Academy Island

Hidden

The deafening crack echoed over the ocean beyond us, sounding empty and lost as if it had nowhere to go. I could swear the palm I clung to cowered with me, the plants below crashing about at the sudden invasion of many propellants. I watched with wide eyes a wide range of destruction that left the plants where I'd just been torn and tattered, the bits of greenery still fluttering down to the sandy soil.

He'd shot at me.

The last echoes faded away, he as silent as myself, both of us listening for the other. My thighs and arms trembled with the effort to keep myself from sliding down, or worse, falling. The landing didn't bother me so much, I did know how to protect myself in a fall, but they hadn't taught evasion of a gun-wielding maniac with a dog in school.

The snap of a branch breaking nearby made me wish they had. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the ground, my fingers digging even harder into the palm's foreign feeling bark with the tension. Every muscle froze into place when his golden loosely woven straw hat, the same color as his dog's fur, came into view. I tracked his progress, noting he still had his gun at the ready as he cautiously tip toed through the ruined plants. He halted a few paces to the side just beneath me, slowly examining the jungle around us, his gun following his point of view in a wide arc. His dog joined him, loping up just behind his heel and sat, gazing out into the jungle with his master, looking for me. The dog snuffed at the ground, lifting a paw as he searched for my scent. I held my breath. He stood and wandered around behind the man, finally huffing and trotting right over to my hiding tree. A kiss of breeze whispered against my lower cheeks.

Please don't look up. Please don't look up. Please don't look up.

The man heaved a sigh and lowered his weapon, holding it in a more relaxed position before swinging it up on his shoulder and turning back to the beach. He disappeared from my view, leaving Max whining below me.

"Come on, Max. He's probably halfway to camp by now. Let's meet up with him there."

Max whined again, looking back and forth between my tree and his rapidly departing master, scratching halfheartedly at the base. I prayed Max wouldn't bark, and that the strength in my trembling arms would hold up long enough to escape detection.

"Max, come!"

Thankfully, Max obeyed. The jingle of his collar faded along with the man's footsteps, getting lost in the returning hum of insects and roar of the surf. My foot slipped halfway, dangling, unsure if it was safe or not to go down. The burning in my muscles and the uninterrupted natural sounds around me told me that it was worth a shot.

I slipped in stages, easing myself down as carefully as I could before dropping the last few feet and crouching on aching feet, only dropping to my knees to rest when I was sure the coast was clear. A sheen of sweat covered my face that I wiped away with an equally sweaty forearm, discovering too late that I had rubbed drying, itchy sand all over myself. I needed to bathe, but first, finding something to cover my lower half was definitely in order.

I scanned the holey leaves, pondering how to keep them on myself in a way that would leave my hands free to do other things and bringing up a blank on a way to accomplish it. I had to find something better than leaves. But what?