About 7 am, JN and Bright woke up early in the morning to check the entire Island.
JN firstly took a bath in the bathroom. Thank goodness, the shower had a heater. Because when he turned the shower on, his body flinched, and his eyes immediately opened. Suddenly, he doesn't feel sleepy anymore. Like his body had just turned into super active mode. But he still chose to turn the heater on.
The Philippines was strange. In the afternoon, a cold shower is good. But when it was early in the morning, you'll wish for a heater.
After a fresh bath, he decided to wear the sports clothes he found in his luggage bag: violet Nike running shirt, black running shorts, and black flip flop slippers. He didn't find any rubber shoes in his luggage bag, that's why he had no choice but to wear the slippers.
When he got back in their room, he saw Bright put a folded shirt in a gray sports backpack.
"Where did you find that?" JN asked.
"I found two in the small room," Bright answered. He then nodded his head to a black sports backpack near JN's mattress.
JN grabbed it, and then dust fell from it. "Oh, take the dust off first before using it," Bright said, not bothered to look up. Guess he's really busy packing his things, JN thought.
JN went outside and shook the dust off. After, he went back to the room and started packing the things he needed. He prepared an extra shirt and shorts, just in case he fell on muskeg, pond, or mud.
"Where are you, two, going?" Their heads turned to Win, who just woke up.
"We need to check the entire island, remember?" Bright answered as he hung his backpack on his shoulders. "Let's just hope we see travelers or residents out there to help us." He added.
"Okay, good luck, and be careful. There might be wild animals around." Win said.
"We will,"
Bright walked to the door and opened it. They both went outside.
When JN was about to walk, Bright didn't follow. So he looked back at the Thai and saw him gazing at the ceiling. JN followed his gaze and saw a black line sticking out from the ceiling, forming like a cable wire. He thought it was just dust that formed into a line so, it looked like a cord. But he was wrong.
It's a cord hanging from the attic's stairs! JN claimed.
Bright, who's 6 feet tall, easily reached the cord just by jumping. He pulled the cord, and surprisingly, a square opening appeared--a set of stairs to the attic.
The attic was huge but empty. The walls and floor were made of wood. The sunlight was passing through the square window, and JN could see the beautiful sea outside.
There was nothing to see because the attic's empty. So they didn't stay there. When they got down, Bright just pushed the stairs up a little, and then it went up on its own.
They were about to go outside when JN stopped and looked back in the kitchen.
He frowned, "We don't have water bottles to bring."
"Let's just hope we'll find a clean river out there," Bright said.
They went out and could finally see the whole house. Yesternight, JN couldn't tell whether it was big or small because it was dark and he was not wearing his glasses.
The house was simple but beautiful. He was no architect but, he could tell the architect drew it with a lot of effort, time, and love.
Therefrom the seashore, they could see the attic's window, two windows from the living room and from the kitchen, the wooden door and two posts in front of the house (maybe to carry the weight of the attic--engineering stuffs like that) and a pathway in the middle that has rows of pebbles on either side.
Yes, simple but beautiful.
"Let's go," said Bright and walked into the forest. JN ran to catch up with him.
The forest wasn't that scary at all. Well, maybe because the sun was shining brightly enough to guide them. JN hoped they'd be done checking the whole island just before sunset. Roaming an island at night that you're not sure if there are wild animals is not a good idea.
The trees were very tall, and there were plenty of flowers and plants. There was this flower that caught JN's attention. Its color was white. It smells pleasant, and it's pretty. He instantly liked that flower.
"Mali," JN's head turned to Bright, who just spoke and was smiling at the flower. "It's called Mali in Thai and Jasmine in English"
Before leaving, JN set a stone near the plant. He left a mark on it as he wanted to take care of it. He thought of pulling it with its roots and planting it near the house.
The flower was too pretty. He couldn't resist taking care of it.
They continued walking. There was this time when JN almost bumped into a bamboo tree if not for Bright who quickly pulled him back. He just wished he had his glasses or contact lenses. "Sorry, high grades on eyes," he said.
As they walked, Bright kept on looking at their left, right, and back as if he was expecting an attack.
"Wait," The Thai halted and walked past JN. He picked up a long root stick from the ground that had a leaf on its side. He broke it in half and gave the other half to JN.
"Just in case we get attacked by a wild boar." He said.
They were about to proceed when they heard something creaked. Like a foot had just stepped on a dried leaf. Then, the creaking continued as if someone's running.
"There!" Bright pointed to their right. JN then saw a boy running. They ran, following the boy.
JN could hardly describe the person but he was sure it was a boy, a teenage boy, to be exact. He couldn't see his face as he was running from them, and he could only see his back. The boy was fast. They could barely catch up with him.
While running, Bright tripped over a rock and fell. JN wanted to keep going but, he can't leave this Thai behind. So he stopped and helped him stand up. He had a scrape on his right knee.
"I'm fine. It's just a scrape. Go, follow him. You need to catch up with him." Bright said.
"No, I will not leave you alone. We're still not sure if this island is safe. And besides, he's fast. I don't know where he has gone to." JN said. "Let's just follow his trail. Assuming he left some footprints."
They looked down and luckily saw the footprints of the teenage boy. "Let's keep following these footprints. He can be our key to getting off of this island."
They continued walking, following the footprints left by the teenage boy.
JN stopped. He let out a sigh, "Smart kid."
"What?" Bright asked.
"Smart kid. He changed direction to the grassy field so he wouldn't leave any footprints."
JN almost lost hope until Bright spoke.
"But he left something." The Thai walked past him. His legs were wobbly.
He then picked up something from the ground. He raised it to JN's eye level, "He left his slipper."
It was a Havaianas slipper. its right strap was dangling.
Bright insisted on continuing their trip but, JN disapproved and told him they should heal his wound first. Thankfully, the Thai wasn't that stubborn.
As they walk back, JN couldn't help but still think about that teenage boy. Where did he come from? Why did he run so fast? Is he living on this island? Or is he a traveler? Why is he running from us?"
Whoever that boy is, JN hoped he's their key to getting off of that island.
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Padfayeper.