15 For 15 Entries ~ June 2010

Boat ~ June 16

The worn planks creaked beneath my sandals as a breeze blew in across the water. There were six of us waiting on the end of the wharf, as instructed. I spotted a sea gull crying high overheard, and the urge passed through me to leap for it. My heart raced when I realized how close I’d actually come to jumping out, over the water.

A murmur rose around me and I followed the others' gaze to a boat making its way around the curve of the shore. It was packed solid with people.

A man behind me said, to no one in particular, “Where do you suppose we’re going?”

I looked over my shoulder at him. He stared at the approaching boat, pulling as he did so at the whiskers growing thick along his upper lip.

The woman next to him purred, “I don’t know, but how I hate the idea of getting on that boat.”

She turned her startling green eyes on me, and I nodded. I’d never been a fan of the water, either. I shuddered at the thought of dipping even one toe into the brownish stuff. Thank goodness we were to be fetched on the pier, instead of down on the beach where I may have risked getting wet. I chose to ignore the way the boat sagged as it neared, weighed down by the mass of passengers, its deck only a foot or so above the water line.

As the boat bumped the wharf, hands reached to help me aboard. I sucked in my breath until I was safely over the threshold and pressed against the throng. I looked up and into the eyes of the blue-robed elder, the one who’d meditated with everyone in my village. The one whose instructions I now followed. The one who’d chosen me to come.

Our stop had evidently been the last, and we reached our destination thirty minutes later. I was relieved to see an island with a newly constructed pier of glossy wood and brightly colored flag at full-staff. Someone behind me spoke, but another growled fiercely and silenced the first. The elder disembarked, his blue cape billowing around him, and he turned to face us.

“Welcome to Haven Resort. The proprietors enlisted my help in rectifying a grave situation, and you have been chosen to come fulfill an important mission. Your innate qualifications, you see, are needed.”

As I listened, I rounded my shoulders forward and then drew them back, elongating my neck and enjoying the stretch. I glanced to my right. The woman with gorgeous green eyes looked bored. The elder went on.

“This is a small, private island. The resort has, unfortunately, been closed down due to an infestation of vermin, namely mice. I combed the coastal villages, searching for those of you who, in past lives, were feline." A smile crept across his face. "I believe you’ll enjoy your stay here.”

Movement caught my attention along the palm fronds at the edge of the beach, and I heard a faint rustling carried on the breeze. My muscles tensed. I wanted off this boat.