Cassie rocked back and forth on her new bed. Little more than a few pieces of wood and a handmade blanket. Not that she needed it, the
tropical heat made it warm even at night.
For everyone being three years old, and Kiki's advertisement that they all played all day, Cassie had seen some of the cub tribe sowing,
building, and carpeting.
"And they were all smiling, they're all happy."
It had all happened so fast, it was all a blur. She didn't know if it was shock or some sense of passiveness, but she had along with the flow
without a peep of complaint.
They had stripped her naked, now just past a toddler's form with nothing to show. And had given her the same leaf-dress the other girls
wore that was nothing more than a vine and a series of leaves sticked through it She had put it on without question.
She watched again not questioning as they took her clothes and put them onto a pile of straw and Mo handed her a lit torch.
"Welcome to our family sister." Mo said proudly as Kiki gave her a slight push foreword. Like she was walking in a dream Cassie (as she
couldn't resist thinking of herself now) had set her own clothes on fire, and had joined in the cheering and 'whaos' as they caught flame and
burned to cinder.
Finally alone, Cassie had time with her own thoughts. The cub tribe had worked with the team work and diligence of worker ants as they had
constructed a small hut for her, bare of anything except the bed.
"What did I let them do that?" Cassie asked herself. She thought of Cassie's Little Sister back on the shore with the beacon still going. "Is
anyone going to find this island? Won't they search the island for me when they find the boat but not me? But how could this island not be on
any charts? I just went out for a single person pleasure cruise on my own little ship! But a mountain like this island has should be visible
from the mainland!"
"You aren't going to figure out sis'. I tried, and so did Mo, but we couldn't figure it out. Eventually we decided the gods themselves must
have created this place for us. Many of us have figured out maybe we're all dead and this is Paradise."
Cassie turned her head, seeing the half naked bare footed wild child. Her tail flicked back and forth. Sat up from the bed. 'It didn't hit me
until now that they're all, we're all the same size. Even the boys and girls.' "You were listening in?"
"You're new sis, new borns have done some silly things. When I first came here, I left the village and tried to swim out to somewhere, but I
only ended up back at the island. I hide for a long time and made a raft then. I sailed in one direction, thinking I'd find home, but I came
back here. I finally decided this life was better than being a slave."
"Slave?"
"The tribe my people had a war with sold me and my brothers to foreigners as slaves. Seeing my brothers slowly starving to death, being
crushed so tight with so many other, and many others dead . . . I decided I'd rather die. So when I got a chance, I managed to jump ship and
swam . . . when I almost sank, I washed up here."
Cassie stared at her, Kiki had orange hair and tanned skin, but Cassie realized, so did Cassie. It struck Cassie her own hair had turned white
without her noticing. Not old age white, but a strange pearly white.
Cassie's head was swimming more from what Kiki had told her however. "Kiki, how long have you been here?"
"A really really really long time. Since none of us grow older, and the 'season' as Mo describes them never changes, we really don't have a
need to keep track of time."
"What about birthdays?"
"We don't grow older or bigger, we realized a long time ago they were . . . meaningless."
"What . . what about Mo?"
"He and his friends say they were 'Vikings' searching for a new land . . . they got lost from the rest of their fleet and ended up here."
"And they turned into Cubs when they drank that coconut drink?"
Kiki laughed and clapped her hands, "Oh no! That happened on its own! Something about this island -causes- it to happen. The 'trigger'
seems to be different for all of us. I became a cub when I washed myself when I first came here."
Cassie just nodded. "So anyone who comes here can't leave? What about becoming how you used to be?"
"Why would we want that? Why would I want that? We're a family. We'd never want to separated from each other."
"I have a -family- that's worried about me by now!"
Kiki slowly and sadly shook her head, "So did Mo. I did too. So did almost all of us. You can cry if you want Cassie. Most of us do. There two
of our tribe here that were very very 'rich' apparently and liked that. Apparently they were married before. They were very unhappy about
being stuck here at first. But they accepted it. We all do in the end."
"But . . . but . . . but how can you all be so HAPPY? If everything just stays the same except for new arrivals?!"
"It's funny, the island seems to get just a tiny bit bigger whenever new arrivals come. This place -wants- us to be happy, even if we can't
leave. The jungle seems to be always changing, along with the mountain, there's always something new to explore. And the mountain always
seems to be bigger on the inside than the outside. And . . .there's something that makes it all very easy for us all to be happy."
"What's that?" Cassie asked rather confounded.
"We have each other." Kiki hugged her.
Cassie shuddered, feeling doubts and fears melt from her now three year old brain, thoughts of playing, exploring, or just sitting and
thinking filled her mind to the brim. She grinned. It would be so much fun.
"Hold on!" Cassie said suddenly.
"What?" Kiki asked, the concern clear as crystal for Cassie both in her voice and three year old face.
"I left the beacon on in my ship! They'll bring others here!"
"Cool! New arrivals are always fun!"
Cassie's head swam. Yes, new arrivals, are always fun.