Silas

Camp on Crete It was a beautiful night, we were sailing in that vast sea, the waters were calm and dark, the stars and the moon shone in the sky, the wind ran and played in our faces, and the wavelets beat against the hull of the boat.

My brother and I, Samuel, the fearless sailor. Crete was our destination, a famous island for its tales and legends:

- Do you know the legend about a god named Nor?

- No, I’ve never heard about it.

-There are rumors that the natives of this island used to revere a god named Nor. They believed that this god used to help them with their crops and with the fruits of the sea, moreover the natives used to offer him sacrifices.

I was thinking about the legend, the engine was making a loud noise which was propagated in the silence of the night; finally we arrived on the island, anchored our boat, unloaded the baggage, made our hut and a bonfire and sat near the fire.

The moon lit up all that nature, we could see the lights of the continent far away, we could hear only the sound of small waves breaking on the beach, we were alone, before that great and magnificent island.

We decided to pack our things to go to sleep, my brother packed up in the hut, and I set my hammock between two palm trees near the beach, I laid my head on the pillow and began to contemplate the show of stars in the sky.

Suddenly I heard a noise in the woods I got up frightened, Samuel was standing, ready to get into the woods, I told him to wait for me, an air of mystery hung over the forest, we got scared not knowing what awaited us. We got into the woods; the trees were blocking the brightness of the moon to the point that we could not see our way.

After walking a few miles into the forest, we came across a trail. I was afraid to keep walking, but my brother insisted to follow him.

The forest was really scary; the sounds we heard were chilling. We tried to see the end of the track, but it seemed impossible. The fear grew on each step, suddenly, we saw a clearing, I tried to convince him to return, however, he did not listen to me.

Arriving at the clearing, we were surprised to see a fire that still burned. We took a look around and saw signs designed on the trees, symbols of ancient gods, forgotten in time. I had seen those symbols before, perhaps in mythology books I had read.

Another noise warned us, this one came from the direction of our camp, we left that place quickly, the branches were coming towards us and hit us on the face, we didn’t know exactly which way to follow so we just ran toward the sound.

Panting, we reached our camp, we realized that our things had been stolen, we heard the noise of the motor boat heading towards the opposite side of the island, we did not know what to do.

Samuel got into the sea in order to reach the boat, however, he could not do it, he got back, I looked into his eyes and I could see a look of fury, steadying his voice he said:

- We'll get our boat, no matter where it is!

- Yes, but we have to make a plan!

- Let's return to the track, they must be in the clearing where we were some minutes ago!

- Let’s be fast to get there sooner than them

- Ok, let’s go!

We came back to the clearing, when we reached the site; there was no one there, so we hid behind some trees to wait their arriving.

Moments later, five strange men reached the clearing, they wore dresses of wild animal skin, hair and beard had grown and they spoke a language that we could not understand. Yes, they were natives of the island who were described in the legends.

We were amazed, we could not believe our eyes, then they lit a new fire, as the other was already in ashes, began a kind of ritual around the fire, as if they were celebrating their recent achievements, the day was about to dawn.

- Samuel! Does the legend tell how the natives worship this god? I whispered so they could not hear us.

- Yes, they believed that their god used to communicate with them around sunrise, so they used to go to the beach every morning to worship the phenomenon.

So we decided to wait for the sunrise to make a plan, after a while, the ritual was over.

Suddenly I saw something passing behind me, I got scared and accidentally stepped on a branch on the ground which sounded a noise remarkably high enough that they could hear it, they looked attentive towards us:

- Run! My brother warned me.

There we were, running again, the natives followed us into the forest, little by little they were approaching, I was exhausted, when I looked back I could see the natives running like wild animals in our direction, my legs trembled and I could not avoid the falling when my foot tripped on the root of the tree, Samuel stopped running to try to help me, I ordered him to keep running and seek help, even knowing it would be almost impossible.

They reached me and I felt a strong blow on my head, when I opened my eyes, my hands and legs were tied, this time I was in another place, it was an altar on a hill, it was where they offered their sacrifices.

The landscape was perfect, I could see the whole island, I saw our boat which was anchored in a small beach on the opposite side of our camp.

One of them, the leader, brought an ax and started to sharpen it on a stone, my heart was beating very strong, I knew I was going to die there, around me another ritual was began, I had never felt a feeling like that, I looked around with hopes of finding some help, but there was nothing, there was nobody.

The leader approached carrying the ax, ready to accomplish its task, the sweat dripped on my body, my heart beat more strongly than ever, when he was two meters from me, I saw another movement coming towards me, he was there, Samuel had come to help me, but unfortunately there wasn’t time anymore, the leader raised his hand, I lowered my head and I closed my eyes for a few seconds I wondered how death would be, it would be painful, it would be quick, the leader shouted a word, I thought it would be the time that my head would be severed, but nothing else happened, I opened my eyes slowly and I saw a ray of sunshine that was reflected through the metal ax, the leader lowered his arm, the ritual was stopped and now they were walking toward a cliff, their aspects were more relaxed.

They stopped and bowed themselves, and together they began to sing a song, they were venerating Nor.

My brother untied my hands and arms and we quickly started getting down the mountain:

-I know where our boat is, let’s go in that direction!

-Ok.

We ran to the little beach that I had seen from the top of the hill, we went to the beach and swam to the boat, my brother started on the engine and we followed toward the mainland; we looked at the cliff and saw the group, they were still worshiping their god.

We left the island at that beautiful sunrise, the water was clear and calm, I beheld the sun, it was shining more intense, to the point that my face was burning, I opened my eyes, I was on my hammock and the sun was shining in the sky... Everything was a dream.

