Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
I asked Hassha for something you could wear. She gave me this dress. What the hell was she thinking? You’ll be the sexiest woman on the island!
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me as I take it down by the hanger and run my fingers along the material. There’s an outdoor shower just outside the glass door on the balcony, and I undress quickly, sliding the door open and stepping out. I stand beneath the warm stream, allowing the water to pour over my bare body. I don’t care that my locs will likely be frizzy in a few hours when it air dries because this shower feels incredible right now.
I face the ocean, which appears to be endless. The sky is a beautiful turquoise, the sun bold and bright, beaming between the fronds of the palm trees above the shower. The palm fronds, I realize, create a barrier of privacy, and attached to the trunks of the trees are gold flowers, similar to the Vanorian Bloom Caz picked for me near his mother’s cabin. I pluck one off the leaf, sniff it, and it smells like honey and rain. Wow. Kessel is so beautiful.
After the shower, I wrap a towel around myself and find a bathroom tucked away inside. The bathroom contains only a toilet and sink with a mirror above, but the windows occupying the walls make it appear a lot more spacious.
There are more folded towels on a built-in shelf, bars of soap wrapped in kraft-like paper, and brand-new toothbrushes made of wood with dark bristles placed neatly in a wooden container on the counter. I can’t tell if all this stuff has always been here or if it was placed recently. Caz mentioned a nurse being around last night, before I fell asleep again, so I suppose she put things in place for me.
Thankful, I brush my teeth, pull my hair up into a loose ponytail, slip into the dress, then walk out of the bathroom to reach the front door.
I carry myself down the marble stairs, burying my feet into the powdery sand as soon as I touch it. The ocean breeze soothes every part of me, and I throw my head back, allowing the sun to bathe my skin. This place is absolute paradise.
Looking to my right, I notice overwater bungalows that come in different sizes, the exteriors made of wooden planks with steel roofs. I make my way in that direction and spot mothers playing in the water with their children. I notice all the children are girls. Laughter rings, and it’s a joyous noise that is much needed after so many hard days. Some women are styling younger girls’ hair, while others help build sandcastles and domes. A few other women sit crossed legged beneath a shady tree, stripping some type of material that looks like cotton off of sticks and stuffing them into braided leaf baskets. One of the women with honey-brown skin and a copper afro notices me and stops what she’s doing to smile.
“Hey-ah! Do you need help?” she asks, approaching me.
“Uh, hi. Yes, actually. I’m looking for Moon Village. Is it around here?” I ask.
“It is. Just make a right around the bungalow there and follow the moonstones in the ground. They’ll lead you straight to the village. You can’t miss it.”
I thank her and leave the beach to round the bungalow she pointed at and reach the path. When I find it, the moonstones are the first thing I notice. I wasn’t sure I’d know what they were when she said it, but it’s very clear when I bend down and rub one of the silvery stones protruding from the ground. It’s shaped like a crescent and shimmers in the sunlight. They appear to have grown from the soil, almost like someone planted them underground to allow them to bloom. I follow the stones the rest of the way, and I know I’m close when I hear the laughter of children.
A clearing appears and, sure enough, there’s the village that can’t be missed. This is no ordinary community, though. The shops are built into trees with thick branches that ascend upward as if trying to touch the sky. The miscellaneous shops and huts between have roofs made of gold. The shops sell baskets, clothes, weapons, food, while the huts seem occupied by families.
As I walk through, one of the women—elderly with peppery hair—stops me by offering me a square-shaped fruit. The skin is orange, and it has been cut in half to reveal yellow seeds reminiscent to a pomegranate. I take it from her with a smile, and she returns to the table in front of her shop, cutting more fruit.
It’s as I cross an overwater bridge that I spot a collection of picnic tables on a flat stretch of grass. Each table is spread out around a large firepit, and not too far from the pit is a throne. The throne is made of gold, with shapes of the sun, moon, and stars carved into it. Another round of children’s laughter echoes through the field, and I look to my right to find Caz seated at one of the tables with two girls who can’t be any older than eight or nine. They have flowers in their hands, and as I approach, I hear Caz grumbling, “I can’t tie the stem of this thing.”