Ida the Tornado

It didn’t matter if the curtains were closed; those first sunbeams would find their way right to my eyes every morning. I looked at Mandy sleeping near me. He was kind of hot. That was why the bar was always full.

“you up already?” he couldn’t even keep his eyes open. 

I gave him a glass of coconut milk. ‘Come on. This is the day!’ I said with excitement. It was the surfing competition on the island, and there would be so many new faces and surfers.

We went to the beach, and he started his shift at the bar. I was sitting there just for a moment to analyze the situation. Mandy looked at me, smirking. ‘Why won’t you play the game too? You are good, I assure you,’ he said.

‘No! I have only trained for three months. They have probably trained for years. I don’t stand any chance.’ I said, looking at the palm of my hands. “besides, I’m just here to watch and observe,” I said and winked at him.

‘But I believe in you! And it is only for fun! You don’t have to win the golden cup! It is much easier to surf in this sea than in any sea on earth.” and he laughed.

He made me laugh. He was adorable! “You are adorable! piss off!’”I said.

“Have you seen Tara today?” I said. A rush of butterflies came into my stomach. Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t love! Something terrible was going to happen. I could feel it. I looked around to find a familiar face. But they were all strangers. Where was Tara? She had never left me before. She was always there. I stood up and walked to Tara’s cabin.

No one was here except for her. She left the cabin alone. Everything was in its place, very clean and organized, just like her. She was never an open person, but we talked a lot, especially since we were both banished here on this moon. Her father worked with the general long ago until he went on a mission one day and never returned. 

Tara was one of those poker faces, scary girls you could never understand how she felt, but deep down, she was kind and caring. 

There were three cabins on the right and one on the left, all full. Maybe I should wait a little bit more then get suspicious.

The butterflies were still there, and I knew if Tara was not there, then either something was wrong, or something bad was going to happen.

I came back to the beach; this bearded guy with long wavy brown hair that shined under the sun was talking to Mandy. He was wearing a big strange pair of sunglasses and a purple swimsuit. I had never seen him before, which was expected because of the competition, but I was suspicious about everything since I could not find Tara. It looked like Mandy knew him. He was probably a surfer who was here for the game. The moment I got there, he shook Mandy’s hand, took his surfing board, and left.

‘An old friend?’ I said while opening a bottle of water.

‘No, I don’t know him. His name is Mike. He is here for the game.’ He said, pouring a margarita for someone. 

‘I don’t like him,’ I said, looking the way he went. “I could not find Tara,” I said.

“So that is the reason you don’t like the guy you don’t even know!” Mandy said, raising one of his eyebrows.

It was not ok that she was not here. But I could not make a big deal out of it in front of Mandy. I knew what I should do; I should have called Steve when I felt she was in trouble. The thing was that I knew the moment I called Steve, there was no turning back. I would lose the life I have built here. 

“You know what? I’m going to play,” I said, looking at the stranger, Mike, who was talking to some girls on the other side of the bar.

‘See, he is a good influence. He inspired you already!’ He said with a weird look on his face. “come on girl, I believe in you,” he said, smiling at me.

No one knew, but I was afraid of water. Since I was a little kid, I have always swum, I loved the ocean, but every time I was in the water, it felt like it would pull me down. I never wanted to let the fear win, so I swam, dived, surf, and never said anything.

The game was about to begin, and I had this energy. I had no idea where it came from. I chose the smaller waves. The first one was not that bad. The second one, though, almost drowned me. I rushed into a tall wave, and my board flipped over. I was under the water. For a moment, I thought it was over; I couldn’t breathe. I was going to die, but I remembered something. Something reassuring. I put all my energy together and swam up to the surface. 

There he was, Mike, looking at me. I felt the butterflies again. I swam back to the shore, leaving the competition. I trusted my gut, and I went to see what can I find out about this Mike!

“Hey Mandy, Do you by any chance know which cabin Mike is staying in?” I asked.

He tightened his eyes. “Why would you want to know that?” he said.

“I just want to see if Tara is there,” I continued “um, would you please give the gummies? I just drowned, Tara is missing, and this big guy of yours is very suspicious! so I need some.” I said.

“Why would Tara be there?!” he paused and then continued, “You should ask the reception about his cabin. Tell them he ordered champagne,” he said and gave me a bottle of champagne.

When I woke up, it was already afternoon. God! I had no idea what had happened. The last thing I remembered was that I went to find Tara. No, I went to Find Mike’s cabin, but he was not staying in any of the cabins on the beach resort. How did I get back here?!

I took a shower and went to see Mandy. 

“Oh, What a pleasure, princess! You are finally awake,” Mandy said and handed me a glass of water. “Drink!” He said. 

“How long did I sleep?” I asked

“Aw, since yesterday.”

“WHAT?!” I was super confused. “What happened yesterday?” I said, closing my eyes because the sun felt like a projector light right into my brain!

“Well, yesterday was a big day for you” then he bent over the table and whispered, “How many times I have to tell you not to eat so much of those gummies?” He was angry somehow. 

“I just ate two! I remember you having me the champagne to take to Mike and that the reception said he was not staying here, but I can’t remember the rest.” I was terrified. This didn’t happen to me before. Tara was gone. I couldn’t remember the last 24 hours of my life! It was messed up!

Mandy brought out his phone and showed me a video, “Well, you came back with Mike, and in the after-party, you were shining on the stage,” he said. 

What?! Mike was in the water when I went to find his cabin. How the hell we came back together. There was this video on Mandy’s phone. It was dark, but the dance floor was colorful. Water splashed from the center of the dance floor, and everyone was dancing. So was I. Then I saw it. I was dancing with a stranger! Mike! Oh god! Then the music changed. I could not hear a word, but it was like I told him … And I turned the phone off.

No, no, no. Oh god. I must call Steve. Tara had been missing for almost two days. And it was like someone erased my memories. Maybe I found out something I should not have. 

I could not believe Mandy.

“Are you kidding me?! instead of pulling me out of that situation, you filmed it all?!’ I was angry. 

“I could not leave the bar. It was a busy night! And I told you not to take all those gummies!” He raised his voice a little.

“I didn’t!” My jaw dropped! “unless you saw me doing that. did you?” I said.

“YES, you did it in front of me! you and your new friend Mike!” He said, figuring out I remember nothing!

I sat down, putting my hands on my face, “What happened next?” I whispered, “No, I don’t want to know.” I said. But I wanted to know. 

“What happened next is not as bad as what you just saw,” he said, smiling at me. “You sure you don’t wanna continue watching?” He was smirking!

“Don’t let me murder you. You are still young!” I said, looking right into his eyes.

He put his hands in the air “fine. Then suddenly, you pushed him back and came down of his arms. You walked to me and called me the baby, which was weird,” he smiled then continued, “Then you throw up all over that stone right there” He showed me the stone ‘”As you can see it’s gonna flourish!” he said.

“What about the man?” I said.

“Oh, the man! I wasn’t finished. He came to help you and asked for your cabin,” He looked surprised, “I told him where your room was, and he took you.” He said.

“NO!” Put my head on the table, “Why did you let him take me?” I said. 

“Hugh! I’m not your boyfriend. And he was not going to do anything. He asked me to make him old-fashioned, and he came back 5 minutes after taking you to your room. So relax, nothing happened!” He said.

Just the moment I thought it could not get any worst, someone shouted from behind us. It was an old man wearing a swimsuit. He was waving his phone to others at the bar. “It’s the end of the world! There was a Tornado at the metro station on Polka-2! Two people died!’ He was scared as hell!

Chapter two: The Hedonist, Part 3