The moon’s glare cast milky-white light on the trees, their big green floppy leaves bending down towards the ground as if in prayer. Two dark figures crouched on the fine-grained sand, feverishly lashing together pieces of wood with vines. As if by a signal, the two men stood up and started pushing the makeshift raft toward the calm, glassy surface of the dark blue water. The tips of the wood pierced the water, and like glass shattering, ripples went everywhere; breaking the silence of the night with a splash. One man quickly looked around before jumping on the raft and paddling, while the other man took more time looking around. His eyes widened as they locked on to a spot in the bushes and froze. They were back.
“The sock monkeys found us! Run!” He splashed into the water and stumbled right before the raft.
“Hurry George! They’re gunna get you!” The man, Remus, grabbed George’s arm and hauled him on to the raft.
Paddling for their lives’, George and Remus had looks of grim determination as a brigade of sock monkeys armed with meat cleavers and spears charged out of the bushes. They ran right up to the shore line, but as soon as their toes touched the water, they yowled in pain and jumped back onto the sand. They threw their spears, they stamped their feet, they screamed at the top of their lungs, but no matter what, they could not get to the raft that was now drifting further and further away. The sock monkeys had been defeated and they knew it.
As did George and Remus, who hugged each other and patted each other’s back as they glided along on the raft.
“We’re safe now,” said George with a sigh of relief.
“No, we’re not. Not until I’m on the solid ground of a land not infested with evil children toys am I going to say that I’m safe. And besides, have you forgotten about the sharks? Or the fact that we have no food?” asked Remus.
“Well no, but don’t be so negative! If we can survive a hoard of armed sock monkeys, we can survive anything!” George got tired of Remus’s pessimistic attitude every once in a while.
I suppose now is a good time to tell you why George and Remus were on the island known as Awabi Island in the first place. The calm reasonable 26-year-old, George, had recently married a famous actress named Elizabeth Hern. They had always heard about how beautiful Awabi Island was and the broachers they had seen proved that the sunny weather year-round, the white sand beaches, the exotic trees, and the warm water, were indeed amazing. They decided to go on their honeymoon there and the rest of Elizabeth’s family, who had thought it would be a good place for a family vacation, had tagged along. Remus, being George’s slightly older brother in law, also came. Most of the time, George and Remus got along very well, but their different personalities sometimes led one to rub the other in the wrong way.



“Come on honey, you can relax now. There’s nothing to worry about here.” George could feel the uptightness in his wife’s hand as he caressed it. She was very wary about the paparazzi and was constantly on the lookout for them, but George didn’t want anything to interrupt their honeymoon. They couple walked their final steps off of their cruise ship and through the doorway into the glaring sunlight outside. So stunned by the sudden change of atmosphere, they looked like they had been smacked in the face; Elizabeth’s hand flew to her mouth and George just stared straight ahead, open-mouthed. Inhaling deeply, their noses filled with the tropical smell of pineapples and palm trees.
“Oh my George! This is going to be the best vacation of my life!” gushed Elizabeth. Then, as she glanced back towards her family she whispered, “That is, if they don’t ruin it.”
“They would never ruin this, they’re so kind. They even chose to stay in a different hotel than us,” said George.
“Well yes, but you never know with my family,” Elizabeth spoke her words slowly, taking in all of the stuff around her. The warm breeze ruffled her hair and she forgot her worries as she spun around laughing in joy. George couldn’t help thinking she was the most beautiful women in the world. Their sandals flopped against their feet as they plodded down the strangely deserted street towards their hotel: The Sunny Side Inn. As they reached the check in desk no one was there and they got suspicious.
“Hello?” called Elizabeth, “Is anyone here?”
Suddenly, one of the tan colored tiles on the floor by their feet burst open and a tall, well-muscled man with a short curly mustache appeared. A trapdoor!
“Come quick! I will explain everything once we are in a safe area,” The man sputtered.
“What? What’s going on?!” asked Elizabeth and George simultaneously.
“Like I said, it isn’t safe here. Follow me quickly if you want to survive,” His low voice conveying a message of urgency. After exchanging quick glances, Elizabeth and George grudgingly decided they had better trust this man. They tramped down the stairs into a secret set of rooms below. Everything was a little dusty down there, from the crates littering the room to the bed in the corner.
As he locked and bolted the trapdoor the man spoke, “This small island has recently been taken over by sock monkeys. I know it sounds crazy, but they are well-armed and well-prepared, they strike with deadly quickness and come out of nowhere. My name is Fanchu and I have been in hiding for three days.”
“Come on George, let’s get out of here,” laughing mercilessly, Elizabeth pulled George towards the door.
Fanchu stepped in front of them, “If you do not believe me, then look at these pictures of my wife.” He handed them two pictures. The first was of his wife stretched out on a sandy beach smiling. The second was of a grossly mutilated body with blood all around it. “That was done to her by none other than the sock monkeys and if you still do not believe me, go open that crate over there,” he said pointing to the other side of the room.
“W-why? What’s in it?” Asked George as he walked over and placed his hand the crate. Suddenly the crate started rattling and something soft jumped out of it and clung onto his face. Screaming, he ripped off the sock monkey and threw it back into the crate, slamming the lid shut and sitting on it. “S-s-so it’s real? There are evil sock monkey attacking the island?”
“They’re as real as those claw marks on your face,” replied Fanchu.
Elizabeth sat down next to George and whimpered in fear; her hands shaking and sweat beading on her forehead. He rubbed her back before standing up, “I’m going to go warn your family Elizabeth, you stay here.”
“I strongly discourage you from-,” Fanchu was cut off.
“And I strongly discourage you from trying to stop me,” said George. He strode up the stairs, unbolted the locks, and ran outside the hotel before either person could utter another word. Elizabeth’s family was staying in a hotel about five blocks away from theirs and George sprinted the whole way. He threw open the heavy wooden door of the hotel and walked in. Then…nothing. He blacked out at the mere sight of the carnage on the floor of the lobby.
He awoke to a wet cloth on his forehead. His memories flooding back to him, he jerked forward.
“Take it easy, you’ve been knocked out for five hours now,” said Remus.
“Elizabeth! Where’s Elizabeth? Where is she?” shouted George.
“The sock monkeys have captured her and a man named Fanchu. They raided our hotel shortly before yours and have killed everyone but you, me, and their new prisoners,” Remus’s voice was grim.
“We have to get off this island and get help!” said George. Looking around them, he saw that they sat at the edge of the jungle, right near the sand of the beach. “We could build a boat,” he said.
Remus nodded at that, “That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking. Now you stay here while I gather some wood and ropes.”
He returned fifteen minutes later with lots of wood and a pile of vines to be used as ropes. The two men walked a little ways down the beach under a palm tree. Remus handed George a vine and they began tying together the wood…