My stomach growls as I stare at the dark water, unsure if what just happened really did happen. The boy had appeared and vanished behind the rock as if he was a part of the sea himself. My brain can't wrap around the thought of anyone doing that, let alone meeting a boy around my age that doesn't seem to have much physical strength to keep him safe. No one I know is exactly my age—no one really lives that long, although life expectancy is getting longer because of recent inventions within the tribe.

A strange sense of unease slips into my veins as I stare at the never-ending ocean stretched out before me. Something tells me this is an unnatural occurrence, seeing something like that. Could I be hallucinating? I haven't eaten in two days... could that be it?

Maybe I should have killed that deer. Both of them.

Tani-mah and Rai-is aren't going to be happy if I tell them I found a deer and didn't shoot it.

It growls again, interrupting my thoughts. I exhale and head back into the trees, spending the rest of the day searching for the deer—or something that isn't a squirrel. I'd take on a hog, at this point, but they're terrifying and deadly. After meeting that boy, my brain is too distracted to take on an animal that could kill or handicap me.

I decide to make my way back up to the village as the sun sets, the biggest one of the three on the island: Initi. The other two are Wurn and Revli.

I make my way up the tall inclined island, using branches and fallen logs to help me up the steep slope. The Tribe Leaders taught us this island used to be something called a mountain before the Flood happened thousands of years ago, wiping out almost all of humanity and nearly covering the Earth. The remaining humans banned together and created the First Tribe of Initi.

There are plenty of legends and stories about the First Tribe, but, of course, no one knows what they really saw or went through. Stories get so muddled over the years, and I've learned that in my own experience growing up and hearing different tales. I can only assume there are multiple things kept hidden from curious ears that don't need to know everything.

The Initi Tribe was the first tribe, the only tribe on our island. Generations later, there was a massive dispute between the three Tribe Leaders and they parted ways, creating the three tribes we know now: Initi, Revli, and Wurn. The tribe names stood for something in the ancient language used by the first tribesmembers. Today, we only know those three words in the mystery language: initi is peace, revli is love, and wurn is war. These tribes were said to once work together and bring harmony to the island, until a war between them severed all ties with each other.

Initi stood back, startled by the corruption within the tribes that had made its way outward. Revli stated it wanted to become one large tribe again and work their problems out through love and kindness, while Wurn, being the largest and most powerful tribe on the island at the time, didn't want to give up and share its selfish desires. It was Initi that eventually ended the war and everything was okay again; everything had balanced out. Or at least that's the history we've been taught over the years and from the Tribe Leaders themselves.

I finally reach the side of the large island that had been chipped away and somehow flattened by weather or human hands. Our houses made of wood, rocks, and leaves are scattered along the flat rock, all leaning to one side or another as if they are to fall over at any moment, but we all know they're the strongest buildings out of the three tribes. While Wurn obsesses with weapons and traps and while Revli has their kumbaya sessions and therapy meetings to talk about feelings, Initi tries to take into account safety and defense because we know there's strength in numbers. Not just how well you connect with other people or how much strength your offensive lines carry. Without covering our bases as well as we do, we'd have half the people we already do, and that is an overstatement. And without those houses, everyone would be dead.

I take a deep breath and shake my head as I dust my hands off onto my shorts, little pieces of rocks falling to the ground below my bare, calloused feet. We only usually wear shoes during the winter. We find it easier to hunt without them.

Lily-flor walks out of a house, most likely from being informed I'd finally come home, holding a cooking knife in her hand. She looks around for a moment, her short blonde hair thwipping around her, before her eyes finally focus on me. Her mouth breaks out into a smile and she rushes up to me, squealing my name.

Dodging the knife, I wrap my arms around her in greeting. "Hey, Lily-flor." I rest her on my hip and squint at her in the moonlight, taking the knife away from her small fingers. "How'd your day go?"

"Wonderful!" she giggles, clapping her hands together, not the least bit annoyed I took the knife from her. "You were gone all day, so you missed it. Tani-mah taught me how to cook a squirrel," she says, stumbling over the word. "And it tastes really good."

I laugh, trying to keep the pang of guilt out its sound as my mind flips back to the deer. Squirrel is what we eat when we're running low on food. There are too many of the rodents on the island, especially coming out of winter. Spring and fall only come for a few days of the year before heat and ice hit like there was never a trace of the other.

"That's great, Lily-flor."

"Did you catch anything, Cressa-la?"

I shake my head as I make my way to Tani-mah's house. "Just the usual."

"That's okay." She squirms to get down. "I like squirrel."

She takes my hand and leads me the rest of the way, dread bubbling up in my stomach. Tani-mah is the Head Tribe Leader's wife and also happens to be a Tribe Leader, herself. She's lived twenty-five years while Rai-si, her husband, has made it to twenty-six; they're the oldest of the Tribe Leaders on the island.

The door made of thick sticks creaks open and Tani-mah turns around to see who's entered. Her long curly black hair dances at her back and her olive skin glows in the candlelight lighting up the small house.

"Ah, Cressa-la," she smiles as she walks over to me. In the glow of the fire torch set into a small block of stone, I can see a tiny carcass resembling a squirrel resting on a thin stove over a small fire. It almost looks done enough to eat. "Welcome back. I was wondering if something happened to you; you're never gone all day."

My mind flits to the boy in the water.

"Thanks, Tani-mah," I smile sheepishly as she pats me on the shoulder. I can feel the judgement radiating from her and pressing against my skin. I always can.

She turns back to finish cooking, humming lightly. A lump rises in my throat. I've never been good enough for her. Not bringing home that deer would be fuel to the fire if it comes up.

"Did you find anything?" She glances over her shoulder at me, the frayed hem of her deer skin dress dancing with her movements.

I shake my head in response, the urge to tell her about the boy burning in the forefront of my mind. The reasoning as to why I didn't kill the only deer I saw takes a backseat as it soaks in guilt.

"Actually." The word leaps out before I can reel it back in. Tani-mah turns, taken by surprise at my sudden urgency in the word. "I saw a boy."

"Saw a what?" she asks, pausing before flipping the squirrel onto its back. Lily-flor buzzes around like a bee, making sure I'm watching her help Tani-mah.

"A boy," I repeat, feeling uneasy as my face grows hot. Don't I have a way with words? Maybe I should just shut my mouth and stop talking. I feel like I'm just digging a deeper hole.

But I can't stop. It's on my mind and won't leave.

"Where?"

The fire beneath the squirrel matches the tone in her voice and I'm taken aback. Her body has become rigid, as if she's bracing herself for something she doesn't want to hear. And perhaps it isn't, but I've already begun my explanation.

"Um... down below. I couldn't shoot the deer, so I walked to the beach—"

"You found a deer?" Tani-mah repeats, turning to stare holes into me. My stomach twists. "You found a deer and you didn't bring it home? Your people are close to starving, Cressa-la."

"It was a baby, Tani-mah, and its mom was—"

"Lily-flor, can you go outside for a moment?" Tani-mah's voice has changed completely, but Lily-flor's eyes are wide with fear. She opens her mouth to protest, her focus lingering on my face, but Tani-mah gives her a sharp look that shuts her right up. She makes her way past me, her face pale as she places a knife on the rickety old table. She'll want to know everything that happens, even if she tries to eavesdrop from outside.

"I couldn't shoot it," I explode once Lily-flor has shut the door. "After seeing all the babies that die in our village, I couldn't—"

"Deer are animals, Cressa-la, animals we can eat. What part of that do you not understand? Do you know how many people we could feed with a deer?"

"Yes, I understand, but they still feel things and need to have their offspring survive if they want to grow. I did us a favor, if you look at it. That baby will have babies and we can have food in the future."

"Cressa-la," Tani-mah breathes, her disappointment blatantly obvious, but I can see she knows I'm partially right. She purses her lips and taps her fingers on the hard surface of the small counter, the wheels turning in her head.

"But the boy," I press, trying to get her to understand, to make her understand. "He was in the water. He said he lived there."

"There was no boy, Cressa-la."

My brow furrows at her words. How would she know? She wasn't there and I'm almost positive I wasn't hallucinating. Almost.

"Yes, there was! There was something in the water and then he appeared from behind this rock—"

"Cressa-la," Tani-mah attempts to interrupt, but I keep going.

"—and he said he lived in the ocean. He recognized me or something from somewhere, but I don't know how; I'd never seen him before. So I asked him what he meant, but he didn't explain any further—"

"Cressa-la," she says louder, harsher, but I continue talking.

"—and he said goodbye, and—and that I would see him again—"

"Cressa-la!"

I snap my mouth shut, breathing in and out heavily to replace the oxygen I'd expelled to try to talk over her. A fire is burning in her eyes and something inside of me is scared, like I'd found something I wasn't supposed to, like I'm on the verge of revealing a long-kept secret. The situation I've created makes my fingers tingle with anxiety.

"There was no boy. You're so hungry, you're hallucinating, Cressa-la. Besides. You shouldn't have been on the beach. It's too close to the water." Tani-mah runs her fingers through the hair on top of her head and sighs heavily, closing her eyes for a moment. I had never realized how much shorter she was than I am. It gives me the illusion that I can be powerful, no matter how small she makes me feel. "Grab a piece of squirrel. It's finished."

"But—"

"I said, grab a piece of squirrel, Cressa-la."

Nodding, I swallow my word and pride as I walk over to tear a leg off. Its smell messes with my knotted, churning stomach as I step out into coolish night. I could just about swear Tani-mah hates me, except for the fact that she's the one who gave and helps me take care of Lily-flor.

Lily-flor is sitting on the ground beneath Tani-mah's and Rai-si's front window, picking at the stones and pebbles beneath her. Her tangled hair shifts in the wind, her baby face relaxed as she patiently waits for me. She's such a good girl... and I swear she's way smarter and understanding than she should be at her age.

She smiles up at me as I shut the door and squat beside her, handing her the rest of the leg. She needs it more than I do. Besides. I hate squirrel.

"I believe you," she says, taking the leg and devouring it, getting the juices all over her hands and cheeks.

A small smile slips onto my face and I tousle her hair. "Thanks, Lily-flor. That means a lot to me."

"Was he cute?" she asks, her eyes hopeful as she lowers her voice so Tani-mah won't hear us. I laugh out loud at the ridiculous question, all tension departing from my body and leaving it tingling.

"Of all the questions you could ask..."

"Well?" she presses, wiping her hands on her shorts.

I plop down next to her and rest my head against the house, gazing at the stars above and the moon that'll bring the new babies to us. I smirk.

"It's a secret."

"When you get old enough to actually adopt me, will it still be a secret?" she pries. I haven't thought of that day much... but I know it's coming. Next year, I'll be eighteen. I'll go through trials to become a Tribe Leader and be able to claim Lily-flor as mine.

"No," I respond, closing my eyes. "There won't be any secrets between us, then."

Soon, sleep weighs on me and I drift off, unable to stand because I'm so strangely comfortable. I certainly don't want to escort Lily-flor back into Tani-mah's house. Who knows what will happen, then? Plus, my house is at the other end of the village, close to the ledge. It's too far to walk when I'm tired like this.

So I end up letting it take me, dreams lifting me into a pleasant cloud, something that doesn't seem to happen often enough.