Fiction: The Orphan, The Destruction and The Stranger

One: The Orphan
On Charm Island, everyone here was once an orphan. Here, your friends were your family and your home was wherever they were.
    Sam, a red-haired, freckle-faced, boy of fifteen, had never considered himself an orphan, not a permanent one anyway. He liked his family but there was always something he missed.
    For the first five years of Sam's life, he had a brother. He had not seen him in years, not since the day at the carnival. That day, Sam sneaked off to watch the elephants while his brother was distracted by one of girls from his school. Sam fell asleep on one of the haystacks and by the time he woke up, the carnival was closed and emptied of people.
    He ran around the place calling for his brother. After he realized he would not get any replies, he slipped out between the gates but he didn't know how to get home or where home was. For hours, he wandered the streets until he became too tired to move. He sat on the pavement and sobbed. A man appeared and asked him what was wrong. He took Sam to the police station. As Sam often called his brother Bobo, he didn't know his brother's name and as his brother was often the one to take him home and anywhere else, he didn't know their home address. Later, Same was sent to Charm Island.
    Sam walked toward the edge of the shore. It had been ten years and still, Sam sat on the sand and waited. Some days, the bottom of his pants would get soaked by the water. Other days, it would rain but he never moved, not until he grew too tired to stay awake.
    The sun began to set. Sam sighed. As he looked once more out toward the water, there appeared a boat with white sails. Was it his imagination? But as he blinked a few times and looked again, the sky darkened and all he could see were the clouds shifting. Then came a rainstorm.

Two: The Destruction
Walter stood by the edge of his boat wondering what to do as the sky poured down and flooded his boat. A sudden wind sent the mainsail backward and struck him. He dropped into the water.
    As Walter came up for air, he wiped his eyes but the rain blurred his focus. Lightning fell and for a brief moment, he could make out the shape of an island not far off. He began to swim toward it. A booming sound made him turned around. His boat had splintered into pieces. There was a faint smoke coming from one of the wood floating in the water. He turned away. He must get to the island.
    The coldness of the water and the pouring rain kept him awake. His mind lingered on a memory of his wife, Sofie. She was his enigmatic neighbor for five years before they were married. There was rarely a time she spoke of herself and even if she did, she brushed it of and said, 'The past was in the past, there was no need to talk about it.' He understood some things should be kept secret even if one day, it might create a destruction near to a thunderstorm.
    Sofie had patience. She also had a talent for making Walter feel at home. There was solace in being in her company. Often, they spoke little but their time together had always been peaceful.
    The day before she died, she made him promised he would find his happiness again even without her. He didn't reply, he merely smiled as he held her close.
    He scrubbed a hand over his face. The island was just a few feet away. The continuing rain blurred his vision now and then. His arms and legs grew weak even as he forged forward in the water. He must reached the island. He must live, if not for Sofie, then for his lost brother. As he make another move forward, he was swiped by a large piece of wood.

Three: The Stranger
Penelope walked around the garden. The storm from last night had drowned the island but the water had been receding. As their garden was housed in a large old farm behind the school building, there were not much damage but the rest of the island needed some sorting.
    The children were gathered in small groups here and there to help with whatever was needed. Superintendent Mrs. Vicar insisted the children get involved as a way to support their growth. But the children had been playing and kicking things around. Penelope didn't mind them. They deserved to have fun now and then.
    Penelope sighed. Some fifteen years back, she was an orphan. Her mother had abandoned her on the streets under the disguise that she was going to buy Penelope ice cream. One moment Penelope was patiently waiting on the park bench and the next, nine hours had passed. It was Mr. Key who took her to the island. He was the island's doctor, the school's biology teacher and the gardener. But he didn't like to be called doctor.
    Penelope was an assistant gardener. She had plenty of time to wander and wallow about the grounds. After a few hours of fixing up the garden with Mr. Key, she went for a long walk by the shore. She passed Sam sitting on the sand. She smiled and waved. "Seen anything?" she said. Sam glanced at her, shrugged and turned away.
    Penelope sighed again. Charm Island should had been named Orphan Island as there were more orphans than trees. After about an hour of walking, she came upon a piece of wood that block her path. She gave it a good kick. It landed on another piece of wood with two large red S's painted on it.
    It had been forever since someone came on the island. She looked around her. More pieces of broken wood were scattered here and there. Then she spotted a figure lying on the ground near the shoreline. She rushed toward it.
    The man was soaked. One of his sneakers were gone. She placed a finger under his nose and felt a small rush of air. He was alive. She ran off toward the school and returned with Mr. Key. Together, they took him to the school infirmary and laid him on one of the cots.
    Penelope watched as Mr. Key examined the man. She told the doctor of the wooden pieces she had found by the shore. It appeared the man might had swam all the way to the island after his boat was wrecked. His only injury was a slight bruise on his forehead.
    A while ago, one of the older Charm islander gifted Penelope a set of secret books. It told of the magic that isolated and protected the island, the kind of magic that could either destroy a life or send it safely to the island. Orphans who came here had always sailed smoothly but everyone else had to take a more difficult path. This stranger, this man, must had been brought here intentionally.
    Nearby, Sam stood behind one of the curtains that divided the cots. What was the boy doing here? Was he not by the shore waiting for his brother as usual? But the boy was smiling and his eyes were on the man on the cot.
    Could it be possible? Could this stranger be Sam's brother? Penelope smiled. She was reminded of two things Mr. Key had taught her. One: The world seems to work mysteriously but in fact, everything is clear if we only look more closely. And two: Families will always find each other even if it takes a long time to happen.

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I'm a bit late but at last, I got around to using the rest of the prompts from last month's Words for Wednesday. The prompts are: orphan, island, farm, brother, freckles, red-haired, imagination, friend, charm, home, water, gather, flood, memory, linger, solace, enigmatic, neighbor, cold, destruction, secret, garden, walk, world, abandon, magic, life, forever, key, spring. For more of last month's Words for Wednesday, go here.