I felt something wet against my hand. I slowly sat up, surveying my surroundings. I was sitting in powdery sand by the ocean. I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and turned around. “Patch, what are you doing here?” I exclaimed. Patch is my brown and white Pit Bull dog, that I rescued a few years ago. I stood up, brushing sand off my shorts. Where was I? I had no idea. It didn’t appear that there were any other people here. “Well, I guess it’s just you and me buddy,” I told Patch.
It was day two, I think. I don’t remember how I got here, or how long I was passed out on the beach. We walked a long way, and found a mini forest. There were banana trees, papaya trees, and coconut trees. They were all arranged in a strange pattern. We walked a little farther, and I came upon some raspberries and blueberries. How are these here? They don’t belong here. I looked up, and saw some wires hanging in the trees. Someone might be here, I thought. I saw a neat little pile of wood stacked against a railing. Then everything went black.
When I finally awoke, again, there was an old lady staring at me. She had a dangerous looking rusty metal can in her right hand.
“Who are you?” she asked. “Are you one of them?”
“One of who?” I questioned. My wrists were tied in some kind of twine, and I was sitting in a very unstable looking chair. The old lady poked me with a stick.
“Are you one of those vile robbers?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s what they all say.”
Patch was sleeping beside me. He didn’t know what was going on.
“I woke up on the beach, I don’t know where I am, or how I got here. I just want to go home.”
“So you weren’t recruited by them?” she pressed.
“Nope.” I replied.
“Well, then let me tell you my story.”
“I woke up on the beach just like you did. I remembered what I was doing before, though. I rescued unicorns. The robbers take them and sell their precious horns. I, of course, did not condone these horrific actions, so I tried to stop them. They left me on the beach, and I have been here for the past twenty years. There were only a few more rescuers that came after me. Most joined the robbers since they didn’t want to stay on this empty island. There were rescuers before me who had brought plants, as you saw in my garden, and had built this house.” she said.
“That’s amazing!” I replied. I looked around, and saw how big the house was. There were many large rooms, and hallways. There were sinks that even appeared to have running water!
“So, are you going to stay with me and the only other good person on this island, or are you going to join the horrific, vile, robbers,” she asked.
I thought for a moment. I could join the robbers, and have a chance of going back home, wherever that was. I’m sure there would be people that could help me. On the other hand, I would be turning my back on the unicorns I apparently was trying to save. I couldn’t do that. Patch was with me, so I had something from home. Patch is my best friend. There was only one thing left to do. “I’ll stay.”
We were going for a tour of the extremely large house, followed by the surrounding area of the island. She had undone the knot around my wrists, and we were off. We walked down a long hallway with creaky wooden floors. We turned right and there was a large hallway of rooms. “Oh, by the way, my name is Milly. Anyway, there are thirteen rooms. When this part of the house was built, they assumed there would be many unicorn rescuers appearing on the island.” she explained. We walked to the third door. “This, said Milly, is your room.” I took a step in. It was large, airy, and beautiful. There were five beds, two bunks, and a regular one. “They thought there would be so many rescuers, that they would have to share rooms. But, of course, they were wrong. We can move the bunk beds out when Willow gets back.” I heard a screech, and someone was running down the hall right toward us.
“Milly, Milly, quick, someones here!” the girl said. She looked about my age. “Willow, calm down. She is here now, and she is a rescuer.” Milly said. Patch trotted up from behind me and greeted Willow.
“Awww, how cute!” she exclaimed.
His name is Patch, I rescued him a few years ago I told her.
“How sweet!” Willow said, giving Patch a well deserved belly rub. “Have you seen the stable yet?” Willow questioned. I shook my head.
“Well, let’s continue the tour then,” Milly said.
As we walked through the house, we passed a gorgeous room with a view of the ocean. There were couches made with twigs and banana tree leaves! I felt a nudge against my hand. Patch! I turned around. Patch wasn’t behind me, he was still playing with Willow. A chill went up my spine. That was very creepy. We came to the front of the house and on the right there was a spacious kitchen, and to the left was a storage room. There were horse supplies! There were various brushes, saddles, bridles, halters, and food. Willow seemed to be getting more excited by the second. We stepped outside. It was a gorgeous, sunny, warm day. “I can’t contain it any longer! This, said Willow, is the stable.” She opened the doors to a green paddock, and it took my breath away.
There were seven unicorns. Willow took a few steps in, and I followed. Milly whistled and two unicorns pranced over to her. “These are my unicorns, Dasher and Hibiscus. I rescued Dasher from the robbers, and Hibiscus when she hurt her hoof.” Milly explained.
“And these, Willow said, are mine. A small mare and her foal trotted up to Willow. This is Raspberry, and her foal Blueberry. This is Cinnamon, who I rescued from the robbers, along with his best friend Maple. ?“What about the last one over there?” I asked.
“She doesn’t like anyone, and doesn’t get along with the other unicorns. She was wandering around, she must have escaped from the nasty robber’s ship.” said Milly.
I slowly walked toward her. She turned turned around, and looked at me. She softly nickered, and I reached out to stroke her.
The next thing I knew, Milly and Willow brought out a unicorn bridle and a saddle. I put them on the unicorn and I hopped on her back. “What’s her name?” I asked.
“You decide, she doesn’t have one yet.” said Milly.
“I think I will name her Ocean. It seems to fit her.” I said.
“Go ahead and take her for a ride to the ocean then.” Willow said.
We exited the paddock, and took off. We cantered down to the beach. Ocean loved to splash in the cool water. Willow appeared a few minutes later. “Ocean loves the ocean!” she said laughing. We galloped along the beach for a few minutes. I started to slip, and I fell into the sand.
I felt the same nudge from when I first woke up on the island. “Patch?” I whispered. I saw lights, and my eyes fluttered open. I looked around, and I heard voices. I was in a hospital. A nurse calmly approached. “Your parents will be here in a minute.” she said, and walked out nonchalantly. Some people came in, I guess they were my parents. They sat down in a chair beside me. “You were unconscious for almost two days. People found you on the beach, not moving, and rushed you to the hospital. You somehow hit your head hard enough to knock yourself out. You weren’t by any trees or rocks, so it’s a mystery how you hurt yourself.”
“Where’s Patch?” I managed to say.
“Patch?” my mom said. “Who’s Patch?”
“My dog, the brown and white Pit Bull, that woke me up.” I replied.
“We don’t have a dog like that.”
“I think she’s crazy and has memory loss!” my brother said.
I craned my neck to the left and saw Patch trotting down the hallway.
“Patch!” I called. He turned around to look at me, then sat down. He got up, and sadly walked off. I was questioning everything. What was real, what was not. One thing I knew for sure was that I probably would never find out.