Butterfly Islands (Chronicles of the Twenty-One Butterflies Book 1) by Seabranch Chris

Author:Seabranch, Chris [Seabranch, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chris Seabranch
Published: 2016-02-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter XI

It took the Harpy an entire day to reach God's Mercy. For most of the journey, Casey sat alone at the bow and watched in silence the steep cliffs of New Island pass by. Caves and overhangs, where seagulls, eagles, colorful parrots, and other birds nested, riddled the three-hundred-foot sheer cliff face, and the myriads of different kinds of birds created an orchestra of blended squawking and tweeting that carried far out over the rolling swells. Casey dreamt of being a bird and escape from it all. She imagined herself soar high above Gallows Sound and look down at the islands, leaving them behind. She asked herself where she would go and thought of flying further west, far away from Governor Johnson and Alfred. At least, she would go somewhere far from God's Mercy – that was for sure. She watched as a big blue parrot disappeared over the edge of the green island and out of sight.

"I want to be you,' she whispered and leaned back against the railing to let the sun's rays warm her face.

A dense jungle covered New Island, and lianas hung down from overhanging trees that leaned dangerously over the island's edge. Some of the trees even grew horizontally and many of the lianas, which had grown from the forest canopies for decades, hung perpendicularly down toward the sea.

Casey watched angler monkeys climb up and down the lianas. These strange monkeys, which were just a little smaller than humans, had black fur, elongated faces, and lived exclusively in the lianas of New Island. The primates picked larvae, caterpillars, worms, spiders, and insects from the canopies and sprinkled them in the water where the lianas touched the sea. The critters' movements attracted various fish, which the angler monkeys then grabbed with their hands and ate in the safety of their nests in the trees. After de-fleshing the fish, the monkeys threw the bones away, and seagulls swooped in to catch the fish remains in mid-air.

It was a perfect circle of life, Casey thought to herself as she watched a fishbone drop from the sky and a seagull catch it. Angler monkeys ate the fish, and the seagulls ate the leftovers. Stools from the birds fertilized the sea below, creating a perfect environment for algae and seagrass to grow. The fish ate the algae and seagrass, thus completing the circle. It was not like that with the people living in Gallows Sound. There, only those at the top of the food chain, such as Governor Johnson and the Queens of the Old World, benefitted from all the riches of the region. There were no leftovers for the poor and those in need. Casey wished the people would find the courage to revolt against the tyranny and bring down the Governor, but it was hard to imagine who could legitimately oppose him. She also felt guilty for once being a part of the aristocracy. Had her father not died, she would still be at the top of the food chain as well and not pay any particular attention to the hungry children in the street.

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