Destined Love - Marline (classic romance novels TXT) 📗

words, no one would care about my grammar here anyways. I took a scoop of water and drank it. I had not realized how thirsty I was before I took that first sip of water. The water tasted magnificent, it was cool and delicious and I felt like putting my whole head in it. I drank until I could drink no more, washed my face and my hands and stood up. I slowly peeled my dress from my body, there was no one around anyways. I laid the dress down on a stone, scooped water and cooled off my skin with it. My shoes had gotten muddy, my dress was ruined. I had scratches on my arms from the branches and my whole body was aching from the mosquito’s which were everywhere. It would get worse at night. But right now I only thought about the water. It cleaned the blood from my arms and the itching from the mosquito bites nearly stopped. I did not care about my dress or my shoes, they would get dirty and muddy on the way back anyways. All of a sudden it hit me. I was on an island, all alone, did not know how to survive in the wild, didn’t know how to get back to the beach and to my food, didn’t know what my family was thinking. I started to wonder what I did know. All the things I had been taught, were they useful? What was I supposed to do with formula’s and how to find the area of a triangle if I could not even survive in the wild? I sat on a stone next to the stream and realized this whole thing was getting me depressed. I had never been depressed before and did not like the feeling. So I decided to do something; find my way back to the beach. Whatever I did, I would not go past that snake again. I was sure I would be traumatized for life by that animal. Slowly I decided to walk in a direction where I felt I could best find the beach back. This time I looked out where I put my hands and my feet, with every step I grew even more cautious and scared. All I wanted right now was someone I knew, I did not care who it was, who’s shoulder I could cry on.

Finally, after having roamed around for what seemed like hours, I set foot on the beach. I was too tired to be happy. Besides, I did not recognize the beach and realized that I would now have to walk around the island until I found the spot where my things were. I decided to turn right and hoped it was the shortest way back to my belongings. I ploughed myself through the sand, becoming more miserable with every step I took. I hadn’t known how long I had spent in the jungle until I saw that the sun was already lowering itself. Had the whole day just gone past? Well, I had spent a few hours searching for the water, then spent a few hours at the stream and then finding my way back wasn’t easy either. I suddenly became conscious of my hunger. I had not had an afternoon meal, and hadn’t even realized it! At last I could see my things. I saw a can being reflected by the sun and it had caught my eye. It still felt like ages before I arrived there and when I did the sun had gone down. I had missed the sunset, I had been too obsessed with my unhappy situation. The air was getting cooler and I felt the mosquito’s coming. I needed to light a fire immediately. I searched for my matches which I could not find, how many other things could go wrong today? But I did not want to give up my search. I had had them this morning, they couldn’t be far. I finally found them, buried under the sand. It wasn’t easy to light the fire, it took me five matches. I still needed to search for more leaves and twigs but I did not have any energy left. After I had sat down I was sure that I would not be able to get up again. I took a can, emptied in the pan and it slowly became warm. I would have to go back for water tomorrow but I did not want to think of that now. Now I just wanted to eat and sleep.

Every day on the island became easier. I learned how to get to the stream, how to carry water from the stream to the beach and even managed to make a little shelter from branches and leaves. I preferred to sleep under the stars. It calmed me and gave me courage for the next day. Everything was going fine until I got sick. I think I might have been bitten by a mosquito or a spider or some other freaky bug carrying a sickness. I was lying on the beach, getting up every few minutes to drag myself to the water to throw up. I felt miserable, couldn’t get any water to drink and was sure that I would die of dehydration if this sickness wasn’t over soon. I was getting weaker every hour and I realized that. I needed water desperately and decided to open a can of soup. I used my last strength to open the can, wasn’t even strong enough to empty it into the pan. I took a sip and lay back down. I knew I would throw up everything I ate or drank but forced down some more soup. Then I lay on the sand. I could not remember my head having ever hurt this bad. I fell into a feverish sleep.

He was sitting in his boat, rowing towards his island. He had not been on the island for a couple of weeks now, it had been too busy in the palace and he had been needed there every day. He had missed going to the island because the island had always brought him at peace. His parents disapproved of the fact that he went out on the sea alone but after he had proven to them that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, they let him go to the island whenever he liked. He loved looking at the sunset and, if he was early enough, the sun rise. Sometimes he even spent the night under the stars. He arrived on the island and pulled his boat on the shore. He did what he always did when he got to the island; he walked around it. In the distance he suddenly saw something reflecting the sun’s rays. He wondered what it was and increased his pace. A few meters away he saw a girl lying on the sand. He stared at her. Who was she? Her dress and shoes were dirty, her blond, wavy hair looked like it hadn’t been combed and properly washed in days and she had scratches all over her arms and face. But he could still see that she was beautiful. Drops of sweat had formed on her forehead and it made him think that she was sick. He placed a hand on her forehead and discovered he was right. He walked over to her bag and looked inside. There were cans of food in one bag and in the other there were some dresses. They were still perfectly clean and neatly folded. Looking at them made him think that she was wealthy. Suddenly his eye caught a corner of dark blue fabric. He pulled the dress out further and held it up to the light. He recognized it and astonished he looked at the girl lying on the sand. Behind the dirt and the scratches he recognized her. It was Cleopatra. She had gotten skinnier; she had bags under her eyes and looked very dirty. There was something else, but he could not put his finger on it, maybe it was that she had gotten tougher as well. For a second he thought of the last time he had seen her, the way they had parted. But seeing her this way made him forgive her immediately.
“Mother.” She suddenly moaned. “Mother. Don’t let him take me. Please say you love me. Father!” She sat up and screamed. He walked over to her and tried calming her down. She wasn’t completely awake yet and the fever had taken over her body. “Sshhh.” The boy said softly and laid her down on the sand. He put his hand on her forehead and touched her cheek. He noticed it had a calming effect on her.
“What are you..” She whispered before she dozed off again. He realized he should get some water for her, took the pan which was still filled with soup and emptied it a few meters further. He then walked the well-known path to the stream. How long had she been here? How did she get here? His mind was flooding with questions but he knew he would not be able to get them answered unless she got better. He cleaned the pan and filled it with fresh clear water. When he walked back she was awake, attempting to crawl towards the sea. She didn’t get there on time and threw up on the sand. Apparently she had not eaten for days because she did not throw much up. He ran over to her.

I did not know if I had dreamed it but I thought I had heard somebody. I forced my body to move back to the spot where I had been lying and fell down like a sack of flour. I suddenly felt something cool touch my lips. At first I thought it was my imagination. I slowly opened my eyes and could not believe who I saw there. I was sure I was imagining now. But the water tasted real and I drank it, even though I knew that I would throw it up anyways. I wanted to ask Durwald if he was real. But it seemed like such a stupid question if he wasn’t real, it wasn’t like he was going to answer. It seemed like an even more stupid question if he was real. It would prove to him that I was absolutely weird. I couldn’t believe that I was actually thinking about this when I was on the verge of being saved from this island. He put something on my forehead and I decided the only way to find out if he was real or not was to touch the object on my forehead and see if it was really there. With great effort I managed to lift my hand and when I touched the wet cloth a wave of relief swept over me. I looked at him and saw that he had taken off his shirt. That was probably the thing on my forehead. Right before I dozed off I registered how muscular he was, how strong he looked.
“Durwald?” I managed to ask him with my last bit of strength.
“Yes?” He said while leaning over me.
“Please don’t leave me.” I begged. I did not hear his answer but hoped that he would stay.

He knew he had to get her to a doctor quickly so he picked her up and carried her to the boat. She did not way much, she had been thin when he’d seen her for the first time and now she’d lost even more weight. He gently placed her on the floor of the boat and made her more comfortable with a blanket which he always had on board. He went back to get her bags. He rowed towards the shore but then realized that it was