Neil swiped a hand across his face in irritation. Something was bugging him; a light that was penetrating his eyelids, trying to rouse him from the contentment of his slumber. His sleep-bogged mind assumed that morning must have arrived, and the sunlight was peaking through the blinds of his bedroom window.
But he wasn’t ready to wake up just yet!
“Just a few… more… minutes…” he murmured, as he attempted to roll over in his bed, in order to turn away from the sunlight that was pouring through the window.
However, he could tell that something wasn’t right, even in his groggy condition. His bed felt hard, lumpy, and sort of… grainy. And what was that terrible taste in his mouth?
He desperately searched for his blanket, so that he could pull it over his head and get the extra few minutes of sleep that he so desperately needed. After waving his hand around for a moment in a futile effort to find his blanket, pillows, or anything else that might resemble part of his normal bedding, Neil’s mind finally awoke.
With a blast of realization, he understood that he wasn’t in his bed… he had been in the boat, and the storm had been knocking them around, and then Pan Gu had appeared, seemingly in control of the incredible weather. The rogue wave had approached, towering above them, and then… and then…
Neil sat up with a gasp, his heart racing, his mind swirling as he tried to make sense of what had happened.
Though he was confused and disoriented, he was able to solve one mystery without much trouble. Immediately, he identified the source of the bad taste in his mouth. A large clump of salty seaweed had become entangled in his teeth, and he spat it to the ground with grand aplomb.
It tumbled across the sand like a huge wad of discarded chewing gum, coming to rest near a gathering of small crabs, causing them to scuttle about. They gazed upon the expelled lump of seaweed as if it were a gift from the heavens, clicking their pincers as they circled it in sideways shuffles.
“Blech!” Neil exclaimed, smacking his lips together. “I think I could have done without that particular culinary experience. If only I had a nice slice of pizza handy, to purify my taste buds…” he sighed wistfully, noting how parched his mouth and throat felt. “And water. I’ll need fresh water to drink, as soon as possible.”
Looking from side to side, he tried to comprehend his surroundings. His eyelashes were clumped together with salt and sand, and his vision had not yet adjusted to the bright weather that suddenly surrounded him, with a hot sun beating down upon him. He was sitting on a beach, soaked to the skin with seawater, and covered in a fine layer of sand.
Above him, the sun was shining as bright as could be, with only a few clouds drifting across an otherwise blue sky. The storm that had raged so violently had evaporated completely, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. If Pan Gu had indeed been responsible for summoning the phenomenal weather, it would seem that the beast had dispersed it with equal abruptness.
Had the monster’s sole purpose for creating the incredible storm been to wreck the boat? Had its goal been to prevent the Quantum Conundrum from safely landing upon the shores of the island? And if so… why? Why was Pan Gu so vehemently opposed to their arrival?
Despite the ferocity of the storm that had faced them, Lefty’s crew had apparently managed to reach Smuttynose Island… but at what cost, Neil wondered? Where were his friends? And for that matter, where was the boat?
Neil looked at the sun above him, which was producing warming rays, already beginning to dry him out. Seagulls circled, gently gliding upon currents and calling to one another in the language of feathered creatures. The ocean was now calm, and the sound of the water breaking against the shore was peaceful and soothing - a strange contrast to the chaos of the storm that had raged not long ago.
“How long have I been out?” Neil wondered aloud. “And where is everybody?”
He stretched his arms and shoulders, continuing to scan the beach. Searching this way and that, he sought to catch sight of his friends, but he didn’t see anybody. There was no sign of Lefty, Noodles, Murphy, Jack, or Nibbler. The entire strange group was missing.
“Hello?” Neil called. “Where are you guys?”
As he blinked away the last of the sand that had clumped at his eyelids, his vision finally adjusted to the sudden brightness he had found himself in. Some distance off, he could see the boat, shipwrecked upon a large outcrop of jagged rocks.
Filled with concern, he launched to his feet, wobbling as he attempted to get his bearings and shake away the effects of his recent experience. It seemed that the boat must been involved in a vicious collision, though Neil couldn’t actually remember when they had impacted the island.
He recalled the giant wave that was coming at them, and the amazing sight of Pan Gu slowly rising from the depths of the ocean, its giant, emerald body illuminated by the flashes of lightning.
But he couldn’t recall what had happened between that moment and when he had awoken on the beach… the trauma of the event must have wiped those moments from his memory.
Neil ran to the Quantum Conundrum as quickly as he could, hobbling somewhat because he had lost one of his sneakers. When he arrived, he grabbed the edge of the boat and pulled himself aboard.
“Guys?” Neil called, desperately searching the wrecked remains of the vessel. “Hello? Anybody?”
The boat was in terrible condition. A large hole had been inflicted upon the hull, and six inches of water sloshed about the deck. The console was smashed up beyond repair, and the steering wheel dangled loosely.
It was clear that the boat would be of no use for any prospective return voyage. But Neil had more pressing matters. If this was all that remained of the boat… then where were his friends?
After thoroughly searching the boat - which didn’t take long, due to its small size - Neil clambered out. Unclipping the life jacket from his torso, he let it fall to the sand. He gently poked and prodded at his body, performing a rudimentary inspection for injury.
“I’m no expert, but everything seems to be in order, as far as I can tell,” he concluded.
Though he rarely gave the resiliency of his youth much thought, this was one occasion on which he found himself grateful for what his father had oftentimes described as “an ability to bounce off of the ground like a rubber ball, without any ill effect whatsoever.”
Neil removed his T-shirt and wrung it between his hands, squeezing the excess water from it so that it would dry a little quicker. He repeated this process with his pants and socks, and then brushed the sand from his shoulders, arms, legs, and chest.
Wiggling around, he removed as much sand as he could manage, and then put his clothes back on. They were already beginning to dry out, thanks to the hot sun and the light breeze.
“Now… where to begin searching…” Neil pondered aloud. He scanned the beach, trying to determine his best course of action. Though he was aware that he was talking to himself quite a bit, he realized that he was somewhat unnerved by the absence of all his friends, and he found that the sound of his own voice brought him some comfort on the lonely island. “Ah! My missing sneaker!”
The shoe was sitting amid a pile of seaweed and driftwood. Neil quickly hobbled over, retrieved it, and put it on. However, this was a process he came to wish that he had approached with a little more care.
“Gobstoppers!” he exclaimed.
Neil tore the shoe from his foot and threw it to the ground. Something was in there, and it had bitten him! Neil cautiously picked the sneaker up, turned it upside down, and gave it a good shaking. A bluish crab fell to the sand, along with a decent quantity of seawater. The creature snapped its pincers indignantly at Neil before scuttling away, heading for the ocean.
“Well, good day to you, as well, my crustacean friend,” Neil said. “This place is overrun with crabs! Everywhere I turn, there are crabs sashaying around,” he murmured to himself, glancing about, as if suspicious that there might be others lurking nearby, waiting to ensnare him in their pincers. “
Okay, now that I’ve got that squared away…”
He put his sneaker on, turned on his heel, and was preparing to begin walking along the coast until he found his friends. But before he could get started, he heard the most welcoming of sounds - a noise that filled his heart with joy and relief.
“Woof!”
Neil turned toward the bark. “Nibbler! Nibbler, where are you, boy?”
Bounding over the mass of boulders that the boat had crashed upon, Nibbler appeared. His fur was wet and covered with sand, but he appeared to be completely unharmed. He ran full speed for Neil, tongue lolling, the lips of his doggy mouth pulled back into the smile that was perpetually plastered upon his furry face.
Above all things, Nibbler was a happy dog - enchanted with life, loyal to his friends, and always ready for adventure, no matter the scenario.
Neil dropped to one knee as the Labradoodle reached him, embracing the dog in a heartfelt hug. Nibbler bounded forward, colliding with Neil so hard that the two of them were knocked to the sand and seaweed in a tangled mass of limb and paw, boy and dog.
Laughing, Neil clambered back to his knees, patting Nibbler’s wet fur and scratching him behind the ears. “Hey, boy, you’re okay!”
“Woof!” Nibbler replied enthusiastically. The feeling of relief was clearly mutual, for his tail was wagging so fiercely that it made his rump shake from side to side with fantastic force.
“Do you know where the others are?” Neil asked. “Have you seen them?”
Nibbler turned in a quick circle and then sprinted away, barking as he did so. He looked back over his shoulder periodically to utter a woof to Neil.
“I’m right behind you, boy!” Neil assured his furry friend.
He optimistically interpreted Nibbler’s behavior as an affirmative response to his inquiry about the whereabouts of their friends. He was quick to give chase, running as fast as he could, his wet sneakers kicking up great clods of sand as he went.
Chapter Five
A Rude Awakening