Cadets Roudan, Yoshida, Shevchenko, and Farouk roused to the sensations of a hot sun that blazed across their faces along with the smell and taste of sweet sugar. The potent fragrance and warm weather were welcomed to combat the dizzying aura, which were effects from the detonated bulbs filled with chemical agents. In a startled daze, each cadet came to their senses.
Yoshida rubbed his eyes and asked, “Where the hell are we?”
“I don’t think we’re in the lab anymore,” Shevchenko eagerly replied.
Yoshida and Roudan glanced at her incredulously. It was unfathomable that they had been transported out of the lab into such unfamiliar settings. Farouk walked a few steps away from the group to take a better look. The four of them stood in the center of a large sugar cane field. The green stalks of cane were as tall as northern fir trees.
Farouk gasped, “I know where we are.”
The group remained hushed in anticipation of his revelation.
“Look there past the cane field,” he said.
Further out beyond the thick cane field was a beautiful body of water. The high sun beam directly on the ocean, which caused a diamond-like dazzle. The breathtaking view set with the backdrop of a clear blue sky made the party swoon.
“We are on an island, Intagua, to be exact,” Farouk revealed.
The cadets marveled at the majestic scenery. None of their kinsmen had ever been near the place. Most of the visitors to the island were explorers in search of diamonds and gold. Scores of legends, folklore, and myths were birthed from the island. Intagua was held in much esteem for the vast agricultural contributions throughout the kingdom.
Yoshida scratched his head and frantically paced about. He ran to the shoreline and looked all around. The rest of the team followed him, not knowing what had upset him.
“Hey, wait up,” Roudan called out to him.
When they caught up to where Yoshida stood, Shevchenko asked, “What’s the matter?”
The panic in Yoshida’s eyes gave everyone quite the scare.
“Where is Thomasa?” he asked.
No sooner than those words rippled off his tongue, a wooden wagon led by two gray stallions swooshed by. A slender black man with long red dreadlocks was at the helm of the wagon.
“Masa, come along,” he called out.
Suddenly, a small girl, roughly the age of six, appeared before the team. She wore a light-blue sailor dress and her hair was neatly braided into four cornrows. Whimsically, she skipped through the fields. She danced and sang without a care in the world. The girl nor the man acknowledged they were being watched by outsiders. Instead, they carried on as if it were a normal day.
~The Waring Robins~
Living Works of D.K. Fair 