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I FEEL NAKED. MY BREATH is heavy but it tickles as it flows through the caves and canals of my skull—it almost feels magical. Small waves are unfolding near my feet onshore and my breathing is in sync with the ocean.
I open my eyes, squinting at the cloudless blue sky. Lifting my head slightly to peep down at my skin, I’m flabbergasted. Oh my! I’m fully exposed. I’m naked—mostly. At least, I have my red bikini on.
Rough sand grazes under my back, clings between my fingers, and exfoliates my heels. I know I’m on the beach.
Tilting my chin and neck back, I roll my eyes to glance behind me to a peak, a very tall mountain peak, which seems to touch the sky. I follow the rocky ridgeline to the right extending and ending in a deep blue ocean.
My spine feels too heavy for my abdominal muscles but I force them to contract to help me sit up.
Looking to my left, I see the opposite end of the ridgeline that ends in the ocean as well. I twist around to gaze at the mountain behind me once more.
Following the base from where mounds of tropical foliage meet the sand, my eyes gravitate upward along a flat black massive rock wall, which penetrates the atmosphere, shooting straight up into the sky. Seeing the peak nearly touching the clouds, I realize the small beach I’m on has no exit.
My spine shivers and my teeth chatter. How did I get here?
I check myself, rubbing my hooded brown eyes with my knuckles. I run my hands through my thick, black hair that seems to have more of a frizz than usual despite the damp ends and I look at my tinted pink body that has been crisped by the sun, which I remember I did on purpose.
Okay. I know where I’ve been, but I don’t know where I am now.
I check myself once more. I have nothing on me except my bikini, but at least I know my name.
“Kumiko, what can you remember last?” I ask myself, noticing the irritating tiny hard grains of sand in my mouth; I spit and spit again until my mouth feels less gritty.
You never know where sand has been.
I put my hand to my forehead. Think!
I was on the beach with my best friend, Shelley, when...
I’m pretty sure her paraplegic boyfriend turned into a merman and...
Tentacles! Something came to collect me on the beach!
I lean forward and put my head between my knees. This must be a mistake!
Shelley must’ve drugged me. Or maybe her boyfriend drugged me and I passed out. Or maybe this small, rinky-dink, old-fashioned coastal town that was built during the Revolutionary War era has traces of heavy metals in the water, like lead, making people disillusioned and crazy.
Gazing up at the vast ocean before me, the small ripples calm me.
How the hell did I get here?
I think about the tentacles on the beach. They were large—massive enough to encompass an entire ship like something out of a monster movie—the old Asian ones from back before I was born. I know because my Latino dad liked to watch them and I have no doubt they were part of the reason he was so attracted to my Asian mother.
I look around again though all I see and hear is the ocean. I’m trying not to panic, knowing I’m going to have to get myself out of this place, which feels like a trap, but I’m extremely thirsty. I spin my head to the sound of water trickling down out of black rock, seeping through the mountain.
I pull myself up, dust the sand off my butt, and head over to a wall of what appears to be fresh water when I hear a splash. I turn sharply toward the ocean, but I don’t see anything except a small circular rippling. I gulp. I’m sure it’s just a fish.
Walking over to the black rock wall, I rinse my hands in the crystal-clear cool water as it drips from the overhang. I cup my hands under it to catch the flow, but its trickling at such a slow pace I decide to put my head under the rock to allow it to dribble into my open mouth.
Feeling refreshed as I let the clean tasting water fall to the back of my throat, I look back up to the sky, to the peak of the mountain that shoots straight up as I drink.
It’s so high.
I follow the ridgeline again with my eyes as I continue to swallow.
Darn! I’m not sure I’ll be able to climb or hike out of here.
I gloss my eyes back to the wide, open ocean.
There’s no way I’m swimming out of here either.
I hear a splash from the water again and jerk my head to see a dark creature rising out of the water and then rolling onto the sand. My body tenses at the sight until I realize it’s a seal.
I take a big breath of relief and grab at my chest, which causes the seal to look at me and seemingly yawn. I stop breathing at the sight of its large, pointy, yellow, jagged teeth exposed within an enormous cave of a mouth. I can’t tell if the blubbery creature is smiling or trying to intimidate me. It closes its mouth and I feel like its watching me—wiggling its facial whiskers and turning its head from side to side inspecting me with each large, dark round eye.
Maybe it's hungry.
“Shoo!” I say as I step back and cling to the rock.
It barks, not like a dog, but it does seem to be upset; I have no idea what to do. It barks again and all I see are its large yellow teeth once more.
I’m not so sure if I should be scared or not. It’s cute, but it’s twice my size. Not to mention, I’m in the wild and I have no idea how I would defend myself against a seal if it should charge at me.
It barks again.
“Go away!” I flail my arms.
To my surprise, the seal tilts its long head back and rolls its big blubbery body into the water to disappear. Relief washes over me, but something else stirs.
Another sea creature pops its head out of the water and I squint to get a good look. My chest warms from the thrill in my heart at the sight of a dolphin and, like the seal, I feel like it’s looking at me, too, now.
I’m a little more comfortable to see the dolphin than the seal. At least, the dolphin can’t crawl out of the ocean to attack me.
Another head pops up and it’s a younger dolphin. The young one stares at me for a minute before it comes closer to shore. The little thing cocks its head back and forth and the smile on its face makes it look like it wants me to come forward.
Of course, I can’t help myself. It’s a dolphin! A baby dolphin. So, I take a few steps back towards the shore.
The sand is cool under my bare feet and I decide to walk straight to the edge of the shoreline. The dolphins keep their eyes on me and I feel sea water spread about my toes. As it does, my cheeks lose control and I smile as the smaller, younger dolphin begins to do tricks.
I can’t believe what’s happening! I feel like I’m on some lost magical island.
I watch as the young dolphin speeds around the other larger one in a circle and leaps into the air! He stops to check me out as if to make sure I was watching and I clap my hands and give him a small, “Hurray!”
The little dolphin dives back into the water and begins to race in circles again. It leaps and jumps and splashes over and over again, giving me a performance that almost makes me forget I’m stranded on a secluded beach.
As the small dolphin continues with its impressions of an aquatic acrobat, more dolphins show up. One after another, they pop up and come closer to the edge of the shore—to me. I’m inclined to think they are all checking me out—deciding whether I’m friend or foe— because we all know I don’t belong here.
“It’s okay,” I say as I inch my way further into the water.
The gray-blue mammals each project a beautiful big smile, which makes me feel less alone. I almost feel as though some of them are calling to me with their whistles and clicks. Maybe they are trying to help me, so I take a few steps into the ocean until the water’s surface is right at my knees.
The young dolphin swims towards me but stops a few feet away. As I reach out to it, the little critter swims a few feet back. I walk deeper into the ocean until the chilly water is at my thighs; the younger dolphin distracts me, clicking at me, as if to offer me praise for coming in so deep.
I reach out to it again and it nods at me with its large human-like eyes.
“Come on,” I say and I go further to allow the water to reach to my waist, “I won’t hurt you.”
The small dolphin gets closer and rolls to its side and I can’t believe the joy I feel as I’m able to rub my fingers along the smooth, rubbery body of such an inquisitive, smart, and fantastical creature.
Suddenly, it sinks. The young dolphin disappears into the water and I look up to see the other dolphins also dive away to submerge out of sight.
Fear creeps in and I feel the ocean’s coldness. “Wait! Don’t leave,” I call out to them, reaching to them. They aren’t human, but I don’t want to be alone.
I pull my hand back when I see a man—I think it’s a man, rising from the water. I blink to make sure.
Oh my. It is a man.
His head is covered with long, wet, ash brown hair with ends falling below his mounds of ripped shoulders. His chest and torso—as taut and smooth as the dolphins that preceded him, also rise above the water until I see his naval between chiseled abs.
As he moves closer, I take a step back feeling the sand misplace beneath my foot. I have no idea where he came from, but I realize he might be my only way out of this place.
“Hello,” I beckon, “can you help me? I seem to be stranded.”
The man nods as he continues to approach me. He has a beautiful face with strong, prominent features and I notice how green his emerald eyes are, how bronze his skin is, and how rosy pink his lips are surrounded by short, soft stubble. His lips are still dripping with sea water, trickling down from his hairline to his nose and onto his cupid’s bow as he approaches.
He reaches out to me. It’s peculiar the way he holds his palm out to face me with his fingertips nearly trembling as if I’m a dolphin.
I put his hand down before he can touch my arm but he grips my hand tight. I pull back. “Let go!”
He does, but it’s strange; he looks weakened, like he’s about to cry, as his eyes wander from my hand up to my dragon tattoo. He reaches to touch the intricately detailed blue and green serpent with yellow eyes, a cherry red tongue, long black whiskers, and a scaled body that spreads over my shoulder and spirals around my arm down to my elbow.
I tip my shoulder back, but the man’s fingertips gently skim my skin. It sends a thrill through my body and I cannot escape the fact that I am drawn to this stranger. I don’t feel like he intends to hurt me and, just as the little dolphin did earlier, I lean in to let him touch my tattoo.
He bites his lip as he grazes his hand over my shoulder. “I’ve waited centuries for this moment,” he says.
“Waited for what moment?” I blurt and I’m a bit worried the handsome stranger has been stranded here at this place for a while.
I’ve only been here for a few hours, at most, and I already feel like I’m going crazy. Judging by the length of his hair, it’s possible he’s been stranded here for years and perhaps I should be afraid of him.
But he looks as desperate as I feel. He has a longing in his face and, perhaps, if I just talk to him we can help each other get out of this place.
“Sir,” I say calmly. “Do you know a way to get out of here?”
The man doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he smiles pleasantly while studying me—my hair, face, neck, and, of course, my breasts popping out of the tiny red bikini. He hooks his fingers around my shoulder, which oddly tingles.
I pull his hand away. “Do you know a way out of here?” I ask once more, but again he doesn’t answer. He reaches to run his fingers softly through my hair at the side of my head as he continues to examine me with his eyes.
My breathing picks up. I don’t know what to do. I admit to myself there is something strangely sexy about this situation—including the man, himself. I haven’t seen below his waist yet, but I can only imagine it’s as gorgeous as the top half.
I let him run his fingers to the back of my neck so I can examine him back. I trace the trickle of drops that are falling down his abs, which seem as hard as the rock wall I just drunk from. His hand moves from the back of my neck to the front of my jaw and he rubs his thumb across my lips, making me shudder.
“Can you get us out of here?” I ask through his touch and he nods.
I smile widely. He blushes back and we are caught in a bashful exchange until our eyes lock and he slips his thumb into my mouth to grip my face to bring it closer to his.
“You’ve been gone too long,” he says with a quiver in his voice and the next thing I know I’m being swooped into his arms.
He kisses me so hard and grips me so tight between his strong hands and his biceps that I almost can’t breathe...but I like it.
There is something very wrong with me. I don’t even know this guy, yet I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone kiss me or hold me so passionately before, so I kiss him back.
My mind, of course, is interrupting the whole sexy situation. I’m on this beautiful lost island, on a beautiful beach, but I know I need to get out of here. I guess if I have to screw the guy to have him get me out of this place, so be it. I’ve screwed plenty of men that were definitely not as good looking for much less.
He grabs my head with both hands and he speaks to me between kisses. “I’ve missed you,” he says. “I almost lost hope,” he cries. “You will take my ring and we will be together forever and I’ll be able to walk again.”
Walk? “What do you mean you can’t wa—”
“Oomph,” escapes my throat as he buries his face hard into my neck—licking me and kissing me while he fists my hair, pulling my head back and exposing my neck to him, which he also nibbles and bites.
My whole body is on fire despite the blanket of water that surrounds us. I’m about to screw this stranger and I’m somehow fine with it. He kisses me under my left jaw and traces his tongue down my neck into the cavern above my collarbone. He pulls down my bikini top to expose my breasts and—
Oh God! He latches my nipple between his teeth. He nibbles it lightly as he cups my breast then kneads it like he knows me, knows exactly what I like and what I want. I feel his finger trace along my inner thigh.
“You can get us out of here, right?” I interrupt.
He grabs my face with both palms. “Let me make love to you and I will take you anywhere you want to go.”
I push on his chest and think on it for a second. I have no idea if what I’m doing is safe, but there’s something about him. There’s something that tells me I can I trust him. He looks so eager like he hasn’t been near another human being in who knows how long, and I almost feel compelled to save him—to make love to him.
I nod and close my eyes just before he plants another slippery salty kiss on my mouth. I’m melting, but I feel safe with my face stuck solid between his two strong hands. I shiver as he makes his way up my thigh towards my center—
Wait a second...
What in the hell?!
I open my eyes, push the man back, and look about. If both of his hands are on my face, then what is about to fondle me between my legs?
I peep down through the water.
“Kumiko,” he says grabbing my shoulders, trying to kiss me again.
I push him off once more. “How do you know my name?”
The sliver of something wraps itself around my thigh and I squeal as I try to jump away, but the stranger grabs me by the wrists. “Kumiko, my dear, don’t be afraid. You’ve loved me as I am once before.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I snap and try to struggle away from his grip.
Oh no! The grasp of whatever has my leg makes its way up my back.
“Oh my God! What is that? Let me go! Something is on me!”
“My dear, it’s me,” he says. “It’s all me.”
“What’s all you?” I question, feeling my forehead tighten with anticipation, and I wish I hadn’t asked.
From beyond the stranger’s shoulders, I see something reach out of the water then another something and another. I close my eyes as I feel the same something reach up my back and over my shoulder. It clings to me, suctioning onto my skin. My body fills with dread.
“Kumiko, look at me,” demands the stranger.
I open my eyes to look at him as large tentacles dance in and out of the water behind him. The little dolphin from earlier has come back, leaping between pieces of the creature that is before me.
“Am I dead?” I ask.
“No, thank the gods,” he sighs relieved, “far from it.”
“Are you controlling these things?”
He fakes a smile. “These things—they are a part of me, but you’ve seen them before. Let me—”
I punch him in the chest. “Show me.”
He tenderly strokes my face with his thumb.
Should I feel aroused? Or disturbed?
He plants his hand flat across my cheek. “Let me make love to you and all will be revealed, I promise you—”
“Show me!” I snap.
He takes a deep breath and the tentacle let’s go of my dragon painted shoulder. His body moves backward through the water like a ghost somehow defying the rules of physics and he slowly comes up.
I struggle to close my mouth because I know I’ve dropped it. As my eyes attempt to trap the massive man or creature in my sight, he rises to the sky lifted by a giant purplish thick body dotted with random white and black spots. It looks like one solid mass of bellying muscle until it branches into thick slick tentacles. I look up—way up—to see where the man and the giant squid merge. It’s like they were glued together right below the waist of this beast, this creature, this...
Sea monster!
I just can’t take it anymore...
I scream!
Small waves gush around me with soft splashes as the monster comes crashing back down, sinking, to allow his human face to meet mine and cover my mouth with a palm.
“Shh,” he says. “Don’t be afraid.”
Don’t be afraid!
I swing at him, but a tentacle grips my wrists. I try to kick him through the heavy water when more tentacles hold my legs. And the rest of him? He uses them to pull me in tight to his upper human body.
I’m screaming! I’m screaming as loud as I can under his hand as he tries to coax me to be calm when his attention is diverted. He looks behind him.
“I can tell you’ve changed,” he turns back to me with an apologetic face. “You’re different, but I still love you,” he says and removes his hand to kiss me hard before falling back quickly into the sea, taking his tentacles with him.
I’m shaking. My teeth chatter so loud it vibrates through my skull and down my spine.
Suddenly, I realize it’s not just teeth chatter vibrating through my bones but the vibration of an engine approaching, which must be...a boat! It shoots into view from beyond the edge of the mountain.
“HEEEEEEELP!” I shout as I wave my arms frantically. The boat slows down.
I believe the driver sees me and my heart leaps! He turns the boat towards me and comes as near as it can get to the shoreline until it stops. The driver waves at me to swim out, but I’m too scared. A large dark shadow lurks beneath the ocean’s surface between the boat and me. The shadow, I know, is that of a sea monster and there’s no way I’m going to swim out.
“Help me,” I mutter, hugging my body with one arm and waving the other. “Please help.”
