Awakening

Bloop... Bloop-bloop...

The first thing to enter my awareness was the cool water surrounding me. I was rapidly sinking. In instant panic I frantically plowed my arms and legs to swim up to the surface, air bubbles bursting from my chest and floating up past me. I burst through, gasping for air and coughing out salt water. Glimpsing a length of shore nearby, I gratefully swam to it and soon crawled out upon the sand, where I breathlessly flopped down and rested.

A few moments passed before I managed to struggle to my feet and looked around, trying to figure out where I was.

Above, small flocks of clouds lazily floated through bottomless blue skies. Behind, the endless sea rippled with serene waves. A narrow strip of the beach stretched out to the right and left. And up ahead loomed the tall wall of green jungle. Enormous vines crawled and tangled palms and various other tropical trees, the names for which I didn't know or recall...

... WAIT!

I froze, startled by a sudden discovery. Not only the names of the trees had vanished from my memory. I couldn't remember how I got here. And not only that. I couldn't remember my name!

My entire life seemed to begin from the moment, when I somehow ended up in the water.

My gaze strayed to my clothing. Blue trousers, a wrinkled, short-sleeved t-shirt of indeterminate color... Maybe blue, maybe cyan... My face... I thoughtfully ran my hand along the skin of my jawline, feeling the fine, prickly stubble of a new beard. The hair on my head was short. I couldn't help getting the feeling that all of this was unfamiliar to me.

Without thinking, I stuck my hands in my pockets. Nothing... No clues at all...

Well, too bad. I suppose it cannot be helped. I shrugged, dismissing this strange ignorance for now, and considered what to do next. Maybe look for something edible? Staying here and doing nothing seemed pointless, especially with the rising heat as sun continued to shine brightly in the sky.

With that thought, I cheerfully strode along the shore, when another strange detail caught my attention.

Not too far away, right at the edge of the incoming waves rose a structure – blocks of sand in the form of a pyramid, a tiny ziggurat, as if someone tried to build a toy castle directly in the water. I curiously walked closer to study it. The ideal edges, the calculated-out proportions. All of these suggested that its unknown builder used INSTRUMENTS and that meant... People! People close by!

I probably should have searched for footprints or some other traces in the sand, but impatience and excitement and the hot afternoon sun changed my plans. My gaze strayed to the jungle and the tempting, cool shade dwelling there.

"I will go through the jungle." With my mind made up, I boldly stepped into the thick foliage growing at the very edge.