Vol. 6

Vol. 1

The island is small. The dock is full and it is dawn. From a bird's eye view, it looks canyon shaped. Only 2019 people live on the island. There are six boats that come in and out from the island to the mainland, every hour on the hour from six in the morning to six at night. It is called Selyts island.

...

A boy in blue overalls, brown shaggy hair and green eyes is crouched down overlooking the water, struggling to take the small fish off the hook of the fishing rod. A cute, golden haired girl in a yellow dress and black buret walks by and sees this. The boy and girl are both children; both 10 years old. The sun is coming up from the horizon behind her, exposing the natural highlights of her hair and she is smiling. The girl watches him for a minute, clearly intrigued. She clears her throat and he turns around, opening his eyes wider.

Her name is Jenny. His name is Edward, but he is sure she has no idea who he is. Edward only knows her name through whispers around the island. Jenny looks around at Edwards' hands. He has his hand grasped tightly around the fish. His eyes widen even more and he suddenly cringes, having pricked himself on the hook by squeezing his hand too tightly. Jenny rushes over and crouches down next to him.

As Edward puts the now bleeding prick on his finger in his mouth, he watches Jenny as she carefully and easily takes the hook out of the fish's mouth. She then slowly puts the fish back into the water, Edward gazing at her in awe.

Jenny watches the water momentarily, until the fish is gone, then stands up and walks off, her golden hair waving back and forth in the wind as she walks directly into the sun. Edward watches her, taking his finger out of his mouth, suddenly forgetting it was bleeding.

Vol. 2

6 YEARS LATER

There are small, old town shops on either side of the long main street of Selyts island. The end of the road is the edge of the water. That is how all the roads end on the island. Dawn is when one first sees movement from any of the 2019 inhabitants.

...

Edward is still in overalls, and hat. He is walking slowly down the street, approaching the windows of a small bakery, red and white exterior. The window is big and he pauses at the front door.

Golden girl, that was Edwards nickname for Jenny, is smiling with a pink dress on, helping customers, and there is a line of guys “wanting” to buy baked goods as well. He vaguely hears her talking through the door. She hands the customer his baked goods and continues working. The customer is about his age, maybe 16.

Edward smiles, and reaches for the door handle. Changing his mind, he retracks his hand. He shakes his head, and walks on, hands in pocket. He slowly walks six doors down to another door, opens it confidently and walks in.

Vol. 3

SIX YEARS LATER

The main road has one bakery, one gas station, two restaurants, a small grocery store, a local vintage shop and an art gallery. Somewhere on the island there is also a church, a library, one school, the town courthouse, and the police and fire station. The other buildings are vacant. There is not much business on the island. Off the main road are the fish markets. That is why the boats have a schedule to and from the mainland. The art gallery isn’t supposed to still be around, but the owner of the art gallery passed it down from generation to generation. The great grandson currently does the upkeep. The great grandson is now 22 years old.

...

Edward walks in overalls and hat, down the street, walking normally at first, then slows down as he passes the bakery again. He sees Jenny, but she is not looking at him since the counter is perpendicular to the door. He steps up to the door again just as a tired looking mom and her son, who is dressed in a green and purple sequin jacket and tight jeans, with nails painted, approach the door. The mom reaches for the handle, and Edward pulls his hand away again. The son stares at Edward.

Edward steps aside with a sigh, having lingered. He makes eye contact with the son as he holds the door open for them and they walk in. Edward lets go of the door when they enter, but leaves a crack as he sees another boy at the counter. He overhears the conversation through the door again. He opens the door just in time for the boy at the counter to storm out. Edward watches the boy walk across the street and to a group of more boys, shaking his hand and throwing his hands up in the air. He throws the muffin on the ground and the group of boys walk off.

Edward walks on, catching Jennys eye through the window. She watches him and smiles, recognizing him. She then goes over to the side of the store, where there is a small fish tank and an identical fish that Edward caught and she let free, was in a bowl. She feeds the fish.

Vol. 4

SIX YEARS LATER

The evenings on Seylts island are modest. The workers work from sunrise to sunset, then go home. They have to, to keep their businesses open. The children go to school and play outside. They ride their bikes, they swim in the water and they listen to their parents. On Sundays, everyone goes to church.

...

Edward walks by the bakery, leaving work a few shops down. He is going the opposite way this time than he usually does, walking on the other side of the road. Across the street, Jenny steps out with a plate in her hand and they make eye contact. He nods and attempts to continue walking, but Jenny crosses the street and stops him. She then holds out some bread with reddish jam on it. He hesitates but turns back around. Jenny smiles and hands him the piece of bread with jam on it. Edward takes a bite, noticing his fingers grazing hers when she hands him the bread.

Jenny giggles. Then she takes a bite. Edward watches her as she has strawberry jam on the side of her mouth. He points at her lip. Edward is about to say something, but a boy comes up to her and puts his arm around her. Edward recognizes him as the boy at the counter, who asked her out six years prior. He didn’t forget. The boy from the counter must be their age, 28 that is. He now knows the boy is the son of the pastor. The pastor is well known and comes with a prestigious title on the island. Edward only runs a small family business.

The bread is still in Edwards' hand as the pastor's son leads Jenny away, stuffing his face with the rest of the bread and jam on Jennys plate.

Vol. 5

SIX YEARS LATER

There are not many options for marriage on Selyts island. There are many fishermen but there are a few daughters of the fisherman. The fisherman want sons so they can grow up just like them and teach them their trade. The few women are mostly teachers or work at the restaurant and bakery. There is an unspoken claim among the few prettiest women on the most prestigious men on the island.

...

Edward passes the bakery and just as he looks in, he notices Jenny is wearing a rainbow dress and pink lipstick. The pastor's son crosses the street with two other friends and surrounds Edward, but Edward doesn't notice in time. The pastor’s son is now being mentored by his father and everyone on the island knows it. The pastor's son makes this known to Edward and the friends laugh. Edward nods, feeling the animosity and threat and passes them quickly. Jenny tries to say something to him, but he ignores her.

When he reaches the door to where he works, about to go inside, he feels a tap on his shoulder. Edward jumps, turns around to see Jenny. Both are still standing between the doors, half open, half closed. She is outside and he is inside. He doesn’t say anything. They stare at each other in the eyes, the contact lingers, then she looks past him into the gallery, wanting to come in. Edward is the great grandson who keeps the gallery open.

Edward shrugs, but steps back and lets Jenny walk in. The place is dark, only dim lighting, but that doesn’t stop her from walking around, mesmerizing over the artworks on display. Edward follows her, each painting having its own distinct light. He turns them on one by one as she awes over them, while he awes over her. There are paintings of the eiffel tower, fish, strawberries, water, watermelons, cherries, london, a piano, and a moon.

Jenny comes to one patch of the wall, and it is empty, as in meant for a painting but there is none. Edward, turning on the final light, walks over to her and stands next to her. They both stare at the empty space for a while.

Edward suddenly goes to the back room, the gallery small, and comes back with a black sharpie. He eyes her curiously as he hands it to her. He turns to pull away his hand, but she grasps it, firm but comfortably. Jenny turns his hand where the palm is facing down and she starts drawing a cross where his thumb and pointer finger meet. She slowly and carefully turns his hand over, and places the sharpie back into his hand. She folds his fingers around it, then steps back and returns to look at the empty wall, the light shining perfectly on her face from where the painting should be. She is wearing a cherry covered dress.

Edward stares at the cross on his hand, then turns and does the same. Again, they are quiet, and you can see their chests rise and lower, in unison. Jenny puts her long red nailed hand on the empty wall and slowly slides a finger down, in a parallel line, as if picturing what it could be. At this, they hear a rooster crow in the background. Jenny knows she must leave. The pastor's son would be waiting for her.

They walk out, and he follows her, but stops at the door. Jenny notices. He looks across the street, and he sees the three boys staring at them. Styles shakes his head and the two friends are grinning as if he messed up. The pastor's son quickly crosses the street, sees Jenny jump at him approaching. She runs over to him, stopping him in his tracks and they turn to walk the other way, hand in hand.

Edward shakes his head, suddenly getting upset. Edward goes to punch the door, making his hand into a fist, then sees the cross and stops himself. He remembers her touch on his skin. Edward enters the gallery, staying late for the first time in his 34 years on the island.

Vol. 6

SIX YEARS LATER

Edward is grocery shopping, and sees Jenny. He follows her, nonchalant, but stays hidden behind the isles. They are now at the produce section, next to the fruits. She is grabbing strawberries, and he approaches her. Jenny starts backing away, as if looking at something besides him, but Edward steps her direction anyway.

...

Jenny walks away, putting down the strawberries and leaving the store with nothing in a rush, and Edward stands there watching her, with cherry coke and coffee in his hands. Edward sees the pastor's son come from the side, and as the door closes with Jenny walking out, the boy with the painted fingernails and sequined jacket from years ago is entering. His mom is not with him this time, but he must now be in his thirties since Edward is now 40.

The pastor's son doesn't notice Edward but Edward notices him. Edward watches as the pastor's son and the boy with the painted fingernails and sequined jacket exchange winks. They must know each other but this seems more secret. After they pass each other, the pastor's son catches up to Jenny and grabs her hand. Scene ends.

Edward sits outside the grocery store, a brown wrapped rectangular object in his hands. He doesn’t know how long he sat there for, but the shop was now closed and the sun was setting. He doesn’t know what to do. He watches the moon rise and when it is high in the sky, the boys appear before him. Edward thinks of the wink and stands up, ready to fight.

The boys fight. There is no clear winner, but Edward sees no point and stops. There is blood on Edwards face, and drops of it on his white shirt. Edward is on the ground, the pastor’s son is standing over him. He spits on the ground next to Edward, takes the brown wrapped rectangular object and throws it into the parking lot. The boys walk off leaving him on the ground. Edward turns on his back and stares at the full moon.

Jenny approaches and down over at him. This time her golden hair doesn’t look so golden, and the moon behind her dims the color in her clothes. Edward stands up and walks away. He knows she won’t follow.

Jenny wants to follow him, but doesn’t. She looks back at where he was when she found him covered in blood. A few feet away is a brown wrapped rectangular object. She opens it up. The object is a painting of a golden haired girl in a yellow dress and black buret. It is a girl in the canyon moon.