New Castle Island

New Castle Island

  Written by: Tristyn Lippingwell

  Copyright 2013

  Chapter 1: The Dock

  Soft Pacific waves wiped across the rocky shores of Vancouver Island. The sun was spouting life throughout the evergreen mountains, blessing the animals with guidance and motivation. Amongst the classic harbors, assorted boats of all kinds swayed back and forth in a harmonious peaceful rhythm. The slimy seafloor was infested with sea grass and scuttling shellfish that were always watching upward to avoid being captured in a fishing net or becoming a meal for larger aquatic predators. A black bear hunched down upon a moss covered boulder curiously watching a harbor seal circle playfully below.

  These are typical examples of the beautiful blessings one can find on the glorious life filled Vancouver Island. Unfortunately, good and evil must balance for there to be prosperity, and one of the main evils on the Island is people.

  Humans, out of patriotism for our species, can be very selfish. We tear down the homes and resources of wildlife that have prospered for thousands of years and turn it into a concrete hole which one day will accommodate people. These beings that will move into this artificial habitat will have the same dreams as the people who built the houses; they want to show off and exploit their best features and make money.

  We’ve been like this since the beginning of human evolution. We were somehow meant to be this way. However, it still doesn’t make it right to overuse the power of intelligence that has been given to us to destroy all things pure and beautiful that has formed naturally on this earth.

  That is where we must start our story. For without the last read page of this book, this story would have been taken for granted.

  ***

  The dock looked old next to the modern efficient asphalt. Though the dock and the asphalt were used almost the same amount the dock always felt greater. It always got to feel the ocean massaging its wooden planks and feel the cool breeze of fresh sea air. Today however, the dock did not feel that way. The asphalt had no mind for it was mostly man made; it does not care who strides on it unlike the dock that was made of a wood which many wise people believe possess a piece of its spirit no matter what. Usually, the dock held people with hospitality, but presently a group of troubled people stood on it waiting impatiently for the familiar sea taxi to arrive.

  There were six people gathered on the pier: Two high class aristocrats babbling on their cell phones about business deals while ignoring their beautiful surroundings, two elderly people on scooters taking their energetic eight year old grandson to the gorgeous tourist attraction across the bay, and one stoic aboriginal man standing firmly while gazing into the horizon. What these unique travelers did not know is that they are about to experience the wildest adventure of their unique lives.

  Chapter 2: 10:00 in the Evening

  The withered old man hung up the phone with a sense of despair. He glanced over at his aging wife who was looking up at him with her misty blue eyes filled with curiosity. They both sat there in complete silence analyzing each other’s faces watching as the sorrow swallowed up both of them. The old man had had enough and started to waddle over to the bathroom to have a moment to himself and process the information he had just received.

  How could this be? He asked himself in disbelief of the news he was just given.

  My boy can’t be getting a divorce; I raised him better than that. The man creaked downwards until eventually he plopped himself onto the edge of the bathtub.

  He’s been with her for so long. Ten years of smooth sailing now this? A full decade had passed since his son’s wedding in Fort Langley. The vision of the church decorated in bountiful white flowers, the ceremony that was more magical than those seen in movies, and the bride and groom being whisked away in a carriage with smiles on their faces now were being engulfed in flames of hatred and disappointment.

  When they return from their stupid court case, how will they tell their child he must now live in two homes? His grandson slept in the room at the end of the hall, naïve and sheltered from the household war that was tearing apart his entire world.

  Tears began to streak down the man’s cheek, channeling through his wrinkles until they merged at the cleft of his chin. Another couple of minutes passed and he decided to then slide into bed, being careful not to wake his expectedly sleeping wife. However, when he got out she was not asleep.

  “What’s happened?” She asked intently already knowing that pain would come with his words. He paused for a second then said to himself what old men often say to themselves when confronted with their emotions. Be a man damnit! He looked at her for the second time.

  “They have split custody of Timothy. They are also splitting their possessions half and-” He couldn’t go on, for the look of sadness that had fallen on his wife’s face was too much to bear. There was an awkward pause that followed. It lingered in their brains, releasing small images of their son and their daughter in law in court wearing suits and dividing their belongings as if nothing mattered at all. The old woman broke the silence.

  “It sounds like it was a clean case.” The old man gave her a half confused half disgusted look.

  “You know what I mean! Usually there’s one person who loses everything but, here it seems equal.” She rose to her defense but, the old man didn’t seem amused. Just the idea of divorce upset him. He had been with the same woman since high school and they never had a falling out. Together they bought their own house, raised their only son to be an honorable businessman and were now retired, completely free of financial troubles.

  The old woman decided she should say something else so she added. “Now a days these things happen all the time.”

  The old man’s disgusted look on his face only got worse.

  “I know these things happen all the time but, you never think it would happen to our son.” He spouted, outraged as he climbed into bed. She came to shush him and try to soothe him back to calmness.

  “Don’t think about it dear. Tomorrow we will take a pretty little tour of New Castle Island and everything will be alright.”

  The old man sighed heavily as if heaving his last breath.

  “How can you say that?” He croaked. “We can’t merely hide from darkness.”

  “But even after the darkest nights there is still the light of a bright new day the next morning.” She replied and kissed him on the forehead.

  “You just have to wait for it to find you.”