Atlantis Twisting Tides

Atlantis Twisting Tides Chapter Two B

Chapter Two B

Gravity Grounded

“Let’s take cover under the trees.”

I glanced up. And up and up.

The trees soared. The slim, greenish-brown trunks climbed high into the sky. The pieces of bark stacked on top of each other. The leaves at the top exploded like a human firework in the sky. The large fronds would cast shade on a sunny day. Today, the rain poured through the leaves making a swish, swish type of sound.

I lifted my leg to walk and stumbled, falling to the ground. The hard ground. I scowled feeling like such a guppy.

Knowing I’d have bruises tomorrow, I sat up and wiped the sand off my shoulder and arm. Embarrassment flowed from my veins to my skin. There was no pressure of water to press against and keep you upright. Air didn’t hold you back. Although, obviously it held you down. Gravity was a new sensation.

Struggling to my feet, I carefully lifted my other leg. I was similar to a toddler learning to move about in a new environment. I was a fish out of water, literally.

Kai trudged toward me. “Something wrong?”

“No, I…” I’ve never walked on the ground.

“There’s a patch of fairly dry sand over here, under the trees.” He pointed a few yards away where a close cluster of trees covered a patch of dry sand. “I’ll try to make a fire.”

My ears perked. There was that word again. Fire. What was that human saying? A moth to a flame? That’s what I felt like. I was drawn to experiencing a fire. Drawn to Kai. The attraction punched me in the gut.

Whoa, seahorses. Crushing was one thing, but I couldn’t be attracted to Kai. He was a human, someone I was trying to help. Sure, he was cute with the smoldering eyes and quirky smile. I had to remember he was off limits—in so many ways. And I’d never see him again after this rescue was complete.

He supported the portion of the boat against a palm tree. “I need to find something to smash this boat into smaller pieces to use for the fire.”

I didn’t know much about fire, but… “Isn’t the boat wood too wet?”

His body jerked. “Of course it is.” He frowned and then scrunched his face into a smug expression. “We can use the pieces of wood to ring the place where we’ll start the fire.”

“Why do we need a fire?” I wanted to see one, just wasn’t sure it was worth the trouble. Or if it would stay lit with the rain, even being covered by the large palm fronds.

“You must be cold after getting out of the water.”

One of the things about Atlanteans is, our body temperatures adjust to the environment. Kai must be cold and it was nice of him to be thinking of me. “Yes.”

“Let’s search for dry wood and kindling.” He nodded confirming his suggestion. “You search over there and I’ll climb this small hill. Look for small pieces that are under the brush or trees and not too wet.”

“Okay.” I didn’t know what kindling was.

Walking with care, I headed away from the beach deeper into the palm trees. I took in a huge breath and smelled the scents of moss and flowers. Of dampness, instead of the usual wetness.

I touched the trunk of a palm tree, running my hand over the rough bark. Picking up a hairy, brown coconut that had fallen to the ground, I expected the strings to be soft and supple. Instead, they were coarse and strong. And the coconut was heavy. Not similar to every other nut I’d read about.