THE BIGGER WORLD

Jimbo was an only child. At least that’s what he thought. He lived on an island with his aunt, Daina. Jimbo did not know what an island was. All he knew were the trees, animals and lakes which were within the island. His aunt had forbidden him from exploring. She said it was dangerous and he would be lost forever or eaten by monsters he couldn’t even imagine if he ever ventured further than they could immediately see from their hut.

Jimbo never doubted his aunt but as he got older, he became more curious. The sounds that used to frighten him from beyond his confinement were no longer scary. More and more, he would venture closer towards the outer parts of the island when his aunt was sleeping. At first, he would do so at night but he could never see much. But his aunt was getting older and more tired so she slept more and more during the day hours.

For the last few weeks, He had been sneaking further and further and discovered the sea. he was amazed. It was beautiful but for all he knew, it was just a bigger version of the lagoon which his hut was close to. He never went near the sea.

On a day when he was hiding behind a tree in his regular spot, Jimbo spotted a dot in the water, moving about and singing. He was mesmerized. he did not even noticed that he had gotten up and walked towards it.

Jimbo had never seen another person before. This one was different. The stranger was like his aunt but younger, softer, and less scary. Her singing beckoned him and he was at the rocky shore, completely unhidden.

She screamed when she turned around and saw him. She was surprised and her scream surprised him. He ran full speed back home.

That did not last long however; curiosity brought him back daily, and after a few days, Naila, the singing girl, was back too. He would watch her from behind a large tree and she would constantly stare into the trees looking for him.

He fall asleep under his hiding place so she sneaked up behind the tree and watched him.

Staring at him in disbelief, she whispered his name, “Nabe.”

This woke him up. As he stretched, all he could see were the trees which framed the sky. She had crouched down to hide.When Jimbo walked by her, her unfamiliar scent must have alerted him to her presence because he dashed towards the overgrowth of low trees to hide.

She called out to him, “Nabe!”

He stayed hidden. She sat and waited for hours. By mid afternoon, she decided to head back to the see. he must have decided that she was not dangerous because he emerged from the shadowy trees when she got to the rocky shore.

Naila thought she had found her long lost brother. He did look exactly like her. He had the same curly soft dark hair and bright eyes. His skin was just a bit paler than her family’s but it was still freckled like theirs.

Jimbo, who was actually Nabe, could not speak but they created their own system of symbols and gestures to communicate. They met everyday in the morning and played together.

Nabe did not understand his attraction to her and it made him less careful. His aunt became suspicious.

The day his aunt decided to spy on him was the day Naila had decided to bring her mother and father to meet Nabe.

When his mother, Mirianna, saw him, she dashed towards him too quickly for him to run away. She was barely by his side when aunt Daina transformed into a large green tentacled monster. The monster screamed, ” I won’t let you have him!”

Daina had stolen the boy during a massive rain storm when he was just a baby. He was an only child then. Mirianna had seen the monster disappearing into the darkness then but had thought it must have been her imagination.

The gigantic Daina, raised a broad sick-green tentacle to squash Mirianna, but her husband Jacar, raced from the water and grabbed both his wife and child out of the way just in time. He pulled them into the sea knowing that the monster would not follow.

Jacar could hardly believe his grandmother’s tails about the inner-island monster who stole children were true. He used to think that these were stories to scare he and the other children from wondering into the middle of the island and get lost. These stories were the reason he knew what to do. The monster would not enter the salt water because the salt would destroy it.

The monster, Daina, wept.

The newly reunited family stood in the water and wept too. Nabe wept because of his confusion. The others wept for joy. Their family was whole again.

When they took Nabe home, the whole village had a celebration. Even the tourist on passing cruise ships stopped by and participated in the festivities. Nabe loved it all.

Even though occasionally he thought of his Daina, he was too captivated by his new family and wonderful surroundings to stay sad.

Nabe loved his new, bigger, vibrant world