Chapter Nine

Looking across the cave, I noticed a small caged area on the other side. Walking along the platform, I reached it with ease. Stepping inside, I saw another stone placed in the wall. At my touch, it retreated into the wall. Looking around, I waited for a reaction.

I didn’t have to wait long. Out of the ground rose a box I hadn’t noticed before. The stone continued to carry it upward until it was level with me. Retracing my steps, I examined it closer. The box itself wasn’t heavy, and could be moved with ease. However, there didn’t seem to be much of a use for it in my current situation. Without much choice, I retraced my steps even further and found myself back on the cavern floor.

I was about to give up when I noticed the area where the box had come from. Without the box to cover it, a secret passage was exposed beneath the cave. Hopping inside, I began to walk through. The darkness was hard to navigate, but I eventually reached what I assumed to be the end of the tunnel. Feeling the walls, my hands brushed against a stone. With a grating sound, it sank into the floor. Without much choice, I exited the tunnel and searched for a change.

As I was looking, one of the boxes was lifted out of sight by a stone. Behind it was a blue sky, crystal clear ocean, and the sands of the beach. Not expecting much else, I stepped through the hole in the wall. The sands of the beach welcomed me warmly. Glancing around, I noticed the usual beach decorations; trees and coconuts. However, I also noticed a pile of dirt positioned against the wall.

Without much interest in anything else the simple beach had to offer, I began to climb the pile. As I had learned to expect, there was a stone at the very top. It sank into the dirt pile, revealing a new entrance into the cave. With a longing look at the ocean, I returned to the abandoned work site.

Once my eyes adjusted, I realized that I was standing on a platform above the ground. Feeling my way along it, I came to an old ladder. Despite its age, it seemed strong as I began to ascend.

Pushing aside the stone at the top, I looked around. There were more boxes lying around here. It didn’t take me long to find one that could be opened. To my delight, it contained a single explosive. I’d have to be careful with it, or else I would surely be stuck. Carrying it tenderly, I descended the ladder. Returning to the beach, I realized that without the sands I would have been unable to enter the alternate route. No matter how far away I ran, I always managed to find myself being saved by home.

Stepping closer to the wooden floor, I felt confident in what I was about to do. Pulling my arm back, I hurled the bomb at the cracks in the ground. With an explosion, the pieces of wood flew away. In their place was the entrance to a tunnel. With one last look at the cave, I jumped in.

Chapter Eight

Stepping inside, the tunnel was dark, wooden, and seemingly alive. If felt strange to think about being inside of a living plant, yet at the same time, it was relaxing. Regardless, I was happy to see that the tunnel did not go one for too long. A dim light could be seen around the corner.

Stepping out of the tunnel, I didn’t realize that the floor ended. I fell about ten feet, landing roughly on the ground. Thankfully I remained unharmed. I was starting to wonder if I was invincible. After brushing myself off, I looked around. I appeared to be in a large cavern. Small glowing plants decorated the cave, giving off a calming light. There were small structures everywhere, holding up platforms high above the cavern floor. Looking around, there were a few piles of boxes sitting in various corners of the cave.

Standing up, I walked over to the nearest one. Climbing the stacks of boxes, I tried opening them randomly. Many of them refused to relinquish their contents. When I was about to give up, one box opened easily. Looking inside, I found what appeared to be small guns. Picking one up, I aimed at the cavern wall and pulled the trigger. A beam of blue light shot out of it, hitting the wall and disappearing. Turning around, I tried firing a few more shots at various areas of the cavern.

When I tried to pull the trigger for a sixth time, it refused to fire. It seemed to be out of ammo. Tossing it to the side, I tried another gun. After five shots, it too gave out. It seemed as if each gun was only capable of five shots without being reloaded with more ammo. I grabbed a third gun and began to look around.

Many of the platforms were out of reach. If I wanted to reach one, I would have to push something nearby to give me a boost. Unfortunately, the lowest platforms were nowhere near the piles of heavy boxes. Scanning the platforms, I saw another box sitting on top of one. If there was only a way to knock it off...

Raising my gun, I fired a single shot at it. Just as I had hoped, the box slowly began to tip over and fall off the edge of the platform. With a crash, the box landed but thankfully didn’t break. Walking over to it, I tested its weight. It was a lightweight box, but it would hold several times my own weight. Climbing on it, I jumped and managed to reach the platform.

The next platform in the series was a short hop away. I managed to clear it easily, pulling myself up without any difficulty. This process continued for a while longer, leaping from platform to platform until I reached a pile of boxes against the wall. I carefully jumped onto the stack, walking around the edge of the cavern until I managed to jump onto the platform on the other side.

Down below, I noticed another strangely-colored patch of ground. Squinting to see it, I saw that was another wooden area, much like the one I had just come through. Sure enough, there was a cracked area in the middle. Now that I knew how to get out of the cave, how would I manage to break through this time?

Chapter Seven

I began to run over my resources in my mind. The coconuts from the beach weren’t heavy enough. I couldn’t possibly cut down a tree. There were no stones in sight. My mind drifted back to the second beach, with the machinery and the huge coconuts. With a rush of inspiration, I rushed back to the area.

The coconuts remained in place, exactly where I had left them. Heaving one out of the sand it had sunk into, I began to roll it across the beach. There were grooves in the sand that allowed to coconut to roll easily, without falling into the ocean. If it fell in, there would be no way to pull it back out.

Eventually I nestled it into the sand under the machine.Hopping to the small island, I stepped on the stone. Just as I had hoped, the machine picked up the coconut, into the wall and out of sight. With a smile of triumph, I returned to the mainland and re-entered the valley. Searching the grass nearby, I found what I was looking for: the coconut. Just as I had hoped, the machine was a lift to transport the large coconuts from the beach to the valley.

Heaving the heavy coconut, I rolled it across the grassy floor until I reached the stone I had stood on earlier. With one last shove, the stone sank into the ground and out of sight. The sound of the nearby machinery started up again. With a grin, I returned to it and stood on the rising stone. The valley below me seemed to grow smaller as I rose above even the tallest tree.

The ride eventually ended, and I stepped off at the top. I was in a small caged area overlooking the whole valley. Opening a small door in the wall of the cage, I stepped out onto the balcony. Though the platform was clearly very aged, it didn’t even creak as I walked across its wooden sticks. The explosive I was looking for sat on the end of the platform. Picking it up, I looked around. It seemed as if there was no way to get down from here other than to jump.

Looking over the edge, the ground was much farther away than it was from the ledge. Regardless, I felt that I could use the same technique and land on the ground unharmed. Throwing the explosive down before me, I hung from the platform, closed my eyes, and dropped.

As soon as I felt grass below me, I curled up and did another roll. I was a little dizzy, but didn’t have a scratch on me. I picked up the bomb, which also appeared to be unharmed. Carrying it over to the wooden wall I found earlier, I looked around for a way to detonate it. There was a fuse on it, but I didn’t have anything to light it with. Leaving it on the ground, I walked around the valley for anything that could start a fire, but nothing seemed to stand out. Returning to the valley, I sat down in frustration. To be so close, and yet so far away... Picking up the bomb, I threw it at the wall.

The explosion blew me off the small ledge I had been standing on. When I had climbed back up, there was a gaping hole in the wall where the bomb had hit. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but I wasn’t about to question it. Returning to the ledge, I took a closer look inside. I was staring at a dark tunnel leading to somewhere new.

Chapter Six

Stepping out of the small tunnel, I blinked in the sunlight. The valley remained unchanged, though I hadn’t expected anything else. There were still no signs of life, aside from the remains of a past visitor.

To my right was a protective barrier similar to the ones I had seen on the machine on the beach. It was built into the valley wall, and was positioned so I could not reach it from where I currently was. However, I could see that it seemed to protect the end of a tunnel built with sticks. I assumed it was connected to the beach machine, but I still couldn’t figure out its purpose.

Sitting by the large tree, I thought about my next action. It looked as if the only way out of the valley was the beach door, and that was certainly a dead end. Enjoying the warm sunlight, I drifted off into sleep, comforted by the roots of the tree.

When I woke up, it appeared to be mid-day. Soon enough, it would be rather warm. Standing up and stretching, I looked around. The valley looked the same as ever, except for one wall. Walking over to examine, I took a closer look. What I had thought was a dirt wall as actually a large portion of what appeared to be a tree root. It had the same rough texture, and stung my scabbed hands when rubbed.

Knocking on the wood, only a solid sound returned. Looking over the rest of the root, I found a slight crack in it. Knocking on this area, I heard a hollowed sound. A slight breeze could be felt flowing through the cracks. Standing back, I thought about my options. A strong enough force could surely break through this wall, but I wasn’t going to be able to do it alone. My mind drifted back to the explosive I had seen earlier. If used correctly, it could definitely break through.

Crossing through the valley again, I found the structure nestled in the corner, behind some trees and bushes. Like the others, this one was also built out of sticks and appeared to be timeless. Not a vine or plant clung to it, despite the flora nearby. Under the assumption that this one worked just as the others had, I began to search for a stone nearby to activate it.

The stone I was looking for was in a small cave hidden in the wall on the other side of the valley. Pressing down on the switch, I watched as another floating stone rose through the structure, carrying an invisible package to the top and dumping it there. As long as I held the switch, the platform would continue to rise. As soon as I stepped off however, it also stopped.

Unlike the previous stones, this one was harder to press. It would take a heavy object to hold it down long enough for me to reach the structure and ride it to the top. The lightweight coconuts from home wouldn’t provide for me this time. Leaning against the cavern wall, I began to think.

Chapter Five

This beach was certainly not home, but it created several strange feelings and questions to mind. I had thought that the beach I lived on was the only one, and that it was mine. Yet as I ran the sand through my fingers, I knew that this beach was the same as mine, yet at the same time, it wasn’t. There was no possible way to explain what my heart and mind were telling me at this point.

Part of me wanted to go home. The sands here were all too familiar for me, making me crave the beach where I lived my whole awakened life. It hadn’t even been an hour, but I was already homesick. Yet something inside me said to pick up my head and carry on. This adventure would be worth it in the end.

Looking around, I noticed several palm trees. From their leafy branches hung several large coconuts, much too heavy to carry anywhere. Rolling them seemed to be a definite possibility, though. Walking over to the tree, I gave it a good shake. I leapt out of the way just as a coconut fell, sending a spray of sand into the air. Digging it out of the small crater I made, I observed that I was right about the size. This coconut was the biggest I had ever seen.

My curiosity satisfied, I looked around again. Against one wall was a structure similar to the one in the valley. Walking over to it, I rubbed my hand along it. The sticks it was made from were smooth, as if they had been made with great care. The tower went up to a hole in the wall, which disappeared beyond my sight. Protective railings were placed along the structure, as if to keep me from climbing it.

Gazing out over the ocean, I noticed yet another feature I hadn’t seen before. A small pillar of sand rose out of the ocean, serving as a stepping stone to a small island. With a careful leap, I hopped across the step and stood on the island. Nothing decorated it but a small stone button, similar to the one I had seen when I left the beach. This one was in better condition than the first, and I could make out an ornate design on it.

Stepping on the stone, it sank into the sand. I waited for it to return, but it remained buried. A grating sound broke me from my confusion. Turning around, I saw the stone rise from the ground beneath the structure. It appeared to be floating. I rubbed my eyes, yet it still remained above the ground. The stone climbed the interior of the structure and disappeared into the hole in the wall. Before I had a chance to observe it again, another small noise nearby announced the return of the stone.

Tapping the stone again, I leapt over the stepping stone and onto the main island. Though I ran as fast as I could, the stone managed to rise into the structure before I could reach it. There was no way I could outrun it. Convinced that this was all the beach had to offer me, I climbed the sand hill and returned to the valley.

Chapter Four

Using my weight and momentum, I swung from its sturdy branch and jumped for the next tree. The rough bark hurt my hands, but I didn’t care. The adrenaline rushing through me numbed the pain and kept me going. With another heave, I threw myself at the branch ahead of me. I pulled myself onto the branch and looked up. The ledge with the glitter was right in front of me. Shifting my weight, I tested the branch’s strength. It remained firmly in place.

It would be a clear jump to the ledge, but it would also be a very close one. I closed my eyes, bent my legs, and leapt up. My hands just barely grasped the ledge, but I held on tightly. Slowly I managed to pull myself up far enough that I could see what was in front of me. Just as I expected, a golden key rested on the grass in front of me. With a sigh of relief, I continued to pull myself up.

Suddenly the small plant I grasped let go of the dirt. Scrambling, I tried to hold my position on the ledge. Slowly yet quickly at the same time, I found myself hanging by only my fingers, hanging on for dear life. It was possible for me to fall to the ground without being hurt, but by the time I returned I would be tired and my hands would be sore from swinging on the bark. No, this was a now or never moment.

With a sudden burst of energy, I lifted myself higher. This time I grabbed a limb which was a little sturdier and pulled myself over the edge and on to solid ground. I lay in the grass for awhile, just catching my breath. It was very soft, relaxing my tired hands. Looking at my palms, I saw that they were torn up a bit from the bark, with small little scratches with droplets of blood forming. Wiping them on the grass, I sat up to get a better idea of my surroundings. I was roughly fifteen feet off the ground, slightly higher than the center part of the valley.

As my eyes raked the scene, I noticed something I hasn’t seen when I walked by it earlier. I small structure was nestled in the corner, seemingly built into the wall. It was a small tower of sticks, with a small platform at the top. On the edge of it I could see what appeared to be some kind of explosive. This was more proof of life than I could have expected. Not only were they here at some point, they also seemed to be intelligent. Well, intelligent enough to build these strange structures.

Holding myself off the edge of the ledge I had been standing on, I looked down. It was fifteen feet to the ground, but with a proper landing, I knew I could walk away unharmed. With that thought, I let go and fell. As soon as I felt the ground below me, I ducked down and did a roll. Aside from a little dirt, I was untouched and unharmed.

With the key in hand, I climbed up the slope and crossed the walkway. The padlock responded to the key immediately, snapping open as the door began to rise. Behind the door was a narrow tunnel. Ducking down, I began to walk through it. The first light blinded me for a moment. My eyes adjusted, revealing the powdered sands of another beach.

Chapter Three

A small valley greeted me as I looked at my new surroundings. The area was covered with trees of different sizes. Their branches and leaves were not like those on the beach. Instead, these were more condensed and with strong and sturdy branches. Various flowers and plants decorated the ground, adding a variety of colors to the scene. I walked along the curved path, taking in the strange, new sights. At the end, I found a small hill which led up to the middle portion of the valley, from which any part could be seen.

In the middle of the raised land was a large tree, the largest of any I had seen before. I walked up to it, filled with awe. Its trunk was huge, and its braches seemed to stretch for ever. Every other tree in the valley was below me from where I stood, as if refusing to reach as high as this tree. As my eyes raked over it, I noticed a small piece of white paper lying at its roots. Excitedly, I picked it up.

Unfortunately, the handwriting was not legible, or it was written in a different language altogether. However, I noticed that it was written in the same style at the letter I found on the beach from which I made my name. I folded the letter and placed it in my pocket. While I had not met any life yet, the two letters which I had found seemed to prove that I was not the only one to come here.

Looking beyond the tree, I found another sign of life among the natural surroundings. On an opposite ledge was a large stone door which I hadn’t noticed before. Walking carefully along a narrow walkway which led to it, I tried to find a way to open it. Touching it with my hand, the door began to move upwards. Suddenly it stopped and returned itself to its old position. Looking at the ground, I noticed a large padlock and chain keeping the door from opening. Though they looked as old as the door, their size would make it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to break off.

Returning along the walkway, I looked around once again. A glitter of gold caught my eye from another small ledge. Curious, I looked for a way to reach it. There were no walkways leading me to this area, but there were several trees. With a determined sigh, I walked to the edge of the valley and focused on my goal, the small glitter on the other side. With a leap, I jumped off and grabbed onto the nearest tree.

Chapter Two

The humidity of the forest hit me as soon as I stepped on the lush grass. To my right was a fallen tree. Beyond that was a ledge which was currently out of reach. Looking to my left, I saw that the trail ended quickly, with a stone set in the ground. Walking over to it, I placed my foot on its surface. The stone sunk into the ground instantly, causing me to lose my footing and fall to my knees. In the distance, I could hear the sound of stone moving.

I stood up and brushed myself off. Intent on discovering what had changed, I began to retrace my steps. Almost instantly, the stone rose to ground level again, accompanied by the distant noise returning for a short time. Curiously, I tapped the stone with my foot. As I expected, it sunk and rose again. Apparently it didn’t take much weight to activate trigger. If I could find something to hold it in place, I would be able to figure out what was happening. Unfortunately, there was nothing on the ground heavy enough to weigh down the stone; plants and leaves littered the ground, but no rocks or sticks.

Running back to the beach, I grabbed the largest coconut I could find and returned. Home had provided for me. In response to the coconut’s touch, the stone sank into the ground and stayed in place. With a content sigh, I retraced my steps yet again until I came to the fallen tree. Stepping over it, I realized what the stone had done. By the high ledge which I had seen before, a small stone step had risen.

I walked over to it, testing my weight against it. The stone remained firmly in place. With a small jump, I was able to stand on the stone, and with another small hop, I was on the ledge above.

Chapter One

I never really thought about leaving the beach. It was my home, a place where I could feel safe. I didn’t know much about tradition, but somehow I knew that you simply don’t leave home. It’s your safe house, your refuge, your own little corner of the world. Outside, the world is a different place than you’re used to at home. So why leave?

Of course, home is just as safe as the rest of the world. The imaginary barriers we place around the place we call home are just as strong as those around what someone else considers to be their home. If our home provides for our needs, we’re content enough to stay with it. Why leave when everything you need is at home?

The small stretch of beach was all I really needed to survive, and maybe even lead a happy life. The trees grew food for me, the ocean gave me a place to bathe, and the soft sand gave me a place to rest. My days were spent sitting sand, looking over the ocean and simply thinking. When the mind is a place of endless possibility, an empty mind such as my own finds it very easy to lose itself in thought.

My name is Elza. I named myself after I found it written on a note which had been tossed on the sand by the ocean. I don’t have any memories of the past. I don’t know if I’ve simply forgotten, or if I don’t have a past to tell about. My earliest, and possibly first, memory is slowly opening my eyes and gazing up at the blue skies above me. In that instant, I knew I was alive. From there, it has been a life filled with questions without answers.

But no one can lead a life without answers for long. I soon began to desire to leave the beach, my home, my refuge. While the sands and oceans around me would always be my home, they could not provide the answers for the questions I had. The world around me was large, but it certainly held answers. The jungle beyond the beach called to me, speaking languages I had never heard before. I was determined to answer its call. Standing up, I brushed myself off and began to walk.