Helia wobbled as she got off the ferry and stepped onto the dock. In one hand she clutched the handle of her yellow roller suitcase, the other carried two smaller cases that clacked together as she walked.
She looked around at her new home. To her left was a stunning white beach, populated with lounger chairs and a food stand. The man behind it wore a towel as he sauteed and seasoned his product, filling the air with the scent of fried something. In the center of all was a palm tree, providing much-needed mercy from the sun.
To her right, the ocean waved to her. It swelled and fell calmly, never crashing, but lightly rolling against the dock. There were tiny, undeveloped islands dotting around the east end of the island, but besides that the nearest land looked miniscule on the blue horizon.
The travel brochure she’d received on the boat told her all sorts of things about Aguary Island. There were no cell towers here, and the wifi was said to be awful on the review sites she’d skimmed. Mail was the only way to reliably communicate with those not on the island. Its food specialty was crab. Crabbing was a popular pastime here, and Helia could already count double digit cages stored on the neighboring dock as she walked, tied to the posts with white rope.
Helia reached the end of the dock and turned to face the ferry. The sun latched on her pale face, making her squint and smile wide. With a hand over her eyes, she looked into the sky.
It was true. The Hand was an enormous, golden hand that emerged from the ocean. A benevolent entity, it watched over the island as a guardian. It was responsible for feeding and clothing its residents, and for developing it for enrichment and quality of life. Nobody knew how, but it could see and hear the people of Aguary just fine. Some rumored it to be a wingman, pushing pairs of islanders together for its own amusement.
The hand would turn to Helia, aware of her arrival. Its fingers would sprawl slowly, and it would wave excitedly to the new resident.
Helia watched it move in awe. She put down her suitcases, raised her hand and waved back to it. “Hello out there!” She called. “Thank you for having me here!”
The Hand would rotate and point west. Helia turned her head, seeing the path leading into the grass. She then looked back up.
“Is this where my house is?”
She was given a thumbs up. The smile on her face grew, The Hand was nice like the brochure had told her. “Thank you!” With another wave, she picked up her things and was on her way home.
The wooden dock disappeared into the grassy cliff, and Helia’s path was laid in white stones. Small oak and cherry trees were planted, evenly spaced, and between them were a half-log staircase leading down to the white sand. A lonely yellow bench sat to the right of it, looking out over the cliff.
The heels of Helia’s black sandals clicked nicely against the path, and her blonde curls swung against her face. She wore a yellow buttoned blouse, and white chino shorts, a brown scarf weaved into the belt holes. She thanked herself for not forgetting to purchase sunblock before her trip. She was lighter than most and a notorious burner.
She knew this island was small, but was shocked to find only six houses studding this side of the island. They were sorted by color, three of each, placed back to back and had a path leading between them. The north side was painted a red that instantly made her hungry, and the south was a fresh blue that took after the clear ocean around them. Even further north was another section of the dock, a boardwalk lined with small businesses. A wooden fence kept her from instantly walking to them.
Helia would walk to the bench and take a seat. She put her luggage down, leaning her smaller bags on the back and her roller case in front of her. She pulled out her brochure and flipped to the page with a map of the island.
She was currently near the east end. Yellow street was on the other side, all the way to the north west of the island. It would be a long walk, but there was another shopping district at the center. The ground turned to white concrete, and in the center was the Fountain.
“The Fountain is a place of worship for the island’s residents, and a popular spot for tourists. People come here to give offerings of money to The Hand, which go back into the island’s development. It’s also the proof you need that, yes, this island does have running water.”
Helia giggled at that last remark. “That’s not too bad, I can stop by one of the cafes along here and then make it home…”
“It looks like napping in random places is going to be trending soon, I should make sure my equipment is in check…” A voice said from Helia’s right. She looked over to see a brunet man in a black baseball cap, holding a white laptop and scrolling through something.
“Oh, you got wifi?” Helia asked, curiously tilting her head.
The man looked away from his screen at her, and nodded. “You new here?”
“Yes, I just moved here today. My name is Helia.”
“I’m Jerry, hey.” He nodded to her as a greeting. “The Hand gave me better wifi when I told them I’m a professional streamer. They usually listen when you ask, unless they’re really low on funds.”
“That’s pretty nice! I’m a botanist, I don’t really need anything like that. A bunch of notebooks to fill out and some shelves to store them though…” She continued thinking. “And some lamps for indoor growing.”
“Seems you’re already in the Aguary spirit! The Hand might be able to help you if you ask nicely. They’re a pretty kind entity.”
“They seem pretty friendly from what I’ve read while traveling. And that the culture here is pretty rich because of them! I’ve never heard of an entity that can hand you DVDs when you ask for them, that’s really interesting.”
“Hey, how about I show you around an island? I know a local place that makes really good seafood.” Jerry closed his laptop and would stuff it into a messenger bag he carried with him. “I’m friends with the owner, he might give us a discount.”
“I’d love to!” Helia stood, before remembering all of her luggage. “Ah, but I really need to get home and unpack…”
Jerry would turn to the south, where The Hand was waiting for someone to need them. He waved over. “Hey, can you help Helia get her stuff to her house? I want to show her around!” He called.
The Hand would turn to face them, and would start rolling its fingers, one by one, as if tapping on a desk. Helia’s bags would float up from the bench, and be carried off to the west end of the island.
Helia watched with a dropped jaw. “So that’s how they do it without crushing anything! They don’t just pick stuff up…”
“Nope!” Jerry replied. “It’s all magic. Pretty neat, right?”
“Yeah! I was worried they would just reach down and knock over a bunch of buildings and trees.”
“Now that that’s taken care of, let me show you the best spot for shrimp on the island.”
Jerry would lead Helia to the south end of the path. He’d walk down the wooden steps to the beach, and watched her follow. She moved slower than he did, so he waited at the bottom until she was standing on the sand. The orange food stand had a display screen on top of the yellow roof. To the side was a CRTV displaying the menu, which was mainly seafood with a couple vegan options. From it came a low hum, one familiar but that hadn’t been heard in years.
Jerry would peer in to find the man cooking inside. “Hey, Julian.”
Julian looked up from his stove and smiled at Jerry. He was a larger, dark-skinned man with curly black hair contained in a hair net. “Hey Jerry, you want some shrimp pilaf?”
“Yes, and can you make that 2 plates? I have a new friend here who might like some!”
“New friend? Sure!” He came to the counter to greet Helia. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Julian. I run this stand. The menu’s different every day, and we have some of the better wifi on the island!”
“I’m Helia, it’s nice to meet you too!” His smile was rubbing off on her, making her cheeks puff from the corners of her mouth. “I would love some shrimp right now, that would hit the spot.”
“Sounds good, just sit tight and I’ll get you two situated. How about you take a seat while I make your order?” He pointed over to a few picnic tables that The Hand had plopped right by the water. Jerry and Julia would sit across from each other. Jerry would lean in with a cheeky smile. “So, Helia, why did you move to this place?”
Helia sat and thought for a moment, resting her face in her palm. “My old home doesn't really exist anymore.”
Jerry's eyes widened. “ Doesn't exist anymore? How?”
“Our leader turned out to be a pretty bad person. When the news came out about it, she fled to avoid persecution, and we lost all support. People were beginning to starve.“
“That sounds pretty serious. But don't worry, you'll always be safe here. The Hand isn't one to leave like that. They love everyone who lives here and wouldn't abandon them.”
“I feel guilty for not helping those who were more vulnerable, but I lived alone even then. Nobody really knew me. I needed to flee or I might not have been here right now.” Helia hung her head, not wanting to look Jerry in the eye.
Jerry fell silent, not knowing how to comfort her. “I’m sorry. You did what you needed to.”
“I just hope others from where I'm from can make their way here. This place seems so wonderful and peaceful, from what I’ve seen so far.”
“Maybe. We don’t have a whole lot of room on this island.” Jerry was cut off by Julian coming with two steaming plates of shrimp pilaf, one in each hand.
“Order for table 1!” He called, crying the dishes and setting them on the table. He placed each plate down carefully, watching both faces light up with satisfaction.
“That smells wonderful!” Helia cheered, ready to grab utensils and napkins for the table.
“Yeah, thanks again!” Jerry turned to Julian. “How’ve you been by the way? You’ve been handling a lot of customers lately.”
“It’s been more than I was expecting.” Julian nodded. “The island’s only got room for 12 of us and there’s 13 of us…” He started counting on his fingers. “And only 7 houses. Something’s up.”
“Where do you think the rest of them are hiding?”
“I don't know, but I think that the Crab Shack is hiding something.”
“The Crab Shack?” Helia was standing behind Julian, spooks and forks in one hand and napkins clutched in the other.
“My business rivals.” Julian said. “I have nothing against having rivals, but I've heard from a guy that the owner has a shady past. Recently half their staff quit, and we've been having a couple whistleblowers on the island.”
“Yeah, there’s been a whole lot of talk about him not paying his workers enough.” Jerry explained. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to handle the situation. We’ve never really had a case like this on the island before. We weren’t founded too long ago.”
“We want to let the guy stay, but we need to lay some ground rules and consequences down with him, and The Hand.” Julian nodded.