Thread: Deserted Island

For almost a minute after Alejandro squeezed her hand, Asta looked from his face, to the drawing, then towards the relentlessly rolling surf as she thought about what he'd just done. Something was important to him, something about the luggage but it wasn't the one she'd helped him drag up away from the high tide mark. Comprehension dawned as she saw a raised black rubber design, a logo, on the side of the luggage. That was a symbol, a shape, like the one he'd drawn in the sand. He wanted a piece of luggage with...what? 4 lines coming together, like on one of the maps of her land the government people always tried to make them use and stick to? Reindeer didn't read maps, and they went where the food was good and the Sami followed. Nodding slowly, Asta traced over the symbol in the sand, her finger deepening the marks, and then stood up, leaving Alejandro to the care of the other two. Asta hesitated at the edge of the ocean. It was just so much water, endless water, and it was moving. This was nothing like the inky blackness of a bog thaw lake, or the cold clear blue of a glacial tarn. This was all the water in the world and it was moving and pounding. Even though she could sense it was a gentle slope, Asta was terrified to go too deep into the surf. She didn't swim, didn't even think about it as being possible, and was afraid that once she got into the water she'd never get back out. But the luggages were out there and she'd have to go get them. Sighing deeply, Asta rolled her shoulders back like her father did before lifting a really heavy load, then sat down to take off her reindeer skin boots. Thick woolen socks, now quite drenched with sweat, joined them and she added the belt and pouch a moment later. Standing up, she let the wind whip the long, light shirt around her legs and then pulled it off too, letting the wind carry it back further on the beach, fabric fluttering like a cloth wave. Very hesitantly, with her arms out to her side for balance, Asta waded into the surf. It was powerful even when it felt gentle. Water coming in made her lean forward, shins smashing white foam in the water, but when it rushed out it tried to suck her feet deeper into the sand and move her at a walk into deeper water. It was subtle but powerful and Asta immediately respected and feared its strength. When she reached the first luggage, Asta grabbed it by the handle and spun in a half circle then tossed it clear of the water, halfway up between the tide marks. It hadn't been very heavy and though she wasn't as strong as the men of her family she could still shift a load. It was about using your hips and back, not your arms. A second piece joined the first, both with symbols on them but nothing like the marks Alejandro had drawn. Three, four, five, and now she was having to splash from water almost up to the fine hair between her legs into shallower to heave them clear. Number six...number six had a bright flag on it, as bright as the clothing of the Sami, and...and that was it! That was the same design Alejandro had drawn. Asta gave a squeal of delight and lifted it clear of the water with a hand on either side, waving it towards the trio on the beach, then trotted out of the waves and across the hot sand to put it in front of Alejandro. Water dripped from her legs, from the curve of her bottom, and spray and sweat coated her bare body in tiny jewels that rolled together into larger ones and then coursed across her pale skin Asta pointed to the drawing in the sand, then the flag on the suitcase, and smiled in excitement at Alejandro. She pushed the suitcase closer to him and motioned that he should open it.