Pierre could feel Selena begin to weigh him down, so he turned to check on her. “Selena, don’t fall asleep! You’ll die here if you close your eyes!” Upon hearing him say so, Selena continued paddling on mechanically while he kept bombarding her with his overbearing commands. “We’ll soon be there! Hang in there!” His words replayed themselves over and over again until she could no longer hear them.
Feeling the weight of her own body, she knew she was sinking. I feel like falling asleep and never waking up again, she thought. Having fallen into a seemingly never-ending dream, she dreamed of her own mother. She also dreamed of Juniper, whom she brought to meet her mother. Holding Juniper in her arms, her mother asked, “Who is her father? Why is your husband not with you?”
Right away, Pierre’s face seemingly popped out of nowhere while saying, “She is my daughter.”
Then, her mother said, “Selena, I’m so glad to see you so happy. Promise me that you’ll continue living your happy life, alright?”
“No! That’s not it, Mom! Things aren’t how they seem!”
Abruptly, Selena jolted awake. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Pierre’s extremely handsome face. “Argh—!”
There was a weird smile on his face. “It’s embarrassing that you would still call for your mother in your sleep despite being a grown-up.”
Rubbing her eyes, she was finally awake. “It’s none of your business!” Scanning her surroundings, she realized that they were on an island. “So it’s true that there’s an island!” She was suddenly rejoicing in having lived another day. Thank goodness that I’m not dead. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips while she thought so.
“Have you been assuming that I was lying?” Pierre snorted before throwing a fruit at her. “Eat up.”
The fruit seemed enticing with its reddish hue, but Selena wondered if she could actually eat it without knowing if it was poisonous, considering that they were stranded on an undeveloped island. However, Pierre was already digging in, and her own stomach was growling with hunger. Since she had high chances of dying either way, she decided she should at least die with a full stomach. With that thought in mind, she munched on the fruit.
The fruit was juicy and tasty, so she ate a few in a row, which finally filled her up. It wasn’t until then that she looked up at the sky. The sun lit up the pale blue sky that was dotted with a few seagulls flying past them from time to time. Judging from the position of the sun, it was nearly noon. She didn’t realize she had been sleeping for such a long while.
After finishing the fruits, Pierre stood up to stretch out. Then, he proceeded to sharpen a tree branch using a knife that he seemingly conjured out of nowhere. As soon as he was done sharpening the branch, he entered the forest with the branch in his hand.
“Where are you going?” Selena tried to follow him.
Stopping in his tracks, Pierre answered, “I’ll try to hunt some game for food. Are you coming with me?”
As she checked out the thick forest, she could feel herself getting goosebumps from the sense of dread that it elicited. The island itself seemed uninhabited; if it really was uninhabited, it might mean that there might be beasts in the forest, so she didn’t want to risk her life. “Why not stay here? What if you die there?”
Her question was met with a snort from him while he entered the forest. Scuttling forward, she tried to catch up to him, only to find that her leg was in much pain, so she stopped. She had totally forgotten about her injury. “Suit yourself!” she mumbled, then she went back to sit down on her spot on the ground. Upon checking her possessions, she realized she had nothing on her person. Even if she had something, they had probably sunk to the bottom of the ocean. She scanned her surroundings once again, further verifying that it was indeed a deserted island with nothing.
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