My Humble Abode

They passed the waterfall and walked through a path in a flower garden. They then passed by a cherry garden and then a grape vineyard. Finally, they arrived at a mountainous area with small and large mountains. It was a greenland and was covered with trees and plants. Something caught Avril's attention. It was a tall stature of a man in the middle of the valley between about three mountains. The statue portrayed a broad chested man, shooting an arrow. He was shirtless and wore only a loose skirt that reached his knees. His hair was in a ponytail and he had a type of drawing on his shoulder. The drawing wasn't clear from the distance Avril and Dakar were at.

“Is this place some sort of lost city?” she asked

“Why do you ask?”

“It doesn't look like a place that should be on a deserted island. It looks like a place that was once inhabited”

“Well, it is a deserted island and it is inhabited”

“By whom?” she asked with a face turned pale. She thought there were others like him and they might not want her there.

“By me. Just me” he snickered

“I took care of all of this. It was a messy and bushy land when I arrived. But I put so much effort into this part of the island and it turned out great” he mused while looking at the statue, like it reminded him of something.

“You mean you made it look this great?” she asked with wide eyes and looked around her again

“Yes. I planted the flowers, tended the plants, shaped the trees, reared the animals and lots more”

“How long have you been here?”

“A little over fifty years”

Avril gasped

“Over what?” she retorted humorously, thinking he was joking with her

“How long do you think it took me to make that statue with this paws of mine?” he asked and began to walk forward and she followed him.

“If it was molded out of clay then it won't take you that long” Avril insinuated

“If it was clay, my claws won't make it look that flawless” Dakar chirped

“So you're saying this was carved out of a rock?”

“uhh huh!”

Avril's eyes lit up as they got closer to the statue. She couldn't wait to see it up close so she ran ahead and stood in front of it. She gaped at it, really awed. It was very tall and magnificent

She stared at the drawing she couldn't view perfectly from afar. It was a drawing of a wolf head. An angry wolf with fangs drawn out and eyes that held fury in them. Like one trying to claim its territory.

“What does it stand for?” she asked Dakar after feeling his towering presence over her. He was now standing on two legs and was the same height as the huge statue. Which meant she was not higher than their knees.

“Surely it means something to you, for you to spend so much time carving it out from a rock”

“It just reminds me of Strength, Agility and Focus” he opined

He touched his muscles and abs and said “The man's body build mirrors his strength”

He touched the wolf head on the right side of the statue's chest and said “The wolf signifies agility. As agile as a wolf out on a hunt with its pack”

He touch the bow and arrow and said “The bow and arrow reflects his focus. Targeted at that which it wants to take down”

“Wow. Your theory makes perfect sense” Avril exclaimed and smiled

“Let's go inside. The sun's getting hotter out here” he quipped and dropped on all falls.

They moved, in silence, to the mountain in front. There was a cave entrance in it and they entered. It was dark and Avril hardly saw anything as they moved further. Her eyes soon got used to be darkness and she saw a kind of staircase leading up. Dakar had begun to climb up with his limbs, sprinting like a horse. She followed him and they got to a well lit up space. A typical cave house.

An exclamation escaped her lips.

The room was spacious and the floor was like a smooth marble floor, a tinted grey. There was a beautiful white, fluffy rug at the center of the room, in front of a nice wooden table. There were also wooden sofas in a semi circle, they had thick blanket-like fabric on the seats

Beautiful flower baskets with different flowers hung at certain points on the cave wall. They gave the room a fresh fragrance. Tiny bulbs hung from the smooth cave wall and were responsible for the light.

“This is it. Welcome to my humble abode” Dakar chuckled softly. A tint of pride was in his voice.

“Well, I too would be proud if I made this place all by myself”. So thought Avril

“This is beautiful. You deserve some accolades” she cheered and he chuckled again

“You should take a shower and change because you smell like mud mixed with dead leaves and dried blood” Avril sensed the humour in that tone and chuckled. She looked at the dress she wore. It wasn't the same one she had worn when she was abducted. Freddie had given them each new outfits to bathe and change into on the ship. She looked at her legs too, stained with dried blood. Sore and purple bruises laid on her beautiful skin and made it not-so-beautiful.

“Come here.” Dakar beckoned unto her. She walked to where he was standing and he pushed her into another space. She looked back at him but he wasn't there and the wooden door was closed. She returned her head and her eyes widened slightly.

It was a small room. With a bed and a carved table and chair. The floor was laid with colourful sea stones, plastered into the ground. Flowers hung around the room too and there was even a window.

She dropped her basket that she had been clutching onto the whole time. She moved to the small window and pushed it open. Her face was greeted by a rush of fresh island morning air. The sun shone brightly on the green plants by the mountain and they sort of glowed.

She loved the view of nature and could get used to flinging the window open every morning to inhale some oxygen, fresh from the source.

She left the window open and turned around to view the bed. It wasn't a real bed but was a wooden frame covered with different layers of thick duvets until it was soft and comfy like a real mattress.

She noticed the blanket folded by the top of the bed was very similar to the one she had used overnight. The flower baskets were also identical to the one with her. She gasped when she realized that Dakar had deliberately left them there yesterday.

She lifted up her eyes to the left side of the room and saw a dress hanging on the wall. She moved to it and saw that it was sewed with hand. Dakar himself must have made it and judging by the colour of the stitches, it was made a long time ago.

If the dress was made a long time ago, and it was placed in this room, and it was for her to change into. Then Dakar had always known that she was going to come to the island.