ISLAND OF BONES

    Dark. It was so dark. She could see nothing.
    But she could feel. She could feel the rain stinging her face, the trees tearing at her flesh. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, feel the life beating inside her. She could still feel and that meant she was still alive.
    She kept running.
    The wind was blowing hard now, making the trees twist and groan above her. The wet leaves rained down, sticking black on her bare white arms. Her feet were slippery with mud and blood.
    She kept running.
    Something dark rose up in front of her. The fence...she had made it to the fence. Her eyes raked the dark wood, looking for a gate. Nothing, no way out. She had to climb over.
    She jumped, grabbing the top of the fence. It was jagged, cutting into her fingers, but she held on. Bracing her feet on the wet wood, she strained to pull herself up. Her bare feet slipped on the wet wood but she was strong. She got an arm over the top and pulled herself up. Her blouse snagged on a board but she didn’t stop. She jumped down, falling and rolling in the mud. There was a gash on her arm and something burned on her right foot, but there was
    Mangroves...she had reached the mangroves. But where was the dock? She stopped, her eyes raking the darkness.
    The light. Where was the light? There was a light on the dock. She had seen it before. She had seen the dinghy there, too.
    She pushed her wet hair back off her face and tried to get her bearings. Had she gone the wrong way? Everything looked so different at night. The storm must have knocked out the power. Where was the dock?
    A sudden blast of wind knocked her back against a tree. Her knees buckled and she grabbed the rough bark, clinging to it, pulling herself back up.
    A light. The dock light! She could see it now, faintly through the trees.
    With a cry, she pushed off the tree and stumbled toward the light.
    She froze.