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.