The Forest
The ship was old, expensive and worth every cent. Sure, the repairs took much longer as expected. The small group of underground activists had to stay for another full year in the smog drained capital. But that was also good, there were just still too many details for their escape to organize. And then, on a Friday, everything was stowed in the fat metal belly and these engines roared up for good. By the time the bow parted the waves of the mighty sea, their past in this town, and the town itself, was already forgotten.
The voyage was harder than expected. It was long and seasickness became a real issue. If that was not enough, a gale caught up with them about half way through their journey. The ship was tossed around by waves as high as the vessel was long, the hull groaned and squeaked in pain. Every soul on board thought, or screamed, “The end is near!” and it surely could have been. But to everybody’s relief the proud ship held together, and, what was just as important, those who had gone over board returned pale and shocked with the next wave.
The second part of the journey was calm. The colors returned to the hardened faces of the former sub urban survivalists and they relaxed noticeably. The warm air and the gentle sun beams did wonders to their moods. They laughed again. Just like that.
Eventually the island appeared at the horizon, just as promised. The excitement was huge. Everyone on board had their doubts about the source of the information that triggered this journey. But here it is, the proof, that this mysterious island exists, exactly where predicted. The information was valid after all. The captain reported their first success with a tripple encrypted morse code back to the mainland.
It was then celebrated on board of the lucky ship as a good omen that the day of their landing was a Friday again. The bow gently slid onto soft beaches, which shimmered in blue and black.
What followed were delightful years of comfort and bliss. Softly weaving canopies provided a soothing shade in the unusually warm and humid climate of their new home. The group lived from fishing and vegetables. The animals they found were just too cute to be eaten.
But all the pleasure and joy could not fully cover up their initial mission. Slowly the reasons for this journey came back to their minds. Explore, find, extract. Only the captain had an idea of what this really was about.
And his lips remained sealed.
