Alluvium

Chapter 1

Nestled comfortably in the sand, I had the perfect view of hundreds of sea turtle hatchlings flocking towards the sea. The beautiful white sand beaches of Alluvium stretched before me as far as I could see, with the small shelled bodies of turtles littering nearly every inch. This scene was romanticized further through the lens of my camera, perfectly capturing this miraculous phenomenon and preserving this monumental moment in not only my career, but my life.

    Since I began shooting for National Geographic nearly three years ago, it has been my goal to come to Alluvium, which holds the most popular nesting beach for sea turtles in the Pacific. Luckily for me, this opportunity came at the perfect time. Due to the effects of climate change, the waters surrounding the island are slowly becoming too warm for the turtles to tolerate. Consequently, this is predicted to be one of the last mass green turtle hatchings on the island.

    Lately it seems like each day brings with it another global crisis. Just last week, the largest tsunami ever recorded killed millions in the Middle East. The waters of the Arabian Sea rose and engulfed Oman, Yemen and even Dubai. This incident took place nearly one year after the tragedy in Chicago, in which a 20 mile high tornado ripped through the city, leaving nothing behind but an enormous pile of broken glass and steel. No one could have anticipated one of these storms infiltrating a city like Chicago, and no one was prepared for the utter chaos that followed. Even after the storm subsided, the broken society that was left caused an equal amount of damage. People roamed the desolate remains of the city and pillaged whatever was left, and the worst of humanity was truly revealed in this time of lawlessness and catastrophe. Over one million people died on that terrible day, including my own parents and little sister.

    I blink rapidly to clear out the tears collecting in my eyes, overwhelmed by my rush of emotions. Truly, this migration is one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. I have grown so used to loss and hardship that witnessing this abundance of creation and joy is almost too much for me to comprehend.

    For the rest of the evening, I make an intentional effort to keep my mind filled with positive thoughts, not wanting to bring any negative energy into this sacred place. Once the sun had fully set in the sky, I packed up my camera and tripod to begin the trek back to our campsite. For the last few days, we have lived here amongst the thick jungle trees awaiting the turtles' departure. Tomorrow, we will leave this beautiful island and sail back to the mainland, where I am sure more tragedy and anguish await us.

    I smell the smoke of the fire before any sign of the campsite becomes visible to me. As I grow nearer, I can hear it crackle and hiss as the flames devour the damp jungle wood. I hear the murmur of voices grow louder as the trees open up to reveal our small campsite. Five A-frame tents are arranged in a star-like pattern, rotating around the central firepit that has been burning since our arrival. This fire is the most crucial component to our survival, allowing us to warm our food and cleanse our water while keeping us warm throughout the night. Although, the constant flames and trailing plume of smoke seem to put a target on our backs as well by drawing in curious wildlife and people from the indigenous tribes of Alluvium.

    While I have yet to see any of these indigenous people, our entire crew was warned about their presence before our departure from the mainland. Apparently, people have regularly gone missing while visiting this island for decades, especially women. No one knows exactly why, but it is assumed that they were captured by the native people or killed by the natural predators on the island.

The voices grow from a soft murmur to the clear voices of two men from my crew conversing near the luminous flames. Their conversation stops abruptly when I meet eyes with Julian. His worried expression instantly turns into a smile as I walk into the campsite. Kyle turns quickly, only his expression does not change when he meets my gaze.