The unique passengers walked up the dock admiring the tiny holes shaved into the rocks. The first thing the visitors came upon was a large stretch of flowing green grass that grazed the sides of a small two foot cliff which skimmed the side of the water. To their left were two average sized buildings alongside many wooden structures that stood over benches for people to eat at while camping and picnicking on the island. To their right was a narrow stretch of dark green sea water, which split New Castle Island from Protection Island. The sister island was home to a couple of families and contained no cars, only golf carts. Upon the left of the horizon an old totem pole head blocked part of the view to the strong evergreen forest laid before them. On the right side of the horizon was the rocky corner of the sister island. On a small pile of rocks in the middle of the great Pacific Ocean rested a lazy seal taking a nap.
Scattered amongst all of these things were the animals that inhabit the area, interacting with their surroundings. Canadian Geese were grazing peacefully, constantly on the lookout for predators and other creatures that may conflict with them. Squirrels snuck around, skittering beneath the picnic tables, searching for scraps of food and friends to play with.
Timothy inhaled the salty sea air as he began scaling the side of the island using the holes as finger supports. His grandparent’s hair flipped up in the cool refreshing breeze as they made jokes about the boy falling into the ocean or being attacked by a goose and other inane elderly jokes. Due to the beauty of the Canadian wonderland that surrounded them, Angela and Thomas began snapping photos with their phones, filling the air with the obnoxious autonomic sound of clicking. John walked with his shoulders hunched towards one of the only buildings on the island, which was merely a bit larger than a house.
He stormed through a flock of geese that were blocking the doorway of the cabin-like building. Even though the building wasn’t the most attractive on the outside, it was extravagant on the inside. The first room entered was a museum full of artifacts and factoids on the islands coal mining history. Hundreds of old photographs that took hours to develop were hanging framed on the wall depicting many past visitors who visited the island in the 1960’s. After strolling through a hall with wooden walls on one side and bathrooms on the other, visitors reach a comfortable room attached to the restaurant. The tables, walls, and even the ceiling in this place were made of wood. Supportive beams stretched across the top of the room covered in skulls, antlers and more pictures of pioneers.
As John got closer to the counter of the restaurant he smelled an overwhelming assortment of aromas. Homemade gravy sent him images of Thanksgiving as the smell wafted through his nostrils followed by the mouth watering sight of the popular flavors of ice cream sold here. Next to the counter was a door labeled “Staff and Rangers only” which John pushed his way through. Inside was a living room setting surrounded by several doors leading to various places such as outside or the equipment shed.
Sitting on the couch nearest to him was an older, extremely thin man sporting a straggly white beard. He was wearing a blue captain’s hat along with a stunning, blue overcoat with custom gold embroidery around the pockets. He smiled a metallic toothed grin at John and said.
“Crazy stuff happening; wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, I’d say so.” John began urgently as if saying his findings fast would make them seem more extraordinary. “The animals are migrating together, the fishermen haven’t caught any fish today and I swear I saw a moose and a squirrel trying to communicate on the way here!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” The man shakily stood up, revealing his artificial leg, and then he hobbled over to the mini fridge to grab a beer. “I was talking about the government closing the island down.” He threw a cooler to John and cracked open a beer using his teeth to open his own.
The old chap then opened a sticky drawer and pulled out a piece of paper.
“Do you know what this is?” The man asked not actually allowing John to answer. “It’s some government mumbo jumbo that if I sign signs away the entire restaurant, touring team and rangers. This paper could shut down the island. Ridiculous. I’d never in my entire life time give in to such audacity! This, this is crazy!”
“That is crazy too, but, I think we need to talk about a different situation Ben.” Just then, the restaurant door swung open to reveal the Jamaican ship controller.
“Jimmy! Come for a little visit? You better not have left the sea taxi unattended again.” Ben stood up with his arms spread and began waddling towards the fridge again.
“Nah mon, Berta’s gonna’ call me if she gets someone on her end but, for now no one’s boardin’ at the harbor and its practically empty here on the island.”
“That’s because of the damn newscast lady! I saw her about an hour ago reporting that we are being sold by the government because we ‘Mistreated our lake and river system’.” Ben said furiously as he chucked a yellow cooler at Jimmy and grabbed another drink for himself even though he already had one open.
“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t listen to us!” exclaimed John. “It won‘t cost them as much as they think to get it drained and re-filled. They expect us to pay for it when it’s a natural calamity.”
“I’m pretty sure we all know why.” Ben started coldly. “This is a nice land grab. They did it to the islands up North and the one right next to us and now they want to do it here. An eco-friendly, car free, recycle crazed island for expensive homes and snobby people. As soon as the twenty of us who work on the island are gone they will probably sell it to some rich prissy-”
“We have bigger problems! I think…” John interrupted as he immediately realized what he was about to say would sound ridiculous and preposterous to the two men listening to him. “There’s this old legend told by my people that speaks of nature fighting against the growth of human inhibition. It says from what I understand in modern terms, that after a certain amount of land has been taken over by us, nature will fight back in one area to regain control and teach a lesson to mankind in order to protect itself. So far the animals have all been acting strange, the tides have been off and many of the birds have left Vancouver Island completely. ”
“And how exactly does that affect us?” groaned Ben unimpressed.
“The elders believe that this island is going to be the epicenter of the battle.”
There was silence, then, Jimmy began laughing a hard, bellowing laugh as he rolled on the floor and beat his fist into the ground. Ben rolled his eyes in disbelief that his friend would even say something as odd as that and appeared to truly believe it.
“That has to be the most insane thing I’ve ever heard come out of a man’s mouth,” cried Jimmy who was now attempting to calm himself down from his laughing fit.
“Jimmy, I saw a bear walking with a deer!” John could not believe the reaction he was getting. This wasn’t the reaction he thought he would receive. He expected them to share his enthusiasm about the seriousness of the event and maybe propose some ideas to stop it or even suggest they evacuate.
“So, what you seem to be telling me is you honestly believe that because this land may be used for housing a wrath of furry will reign down upon us punishing us for our sins to nature?” Ben joked condescendingly as Jimmy fell into hysterics again.
“Yes, this is serious! What if this is how other natural disasters happen? Perhaps it’s all a form of aggression by nature because we destroy land for buildings and corporations which could just go somewhere else.” John’s eyes were wide in conviction. “Instead of using already ruined land we use perfectly fine land and destroy eco-systems and-,” John then stopped for Jimmy’s howling had gotten out of control.
Ben stood up and started hobbling towards the wall on the far side of the room. On it hung a silver peg leg with Victorian markings sketched on it. He took it off the wall and sat back down.
“I’m being serious! What do you guys want
to do about this?”
Ben began to flip hatches on his fake leg and then he twisted it right off with a brutal clanging sound. It clattered to the floor leaving just a stump used to attach different modules.
“You know what I’m going to do,” Ben said as he shoved on the peg leg causing a bone chilling pop as it snapped into place. “I’m going to do my last tour before we are shut down.”
Ben stood up and did his strange walk towards the door leading outside. He booted it open with his pirate peg and called out with a buccaneer’s accent, “Who’s here for the tour of this here island!”