He was a man, a lonely man but the reason he was happy was that he lived in a beautiful, stress-relief island. He was a man about the age of nineteen.

Once he fell off a boat when he was eight, his family didn’t notice but when they did they panicked but it was no use, Stephen arrived at an undiscovered island, the island was all empty not a single person there, Stephen owned the island.

He grew up his whole life on the island, for twelve years. The island was about the size of ten houses combined.

He also did not know how to talk properly. The way he lived was by eating fruits from trees and drinking ocean water.

Stephen had long, black hair and a black beard. He had no clothes and had to do something, sometimes he made clothes out of leaves!

He longed to go to his family but the island, would not let Stephen go!

The island had something addicting, the waves shining in the sunlight, the grass on the ground, the trees, whatever it was, the island was really addicting. Stephen could not leave it. He also knew the birds who sat there.

And surely he would not let anyone step on his island. No one stayed there. The island was a lonely place.

“Got a leaves pant left,” said Stephen to a bird who had laid eggs a day ago. “Curious to see ur baby birds, ey?”

The bird made weird voices.

“Yes, yes I know ye hate to talk to me,”

The bird ignored but hung her head to the left.

“Ye think ye looking cute!? Can’t bear it, fine ye too cute, Picky,”

Stephen called the bird Picky.

“Ur the only one I have, Picky,”

The bird looked as if she didn’t care about Stephen but the bird liked Stephen really much.

“Picky, I’m going to my brother and my parents, I miss Jeff,”

The bird, of course, didn’t want Stephen to go. She came and sat on his shoulder.

“But Jeff is my brother and I wanna go to em,”

Stephen sat beside the tree Picky was sitting on.

“So, go and fetch me some leaves, good and big ones, I ran outta cloth,”

The bird flew away probably to fetch some leaves. A blow of wind hit Stephen and the tree. And from the tree fell a coconut. Stephen picked it up, broke a branch from the tree, and hit the coconut with his full might.

“Hard to break coconuts,” said Stephen hitting the coconut again but the coconut laid still.

He climbed up a hill.

‘That one, yah, Trib, longest tree,’

Stephen called the longest tree in the island ‘Trib’ He walked up to the tree and climbed up like a monkey in a second. From up the tree, he threw down the coconut and the coconut broke in half.

“Yes, woohoo, monkey business is always easy!” shouted Stephen. “That’s a big coconut, It’ll go for two days! Island people have a ready mind, poor normal people, can’t get to see this all fun! Ye just come and live on islands and you’ll never go back ey!? I’ve gotta go home, boy, it’s this island! Just love it ye know,”

Stephen felt something on his shoulder. Nails digging in his shoulder! WHO WAS IT! NO ONE LIVED ON HIS ISLAND.

Stephen looked behind slowly, AND IT WAS…

“…PICKY! Don’t scare me like that again, silly,” almost shouted Stephen.

The bird opened its beak. It seemed to laugh.

“Don’t laugh! And don’t do it again, it’s an order, not a request!”

The bird hung her head. She seemed to say ‘Whatever, it was just a joke, okay!’

“Found somethin’, Picky?” asked Stephen still angry and afraid. “Oh well, we’ll keep trying. I need clothes!”

“Coconut?” said Stephen offering her a bit of coconut, and eating the half coconut all at once! “Ye know, probably Jeff must be waiting for me,”

Picky poked Stephen with her beak.

“Ey! Fine I’m not gonna eat with my mouth open,”

Picky hated when Stephen ate with his mouth open.

“So, Picky, d’ye know, I’ve been trying to go back home. I miss my brother, ye know, hey what bout’ ur eggs, almost forgot!” said Stephen. “Are they cracked yet eh? Why ain’t ye sittin’ on them, they’ll die,”

It seemed like the bird had also forgotten about the eggs. Leaving Stephen, she flew to the tree where her eggs laid in her nest…. and sat on them.

“Cm’ back, they won’t die!” shouted Stephen.

Picky ignored him as usual.

“I’m goin’ to take a bath in the river, see ya,” said Stephen leaving her behind.

He went to take a bath humming something.

“I’ll just be comin’ Jeff, I will come, trust me. Father must be old, Mother too. It’s this island,”

He could see his reflection in the water.

“Mother used to say: Jeff looks just like me,”

There was silence for a minute.

“No time boy, go home, your parents need you,” said a cold voice from behind Stephen.

“What the!” said Stephen looking behind. He was so shocked that he fell into the water. This was… was when he was six when he fell into the water from the boat. Exactly like when he fell when he was six. Whatever it was, he was drowning! The river was carrying him.

“P-P…Picky!!!” but only bubbles came out of his mouth. He was running out of breath.

“Help! Someone please!”

“Go home, boy, no time we’ve got no time,” said the voice cooly.

“Who, what are you!” said Stephen able to talk.

“Note, my words, or else you’ll regret,”

“I’M AN ISLAND MAN, LEAVE ME ALONE!” shouted Stephen.

The voice disappeared. Stephen waited but nothing happened except for his drowning. Stephen’s eyes closed… and he had fainted. It felt like he had fainted for a very long time. By the time he opened his eyes he was lying where he first was. It was dark and late at night.

“Was this all a dream?” he said to himself. “It’s very late at night, gotta go to sleep again, bad dreams. Where is Picky?”

He went to sleep thinking it was a ‘bad dream’.

The next morning, he woke up early, at the peak of dawn.

Picky was also awake. Her wide blue eyes, her head hanging on one side… And surprisingly beside her were three beautiful folks.

Her very little babies, looking just like her. Same blue eyes.

When Stephen saw the baby birds, he was about to blow.

“Picky, your eggs, they’ve cracked! Let me see em! I wanna touch ‘em, feed ‘em worms, they’re so adorable!” said Stephen.

The bird, of course, was very careful, she did not want Stephen to touch her baby birds. She ignored.

“C’mon only for a second?” asked Stephen.

The bird seemed to be convinced, she looked at her baby birds and then at Stephen.

“I’ll name em, Hicky, Dicky, and Sicky, wait, wait, no, too rhyming. What d’you think eh?”

Picky didn’t even glance at Stephen.

Stephen suddenly remembered about the voice. Forgetting about the babies, Stephen said:

“Did ye hear something yesterday? Did somethin’ strange happen yesterday? Answer me Picky!” he said a little rudely. The bird shook its head.

“Must be a dream then. Yesterday, I heard someone say “Go home, your parents need ye, and I fell deep into the water… Felt like when I fell into the water when I was six, weird right? Picky I felt like a voice in my head tellin’ me to ‘go home’ and I have to go home. I’m not gonna stop for ye! The voice, my mother needs me. I know! You can come with me… if you want?”

Picky looked convinced. She didn’t sing like she did every day. She kept quiet.

“Sorry, but I have to, I know it myself it’ll be really hard, I’ll go home in a week, ‘n’ I’ll decide whether to stay, I won’t get to see this all, ye know, pretty sad it’ll be,” said Stephen weakly with a break in his voice. “Hard for both ‘o’ us, and your babies too,”

Picky looked deeply at Stephen then came and sat on his shoulders.

“B’ fore I leave I’d like to name them?”

Stephen’s eyes were watery. Picky wanted to calm him down but she herself was disappointed.

“The first time I came, you were a baby urself, I remember, I played with your mother, she was a friend of mines. Then one day she gave birth to ye and ye… are the only one I have… and now ye gave babies,”

Picky was also emotional. Her blue eyes looking at the river.

“I have to leave, or else, I’ll never get to see Jeff, why do my parents need me when they have Jeff?” said Stephen rubbing his eyes.

I’ll go eat some berries, I’ll find em’ in some bushes. He was even too emotional to look at Picky’s babies which he wished to see for years.

How had his mind changed in two days? He had never heard such a voice for twelve years! This was really strange.

Stephen felt guilty about leaving Picky and her babies, she would die without Stephen. They both had no one other than each other. He picked up some berries, washed them from the ocean water, and ate them.

“How do these people live without ocean and fruits and Picky?” said Stephen throwing a berry into his mouth.

Stephen went to see the babies. They were three of them, one had grey spots, one was completely blue, and the other one had blue eyes and grey skin. The first names that entered into Stephens’s mind were Blue, Spot, and Skip.

“Yes! That’s it, Blue, Spot, and Skip, ” said Stephen. “I’ll go tell Picky what I think!”

Stephen hurried to Picky; she was sitting disappointedly.

“What’s the matter?” he asked Picky. “Fine, if you sad bout’ me goin’ home then you can come with me? What about dis?”

Picky thought it was better to come with Stephen than to be left alone.

“I think, you shall name your babies, Spot, Skip, and Blue?”

Picky agreed and hung her head.

“Yes then, fine, Skip, Spot, and Blue,” said Stephen. “I can’t even think of it, goin’ to live with normal people, who haven’t stepped on an island once!”

Picky thought the same but at least she had a choice to live with normal people or not, but it was worth staying with Stephen.

“One last time I’m asking do ye wanna go home with me?” asked Stephen.

Picky hung its head which meant ‘Yes I wanna go, I’ll do anything to go with you, Stephen.

“OK, but your babies, how’ll they fly?” asked Stephen thoughtfully. “…Never mind, I’ll keep em in a big, empty coconut,”

Picky hung her head which again meant ‘OK’.

“Well then, we’ll go in a week, be ready,” said Stephen.

He remembered about the strange, cold voice.

“What was that voice! Who said that? Was it a nightmare?!” said Stephen to himself who was really angry, then again he thought of going home.

“How’ll I aj-est? THIS IS REALLY STRANGE!” he shouted.

Picky looked at Stephen suspiciously, and of course strangely and worriedly hanging her head on her left shoulder.

A week passed and they were ready to go! Since Picky’s babies were so small, they fitted in an empty coconut.

“We don’t have a boat, Picky, what do we do?” asked Stephen.

Picky didn’t really care, she was like:

‘‘I can fly, find something for yourself,’’ '

Stephen gasped.

“Look! A boat! What the?!”

Picky also looked at an old, brown, wood boat.

“It’s like someone put it for us!” shouted Stephen. “Whoever did is really nice…! …Wait-No one lives on my island! Whatever,” he said puzzled. “Let’s go on,”

Picky thought the same…But she knew that someone was living on the island which Stephen did not think of.

They jumped into the boat. “There’re even spades!”

By dusk, they arrived at a forest. Every second Picky made sure her birds were alright.

“Hop out, I mean, fly out,”

Picky flew out of the boat. It was very dark. The sun had faded and the moon had appeared.

“We’ll stay one day in the forest,” said Stephen looking at Picky who hung her head. “I’m sleepy,” said Stephen. “Oh, man! Can’t sleep, have to look after ur babies, an animal might eat em,”

Picky gave a worried glance at the birds.

The whole night Stephen woke up for Spot, Skip, and Blue but every second he fell to the floor saying:

“I’m sleepy,” but woke again and sat.

Then next morning when Picky woke up, she saw Stephen sleeping deeply, lying on the grass like a dead body.

The first thing she noticed was her beautiful babies were alive, she looked at them and went to fetch some worms.

Soon Spot, Skip, and Blue were eating worms. It looked pretty gross. Picky woke Stephen up. He was still sleepy.

“Lez go,” he said.

Picky agreed. They walked for about three hours.

“We’ve done it!” shouted Stephen. “We’re in the normal country!” “We’ve done it!” Stephens’s smile faded. “Wait, How’ll I find Jeff?” he asked.

Stephen went up to a grocery man.

“Wut?” said the man he looked very pissed off and cheap.

“Sir, I need help,” said Stephen. He told the man everything from the beginning.

“Have any idea, sir?” he asked.

“So you’re Stephen, the lost boy! You never died or disappeared!” said the man. “I know where your mum is!”

The man told Stephen where his mother lived. Stephen carried the coconut everywhere. After about an hour they arrived at a little cottage. Stephen took a deep breath.

“Lez go, won’t Jeff be surprised to see me?” he said excitedly.

Picky hung her head. This was too different from an island. He rang the bell. A rather old woman opened the door. She took no time to recognize her son.

“Is-Is it Stephen!” she said.

Stephen was not able to talk. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Yea…mum,” said Stephen finding his voice.

The woman threw her arms around her son’s waist. She burst into tears.

‘‘Stephen!” she said weakly.

Stephen was happy but angry.

“Hasn’t Jeff come to see me?!” he said.

The woman looked at Stephen with her eyes watery.

“Don’t! Don’t talk about Jeff! I forgot he was my son,” she said.

“What has he done to you!” shouted Stephen.

“He-He died,”

“WHAT!”

“Yes,” said Stephen’s mum. “A disease,”

“Don’t mum! Don’t say Jeff died!” said Stephen who burst into tears too.

After a month they were settled. Picky and her babies too. It took longer to adjust to than an island, but Stephen missed nothing more than the island…

Stephen never got to see his brother ‘Jeff’ but anyway he was happy. Stephen loved Blue, Spot, and Skip. They were the cutest birds Stephen had ever seen.

But without the island, he felt sick…

…So Stephen’s mum shifted to the island with Stephen and Picky and her babies too, a year passed. The babies grew into beautiful birds… and Picky was getting older. Stephen took good care of her.

Stephen’s mother had realized that an island was better than a normal land. She got to see nature more. Stephen was educated. Now the island was a normal living place. Farms grew there, buildings, cottages were made there. And the island was a beautiful place.

Stephen’s parents loved him…

…As much as poor Jeff.

Only Stephen, his parents, Picky, Her babies lived on the island.

The only thing was Stephen never got to know the cold voice but whoever it was, was right, His parents needed him…

…For Jeff was gone.

Stephen’ put guards to guard his island…

…And no one shall hear a voice again! Even if it’s right! Everyone shall make their own decisions!

The End