Kenna Esters's Arc

Chapter 4 of 13

Kenna woke to gray light filtering through the vines overhead. Her body ached from sleeping on roots and dirt. She reached for her bag and pulled out the backup digital camera — the small point-and-shoot she'd carried as insurance. Salt water had killed her professional gear, but this cheap plastic thing had survived in a sealed pocket. She turned it on. The screen flickered, then died. She tried again. Nothing. Then she noticed the creature watching her from a tangle of vines twenty feet away. It had a moss-green back and a tail as wide as her arm, covered in bristly fur that caught the morning light. The creature chittered and held up her camera — the good one, the backup that actually worked. It must have taken it from her bag while she slept. The creature's yellow eyes fixed on hers, intelligent and waiting. Kenna sat up slowly. She pulled the metal buckle from her camera bag strap and held it out. The buckle caught the sunlight and gleamed gold and silver. The creature's head tilted. It dropped down from the vines and crept closer, keeping the camera just out of her reach. Kenna set the buckle on the ground between them and stepped back. The creature snatched it up, turned it over in its hands, then dropped the camera and bounded away into the canopy with its prize. Kenna picked up the camera and checked it. Scratched but working. She'd traded a piece of gear for a piece of gear, learned that these creatures valued shiny things, and confirmed they were clever enough to bargain. More importantly, she'd stayed calm instead of chasing. The island was teaching her its rules, and she was finally listening.