Chapter 1
I've always wanted to know what was beyond this island, beyond the waves I see everyday. The worn out books mama gives me every birthday say many things about the outside world, about the many cultures that coexist.
Books were my best friends, I was never allowed to touch the electronics that were used by mama and papa
When I was 7 I wanted to ask papa about the outside world. I went inside papa's office to look for him, but he wasn't there.
I looked around and discovered a light coming from behind a book shelf, I was curious and pushed the heavy shelf aside
I was exhausted from moving the shelf, I thought of leaving the bright room to go downstairs to get water, but near me was a metal table, on top of it I saw a weird glass of clear liquid.
I picked up the liquid and gave it a smell, it smelt like the sea which surrounded us, maybe I should've taken that into account.
What type of drinking water would smell the sea? But I was only 7 so I wouldn't have thought about it.
I took a sip of the liquid and didn't think anything of it
I walked around the weird room while drinking the liquid.
I saw many cool things in the room like glowing jellyfish and jars of lightning
As I was slowly making my way around the room in awe, I heard Papa call my name from behind
"Nilufer..?"
I turned around confused
Papa never says my full name
He looked down to see the empty glass in my hand, I've never seen Papa make such a scared face
Before I could say anything, I found that my vision had gone blurry
I heard my back hitting the floor and the glass shatter
All I saw was a blurry red mess before my vision went black.
I woke up two days later to the sound of seagulls
my left hand was wrapped up
I was laying on mama and papas bed
I saw Mama asleep in her rocking chair next to the big bed
As I tried to sit up, mama woke up surprised to see me awake.
"Oh Nilly are you alright?"
I nodded my head
"Mama what's wrong, what happened? What was that room?"
Mama paused her worries and went quiet
"You must've had a bad dream honey"
She gave me a calm smile
"Oh how could I forget, you must be hungry, let's go down and eat"
We walked out of the room, passing papa's office
The office door was cracked open and I glanced over to see that the book shelf was not there anymore
only the wood wall which wrapped papas whole office
Till this day I still remember Papa yelling my name rushing towards me before I fell
"..Nilly...Nilly..."
***
"Nilufer!" Mama said
I jump up surprised
"Just what in the world are you thinking that you can't even hear me calling you" mama said
"Sorry Mama the sea view today just looked gorgeous"
"The view has looked the same for the past 18 years!"
Ah that's right, it's been 10 years since then
I chuckle a bit
"Mama the ocean never makes the same wave"
"It looks the exact same to me, now hurry down to eat breakfast. We have a lot of work to do on the field today"
"Alright mama I'll be down in a bit"
***
We finished working on what we could before a storm showed up
"Damnit just where did the storm come from" mama grumbled
"I told you it was a good idea to have the tarps nearby mama"
"Yes yes, my Nilly is a smart one"
The storm grew loud, I sat on my bed looking out to the dark sky
while humming the song mama always sung for me when I was young
The thunder always scared me but now it's quite soothing
'Knock Knock'
"Nilly, could we come in?"
The door opens to mama and papa holding a lit up cake
"What are you both doing, my birthday isn't till tomorrow"
I said laughing
"We know but we can't wait, you're finally becoming an adult" mama said
"It's a special time" papa added
I blew out the candle and gave them a warm smile
"We want you to know that we'll always love you, that you're the greatest thing to ever enter our lives"
I was on the verge of tears just seeing their faces
"Our dear Nilufer.." Papa said
"We wanted to give you this gift"
It was a wrapped up box, I started opening it
Inside was a gold circular locket with an aquamarine gem Imbedded on top
The locket had a picture of the three of us and a quote that said: "No wave is the Same"
Below it was a book. But before I could take it out, Papa stopped me
"You should open the book tomorrow"
I was curious but I didn't step further
"Alright" I said
I was going to open it tomorrow anyway so it didn't matter
We all had a slice of cake and talked till midnight.
"Happy birthday Nilufer" both mama and papa said
We shared a warm hug and before I knew it I was fast asleep
Later in the night I heard arguing
I woke up to mama quietly opening my door
"Mama what's going on? Who's Papa arguing with?"
Mama shushed me
"Remember when we always played hide and seek" She said
I nodded yes, confused as to why she was telling me this
"You always had the best hiding spots, I could never find you" mama continued
"I need you to hide for me, In the best hiding spot you can think of"
I was so confused
"But Mama what's going on? Who's Papa yelling at? Why can't you jus-"
"Nilufer!" Mama quietly shouted
"Baby I need you to hide, can you do that for me"
I nodded while mama hurriedly left my room
I opened the attic compartment above my dresser, it was hard to tell that there was a opening there, which gave mama a hard time whenever I ran away from an argument
The space was very small but I still managed to fit inside. The memories I made in here were the best
It was dark so I tried to feel around for the flashlight I always used when I was up here
After looking for a bit, I finally found it. I turned on the flashlight and it was dimmer then before
I open the locket and used the flashlight on it to see the picture better. I stared at the three of us
My parents don't look anything like me. I have these long ginger waves with big blue eyes and freckles throughout my body, and of course my pale skin
but Papa has thin brunette hair with hazel eyes and a tanner skin color
mama has black dense hair, a very tight curl pattern and clear green eyes and her skin tone was a rich ebony color.
I always had a feeling they might not be my birth parents, because many of the books I've read say a children look like their parents
But I don't care about any of that because I know they love me and that's all that matters
'Crash!'
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of glass shattering
I put my head down low to see if I could hear anything
"O'Neil I gave you many years to come up with..."
It's too muffled to make out what's going on but there is someone on this island other than the three of us, someone who knows papa's name
My heart starts rapidly beating as more things break. I cover my ears and hum mamas song to myself.
At this point it feels like I've been here for hours, I uncover my ears, the light rain hits the old wood roof and the floor beneath me creaks every breathe I take.
It's completely silent.
I slowly climb out of the attic space and make my way out of my room. I hear the light rain become a down pour.
My shirt got caught on the nail Papa said he was going to fix but never had the chance to.
I look back at the direction of my room only to see a wall in place of my door. I walk back to my room stopping in front of the door. I try placing my hand on the wall
"..what the heck..?"
My hand goes right through the wall, im taken back but I don't have time for it, I can't hear my parents anywhere nor the man I heard earlier.
I walk past the rooms to see that they are in a complete mess. The books are all over the floor and the vases are broken.
I rush downstairs to see if mama and papa are down there only to be met with the sight of blood on the floor.
Where are mama and papa. Just where did they go.
I cried painfully not know if mama and papa were alright. I went to their room and scrunched up on their bed. The pillows smell just like them.
I cried on the bed for the rest of the night till morning came.
"..what a birthday..."