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Island of The End

                The warm rays of a golden sun and the gentle ocean breeze wrapped around Rebecca, messily blowing around strands of strawberry-blond hair as the girl’s bare feet walked down the warm, white sand of the shore. Behind her a vast forest of coconut-palm trees stood covering the small island in a sweet aroma; and it would seem impossible to imagine that a tropical paradise such as this was really just an isolated prison. As her amber eyes looked off into the distance at an endless sea of calm blue waters her thoughts drifted off into the last few moments before she had awoken. It was still fuzzy, but she remembered how a storm had come down that day and how she had fallen over the side of her family’s boat before sinking and everything fading into black. It was only a few hours ago that she had awoken, but she wondered how much longer she’d remain imprisoned on this isle.

                 “Hey! Stop spacing out!” Rebecca looked over her shoulder towards the direction of a familiar voice which had called out to her. There was her fellow inmate Olive (a.k.a. Olinda), a name which only Rebecca was allowed to call her (due to her olive-skinned complexion), coming towards her carrying a coconut under her arm after her expedition into the island. It was Olive who had saved her and was by her side to calm her when she first woke up and was frantic after learning they were stranded. Olive had been her friend since they were in junior high, but the two of them had shared far more than mere friendship since.

                “Sure.” Rebecca said her voice barely a murmur as she sat in the sand and took a deep breath. The girl felt guilty half ignoring Olive who was doing everything she could to care for her, but as much as she wanted to show she was thankful it was hard not to worry about their current situation. “Did you find anyone else or anything?” As if it needed to be asked; if she had Olive would have said something, she knew that. Yet, Rebecca still turned to see Olive who hesitated before finally shaking her head. “Sorry I made you look by yourself.” Olive had said it would be best if she stayed on the beach in case anyone came, but the truth was that she was too scared to go too deep into their jail.

                “Don’t be silly!” As Olive spoke she reached down and ruffled through her friend’s short hair giving a soft smile. “All that matters is that you’re awake now, I’ll take care of everything else, alright Becky?” ‘Becky’ couldn’t help, but smile as she looked up into two deep emerald eyes which only filled her with warmth that melted away her fears of being trapped on the island. After all, Olive was more than merely some friend and Rebecca took the hand from her head and pressed it to her lips reminding herself of that. 

                “You’re right. After all, I’m your wife.” There was a smirk on her face as she spoke; it was a joke the two had even before they were dating. Rebecca leaned on Olive for almost everything even while they were just friends in school, to the point that she started referring to herself as Olive’s wife. Normally it would make her lover blush, but this time there was something different, a glimmer in the emerald orbs as a few droplets fell onto her hand. It surprised Rebecca, there was only one time that she’d ever seen tears form on the raven-haired girl’s face before and a deep pain hit Rebecca as she saw more tears stream down. Was she feeling guilty for forcing Olive to be strong for her? Was she not taking into consideration that Olive was scared too? Or was it something that Rebecca wasn’t able to understand? 

                “I just...” Olive tried to wipe her eyes while fumbling to speak, but Rebecca stopped her, taking her arms and pushing her weight down onto her weeping beloved so that Rebecca had Olive pinned against the sand. “What are y- !“ Her surprised cry was cut off as Rebecca’s red lips pressed down gently against hers and she stopped squirming and laid still. It was only for a moment, but it was enough to satisfy Rebecca as she pulled her face away and looked down at Olive giving a playful smile. There was the blush she had been expecting, the tan-skin on her cheeks turning a rosy-red color.  “What was that for…?” Olive whispered, still a little flustered from her girlfriend’s attack.

                “I was just thinking you looked so beautiful with tears in your eyes. Then I guess my body did the rest for me.” Her hands moved the bangs out of her face and then reached down to wipe Olive’s eyes before lying down against her. The beat of Olive’s heart was soothing as her head rested against her warm chest and it was able to calm a little of the pain she had felt. “I’m sorry that you have to put up with me, you must be scared too. I’m sure we can go home soon though, so until then if you want to cry…” She paused as she felt Olive grip her tighter, a firm grip on the back of her head keeping her close. 

                “It’s not that, not at all. I guess I was thinking that I’m happy to hear you say that to me, while you were asleep I wondered if I’d ever get to hear it again.” Olive’s words could only cause Rebecca to feel even more comfortable as she rested against her, but still she felt that pain deep down. When she had woken up on the island, Olive said she had only been asleep for a few hours, but it felt so much longer than that. At first she thought of asking about it, but for some reason she felt that it would only burden Olive even more. Besides just the way it was now, why ruin it with a silly question like that? If she could just lie down like this and listen to the water and the rhythmic beat of her girlfriend’s heart, what did it matter? The two just lied down in silence for a few minutes, with Olive’s fingers slowly combing through Rebecca’s hair.

                “Olive?” The sounds of the water splashing against the shore were finally broken as Rebecca leaned upwards so that she was right by her girlfriend’s ear.

                “Is something wrong?” Olive tried to turn to face Rebecca, but her girlfriend had nuzzled herself further into her neck making it impossible.

                “No, I was just thinking there is something else I needed to tell you.” Her breath was hot and tickled the delicate olive flesh as she left small pecks against it.

                “What might that be?” Her voice was barely a whisper as she grinned and let out a relaxed sigh.

                “I love you.” They were words she had been holding off on saying since she’d awoken. For her those three words were made for times like this; and if it was just like this, if it was just them, then perhaps their little prison wasn’t a horrid as she had first thought.

                “I love you too, Becky.” As Olive spoke her hand reached for Rebecca’s and she gently pressed a thumb against her lover’s soft palm before taking a firm hold of it. They were closer now, yet something had been bothering Rebecca since Olive had returned from exploring the forest of palm trees. Something obvious, that was on the tip of Rebecca’s tongue; suddenly she remembered and bolted up right!

                “Why the coconut?” Rebecca kept herself lifted upward and stared down at Olive, her lips pouting slightly as her curiosity had broken the lover’s peaceful rest. At first Olive was surprised and it took her a few moments to respond before sitting upwards and pulling Rebecca close to her, lifting the coconut from the sand and handing it to the girl in her arms.

                “It’s your favorite after all. I figured you would want to have some of the water inside, it’s a lot sweeter than from the cans.” Olive smiled and squeezed Rebecca tightly, but Rebecca found it hard to relax even with the warmth of her girlfriend. This was her favorite fruit, she loved coconut on her food, the milk and especially coconut water; in fact before she fell overboard she could even remember sharing a fresh one with Olive. Yet, holding it in her hands she couldn’t even remember how to open it, or even what it tasted like, and the more she thought, the more and more it seemed as if it had been years since she’d actually seen one. Was it simply normal to feel like this after being unconscious? Was she really only asleep for a few hours? Was Olive telling her everything? 

                “I don’t know…” Rebecca stood and stared at the coconut as something important seemed just beyond the grasp of her recollection. The harder she tried the more frustrated she was becoming.

                “Becky, what’s wrong?” There was concern in Olive’s voice, but she remained silent in response, she just had to think harder. Something important, something she shouldn’t have forgotten was right there. “Please say something.” As Rebecca felt Olive’s firm grasp, a terrible darkness filled her mind as tears streamed down her cheeks. The deeper she went, the closer she came to the truth. Right on the verge, tears started to pour down like rivers upon her cheeks as Olive desperately tried to call out to her and break her from whatever trance she was in. Then just one thought filled her head, one sentence that seemed so familiar and painful at the same time: It was your fault.

                “No!” Rebecca cried out as she pulled away from Olive’s hold and turned around, flinging the coconut out into the ocean; and like that the memory was beginning to fade, yet she still curled into her knees and held her head. What was it, what had she done, what was her fault? As much as she needed to know, it was too painful.

                “It’s alright. Please don’t cry, I’m right here.” Those words, spoken from the lips of her angel were enough to calm Rebecca as she nodded and wiped her eyes. However, the moment Olive came to hold her, her body flinched and she turned away from her. That was right, being here, Olive being here was her fault. “Tell you what, it’ll be night out soon, how about I gather some wood and I’ll make us a fire to keep us warm.” Rebecca shrugged; she didn’t know what to do to rid herself of the uneasiness.

                “C-could you bring me another coconut too?” Her voice still trembled with tears, but she did her best to hide it. 

                “Of course, just wait here and I’ll be back soon.” Olive’s fingers gently ran through Rebecca’s hair, not moving until Rebecca peeked upwards with her puffy red eyes “I guess I do know what you mean. You look cute when you’re crying.” As Olive spoke she leaned down and gently kissed her love’s forehead before heading off into the palm-tree forest. It did pull her away from her thoughts, but she still was angry for having freaked out the way she had. 

                “Don’t you hate me? Isn’t it my fault you’re here? Why don’t you hate me?” Rebecca waited, but no response came. Olive was already gone and all she could do now was watch the calm blue waters and try to bury the guilty pains she was feeling before her lover returned. Yet, one memory stuck with her, one of falling into the waters and of Olive jumping in to save her; of Olive risking everything to save her and then nothing.

                The sun was setting by the time Olive had returned and had the fire going, which she made clear was no easy task to light wood with the sparks of smacking two rocks together; however, as hard as that was it was even harder to spark any conversation with Rebecca outside of giving her the open coconut to drink from. Instead, Rebecca was lost in thought as she watched a red sun setting, leaving a medley of colors painted in the sky above as the light of stars began to flicker. It was calming to watch and it seemed as though the beauty painted before her, yet her focus was broken by the cackling of the fire and the occasional glance back to see what Olive was doing. Even though it was just the two of them, even though Olive had been the only person she’d ever truly loved, she felt as far away from her as she did from the stars.

                “Did you like it?” Olive asked before making her way to Rebecca’s side, pausing until she finally watched her sip from it. The taste was incredible, and Rebecca wondered how she could forget something this sweet. 

                “How long have I been here?” Rebecca asked and turned to Olive who only looked down, unable to look into her lover’s eyes and answer her question.

                “Only since this morning-“As Olive responded she was cutoff as Rebecca grabbed her face and forced her girlfriend to look her in the eyes. There it was, those two emeralds filled with lies and Rebecca knew that there was something being kept from her. Olive smirked and shook her head, pulling away from Rebecca as she knelt down and lifted up some sand. “I guess it was stupid of me, I just wanted you to enjoy it before you knew the truth.” 

                “What are you talking about? Why can’t you just answer me?!” Rebecca shouted, for the first time she had raised her voice to the one she always thought of as her soul-mate. 

                “The sand is white, the ocean is warm, and we’re surrounded by your favorite fruit. This is where I promised to take you to, remember?” As Olive said this she let the sand run through her fingers as Rebecca stood stunned as she remembered the promise that was made as clear as day.

It was back during the summer before they would enter high-school and the two had just been inseparable friends up until that point; the only cares were what to do before they had to go back to school. Olive had been helping out part-time in her parent’s restaurant, doing odd-jobs, cutting down on the amount of time the two girl’s could spend together. It was on this day that Olive had found Rebecca around the back of the small family establishment while taking out the trash from the lunch-hour rush.

 “Becky, what are you doing back here?” Olive asked, giggling a little as she found her friend sitting on the back steps that lead to the dumpsters.

“I was just…You don’t seem to want to hang out anymore and you are always saying you’re here so…” Rebecca’s face turned red as she confessed her little ‘spying’ activities wondering how mad her friend would be.

“You thought I was lying to you? You know I’d never do that!” Olive simply laughed as she spoke and reached down to play with Rebecca’s hair. “Since my brother’s are all off visiting our family back in Mexico I volunteered to help out for a little bit.” Rebecca was clearly flustered as she looked up and shook her hair till Olive stopped petting her.

“Alright, it was stupid! I just guess I missed you.” The truth was that Rebecca had thought Olive might be dating someone, and that thought was just too much to ignore. However, knowing it was something like this just made her feel foolish.

 “You think too much sometimes. I was originally going to go with my brothers, but honestly, I realized I’d miss you too much. What am I without my little ‘stalker’ wife right?” Olive said and Rebecca smirked and reached up and took a hold of the girl’s hand causing her to drop the garbage bag. 

“Olive, I like you a lot, you know that?” Rebecca spoke quietly, her mind screaming at her to just shut-up. This wasn’t how she imagined it would be, but for some reason it just seemed like it would be her only chance to say it.

“Yeah I like you too, a lot.” Olive’s words were enough, even if they wouldn’t be friends anymore. Rebecca lifted herself upwards and pulled her friend closer as their lips pressed against one another. Everything felt right, all the worries vanished as her arms wrapped tightly around Olive and she wished for it to never end. Was it minutes or just seconds before their lips parted and her eyes looked deep into her friends to see tears flowing down? 

“I’m sorry!” Rebecca barely whispered as she let Olive go. What had she done? How could she have acted so carelessly? Each day she wanted to feel those lips, but she had always been able to stop herself. Now, all for the sake of a kiss she would lose her one and only friend. As she turned to leave Olive grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her arms, holding her tight.

“Don’t apologize. I just was so overwhelmed with joy that I started to cry.” As Olive spoke Rebecca pressed herself further into her, holding on tighter than before. “To be honest, I’ve wanted this from the day I first met you, but I really thought you would just think I was some freak if I acted on it. To think I was calling you my wife when I didn’t have the guts to do what you just did.” 

“That’s because you’re stupid, and I’m stupid too.” Rebecca muttered as Olive gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and leaned back into the fence behind them. 

“You’re right, but since you made the first move, I’m going to take you anywhere you want to go on a date. How does that sound?” Olive said with a silly grin as she looked into the amber eyes below happy to grant any wish her new girlfriend might had had.

“Ok then you can take me to a Caribbean island!” Rebecca on the other hand was grinning, readily teasing Olive who might have bitten off more than she could chew with her offer.

“I meant, like, Great America or the ocean, or somewhere we can afford to go maybe?” The girl chuckled as Rebecca pouted and squeezed her tighter to make her stop.

“Hey, you said anywhere! Besides, it doesn’t need to be right away, but someday I want to go. The sand is white, and the water is warm, and there are coconuts everywhere! It’ll be our own paradise, just the two of us one day.” As Rebecca said this Olive was already picturing it in her mind and she could only lean down and steal a quick kiss from her new-found lover.

“Alright then I promise you that I’ll take you someday. All you have to do is promise me that you’ll love me.” As Olive said this Rebecca nodded happily, and the two kissed once more.

 It was their first step into romance, the very first time Rebecca and Olive’s lips met as lovers. It was the happiest day either of their lives, and yet Rebecca had nearly forgotten about it. That promise though, and this island, and the way everything just seemed so surreal. It finally was making sense, and Olive didn’t seem to want to lie about it anymore. The two of them were dead.

“I remember things so well, even now I remember the day I died and failed to save you.” Olive would cry once more in front of Rebecca, the third time total, and the second time in death.  “You had hit your head when you fell over the side and I jumped into the ocean after you. The water was freezing cold and by the time I reached you…” Rebecca listened to Olive’s tale and she knelt down besides her taking a hold of her hand. Olive wanted to stop, but it was too late and Rebecca’s soft hands gave her the ability to continue. “You weren’t moving and I did my best to get you to the surface and I thought you had died; I didn’t know if it was you or just your body I was bringing up. I was so cold, my body felt numb by the time we were at the top. I did my best to hold on until your dad jumped in and I just let go and woke up here.” Olive had pressed herself against Rebecca crying against her as she squeezed her tight and buried her crying eyes into her lover’s shoulder.

“We drowned?” Things were coming back now, but she could remember being lifted from water, she could remember being asleep for a long time and her family talking to her, but then why was she here?  

“No, I drowned. You slept, I don’t know for how long, but when I awoke you were sleeping in the sand and this place was only a desert of white sand. Each day one coconut tree grew as I waited for you, each day praying that you would wake up.  Eventually the ocean came and we were in our paradise. Thousands of trees grew as I waited for years and years, but I could do it, because I knew you would be here with me one day.” Olive lifted herself upwards and smiled at Rebecca. “Here you are. All I wanted to do was let you be happy before you found out the truth. Will you forgive me for just that?” Her eyes were red, but they had never been so beautiful, filled with happiness beyond measure

“What are you saying? It’s my fault, you died and you were stuck here because of me! How can you even ask me something so stupid?” Rebecca’s lips took over Olive’s as she held her tight under the glowing moon above. “You mean more to me than anything. You gave your life for me and you waited years for me; I honestly couldn’t feel any happier being your wife.” Rebecca understood now that she and Olive had only been together for four years as a couple while alive, but they now had heaven to spend their eternity together.  Nothing could make her happier.