Five Dollar Island
Created by Kellie Jeffery
On Twitter: @Julies_lifee
On Twitter: @ryans_lifee
“Ahhh!” I squeal. “Ryan, come look at this!” My newlywed husband started to walk over from getting our breakfast ready.
“Did you find something?” He asks me as he notices the ad pulled up on the laptop screen.
“I actually might have! Look at this…. It says the island is off the coast of the Cuban Islands. This actually looks promising.”
“But Julie, it has no price listed and they don’t have a phone number!” He seemed uninterested as he made his way back to the kitchen.
“But can’t we go on an adventure? We can take our honeymoon money and use it for this trip. We have been saving forever to find a perfect island. What if this is our moment?” I realize how cheesy I sound, but I pout my lip anyway.
“Okay, I see your point but I just don’t know if this is even real,” my husband says as he puts on his glasses to take a closer look.
“Pleaseee,”I beg as I grab onto his arm, hoping he will see the determination in my eyes.
“Let’s do it,” Ryan states as a smile appears on his face.
“Yes!” I scream in excitement. “Thank you, thank you!”
“Okay, okay,” he says as he tries to push me off of him. “Let’s just try to get organized.”
We booked two plane tickets to the gorgeous Cuban Islands. We just needed to pack our belongings and find a boat to get us to the island.
“Look at what I got Julie,” Ryan says as we open the door to leave for the airport.“It’s a postcard of New York. Just in case we fall in love with this island, we’ll have something to remember New York by.”
“Ryan, that’s perfect!” I give him a quick, tight hug to show my gratitude.
We planned on visiting the island and if we liked it enough, we would stay there for a few weeks and return to New York to sell our furniture, apartment, and our car.
We just landed in the Cuban Islands where the warm, sticky air instantly refreshed our skin. We soon found a boatman who agreed to take us out to see the island.
“Here’s a map of where you want to go. Your island isn’t on the map but I drew it on because I know where it is and I’ve heard a lot about this island,” the boatman says. I found it odd because he kind of mumbled off the last part of the sentence.
“Alright!”My husband says excitedly. He heaves our baggage onto the small creaky speedboat. We had to purchase our own boat that will trail behind the first boat so we can return back to the island on our own.
The hum of the boat takes over my thoughts and the speed creates a wind which encases our bodies. I squeeze my husband’s hand as I catch him staring at me. The island comes into view as we travel closer to the horizon. The warm water splashes my face which brings me back to reality.
We eventually reach the shore of the island and the picturesque scene was breathtaking. These thoughts were shortly interrupted by a Cuban man running from the tree line.
“Hello, my friends!” he shouts. “I’m so happy to see you! You’re here for the island, right?” He pants as he spits outs his words.
“Yes, yes. We are here for the island,” my happiness exudes from my presence.
“Let’s tour the island! We waste no time.” He hurries the boatman along and he takes our luggage and puts it by a large tree.
The island is beautiful and barren and had a salty aroma in the air from the sea water. The lush green trees create patterns with the leaves as they flow in the wind, which has noticeably gotten stronger.
“So,” my husband speaks up as we finish the brief tour. “We love it and we would like to purchase this island. We have $5000 cash and we can get more….”
“No, no, no, Mr. Ryan. Too much,” the owner interrupts shaking his hands. “I only want five.”
“Sure, five thousand dollars,” Ryan shrugs. “Honey, get the cash from my backpack.”
“No! I want only five dollars,” the owner says.
“What?” Ryan gawks. “Five dollars?”
“Yes…and maybe have the boatman take me to the mainland.”
“Ah, sure!”Ryan turns to greet me with a smile “Aren’t you happy Julie?” He notices me staring off into the distance.
“Obviously!”my voices trembles as I speak.
I took a five dollar bill from my change purse and hand it to the owner. He looks at me for what seems like a second too long, as if he was warning me. The boatman and the owner make their way to the boat and leave us alone.
Ryan embraces me in a tight hug but as his thoughts are consumed by happiness, mine were elsewhere. As I look over Ryan’s shoulder I notice the wind has come to a dead stop. The blue sky had started to fade into an exquisite magenta colour as the sun has started to set. This was concerning as it was only 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
I was quite happy a few minutes ago but now I was starting to worry. I had just handed over a crisp five dollar bill to the previous owner of this mysterious island. I now felt a cold, dark presence surrounding us. We had finally found what we were looking for; a picturesque island far away from the pollution filled air of New York. But the question is why would this man sell us this island for only five dollars when we were willing to spend five thousand?! This island seemed beautiful at first glance. It was perfect. We began to shiver as a cold draft crept upon us and I realized we were alone.
How could something be so convincingly beautiful when something much darker and horrifying was hidden within?
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