Genre (s): Historical Fiction/Mystery
Written When? 11th Grade
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Prologue
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I do not have many memories of my past. I lost them when I died, many years ago. Ping said he and Parity found me in a cove on the island. I was unconscious, broken, and bleeding, which leaves me to believe I was just born.
I am a child of the Ocean, not a child of the land. Nevertheless, I know my name is Erika. How do I know this? I don't know. Do you think the Ocean gave me that name? One of the meanings of the name Erika is "ever powerful", and I seem to recall a very powerful Ocean deep in the back of my head. Is that where the name comes from?
But what about "Edna"? That is another name I remember. Why? I do not have an answer. My only guess is that the Ocean had to choose between the names "Erika" or "Edna" when She gave birth to me. But... Edna. Why is that so familiar? Was I someone else before I died? What if my real name isn't even Erika? What if it's Edna? This is all so confusing.
Who am I? What lies beyond the protective borders of my island? What does the Ocean want from me? I did not think I would find answers to the many different questions that swarmed around in my head, but then I met Antonio, a creature who looked just like me. He told me of a place far across the ocean known as the "Mainland", and that he wanted me to go back with him.
No! I couldn't leave Ping, Parity, and the island behind! They were my past, present, and future. But at the same time, perhaps I would find my lost memories if I went with Antonio? The Graveyard of the Atlantic... Was that where I was from? I mean, I was dead. Nevertheless, what was that feeling I had when I was around Tonio? Why did I feel so safe and secure around him? What's all the talk about a war on the horizon? I ask way too many questions, but I'm curious.
My story is a strange one, but it is also what the Ocean expects from me. I have to leave my island. I have to go with Tonio, if there is any hope for me to start my life over. To change my future, I have to learn about my past. Who am I? The Ocean told me. I am the "Graveyard of the Atlantic".
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Chapter 1
The Graveyard of the Atlantic
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It was the time of month when I had to stay in the canopy. Under the rays of the Circle of Light, I adjusted my leaf skirt, as well as the flower I wore behind my left ear. I wore my hip-length, blonde hair forward, so it could cover my breasts, and took in a whiff of the sea breeze. Deep within the jungle, I could hear the breathing of animals. They told me it was a brand-new day.
Usually during my Bleeding Month, I stayed in bed under a blanket of leaves, but that day, I heard the island calling me. Something was waiting for me out there, and I had to find out what.
Therefore, I grabbed some leaves and stuffed them up my skirt to stop the flow of blood. Afterward, my blue eyes landed on the edge of the canopy.
As the animals continued to breathe, I carefully walked across a tree branch until I hit a cluster of leaves. I pulled them aside and stepped in front of them.
There it was. The ocean. What I was looking at was the island's cove. I seemed to fall under a trance when I watched the gentle slapping of waves against the sand.
The ocean sparkled. I even witnessed a couple of dolphins jumping out of the clear, blue water. Jump, splash. Jump, splash. Jump, splash. Lifting my hand, I waved to them.
I am the Graveyard of the Atlantic–the Ocean told me so, and I heard Her sweet voice calling me from the beach: "Erika! Erika! Come, for there is something you must know."
Whenever the Ocean spoke to me, I knew it was important, so I told Her I'd be there in just a few minutes. My bare feet took me back to the cluster of leaves, which was where I reentered the canopy from.
Right when I did, I heard a flapping sound behind me. It was Parity. Following her, swinging from vine to vine, was Ping.
They spoke to me through their language, but I had lived there long enough to understand them, so I knew they said, "Erika! Where do you think you're going?"
Parity landed on my shoulder. Our blue eyes met. "Your Bleeding Month brings you pain," she said. "Therefore, you must save your energy."
"Oh, but Parity! The Ocean is calling me."
Parity was a gorgeous bird. She had blue feet, black feathers, a white belly, and a huge, orange bill that came in handy whenever we picked fruit. "That doesn't matter!" she told me in a stern voice. "What matters is that you rest until your cramps recede."
"I feel fine."
Ping spoke up. "That's what they always say." He leaped off his vine and landed on my other shoulder. "Next thing you know, you're dead."
"Is that all bad?" I wanted to know. "Death is a part of me. The Ocean is my graveyard. Therefore, I must follow Her orders." And just like that, I pulled my two friends off my shoulders and set them down on another tree branch. I then headed over to a vine of my own. Before I grabbed it and swooped, I felt something land on my head.
Ping. "This is risky, Erika. Very risky." He hung his gray, furry face in front of mine. "Weren't Parity and I the ones who found you in the first place?"
"You're friends," I said, "but the Ocean is my Mother. When something is wrong, the daughter has to jump in and help." Once again, I pulled Ping off and set him down on a tree branch. Afterward, I jumped from the canopy's edge and grabbed hold of the vine. As I swung through the magical, yet mysterious jungle, I wondered what the Ocean wanted from me.
Ping and Parity came with me because they wanted to make sure I didn't get myself in trouble.
Parity flew next to my head, while Ping swung from branch to branch on the other side.
The vine dropped me off in an open area behind some dunes that were decorated with different, small pools of water. On the other side of the dunes was where the Ocean called me from.
Ping tried to add in some panache when he let go of his vine, but that went poorly, and he splashed into a pool of water at my toes.
Parity and I burst out laughing.
Ping, who sat up in the pool and shook water off his gray, fluffy fur, shouted, "It's not funny!" at us.
"Well, Ping, I think it is safe to say that did not go the way you planned," chortled Parity. She landed next to him. "Next thing you know, you'll try swimming, and Luca's family will pull you to the bottom of the Triangle."
The Triangle was where we lived. It is a vast stretch of Ocean where ships meet their dorm. Shipwrecks surround the island like the beaches and palms. I can't help but sometimes feel like I am responsible for so much doom and destruction. I say that because at least once a week, I found a fresh, new shipwreck when I was out exploring that was not there the day before. That was until I sang my song to the Ocean. Was I a siren?
The song I just mentioned, like the name "Edna", felt so familiar to me, as if someone had taught it to me a long time ago. I want to say the Ocean taught it, but no. The Ocean is beautiful, sure, but woo-wee, She stinks at singing. Sorry, Ocean.
My haunting melody went like this:
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"In the open waves of the ocean of peace,
A little ship sails on the horizon.
As it sails, it finds the altarpiece.
Where it prays for the rise of its prize,
And where it prays for the rise of its magic star.
A star filled full of magic,
That puts the ship to sleep."
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I couldn't remember anything else. I wondered if the song was a curse or blessing. If it was a blessing, then why did a new shipwreck appear around the island the day after I sang it? Why was everything so complicated?
As the questions swarmed around in my head like a hurricane, I pulled Ping out from the pool of water.
He shook out his fur and climbed up my back. Shivering, he embarrassingly buried his face in his paws.
Before long, Parity flapped next to him, and she admitted, "Well, Ping, now I know why the crabs love to pinch you. You're always so clumsy."
"I am not! Tell her, Erika! Tell her I'm not clumsy!"
"Um," was the only word that left my lips. Honestly, out of all three of us, Ping did get in the most trouble. He always needed rescuing.
He slapped my cheek and added, "Oh, Erika! I thought you were my friend!"
Before I could argue anymore, I heard Her.
The Ocean. "Erika."
"She calls me," I told Ping and Parity, "and I must obey." Suddenly, I flinched, for my cramps started to hurt me. Sweat fountained down my temples, and I stumbled a little.
That worried my friends.
"Erika!" Parity yelled.
Ping remained calm, but he said, "Your cramps have returned. Sit down, little one. Sit down and wait till they cease."
"No." I shook my head of long, blonde hair and placed my hands on my breasts. "She needs me."
"But, Erika!" Ping sounded desperate, but I disobeyed him.
My feet splashed through the pools of warm water, as I hurried in the direction of the dunes.
Ping remained on my back, while Parity flew behind us.
I climbed the dunes, as if they were a two-hundred-foot-tall tree, and pushed myself to my feet when I reached the top of them. A gust of wind blew my hair, but I could only do one thing: stare.
Ping crawled up to my shoulder, while Parity landed next to my ankle.
The Ocean spoke again, "Erika," and then... I saw it. What the Ocean led me to... was a brand-new shipwreck.
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Chapter 2
Mysterious Girl of the Bermuda Triangle
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Who was she? She captivated me. Was she a siren? Was I allowed to feel such things? She stood at the top of a dune that overlooked my shipwreck–the shipwreck of The Journey Born. All she wore was a leaf skirt with a flower behind her ear. She was half-naked. I saw her, but the question was, did she see me?
A voice next to me snapped me out of my trance, but I continued to stare at her... the mysterious girl of the Bermuda Triangle.
"Well I'll be, Antonio! That was one heck of a storm!"
Yes, my name is Antonio, and I'm from Charles Towne, South Carolina. I am witty, kind, and the only one in my family who is a sailing nerd. Age? I am sixteen years old, about the same age as the girl. What do I look like? Well, I am several inches taller than the man who just spoke to me, and I have tan skin, blue eyes, and long brown hair that I wear in a ribbon.
That day, I was dressed in my best sailing clothes: tall, knee-length, brown boots, khaki, tight-fitting pants, as well as a long-sleeved, puffy white shirt, in which I wore a brown sash that stretched from my right shoulder to my left hip.
The man standing next to me was my sidekick and sailing buddy, Augustus. He was a short but buff sailor who was friends with my father. He had medium-length, brown hair that he also wore in a ribbon, and green eyes. Age? About thirty-five. Clothing? Sailor pants with black shoes, stockings, a gray sailor shirt with a brown belt at the waist, and a hat that was too big for his head.
Problems? Augustus was an alcoholic. When the storm caught us and sucked us into the Bermuda Triangle, he was too drunk to steer, so I had to steer the ship myself. Even though the ocean is my backyard, it was just too much for one man to handle. And there we were–on a deserted island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, with a beautiful, half-naked girl staring at our splintered ship.
My hands rested on the tipped-over figurehead. I hid behind it and continued to stare.
Augustus must've noticed I was paying him no attention, because he once again said, "That was one heck of a storm!"
"Uh-huh," was all I said.
"What's wrong, Tonio?" asked my sidekick. "You're staring into space."
I finally turned my head and looked at him. With my right hand, I pointed at the dune where the girl stood and questioned, "Don't you see her, Augustus?"
"Her? See who?"
"A girl is standing on one of those dunes."
"Girl? There's no girl."
"Huh?" Sure enough, Augustus was right. No longer did the girl stand on the dune. As if she were a ghost, she vanished in midair. "But," I stammered, "there was one."
"I think you swallowed too much seawater." Augustus took my shoulder. "Let's see if we can dig out some rations for you."
"But the girl."
"There is no such girl," my sidekick told me. "This is the Bermuda Triangle. Do you really think a girl could survive here?"
"Well, obviously, she has."
"Now, now, Tonio. Don't be such a worrywart. As soon as we fix up the ship, we'll continue our journey."
"Worrywart? What am I worried about?"
"Just take a look at those clouds." Augustus lifted his own hand and pointed across the ocean to the horizon.
I looked with him, but instantly, I regretted my decision. I felt all the color drain from my face when I saw a build-up of huge clouds that threatened the island, as well as Augustus, the girl, and me. The storm. The storm that washed us up on the island... It was coming.
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