usually fly near land", Huka observed. 

"You're right, I am certain that we must be near land, but I cannot see
it", Jero answered as he stood up and looked around in every direction. 
They watched the gulls following their boat for quite sometime. 
Finally, Huka tossed the remains of the fish over the side. The hungry 
gulls flew down, fought over it and eventually flew away towards the 
west. 

Jero urged Huka to pick up her paddle. "We will paddle in that
direction", Jero said, as he pointed to the path of the gulls. They 
paddled for awhile but the sun was nearly gone from their sight and it 
was getting too dark to go on. They could still see no sign of land.  
They stopped and let the boat drift. They lay in one another's arms 
once again, watched the stars and listened to the soft sloshing of the 
water against the boat until they went to sleep. 

That night Jero dreamed about his uncle back in the west village. He was
watching Maui catch fish. As the dream continued Maui began to help the 
other men make the canoes. The way this was done is a big tree was 
found. The bigger the boat, the bigger the tree. The tree had to be cut 
down. This was a long drawn out process. Sometimes the men would get 
lucky and find a fallen down tree that was not rotten and good enough 
to carve. Jero watched Maui carve the boat with the other men. When the 
outside of the boat was formed then the digging out of the inside 
began. It took many days to dig all of the soft wood out to form the 
insides of the boat. When it was finished the boat was sturdy enough to 
face the sea waves. It was tested before any journeys began. Jero's 
dream was repetitive and seemed unending, continuing all through the 
night. 

Huka dreamed of Jero. They were falling in love in her dream, kissing
and holding one another. Loud noises brought both of them in to sudden 
wakefulness. They sat up. It was dawn. The sun was just coming up, but 
they could barely see it through the thick foggy mist that surrounded 
their boat. They could hear men talking behind them in the distance. 
Jero shouted, "Help!" "We are here!" He stood up and waved his arms 
wildly. Huka did the same when she realized what was happening. 

The sounds of the men's voices grew louder and closer. Suddenly the mist
lifted and Jero could see a large boat coming close to them. Jero had 
never seen a boat like this one. It was very large with three huge 
cloths on top attached to wooden riggings. Each cloth was painted with 
a large red cross. Men wearing strange looking clothing were moving all 
over the ship. Some of them pointing to the smaller boat and shouting. 
The big ship slowed and drifted next to their boat. A big metal thing 
was thrown over the side. A rope ladder was extended. A big man with 
hair on his face motioned for Jero to grab it. 

Jero grabbed the ladder. He motioned for Huka to climb on it. Once she
had started up, he followed close behind her. A small dark-skinned 
agile looking man was waiting with the large hairy-faced man at the top 
of the rope ladder. He spoke rapidly in a language that they did not 
understand. It was obvious that he wanted to help them climb on board. 
Huka shyly took his hand and stepped on board. The big hairy-faced man 
stood there towering over her and talking in a loud gruff voice. He 
smiled at her and Jero and talked to them in his strange language. 

Suddenly a group of dark-skinned men dressed in strange clothing ran
over and surrounded Huka. She was frightened of what they might do to 
her. They laughed raucously, gestured to one another and leered at her. 
Then almost immediately the large hairy-faced man shouldered his way 
between them. He was followed by Jero who moved close to her side 
immediately. 

The large hairy faced man shouted at them in his booming voice. They
became quiet and stepped back. Suddenly another man was walking toward 
them. The men surrounding them moved back. This man must be their 
leader, thought Jero. The elegant man had a look of importance. He had 
long dark hair and wore a strange looking hat on his head. His eyes 
were merry, dark and long lashed. He had dark hair above his mouth and 
on his chin. He wore strange garments: a tunic with long puffed sleeves 
cinched at the waist, some sort of cloth coverings on his legs like a 
second skin and mid-calf length soft leather boots on his feet. Over 
the tunic he wore an elaborate cape. 

He wore a long shiny chain with a locket around his neck. In his hand he
carried a shiny metal thing, its handle forming a cross. The man bowed 
at waist and then stood proudly with legs apart. He spoke to Jero and 
Huka, but they could not understand what he said. He seemed to be 
welcoming them to his ship. What a contrast the young couple made 
standing next to the leader with their long fair sun-bleached hair, all 
stiff and dry from the sea, their burned and blistered skin, bare feet 
and sparse clothing. 

The man stood silently looking at them for a few minutes, while
simultaneously stroking the dark hair on his chin. He could see that 
they were frightened and uncomfortable. This elaborately dressed man 
was the captain of the ship. He gave orders to a man near him who 
looked similar, but who was not dressed so elaborately, "Take them 
below and see to their needs." "Give them nourishment and find some 
clothes for them to put on." "They are nearly naked." "Aye Aye sir", 
replied the man who was his steward. The steward gestured for Jero and 
Huka to follow him. Huka was too shy to look around. She walked with 
her head lowered clinging to Jero. Jero looked at the steward's back 
and wondered where this man was taking them and why? 

The steward led them below to a room which contained a large bed and a
table with two chairs. There was a variety of strange and interesting 
things on the table. The steward left them alone. He departed closing 
the door behind him. They clung to one another at first but soon 
curiosity overcame their fear. They began to look around. Jero eased 
away from Huka and walked to the door and began to examine its 
structure. They did not have these things on huts on his island. He 
touched the heavy wood and the door knob. 

Huka could see the sea waves tossing outside through a small window.
Jero did attempt to open the door. He was going to try it, but then his 
attention was diverted by Huka who had discovered some shiny things 
sitting on the table. She picked one of them up. It was some sort of  
silver ornament. There was another just like it nearby. 

They were both looking at more of the things on the table when they
heard footsteps approaching. The steward returned carrying a bucket 
with a ladle inside. The bucket contained water. They took turns 
drinking from the ladle. The tepid water tasted sweet like rain water. 
They were very thirsty and both drank to their heart's content. He left 
them alone once again and returned shortly with another man who carried 
a bucket of water with a cloth floating in it. 

This man  put the bucket on the floor and pulled a square brown bar out
of his pocket. He showed Jero and Huka how to wet the brown bar with a 
cloth so that suds were formed, how to wash their skin with the cloth 
using his own arm and then how to rinse off  with the remaining water 
in bucket. They watched him closely. The steward carried a pile of 
strange clothing for them to put on. Because there were no women on the 
ship Huka was given men's clothing to wear. The steward and the other 
man went out and shut the door, leaving them alone to wash and change. 

The strong smelling soap stung Huka's burned skin has she washed
herself. But when she was finished it felt good to be clean. When she 
was finished she gave the cloth and soap to Jero and he began to wash. 
The clothes felt strange and rough on her skin. They were much too 
large for her and had an odd smell. She refused to put on the stretchy 
leggings. The tunic was much too long. It came to below her knees. 
Underneath it she wore her own torn tunic and skirt. Her own clothing 
would serve as underclothes to cover her nakedness. 

When Jero was finished dressing he stood still and asked, "How do I
look?" Somehow he had managed to put on the leggings. He looked 
uncomfortable. Huka answered, "You do not look at all like yourself". 
"Oh why must we wear these strange clothes, I do not like them!" Jero 
talked soothingly to her, "For now as long as it does us no harm, we 
must do what these men want." "Remember in our little boat while we 
drifted, we prayed to be rescued and our prayer was answered." She went 
to his side and clung to his arm tightly leaning her head on his 
shoulder. 

The steward returned and looked them both over carefully. He saw her
discarded leggings on the floor. He looked at her bare forelegs just 
barely visible below the long tunic and shook his head from side to 
side. Once again he went out and shortly returned with plates of food 
and wooden utensils. He placed the food on the table and pulled out 
chairs for them to sit down. He stood and watched while they began to 
eat. The food wasn't very tasty. They were too hungry to care. Jero and 
Huka did not know what the wooden utensils were for. They ignored them 
and ate with their fingers. On the plates were round yellow floury 
things which tasted bland, some sort of red beans and very salty fish. 
They washed this down with mugs of a brown strong-tasting drink. It 
burned their throats as they swallowed it. 

They immediately began to feel intoxicated. Soon they were very sleepy
and both began to dose off on their chairs. The steward shook them both 
gently and led them to another room containing several bunks for 
sleeping. Jero and Huka lay down together. The steward made gestures 
for Huka to come with him. She looked frightened and would not rise. 
She clung to her husband. She wouldn't budge as the man tried to lead 
her to another bunk to rest. She began to cry out in her own language, 
"No, No!" The steward looked at her with exasperation. 

The noise attracted the large hairy-faced man who had been on board when
they arrived. He came running in to see what all the ruckus was about. 
The two men spoke gruffly in their strange language back and forth. 
Finally the steward sighed, the large hairy-faced man laughed loudly 
and slapped him on the back. A look of annoyance passed on the 
steward's face. Then they both left taking the candle with them, 
leaving the room in darkness. The gentle rolling of the ship lulled 
Jero and Huka to sleep. They had much to think about, but both of them 
were too tired to stay awake. Tomorrow was a new day and hopefully the 
kind Captain would see to it that they could return to their island 
home. 


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