The Forgotten Island

by David Sodergren

Going on holiday to a warm climate was the cruellest fate a good book could possibly face.

Bangkok wasn’t just a city that never slept; it was a city that never shut up.

‘Well I’m not mad, thank you. The voices in my head would have told me if I was,’ she said curtly and he laughed and held out his hand.

Rachel arrived with the drinks and saw Ana’s glum expression. ‘There it is,’ she said. ‘The face where smiles go to die.’

He hated going to other countries and finding the locals didn’t speak English. Lazy bastards.

Darren, Bret and Lisa lay spaced out on the deck, occasionally engaging in the sort of meaningful conversation reserved for the terminally high. ‘Guys…if I was to eat myself…would I disappear…or become twice as big?’

Hope. Ha! Hope was just an acceptable lie people told themselves to get through the day.

she prayed to a God, a higher power, for divine intervention. She may as well have prayed to Cheech and Chong for all the good it did.

The door creaked open, letting in a thin sliver of light. Her jaw was clenched so tight that her teeth ground together. Come on, hurry up. I’m not afraid. She was, of course, but a little white lie never hurt anyone.

This was officially a Bad Idea.

‘Man is not alone in the universe. There’s more out there than we can possibly know. More than we would ever want to know. I guess some secrets are best left buried.’

‘Aye. To being a wee kid. Back when you were allowed to be stupid and silly and not care about anything. Before the reality of adulthood crushes your childhood dreams and you realise you can’t grow up to be an astronaut or a princess or a unicorn.’