Mike quickly walked away from the house in the direction of the helipad, but the helicopter was just in the process of leaving the island.  He looked up and watched as it took off into the horizon and sighed in disappointment.  Brian walked up from behind, but was still at a distance.

                “How the hell do I get off this island?”  Mike asked, voice directed at no one.

                “Mike, come on man.  Just stay for a bit.”  Brian pleaded as he covered the distance quickly, “Don’t walk out on this one.”

                “Where the hell could I walk to?”  Mike quipped.

                Brian stopped a few feet away and dropped his shoulders, “I’m serious.  You could make a ton of money off this.”

                Mike turned around to face Brian, his face in disbelief, “You really think I want money?”

                “Just listen”

                Mike moved in closer to Brian, Brian backed up a little, “No, you just listen.  You completely interrupt my hunting.  You drag me out to this waste of land, and now you think you’re going to bribe me with money?  I thought I made it clear you were not to contact me unless your life was in danger.  Although, the ironic part is that your life is now in danger because you called me.”

                “I’m not sure that’s ironic.”  Brian said, which prompted Mike to step forward slightly angrily and Brian to move back once again, hands raised up in surrender.  Mike relaxed a bit and backed off.  “You don’t get it, do you?  Were you listening back there?”

                “About what?  Some lion that somehow got on this island?  Now I must admit, for one to be out here is quite an oddity, but not worth staying for.  Maybe you need a biologist.”

                “No, no, no.“  Brian said as he shook his head, “Look this thing is no lion.  I’d think I’d know if it were.”

                Mike raised his hands in frustration, “How do you know?  So it killed some people.  I can’t believe there’s much to eat on this rock.  Humans make ok chow.”

                “You’re right, I’m an idiot.”  Brian said, Mike nodded vigorously.

                “Good start.  Now tell me something else I want to hear.”

                Brian smiled sarcastically, “Ok tough guy, how about this?  This is unlike any animal I’ve ever seen.  I mean, fine for the sake of argument let’s say it’s a lion.  This lion has somehow evaded every attempt by me to find it.”

                “Maybe you just aren’t good at tracking.”

                Brian laughed to himself, “You’re right, dad was a bad teacher.”

                Mike grabbed Brian by the shirt and pulled him violently, “You don’t have the right to talk about him.  He was the best.”

                “Then you know I’m right about this.”   Brain looked Mike straight in the eyes, and waited.  Mike gritted his teeth and then pushed Brian away from him.

                “You’ve got two days.”  He said, walking back to the house and brushing up against Hector who had just come out to check on them.  Hector turned and watched Mike walk into the house and then looked back at Brian.

                “I trust you can keep him in line, yes?”  Brian nodded and started to walk back to the house, “Should I have him shown to his room?”

                “Better you than me.”  Brian said as he disappeared into the house.

                Mike walked into a large room where he stood for a moment to take in everything around him.  There was no question of Hector’s wealth, as the immense size of the house alone gave a clue to its cost, but the interior was far beyond what he had imagined.  What had been a fortress mad for war, the interior had been made for an incredibly lavish life style.  With rich wood sprawling throughout, seeming endless supply of marble, and furniture that might as well have been ripped straight out of a Victorian castle, he couldn’t imagine the amount of money that was sunk into it.  He had never been one without money, at least in his younger years, with his father being an incredibly successful businessman, but he had never seen money like this.  Whatever the island had, he knew it had it in spades.  And despite Hector’s seemingly nice nature, he figured most of the money came at a low labor cost.

                “I hope you find my home… satisfactory.”  Hector said, which broke Mike’s train of thought and diverted his attention.

                “In surviving a war, yes I think I do.” 

                He replied.  Hector raised his brow and shoulders, “One does what one has to when protecting investments.”  Hector walked over to a large wooden cabinet filled with various liquors in lavish crystal containers.  He opened it and grabbed one containing a dark whiskey, and then put his hand out to grab a glass then stopped.  He motioned to Mike while shaking the bottle and Mike shook his head.  Hector shrugged his shoulders and grabbed one glass, “You’d be surprised how valuable this island is.”

                “Yet your house is probably only good at keeping things out.”

                Hector laughed to himself and closed the cabinet, “Everyone has a strategy.  Luckily for me, I actually know something about war.”

                “Ah” Mike replied, half nodding.

                “You know, you really should have some of that.  It’s pretty amazing.”  Brian said, walking into the room and over to the cabinet.  He opened it and grabbed another glass.  Hector sighed and shook his head and then handed the whiskey bottle to Brian who quickly grabbed it and started to fill his glass.

                “Help yourself.”  He said, distain in his voice.  Brian responded merely with a smile filled with sarcasm.  He then walked over to a desk and placed the bottle and himself on its top.  Hector once again shook his head while  Mike simply rolled his eyes at the exchange.

                “Sorry if I’m interrupting, but why the hell am I here?”  Mike snapped which cause both to give attention to Mike.

                Hector’s face quickly lightened , “You see, this island is a geological paradise, like nothing else on earth.  The amount of rare gems is, shall we say, unprecedented.”

                “The place is worth more than god damned El Dorado”, Brian interjected much to Hector’s dismay.

                “It has worth.”  He said as he attempted to stare Brian down, but was met with only shrugged shoulders.  He sighed and continued, “However, the jewel, if you don’t mind the expression, is my diamond mine.”

                “I’m not good at drilling.  Hell haven’t touched a shovel in years.”  Mike said, arms crossed.

                Hector laughed, walked over to one of two large chairs, and sat in it.  He then motioned for Mike to sit down, but he shook his head.  Hector then smiled, “Please, I insist.”  This prompted movement out of Mike and he took the other chair.  Hector leaned forward and crossed his hands.  “A few months ago, some of my workers began disappearing.  At first, it was one every so often.  I figured they had left somehow.”

                Mike relaxed back into the chair and crossed his arms, “Hard to find good help these days, huh?”

                “It is when the good help keep dying.  They were being hunted down.”

                Mike took a deep breath, conveying his lack of care, “So why me?  He’s the man hunter.”  He said as he looked over at Brian.  Brian simply raised his glass to acknowledge. 

                “It’s not that simple.  At first we thought it might be someone.  A rival.”  He replied, smile diminished.

                Brian stood up of the table top, “I’m positive it’s not human.”

                “So what?  A lion?  Tiger?  What’s that got to do with me?”

                Hector’s eyes thinned, “This is no ordinary cat.”

                There is silence for a moment and then Mike laughed to himself while shaking his head, “You brought me all the way out here for some damned cat?”  He stood up and looked over at Brian, “There’s nothing in this world I can’t kill with a knife, so forgive me if I find this a waste of my time.”  He turned to the door and started to walk out, “Copter ride was nifty.”

                He left the room while Hector turned his gaze over to Brian, eyes completely fixed on Brian’s.  Brian rolled his eyes and started to walk out toward Mike, leaving Hector in a state far from smiling.

                As the helicopter approached the island, Mike sat staring out the window at the island below.  He had been to many places in the world, but he had never seen anything like it.  It was covered in incredibly thick plant life, like the entire Amazon had been crushed into an island the size of Detroit.  In the middle was what looked to be the remains of a volcano long obliterated by its own means, leaving a horseshoe like shape as its only reminder.  His first thought was that someone was lost below, deep in the jungle.  Most likely a family member, maybe a couple who thought it would be a great travel spot.   The only thing that causes concern was his involvement.  There were plenty of world class trackers out there, some better than he at finding the hopelessly lost and most wouldn’t need a fifty thousand dollar enticement.  Mike’s specialization was far more important in removing that it was in reuniting.  Given the look of the island though, he had doubts there was anything down there worth going after.  Something just didn’t add up.

                The helicopter quickly made its decent onto the island, with a massive house not too far away.  Mike sat monetarily stunned by the impossibly reinforced house, one that looked ready and able for war, not just a simple summer home.  His suspicion of finding a lost kid was quickly being replaced by even more curiosity about his situation.

                To the right of the helicopter stood two men, one that was quite possibly the smallest man he’d ever seen and the other was someone who knew almost too well.  He merely shook his head and waited for the helicopter to finish its landing.  He felt it hit the ground and one of the two men approached him, pointing him to the recently opened door.

                “Thanks chief”, He said with a slightly condescending smile as he stood up and walked over to the door and then down the stair.  Hector quickly moved with a great smile and motioned for a hand shake while Brian stood his ground a forced smile.  Mike looked down at Hector, arm extend, then started walking to Brian.  Hector’s smile somewhat faded, insulted, as the other two walked toward each other.  Like Hector before, Brian extended his hand out.  Once again it was met with an emotionless glance by Mike and followed by a quick jab to Brian’s nose, staggering him.  He quickly grabbed his nose and shook his head.  Hector’s laughing could be heard in the back ground.

                “It was in college and you two were already broken up.”

                Mike swung again, this time a quick hook to his jaw that sent Brian to the floor.  Momentarily stunned, Brian grabbed his jaw and rubbed it.  He took a deep breath and brought himself to one knee, “What the hell was that for?”

                Mike quickly pointed his finger at Brian who was still on one knee, “That’s for thinking the first one was about a woman.”  He stood staring at Brian, his body positioned to strike again.  Brian put his arm out in surrender.  Mike relaxed a bit and gave Brian some room to stand.  Once up, he quickly dusted himself off.

                “Just like old times, huh?  How the hell are you?”

                Hector stepped forward and cleared his throat.  Mike turned to him and looked at him silently.  Hector once again smiled, “I see you two know each other.”

                Mike shook his head, “Which you knew because he told you to get me.  Just cut the bullshit.  Why am I here?”  Brian momentarily stiffed up, unsure how that would be received.  Last thing he needed was this to go sour before he made any money.

                Hector wagged his finger at Mike, “I like him.”  Brian relaxed a bit while Hector grabbed Mike’s arms above the elbow.  “I need you and I hear you are the best.”

                “Depends on who you ask.  What am I here for?”

                “Fifty thousand isn’t a good enough reason?”  He asked, head slightly tilted in interest.

                Mike tilted his head in disbelief, “Do you think I need money?”

                Hector looked at Mike, his clothes old and dirty, and smiled, “I’m guessing that’s rhetorical.”  He let go of Mike’s arms.  “I’ll be frank, I have a problem that I need you to fix.  You come highly recommended.”

                Mike laughed to himself as Brian gave him a half hearted thumbs up.  “I bet that’s the reason.”

                “Please, let’s go to the house.”  Hector said with his hand stretched in the direction of the house.  Mike sighed and started to walk toward the house and Brian soon followed.

                Mike had just started to drift off when he heard the sound of a helicopter nearing.  He silently hoped, though highly unlikely, that it would pass overhead.  However, being that he was out in the middle of nowhere, he could only guess that he was the intended target.  He usually didn’t set up tents when he slept, and for some unknown reason, a reason he now wished he had known, he had decided to give in and sleep in what he considered luxury.  Somewhere deep inside him he felt this was some sort of punishment for giving in.  Somewhere, somehow his father was laughing. At this point the only recourse he had was to ignore it and hope it went away.

                The tent started to shake with more and more violently, unhappily announcing the arrival of the unwanted visitors.  Mike continued to lie still, grasping onto his absurd plan of playing dead, a plan he would only give up if there was an extreme need.  Most people would have panicked by now, running into the night, but he knew that if they wanted him dead, it wouldn’t take much.  As skilled as he was, not having a helicopter put him at a noticeable disadvantage.  No reason to waste time or energy if he’d just end up back on the floor at some point.  He would just lie and wait to see how it all turned out.  It seemed like the sensible thing to do.

                “Freeman.” A voice rang out over the sound of the slowing blades, “Mike Freeman.”

                Mike groaned to himself as he realized the worst case had happened.  They were they not there to kill him but were there to bother him.  He wondered for a moment if this was all a dream.  After all, how could someone have found him in the middle of the grasslands this time of night?

                The tent once again erupted into noise, though this time it was not the helicopter but the man outside shaking it with great intent.  He knew now that, dream or not, this situation wasn’t going to just disappear.   Whatever the reason for the interruption, he was going to have to get up.  A thought that he didn’t find at all pleasing.

                “I know you’re in there, and I can keep at this all night.”  The man said as he continued to shake the tent, “Worse case my partner and I can take turns.”

                Within one more shake there was the sound of rustling from within the tent, which caused the man to stop shaking the tent for a moment.  Through the light of the helicopter’s spot light a shadow could be seen within the tent moving around for a moment then the sound of a zipper broke the relative silence.  Mike peered out of the tent and looked up at the two men in dark suits, and shook his head at the rather uninspired corporate thug look they had embraced.  What made him slightly sad what that someone, somewhere actually told them to dress like that.

                He climbed out of his tent, making his way to a small fire pit he had constructed earlier, some wood still ready for burning.  He quickly reached into his pocket to pull out some flint which caused the two men to flinch slightly before they realized what it was that he had pulled out.  Mike laughed to himself which was met with a distasteful look on one of the men’s face.

                “I don’t think I need to remind you that you aren’t supposed to be hunting here.”  The other man said, walking forward a bit.  His voice wasn’t in the least bit convincing though, the faux threat was only half hearted at best.  Mike figured it was a quick attempt to shake weak people, by the book procedure.  He responded by continuing to strike the flint in hopes of producing a fire to help scare away the bitter cold.  The man cleared his throat in an attempt to catch Mike’s attention, but this was also met with failure.  He shook his head, pulled out his lighter, and lit the small bit of kindling.  The fire took and covered the small area with heat.  Mike looked up at the man and sighed.

                “I have lighters too.”

                “Yeah well I’m not here to learn some kind of lesson.  I’m here to get you.”

                Mike nodded his head, “I noticed that.  Came a long way to find me.  Curious how you did that.”  He looked over at the other man who was standing without any real expression, “Does he talk?”

                The man, not amused by the question, stared at Mike for a moment.  “This won’t take long.”

                “Swell”, Mike responded.  “You want something to eat?”  Once again the man shook his head, impatience getting the better of him.  “Good, because I really don’t have anything anyhow.”

                The man sighed as he tried to keep himself clam, “We’re here to make you an offer.”   Mike responded with a blank look of disinterest nodding aimlessly.  “Fifty thousand dollars.”      Mike continued to nod without flinching at the offered amount.  “Just to talk. One day trip.  You walk away with the money no matter what.  You don’t have to commit to anything.” 

                “Except the trip”,  Mike responded as he stopped nodding.  The man rolled his eyes in disbelief.  “Fine, you’ve got me interested.  Someone went through all this trouble just to have me show up?  Can’t be rude.”  He stood up and brushed himself off.   “I’m in.”

                He started to walk back to his tent, “Could you be a dear and put that out for me?  Wouldn’t be safe to leave it.”  He crawled back into the tent and started collecting his belongings.  The one man looked at the other as he shook his head.  The other responded by shrugging his shoulders and kicking dirt on the small fire.

                Of all the places in the world, this was one of the few Brian didn’t want to be in.  He had been in many jungles before, as he had once prided himself as a real hunter, not like many of so called big game hunters that roamed the open plains ones.  He wasn’t afraid to get into nature and face animals where they were most dangerous.  But this was different.  The jungle itself was wildly over grown, mostly untouched by outside influence for over a decade and allowed to thrive in the tropical climates.  There were no longer any large animals to have their way with the vegetation, and Hector made sure there were no uninvited guests.  This was as dense as it could come, and someone could be lost one hundred feet from salvation and die not knowing.  Every year workers had vanished into the jungle only to be found just feet away from safety.  Drop a creature with uncanny hunting skills into that and death was almost a certainty, and having to capture it unharmed added in a level of difficulty that even rivaled his abilities.  He knew it was getting better at the hunt, he had seen progressive advances in its intellect.   What used to be a simple game of follow was now on the verge of being a matter of survival, and the odds were quickly slipping out of his favor.  Was it not for the money involved the logical choice would be an attempt on Hector’s life, thus breaking the agreement.  This would be an effective but possibly messy solution as Hector had always proven to be a difficult target for his enemies.  Not to mention getting off the island would be near impossible even if he succeeded.   More importantly though, he had put too much money into this project to stop now, even while knowing there was a good chance his greed would be his death.  His only path for now was forward.

                He took a careful step forward and quickly scanned his surroundings.  He knew it was out there watching, but couldn’t read its intentions.   It was at best unpredictable.  At times it seemed merciless in its pursuit while others content with keeping distance.  He figured it was just a part of the learning process, it becoming a more patient hunter.  Something that would learn its target’s behavior before striking.  At least that’s what he had hoped as that would mean the experiment was a success.  He laughed to himself slightly as he realized the absurdity of his current train of thought.  Nothing like dying to prove ones success.

                A couple feet in front of him the vegetation had been noticeably disturbed, slightly bent down from repeated traffic.  In a normal jungle, there would be more evidence of the trail but the growth was so fast it was barely visible.  He guessed that something had been through there in the past two days or so and judging by the disturbance something was dragged through.  He walked closer to the spot and squatted down to take a better look.  He quickly glanced around the area to make sure he was reasonably safe, and used his hand to move around some of the growth.  He quickly cut a section of a vine and looked it over.  There was a fair amount of blood, dried from the heat, to suggest he was right about something being dragged and he had a pretty good inclination of what.

                He stood up quickly and started walking forward with great caution, checking every angle with every step.  With the blood he could easily assume it was close or at least had been recently.  It was a large enough island that a normal person would bank on the side of probability.  After all, visibility was no better than five feet making the likely hood of two small objects running into each other slim, but he had learned a long time ago that instinct trumps logic. He knew that it had been there and would be back.

                He pushed aside some vegetation and paused, gazing out into the unspeakable he saw before him.   It was this moment when he knew something had gone wrong.  He knew Hector had been withholding information from him, but to this level shocked even him.  His heart sank as he came to terms with what this meant.  This was no longer something within his ability.  This was no longer a job he could do alone.  He had to turn to the one person he never wanted to turn to.  But at this point it didn’t matter.  His only worry now was getting back to the house in one piece.

                Brian was standing in front of a house he called “The Fortress” as there was no better way to describe it.  He stood staring at its imposing look, covered with massive metal walls and shutters.  He knew the reasoning behind it as the island had its unique issue, but the awe inspiring affect never wore out on him, no matter how many times he saw it.  He laughed to himself as he thought the only thing missing was an absurdly large moat.  The true joke was Hector, the owner and self proclaimed king, was sure to put one in at some point.   He had already spent a fortune larger than the gross national product of most small countries on it, what was a little more money to complete the effect?  Though Brian couldn’t say too much without being a hypocrite, standing in his trendy upscale hunting uniform.  He wasn’t really known for his fiscal responsibility either.  But then again, he didn’t have to worry much about money, just as Hector didn’t.

                He looked up above to see Hector’s helicopter hovering, making its way down to the helipad not but fifty feet from where Brian stood.  He watched as is slowly landed, feeling the increasing wind against his body.  He knew his brother would never let down the concept of spending a thousand dollars on sunglasses, but Brian knew he looked good standing defiantly against the helicopter’s wake.  After all, image was just as important as skill, something his brother never understood.  Probably why he never amounted to anything.

                The helicopter landed without much noise, two men ran up to it to open up the door.  Out stepped Hector, a small man in stature which was quite the deception.  Brian all too well knew the monster that lived inside that harmless looking man.  A general of days past, legendary in his lust for power, he took the island soon before he retired under the concept of eminent domain.  An unfortunate turn for most of its thousand or so inhabitants whose relocation was suddenly interrupted by an untimely ship accident.   There was something to be said about them being seen as the lucky ones.  Brian was never much for religion, but if there were a devil, Hector was it and he knew he had sold his soul to him.  Failed partnerships with him had never ended in a good way.  If he only had your immediate family killed, you were considered lucky.  Hector now spent his days on the island, making incredible amounts of money of its vast natural resources.  He supplied the world with the top one percent of diamonds, not to mention many other rare minerals.  Most people would be happy with just that, but Hector had other plans, including one in particular that brought Brian back to the island several times in the past year.  He wondered how many more visits would go by before bodies started to pile up.

                Hector quickly spoke to one of the men and then waved him off, sending the man racing back to the house.  He then looked over at Brian and smiled.  Most people would take this as a good sign, but Brian knew better.  Of all the qualities Hector possessed, his charm was what made him so dangerous.  No matter the situation, he always greeted people with a smile and good word.  It was like a siren’s song, people were drawn to his seemingly good nature only to be eaten alive.  The happier he seemed, the closer he was to making someone disappear.

                Brian walked over to Hector to be greeted with a hand.  Brian grasped the hand and was pulled in for a manly hug followed by a slap on the back that almost knocked the wind out of him.  

                Brian cleared his throat, “This better be worth my time.”  Most people wouldn’t think it was wise to stare down a bull, but he knew that the one thing Hector appreciated the most was a brave soul.  Showing weakness to him was a dangerous thing.

                Hector paused for a moment then laughed, “Last time I checked, I was paying you.”

                “You and plenty of other people.  Why am I here again?”  He asked as he crossed his arms.

                Hector took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes, “It’s loose again.”

                Brian let out a sigh and shook his head.  These were not the words he wanted to hear, “You called me here for that?  Don’t you have people?”

                Hector looked at the man on his left and laughed, “Do I have people?”  His smiled faded quickly and he looked back at Brian, “Why would I waste money on you if they could handle it?”  Brian once again shook his head in disbelief.  “Should I find someone else that can?”

                “Don’t bother with threats.  There’s no one else but me.  I’ll get it.”

                Just as Brian opened his mouth to add to his statement, a large armored truck pulled in behind Hector as he smiled, “You see, that’s the spirit.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”  The man on his side turned to the truck and opened the back door.  Hector got in and sat down, the man closing the door soon afterward.  The heavily tinted window slowly rolled down, and Hector looked out at Brian, “I trust you can take care of yourself.”

                The truck quickly moved away, carrying Hector toward the middle of the island and leaving Brian standing by the fortress alone.  “Thanks for the lift, jackass.”

                “Faster.  I have to run faster.” Carl told himself as he moved at a pace far faster than he had ever run.  He had been a star track athlete in college and was still far faster than most people ten years younger, but he knew that he there wasn’t enough speed he could muster to get away.  He had already started to feel his body push against the punishment, and there was a constant reminder of how he had surpassed his limit minutes ago.  He thought that it was somewhat sad that when the he needed the most out of his body, a moment of life or death, his body was fighting him the whole way.  He knew he didn’t have long, it was somewhere behind him.  His only recourse was to run out toward the edge of the island as it was too hard to guess where any specific place was relative to where he was.  The jungle was much too thick for that.  Its heavy growth made it nearly impossible to find anyplace of importance without some kind of equipment, equipment that he didn’t posses.  So he would run, run faster than he thought possible until he could find something, anything to escape.

                All the pain had distracted him momentarily, but that was broken by an instinctual sense that it was getting closer.  A sudden dread washed over him again as he knew, somewhere deep down, that it was merely toying with him.  Like a mouse in the site of a cat, his only hope was that it would play with him long enough to find some kind of escape.  He knew it couldn’t be too much longer to the coastline, he just had to have enough time. 

                It was at that point his foot just barely caught something, a vine or rock, and he started to stumble forward.  Most people would have plunged at this point, and had he not have been used to the horrible conditions around him, he would have too.  He quickly regained his footing only to look forward and see signs of the coast ahead.  He had been so busy trying to ignore the pain that he had completely missed the sight of salvation.  He sighed with relief as he took to running at full speed once more.  It didn’t matter at this point that the pain was so great it made him dizzy or that his knees felt as if they were bleeding profusely.  It didn’t matter that death most certainly was following at a near pace.  Nothing mattered now that he could see an end to his troubles.  Up and down the coast were cement bunkers used by workers in case of emergency weather.  He knew that if he made it to the coast, there would be at least one in sight distance.  Even the greatest physical agony couldn’t stop him at that point.  Once inside, it would take a tank to get him out and there were at least couple ways to get help.   His goal was very close.

                He put his shoulder down quickly to break through some of the more stubborn plant life, sending himself forward in a slightly awkward way.  He partially recovered and then stopped as fast as he could, which caused him to slide at first followed by an uneven stumble backwards, taking the full brunt of the impact on his left hip.  His grimace was short lived as it fully registered as to why he stopped.  He stood up slowly in awe and horror as he wondered how he could have made such a mistake.  In front of him was a two hundred foot drop straight into the bay.  He had somehow managed to run toward the middle of the island instead of the coast which he had hoped for.  The semi horseshoe shape of the island meant that this had always been a possibility, but a small one as the bay itself wasn’t very large.  He stood for a moment and marveled at his horrible luck, a moment interrupted by a sudden shock of fear.  He knew it was watching him, waiting to see what his next move was.  He knew that this game was coming to an end.  Heading north would take him farther into the bay, and into no better of a position.  Heading south would easily be cut off by it and the jungle was no choice.   He turned around to see if it was close and that’s when he saw those eyes, light reflecting off to give an eerie glow despite being the middle of the day.  He paused for a moment, locked into its gaze.  To his amazement, there was a certain calm in those eyes, a serenity he had never known.  It was as if the entire world had been lifted off his shoulders, all worry had faded into an abyss.  There was only it and time, both of which he no longer worried about.  He turned back toward the coast and took a deep breath, wondering why he had never seen the pure beauty of the island.  He had spent so much time fighting it at every step, navigation of the jungle consumed most of his work days.  He had never known this paradise hidden.  He would have been hard pressed to find a better place to die.

                At that moment, there was a sound of it lurching forward, as if the jungle was trying to alert him of the inevitable.  It was too late though, he had already started moving forward, taking his destiny into his own hands as to have once last defiant act.  He would decide how it would end and no one else.  Falling forward, he left the world behind him somewhere on the cliff’s edge and embraced what was to come.