Eddie and his alien beach vacation

The sun beat down on Eddie caressing his skin in one long warm kiss. He stretched a hand whilst feeling for his sunglasses. He squinted against the glare before quickly sliding the sunglasses over his eyes while a big contented smile permeated over his lips.

The world was a plethora of bright blues yellows and golds, when the sun shone it seemed the world was on a big magic mushroom trip, the colours were so vivid thought Eddie.

This was exactly what he needed; a week of sun, sand, and seshhhh you know the rest he chuckled to himself.

He picked up his glass from the table, and downed the rest of his rum and coke. Cuba Libra he thought to himself is what they called it. Free Cuba, ah well Eddie had his freedom too!

"Fluff yes, life's good!" muttered Eddie out loud to noone in particular.

His book lay open on the towel, a forgotten companion of his morning's sunbathing. He picked it up and the words blurred with the heat haze, their meaning as fuzzy as the haze on the horizon. Instead, he focused on the rhythm of the waves, being a coastal boy the ocean was his tranquil haven.

Then, it happened. A ripple not in the ocean though, but in the air. A distortion just like a heat mirage only more sharp and more defined. It grew whilst quickly expanding outwards and enveloped Eddie in a bubble of shimmering light.

Naked cold fear replaced the Cuba libra warmth. But before Eddie could even react the world dissolved around him.

When his senses returned, the world was still there but it was different. The sun was still there as a big shining ball in the sky but it was even more intense. The sand was no longer golden but a strange almost metallic volcanic black that crunched beneath his feet. The ocean no longer full of gentle rolling waves but was a violent seething frothing mass of stormy grey blue that crashed against the shore with such ferocity that it was both terrifying and mesmerizing.

Eddie was alone. There were no other tourists, there were no lifeguards, hell there weren't even the distant cries of bathers having fun in the surf!

It was just him, the alien beach and the relentless sun.

Panic gnawed at him.

Where the hell was he?

What the fluff had happened?

Thirst replaced the book as his new but brutal companion and it forced him to search for water. He found a small freshwater stream trickling from a cliff face. The water was cold but deliciously fresh and proved a welcome respite to the inferno that was the flaming sun. As Eddie drank, he noticed strange bioluminescent creatures seemingly dancing and playing in the stream, their bodies emitting a soft glow just like fireflies.

Days turned into weeks and were a blur of survival. Eddie learned to fish using crude tools made from driftwood. Through trial and error Eddie discovered edible plants, their flavours being a sour contrast to the familiar plants of home. Nights were filled with the eerie glow of the bioluminescent creatures and the distant haunting howl of unknown predators.

It reminded Eddie of his spontaneous nights of wild camping under the stars in the jungles of Africa.

Loneliness was now his constant companion.

Eddie talked to the waves
Eddie talked to the sky
Eddie even talked to the creatures that watched him from the shadows.

Eddie laughed
Eddie cried
Eddie cursed and he raged.

He was a castaway on a world that was both beautiful and terrifying.

Eddie was on the vacation from hell...

As weeks turned into months something began to grow inside him. A resilience born out of necessity sprouted. He found a rhythm for his days, a balance between survival and exploration.

Eddie ventured deeper into the island
Eddie discovered hidden valleys and towering mountains
Eddie discovered more strange alien flora and fauna.

One evening after dinner as the sun dipped below the horizon casting the world into darker shades of reds and purples hues of purple he sat on a cliff edge. Whilst sipping his homemade hooch from a carved wooden cup he looking out at the endless ocean.

The ocean his haven roared below. A sense of peace washed over him.

Eddie was a survivor
Eddie was a wanderer
Eddie was a pioneer.

Eddie was alone, but he was not lost.

And then seemingly as if in answer to a silent prayer, he saw it. A shimmering distortion in the sky, a mirror image of the one that had brought him here.

Hope stirred within him.

As the distortion grew and enveloped him once more, Eddie closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he was back on his familiar vacation beach, the sun was caressing his skin in one long warm kiss, the rhythm of waves a comforting and soothing lullaby.

The world was as he remembered it. The table was there, his book was there, his glass was there, the lifeguards were there, he could even hear the distant cries of bathers having fun in the surf.

The world had not changed, but Eddie had changed.

He carried inside him the memories of a world beyond imagination, a world that had tested him to his limits and transformed him.

The sun dipped below the horizon casting beautiful long shadows across the sand. As darkness enveloped him, he smiled.

Eddie had survived.
Eddie had wnaderer
Eddie had conquered.

And he was ready for whatever the world, or any other world, might throw at him.

The ocean whispered its secrets and the wind carried the promise of new adventures. And as Eddie drifted off to sleep, he knew that this was just the beginning of a new life.

This story is written for the Scholar and Scribe and Dreemport collaboration event The Late Days of Summer and this is for the Week 2 event Vacation to a Parallel Universe

Catch the Scholar and Scribe and Dreemport event announcement posts.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed Eddie and his alien beach vacation

Wishing you a wonderful remainder of your week ahead!