Amongst the soils of sand upon a large island was a simple rod of iron. Brittle and amorphous, it had little chance of being used for anything, right? Creeping under the waters by the cove was a hunk of steel, welded together by the forces of civilisation into a vacuole of exploration. Despite the surging currents of the shore, it was able to surface and make landfall. Even the rocks, in their immensely antiquated nature, were stunned by the sight of this beast. Flowers shuttered and the little creatures that inhabited the place absconded into trenches nearby. "Goodness!" exclaimed the sailor who emerged from the marine tank that was the submarine, "where have we ended ourselves up at?" His half-jocular declaration of worry was mirrored by another man who went treading through the water, replying to his colleague. "I haven't a clue, Michel." Just when the pair's commotion was beginning, the ship's opening slammed shut. Keeping to its murky origins, the vessel rushed away from the banks of the island and vanished under the haze of the salty ocean. Little did the pair know of
what in fact dwelled so idyllically on this new, insular world.
"Michel," cried his friend Claude, "this is what happens when you get those
commanders' nerves!" "Nobody's to blame for this," Michel shot back. Orienting
himself by the direction of the rising sun, Claude paused for a moment in deep
thought. "Perhaps we'll be alright," he reassured himself, "this is a big island
alongside an archipeligo; there must be something of a society here." Questioning
their latitude, Claude asked his friend where they were headed before their abrupt
ostracism. "Remember the last place we anchored in?" he asked Michel, who was
now reclining under a tree. "Somewhat," he paused, "we left Sydney a few days
ago, headed east towards the Galapagos." "Try and think specifically," Claude
continued, "of what islands these might be." "Uh...Fiji, Tahiti, somewhere in
Polynesia...or not." Vague conjuring would do them no good, Claude concluded.
"We'll have to build a camp of sorts for ourselves." Xerophilous shrubs dotted the
salty coasts, despite the tropicality in the island's interior. "You can get foodstuff,"
Michel said, "and I'll build a few things a little inland from the coast." Zoos of
assorted fruits were to be found in the forests of this land, forests which were
suprisingly trimmed in the fashion of an English garden. Zilch was to be found of
people, event though there were the most apparent traces of them. Yarn littered
corners of fields and marble slabs seemed to be almost sculped by something
besides the eroding rain. Xanadu was there, Claude thought, and it was also empty
of everything that would have made it such. Welcoming the silence of the early
morning, he decided to chill for a bit. Voids like this couldn't be empty.
Understanding the strange predicament he was in, Claude took some rest.
Trusting the sun yet again, Claude set out to meet Michel along the same path that
he had paved for himself. Southbound, he stumbled upon a rusty-looking object.
Removing the crust of scarlet, he realised that it was a rod of iron, neglected for a
while. Quelling his doubts, he finally came to the revelation that people must have
been on their island before. Pressing forth onto their camp now, it was already noon.
Observing around , he saw naught of his friend. Nothing was there, and so Claude
called out for him. Moving hurredly along the lengths of beach, he spent over an
hour searching. Long after, he finally came to Michel. Knowing that Michel was
alright, Claude asked him where he wasn't at the camp that he had built. "Just what
were you doing outside of the camp?" Claude wondered. "Isn't it obvious," Michel
replied, "I was trying to find the people who were on this island before us." "How did
you know," Claude asked. "Gold," he retorted, "I found gold on the island." Feeling
confused as to why both iron and gold was on the island, the pair began to question
as to just where they were. Earth was indeed a big place, but at no point did it feel
smaller than at the time when they came to their ultimate revelation. "Do you think
this island is a park off the coast of Wales?" Claude looked towards the archipeligo
he had identified before. Buildings lined the horizons of them. "Ah," Claude sighed,
"this is odd."