Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's finished. I graded everyone's entries. And I'm almost disappointed. No one failed. Damn. I would've had such fun too. <.<
Anyway, everyone's entries are going to be put back into their posts. So then others can read what each person submitted. Quite nice entries.

I even made one of my own. And went extremely overboard with writing it. ^^"

Enjoy~

Clair had no idea why she was on the beach. She didn't tan, she
burned. She didn't like sand. The sun was beginning to hurt her eyes:
a painful reminder that she needed to get prescription sunglasses next
time she went to the optometrist's office.

She groaned as she pulled herself upright, tensing as her abdominal
muscles screamed at her-- she must've done too much while attempting to break her speed record in swim. A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about a nice, relaxing massage from her physical therapist.

She was roasting in the hot sun, and Clair slowly stood up straight. She began to wonder if sun tan lotion made any difference to her skin whatsoever. It was about time for her to head in, anyway. Gathering her things, the young woman prepared to return to the hotel in which she was staying. She tossed sand out of her towel, idly tossing it around her shoulders. She carefully placed the different bottles and accessories strewn about her small nest in her beach bag, and quickly moved herself towards the pavement of the sidewalk an eighth of a mile to her west.

A low groan sounded from the waves, causing Clair to look back. She squinted, placing a hand on her head to keep her hair in place as sudden, unnatural winds began to pick up. The hiss of steam and bubbles breaking the water's surface startled her, and she began to make her way towards the sealine again, curious.

A young child who had been playing in the water suddenly let out a cry of surprise, and flailed her way back to the dry sand. She exhaled in relief upon feeling the parched sand on her skin. Clair moved closer, intrigued by her sudden outburst. She didn't get very far, though, as other swimmers began to grumble in discontent and move towards the shore, as well.

When Clair looked out to the sea again, it was devoid of all forms of life. No plants grew in this part of the water, and even the skittish fish had left. Families began to mumble amongst themselves, each deciding, in turn, to leave.

The waves grew larger and darker, their ominous presence only doubled by the fact that the sun was now hiding behind a thick cloud cover. Clair stepped back, her full intention to be to return to the hotel where she was staying.

She barely made it to the first intersection when loud sirens began to blare. To her surprise, she noted the plumes of black smoke and volcanic exhaust rising to the darkening sky. Suddenly, a violent rumble shook the island, and Clair cried out as she clawed around for something to hang on to. Her savior came in the form of a lamp post, and she gladly latched her arms around its sturdy frame.

The people around her were crying out in terror and running to the airport and local marina. Clair herself felt the urges to do so, feeling trapped and increasingly claustrophobic on the island. She couldn't stay here, that much she knew, but with the hordes of people rushing to the only exits..? There was little chance she'd make it off the island at all.

She suddenly exhaled, remembering the stash of antique books that had been the purpose of this vacation. She clenched her teeth at the thought of losing the one-of-a-kind volume set, a treasure from an archaeological dig somewhere in Europe. But at the same moment the thought it her, magma began to flow freely from the mouth of the volcano.

The sight spurred Clair into action, and she took a sharp left to the rescue chopper that had landed moments before. Rescue workers were shouting at her to get in, grab hold-- do something to get out
of the way of the impending doom that had gripped the very core of the
island.

Clair blew out another sad breath. They were only books, and books
could be replaced. She could only hope that the magma wouldn't
completely destroy the island. She pushed off from the lamp post,
grasping onto the arm of one of the rescue workers. They patted her
shoulder and set her down on the seat, buckling her up as if there was
no way to do it herself.

The takeoff was beautiful-- Clair tried to remember the last time she'd
ridden a whirlybird. It had been a long while, that's for sure, but
she somehow recalled that last time being under more pleasant
circumstances.

She shook her head. Her family was off the island, and they were irreplaceable.

Holy s**t.

The concussions of the underwater fissure made the earth tremble beneath Deirdre with a monsterous force. She stayed still, propped up on her elbows in the sand, waiting for the tremor to receed, worried out of her skin... but when the shaking stopped, she knew all was not well.

The creatures in the ocean were still panicking. Deirdre stood and gasped as she looked out to sea... underneath the waves was red hot flowing magma. Now was definately not a good time to be at the beach. She snagged up her boombox and beach towel quickly, running towards off-shore. Her fast footfalls took sand in divets, throwing its granules up into the air behind her. Deirdre wondered what Michael would have to say about this! No doubt he had felt the tremor in the hotel room and...

Holy ********.

Another concussion shook the earth beneath her, almost throwing her off her feet. She dropped her items in shock, staring up at the dormant volcano in the distance. Dormant? Dormant?? Those damn tour guides and travel agents had said the volcano had been dormant for hundreds of years... and now, now it was ******** exploding??!!

Michael.

Michael, she had to get him, she had to... she...

Someone was yelling at her.

Deirdre's head whipped around. There on the beach was a helicopter. It's propellers were spinning wildly, obviously ready for take-off. She wondered why she had not heard it, but realized with a bit of a shock that she could hear nothing over the rumbling and spitting of the volcano just a mile or two away.

The man in the helicopter was waving at her frantically, shouting... though she could hardly make out his words through sound, nor sight... for she had left her glasses at the hotel room. She strained her ears... something about leaving... leaving now... the last helicopter on the island...

Deirdre swallowed. She had to get Michael. She took one last look at the helicopter, and ran as fast as her feet would carry her towards the hotel room.


Michael had felt the first shockwave as well from his spot on the bed. Immediately, he stood up, abandoning his work on his laptop, and rushed over to the window to look outside. When he pulled aside the curtain, he almost let out a shriek. The ocean was red underneath! He threw open the door to the balcony and stepped out onto it. Why the hell had he let Deirdre go out to beach alone?! He had known better! Not that he had expected anything like this... but, but well he knew better!!

Michael sniffed the air. What was that? Smoke? Michael turned to look inland from his location on the balcony. This time, he did let out a shriek. He had turned just in time to watch the volcano spit forth it's first gush of lava. The red hot goo flew up hundreds of feet into the air, cascading down the sides of huge slanted expanse... He forced his feet to move as he rushed out of his hotel room with only one thought on his mind... Deirdre.


There he was! He had come out of the hotel and had started toward the beach, meeting her in the middle. Deirdre pumped her legs harder and leapt into his arms. Michael snatched her easily and squeezed her tight. Oh, the feel of her skin and flesh... she was so soft; the light in her brown eyes was so beautiful and the shine of her hair in the sunlight was so enchanting. Thank God he had not lost her... Michael savored the quick embrace with much relish.

"We've got to get away from here!" he shouted, putting her down, hands staying about her hips.

Deirdre took his hand in her own. "Follow me!" she shouted, once again on the move.

The two ran back towards the beach. Michael might have objected, save running towards an exploding volcano was likely not a good instinct either...

"Oh my God... no...!" Deirdre breathed, eyes fixed at a point in the sky.

Michael looked up and let his jaw go slack. A helicopter was flying... away.

"That's the last one!" she cried.

"What?" Michael said, aghast.

"The last one!" Deirdre cried again, her eyes filled full with tears, hand clutched onto his so tightly it hurt.

Michael pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tight again, her head buried in the side of his neck as she sobbed. His hands caressed her back, hoping to soothe her... as though death was soothing... He bit his lip and held her firmer.

"I love you," he whispered gently in her ear.

Deirdre raised her head to gaze into his luscious blue eyes. "I love you too," she whispered back, a hint of a smile upon her lips.

The two nuzzled and shared a kiss, the inferno of death coming to envelop them.

It had all been such a lovely day... tropical birds "singing," and a gentle breeze had been slowly putting him to sleep. He had just been lying there, on the beach... taking in the sun without a care in the world. He wasn't very good looking, and the tan he was getting wasn't exactly helping that problem. His face had been scarred... it was either an intense case of acne years ago, or he had lost a fight with a straight edge razor, nobody quite knew what happened except him... and he didn't want to talk about it. His hair was short, and the color put (yellow) corn to shame. His eyes were a dirty brown, and his nose was hooked. He was not very tall, only about 5.5 feet, which was made even more obvious by the towel he had been lying on and how it made him look like a dwarf of some sort.

He had just been lying there, not a care in the world. Not even suspecting what was about to happen.

He had just decided to go to the water for a quick swim before going back to the hotel, a really nice place... he won his room in some contest, but fate would have things differently. Just after he set his feet in the water, the world shook. He stumbled back, and fell away from the water... which was damned good for him! Moments later the became hotter than... well... he didn't know exactly!

"Sonofa-!" He shouted when he hit the ground.

What the hell is going on here! They said this was the perfect vacation spot!

Obviously there was problem that he was unaware of when he entered the sweepstakes. This is not what he had baragined for...

s**t! He almost screamed it out, but decided he should save his breath. He needed to get to the hotel room, and get his things. He could already see the people rushing to the helipads, and that some helicopters were already on their way, for they were stationed on another sister island, about half a mile away.

He started running... he needed to get on the chopper, and he needed his passport! He ran and ran and ran, not daring to stop... lest the volcano-

"Goddammit! That's goin' too!?!" He shouted, realizing that just after the thought came to his mind the volcano started to blow its top.

This would discourage most people, and it indeed discouraged him. Though he was not going to give up just yet. He kept on going... almost there now.

Damn... there were a lot of people in this hotel... and they're all going to the roof too... guess I need to go there too... after I get my passport... and some cash. He thought, arriving at the bottom floor of the hotel, and making his way up the stairs to his room on the second floor.

He got in rather smoothly, the halls were completely empty now, just some screaming up stairs. He got into his room, after fumbling with his keys briefly, and lunged for the small table by the bed. He ripped open the drawers, and removed both his wallet, and his passport. He figured it was enough, but right before leaving he decided to go back for a pair of pants... never know where you might get dropped off after all. After a good minute of fussing with his pants, he was able to leave his room, and stuffed all his papers etc into his back pockets.

He decided to go the quick and easy way this time. The elevator. If he didn't gwt upthere quickly, they'd have to go without him... and this island wasn't going to make it through this time. He pushed they button, and waited, tapping the doors with his fingers, his knees trembling. The door opened and he threw himself in and pressed the button that was labelled helipad, he never knew why it was so bluntly labelled, but it just might have been for situations such as this.

After pressing the button numerous times he let himself fall back, and sit. He even began getting hopeful... when he was suddenly aware of why you were supposed to use the stairs in an emergency.

A large hunk of volcanic rock had just been sent through the air in the second explosion from the mountain. As his luck would have it, it struck the top of the elevator shaft, killing both the power in the elevator, and severing the cables that were holding it in place. Now, ofcourse there had been emergency brakes, and even emergency lights... but they wouldn't stop the large flaming hunk of semi-molten rock from falling down the shaft, and colliding with the elevator. The weight and force of the rock forced the elevator to drop at a rapid pace... from the sixth floor.

Right when the elevator stopped moving, he had sprang to his feet, and was just reaching for the door open button, when the ground moved out from under him. He was being pressed to the top of the elevator, and it had started burning his bare back.

For a few moments he was in agony, and almost swallowed his tongue in pain when he tried to scream out... white hot pain preventing him from screeming.

Suddenly, the elevator stopped dropping... or did it? He couldn't tell... all he knew was that it hurt like hell!

The elevator had hit the basement floor and the top had started to collapse downwards, at the exact moment when the bottom started to rise up. His final thoughts being "Atleast I don't have to pay for the room service..."

Fractions of a second later, his body was crushed... and the elevator resembled a flaming accordian.

All the others got to safety, and it was said that everyone was accounted for. Nobody had died on the island. The young man that had died on the island, was quickly covered in molten rock, being given a dark tomb to rest in eternally. He was not missed, and it took months for his coworkers to notice his absence. Only one individual noticed he was gone, and cared, the dog back at his appartment, who needed fresh food and water, and desperately needed to be let out.

Everything was so peaceful, especially the sun gleaming off the water which rippled with an angelic and relaxing sound. The animals within the water also brought gentle peace to the normally sarcastic and irritable brunette. For some reason, she felt at home here. There were very few places in the world that she actually felt at some point in time she would feel safe; however, this was one of those rare places and rare times. The beauty that surrounded her would allow her to create a peaceful place in her times of trouble.

As suddenly as she felt the rush of comfort crash over her, it crumbled quickly as she opened her emerald eyes because of the shaking ground. She glanced down at the water that her pale feet had occupied and instead of a wave of beautiful clear water rushing up to meet her feet, a wave of red seeped closer to her toes. She nearly tumbled backwards, but caught herself with her natural grace, moving away from the tide of magma sweeping up at her.

As she inhaled the smoke from the the air, she whipped around, her dark chocolate hair unfurling behind her as she did so. She saw the old dormant volcano shaking as if with seismic waves, smoke unfurling from its peak. 'This....is bad,' she thought, mentally slapping herself as soon as the though occured. 'Good job, genius! You're quick on the uptake!'

'Why......does stupid s**t always happen when I'm around?' she questioned, mentally. She sighed aloud as she tried to come up with a strategy for moving out of this place. She had to get back to her shop. Who would run it without her around? Certainly not that bufoon Jeleces, as he was a complete "lazy-a**". That's when she heard the blades of the chopper moving in. She glanced up swiftly, her emerald eyes setting upon the helicopter in the sky.

She had just heard the loud iron beast within the air and she had guessed that it must've come from somewhere on the island due to it's rather appropriate timing. As it neared and landed on the beach, she saw that it had a couple of other survivors, a woman and a child. The pilot seemed to wave to her, telling her to come to him and board the craft. She was saved!

She began to make her way toward the loud aircraft, her eyes drifting back to the hotel in which she had stayed. As quickly as she had started running, she abruptly stopped, a thought running through her head. 'Grandfather's amulet,' she thought, her emerald eyes staring at the facility. Could she make it before the building was swallowed? That was very plausible, but the more pertinant question would have been would the helicopter still be here when she returned. She glanced over to the iron beast, the pilot still waving and yelling to her.

She moved quickly over to it, but made sure not to climb inside. She pulled down on the pilot's shirt, bringing his face to her level. "I have to go back!!!! Wait for me!!!" she yelled, making sure that he could hear her. The man simply nodded dumbly as she pulled away from him and ran as fast as the wind toward the pathway that had lead her down to the beach.

Her hair flew out behind her as well as across her face as her bare feet kicked up sand at the fast pace she set to move toward the hotel that she had occupied for a couple nights. She nearly tumbled over a couple roots, but her natural grace seemed to kick in fast enough for her to catch herself and keep up the fast paced movement. She skidded to a stop, however, as soon as she reached the four flights of stairs that would lead her up to the hotel's front door. She was doubled-over, trying to catch her breath as she glanced up the stairs.

Suddenly, she took off up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Her legs were long and lean enough for her to do so while making it look rather easy. She was still huffing and puffing a lot as she wasn't used to doing such things at a regular pace and therefore, her endurance wasn't up to par. As she was nearing the top, her foot slipped out from under her and she slid down five or so steps. She reached up and brushed the blood off her lip as she had bitten it too hard in the fall. As she glanced down to her knee, she saw the scrape upon it and got to her feet again quickly, charging up the last few stairs and through the front door of the hotel.

As she burst through the door, she almost kneeled down and thanked the Lord that her room was on the first floor, but instead she moved down the hall toward her room, fumbling in her pockets in search of her keys. They tumbled out of her pocket, causing her to have to double back and scoop them up off the floor. She continued her way quickly down the hall, stopping infront of her door and trying to stick the key into the slot. It was rather difficult, however, as the hotel began to shake violently and when Evelyn glanced down the hall, she watched with a surreal nature as half of the hotel drifted away with the lava.

Now awestruck and nervous, the brunette fumbled worse to get the key in. After finally getting it into the slot and turning it, she charged into the room much like a police officer would do when he didn't have a key. She dove under her bed and pulled out the suitcase that she had put under there earlier that day. As she began to unzip it, she felt the hotel rumble and shake again. She glanced up her, emerald eyes going out the window as she watched the lava approaching her location at a fast pace. She glanced down, the amulet within her pale colored hands as her sad eyes glanced back up to her oncoming doom.

So, this was it. She wasn't going to make it out of the building alive nevermind even this room. She hugged the white gold and sapphire necklace to her chest as she watched the red lava start to seep through the wall near the floor. She closed her eyes tight, expecting to be carried away or incinerated rather quickly and maybe even both. One last thought crossed her mind as she waited for the end. "No regrets," she muttered, aloud as the sapphire jewel in her slender fingers began to glow brightly.

~~~~~~

Just as suddenly, she sat up, the covers falling off her slender frame as her pale face glanced out of the window. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining. It was going to be another beautiful day and the brunette sitting in bed with her heart pounding smiled a bit at the thought that she would be traveling to her shop to do work. 'What the hell was that all about?' she thought, thinking back to the odd dream.

She opened her hand, her grandfather's white gold and sapphire amulet laying within her pale colored fingers. It was glowing faintly with the mysterious power that it seemed to hold. The brunette simply sighed and shook her head, knowing what the jewel had done for her. She glanced outside the window again before pulling the covers off her slender legs and slipping out of bed. She dropped the jewel on her pale yellow sheets, moving over to her dresser to remove the clothes she would wear for the day. "Note to self....," she murmured, tossing the clothing on the chair. "Never go to Paradise Islands for a vacation...."

She had a small laugh about that, knowing well that her dream was a mere prediction of a time that had yet to occur. She wasn't exactly sure when such a thing would occur, but it was better to be safe and assume it would happen in her lifetime. 'Better than being incinerated,' she thought, a small smile on her face as she carried her clean clothes to the bathroom. It was time to get ready for the day.

Water flew from his short blond hair as he shook it dry after swimming in the water. Tristan walked slowly over to his royal blue towel with white hems. He sat down and kept his knees up so then he could prop his slender arms upon them. His skin was lightly tanned and used to the sun's beating rays. As his wet black with blue flowers swimtrunks slid slightly further down and showed more of his thigh, it became apparent that he had no tanlines. He was not naturally that color, but instead liked to get thorough sunbathing at times upon the island. It was his home after all for three years now. And if anyone saw something and made a complaint, it only showed that they were foreignors and probably shouldn't have come at all. Though, today was different for Tristan. He only wished to swim than look out to the sea. His mind raced with recent thoughts, with recent events. His boyfriend proposed to him. Just yesterday, his six month long relationship that was filled with hard work and determination finally moved up to the next level when Tristan's boyfriend, Alex, proposed to him. The thin silver band on his right ring finger presented proof and sparkled in the sunlight. A smile had been on his face ever since the night before. His hazel eyes sparkled with tears that soon rolled down his small cheeks and onto his already wet swimtrunks. He was so lost in thought, that he didn't even realize the first tremor the island received when the ocean floor began to crack apart. Though, when the high pitched alarms began to sound, he jumped to his feet.
"What's going on?"
His voice had a tinge of a British accent, but for the most part it had become much more tropical. His swimtrunks had come undone slightly for they were velcro instead of button up and showed about an inch down from his waistline. The skin was the same color as his belly, arms, and legs. The tan was completely all over. Tristan ran over to the nearby helipad where a couple of marines were stationed and were waving at people. His shorts slid much further down. He stopped by one of the marines who seemed to be clearly six foot and showed that Tristan was just about 5'8".
"What's going on here, sirs?"
He asked the question as he pulled the swimtrunks that had fallen around his ankles when he stopped up to his waist once again. He pushed the velcro together.
"The island is in need of immediate evacuation!"
"You dun have to yell."
Tristan looked back at the hotel his boyfriend worked at. He worked in the basement and he may not have heard the sirens. The young man began to walk away from the helipad when a marine with brown eyes and a blue cap covering his hair grabbed Tristan's left arm.
"You need to stay here."
Tristan jerked free and gave a quick flash of his left middle finger.
"This is my home. And I am 19. I dun need to do anything you say."
Tristan began to walk toward the trail through the light jungle. When he saw the black smoke spewing from the top of Mount Saikih, Tristan broke out into a run toward the hotel. He passed many people - both friends and tourists - on his way to the hotel. But not a single person in the crowds was his fiance. Worry beset his small face as he made it to the front of the hotel. He grabbed ahold of the side railing as a large tremor shook the island. When it subsided mostly, he ran up the steps and into the front lobby. It was empty except for the baggage carts and papers everywhere. But there weren't any signs of life. Tristan ran for the basement stairs and took them two at a time. All he cared about was getting to his fiance, and it hadn't even crossed his mind of what mattered inland - his dying mother that wished to see him one last time prior to her death. Tristan made it to the basement and looked around the dark, desolate place. The lights had gone out. Luckily, there was a set of flashlights near the door of the basement in case there was ever a case of power outtage. He grabbed the closest one that happened to have a shaft colored aquamarine. He tapped the head of the flashlight and a wide white beam shone forth from it. Tristan hurried around the basement looking around for Alex. He stopped when a bright sparkle caught his eye. He turned toward it and there lay a man with a silver band on his right ring finger.
"Alex!"
Tristan ran and slid down into a kneeling position next to his fiance and lifted up his head slowly. He caressed his cheek softly.
"Alex! Please. Get up. We have to go. Please?!"
Alex opened his eyes slowly to see the worry present in Tristan's face.
"What's going on, Trist?"
"Mount Saikih is erupting. We have to go. Can you stand?"
"I can sure as heck try."
Alex grabbed ahold of Tristan's arm and pulled himself to his feet. He shook himself of the shivers and the two quickly hurried out of the building. The volcano hadn't erupted yet, but it was only a matter of time until the rain of hot ash and the flow of magma began. They ran and stumbled their way to the helipad as they saw a helicopter start to take off. Tristan grabbed ahold of the landing leg and pulled himself into the chopper, quickly turning around to reach for Alex. Their hands latched together as the copter started to fly away. Hot steam arose from the sea and in the center it was a deep red. Alex held on as tight as he could onto Tristan's arm. One of the marines was holding Tristan around the waist to help steady him.
"Don't worry. Alex. I've got you. We'll be fine."
"I'm getting dizzy, Tristan. I think I bumped my head when I fell earlier."
"Alex! Don't you dare let go!"
Alex's hands became slippery with sweat and he slipped down Tristan's slender arm. Tristan's right hand held firmly with Alex's left hand. Tears streaked Tristan's face.
"Don't give in. Stay with me. Alex!"
Alex lost consciousness and his hand relaxed. He slipped from Tristan's grip and fell into the steaming water. Tristan tried to tug away from the marine to dive after Alex.
"Nooooooooo!!!! Alex!!! Let me go! I want to be with him! Let me go right now!!"
Tristan broke down into tears and the marine brought him into the chopper.
"Alex. No...."
Sobs shook the young man as the helicopter made it back to the mainland.