The Discovery of Aegaeon Isles

The hollowing nautical cyclone current transported Hibo, Chima, Masego, Diallo, Hadiza, and Nnamdi into a dry grassy plain in a new world unlike anything they had ever seen before or imagined. The grassy pasture they were lying in was overflowing with beautiful flowers, the surrounding air was pleasantly fragrant, the sky was full, and beautiful mountains could be seen rolling in the distance. Within the heart of the mountain towards the base, there was a bright alluring light shining through. Unaware of the village or town they were in, the children decided to move about a bit to see if they could see or find any landmarks. The children wandered about the grass plains but could not find any markers to give them insight as to where they were. They called out and shouted, but it was as if they were in the lush bountiful field alone. Hibo, Chima, Masego, Diallo, Hadiza, and Nnamdi discussed amongst themselves what they should do and all of them agreed by the light they came to this place and by the light they would leave so they embarked on a long journey following the piercing light through the mountains.

Day after day Hibo, Chima, Masego, Diallo, Hadiza, and Nnamdi traveled through the foreign land using the bright light as their guide. Before long the children lost track of time and were uncertain of how many days their journey had accumulated and how many more were in store. The children traveled by day and rested at night. The ground they trodded was soft under their feet. The makeshift bungalows they rested in kept them warm, cool, and dry. Fresh springs of water appeared when they were thirsty. Nuts, fruits, berries, and modicum veggies sprung up, dangled from trees, and adorned bushes whenever they were hungry.

As they journeyed friendship began to bloom between the six of them. Often the boys teased the girls to make them laugh when they were growing emotionally restless from the journey and the girls reassured the boys when they grew fearful of never returning home. Occasional games of hide and seek, tag, red rover, and other games of the like helped to keep their spirits up when they were feeling low. The moments spent not playing or journeying were occupied with an intense conversation between the children rehashing the night the boat capsized, going over every little detail no matter how minuscule, leading up to the moments they all ended up on the shuttle boat. Nothing the children shared or discussed about the night the shuttle boat capsized was out of the ordinary or held significance so the children in the end found themselves wrestling with the same questions and with every conversation finding only more questions.

As the children journeyed, they drew nearer and nearer to the bright light. Slowly, a town they had not seen before began to take shape and form before their eyes. Astounded at the site of a town after days, weeks, months even of mountains and floral grasslands the children took off running towards the town in hopes that they would find someone who could help them. The closer they drew to the town the more pronounced the features of the town became. The children slowed their pace as they reached the territorial threshold of the town.

"Where are all the people?" Chima asked as they surveyed the land. "Maybe they're all inside," Diallo said, "all of them?" Hibo blurted in disbelief. "The town does seem deserted" Hadiza chimed in. "Let's just go and look?" Nnamdi said as he moved to cross over the territorial threshold of the town. "Wait!" Masego shouted at Nnamdi and pulled him back. "What? We'll never know unless we go down" Nnamdi said indignantly "You're the reason we're even here!" Masego shouted angrily, and then Hibo and Hadiza began to murmur in agreement. "My fault? – I didn't cause the boat to capsize or send us hurling through the water currents and if it wasn't for me, we'd probably still be underwater" Nnamdi retorted bitterly as he took an aggressive step towards Masego. "You should have never touched the light, we could have swam back up to the surface, but we couldn't even try that because you're always moving too fast and touching everything – you're not our leader," Masego said as she stepped closer towards Nnamdi unrelenting and refusing to back down "… you touched the light too" Nnamdi spat back at Masego, "yeah because I was trying to save you!" Masego snapped back with venom dripping from her lips. "Nnamdi, Masego, STOP! Now is not the time to fall apart and start blaming each other" Diallo exclaimed as he stepped in between Nnamdi and Masego. "Diallo's right, we need to work together if we're ever going to get out of here," Chima said and then Hiba and Hadiza broke out into a fit of tears overwhelmed and overcome with exhaustion, homesickness, and now with Masego and Nnamdi arguing all hope felt lost. Quickly, Chima and Diallo began to comfort Hibo and Hadiza. Nnamdi and Masego were immediately remorseful for upsetting their comrades and apologized. Silence overtook the children as they regained their bearings.

"Look, we have to do something" Nnamdi interjected into the silence, "we need a plan first?" Masego said softly. "What do you suggest Masego?" Nnamdi asked exasperated. "Let's knock on a few doors and try to find someone" "… and what do we do if we don't find anyone?" Chima asked "Then we're right back where we started," Hibo said with a groan as she pulled at her hair in frustration. "Well then let's get on with it, I'm tired of sitting here," Hadiza said as she stood up, and then the rest of the children followed suit and they walked into the town.

~ To Be Continued