In a world where water covers the planet, and few islands prosper into cities, lives a boy by the name of Milo. This is his story . . .

Chapter 1.
Ahtoo Island, Milo's home; the most peaceful of the surrounding islands, where the people spend every day under the sun, joyfully going about their lives.

On one particular day, a boy named Milo and his girlfriend, Sky, were passing a beach ball around on the coast of their tiny village island, when the ball accidently went out into the water, which suddenly gave Milo the desire to swim.

"Hey, do you know if the water is cold today?" Milo asked Sky. Sky shook her head; she didn't know.

"Why don't you check for yourself?" She asked him kindly. Milo nodded and took his shoes off. After going about 3 meters into the water, Milo decided the water was fine to swim in.

He removed his shirt and jumped in, letting the coolness of the sea water refresh his skin from the beating sun. "Ahhh, its beautiful, Sky! Come in!" He suggested. Sky nodded and jumped in after him.

Milos pushed a hand through his now wet, brown hair, and looked around. He noticed the ball drifting away, so he swam after it. He turned around to face Sky swimming toward him, and he saw something strange in the corner of his eye. It was a strange blue, glowing light, illuminating from the water beneath him. Entranced by the sight, he invited Sky to come down under water with him to check it out. She agreed and the two of them dove down into the deep where they would find the most amazing of discoveries . . .

As they got closer to their destination, the light grew bigger, covering more area of what seemed to be a hidden ruin of a city that had sunken hundreds, even thousands of years ago. The two swam deeper until they saw what looked like an air pocket, so they swam up toward it.

They reached the air pocket and gasped as they surfaced. They were amazed at what they had found.

"This . . . this is amazing, Milo." Sky said. Milo grabbed her hand as they stayed afloat on what was now a coastline leading into an underwater hallway. Well-built pillars surrounded the walls, and the blue light leading further down the hallway, was illuminating the walls around them. It was a beautiful sight.

"If only Median could see this." Milo said, referring to his best friend, who was also Sky's brother. He looked around some more, and then began to swim to where they could begin walking along the gray sand that was laid before them.

Sky kept a grasp on his hand, keeping close in this mysterious, yet wonderful place. Milo also kept a firm grip, but was not afraid. The area was so breathtaking to him they he could think of almost nothing else.

The two walked the halls for a while, taking in the scenery around them of the crystal-like objects glimmering on the walls from the light ahead of them. The light became brighter, and they soon entered the room where the source of the light was . . .

In the room, was more magnificent than anything they had seen previously. The walls were still shining with tiny crystals, and the blue light was now gleaming on the water, covering the room with the reflection of clear water. In the center, on a small pedestal, was a globe-like object, with three rings spinning around it. Milo and Sky were amazed with the small rock bridge that lead to it.

Milo approached the strange device, and hesitantly put his hands on it. As soon as his hands came in contact with it, the blue light changed to white, and a mysterious breeze came forth from it and filled the room. Sky sat in amazement as a new light shone on the walls, and the crystals seemed to grow bigger.

Milo watched as the things around him seemed to sag down. He was curious as to why this was happening, and tried to touch an area that was sagging. He kept one hand on the device, and with the other hand, he took a finger and reached forward.

He felt a smooth texture on the end of his fingers, and dragged down, watching the matter around him change. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Milo reached out his hand in another direction and repeated the previous event, watching the air swirl and the rocks on the walls sink, like it was melting.

Sky saw the entire happening, and then realized the water was also rising around them. "M-milo! What's happening?" She asked.

Milo took his attention off of the device and looked at Sky. The water was rising around her waist, and was slowly creeping up to the pedestal.

He looked back to the device, and thought of more important things, and left it. He took Sky's hand as the water began to rise higher, and drifted into the hallway. "I don't know what's going on, but we need to get out of here!" The two then ran out into the hallway as the water began to rush around them. It was now reaching up to their waists, and slowly rising to their chests. "We won't be able to travel fast enough to get out of here! We need to dive." Sky nodded and they both dived in and resurfaced on the coast of their island that had know reached to where the trails started 50 feet back.

They ran through the streets, trying to find Median. Sky looked up and noticed that there weren't even clouds forming, or rain for the water to rise so quickly. What was going on?

As they ran, Milo and Sky's hands were disconnected as a strong wave swept through the streets and took Sky away.

"Milo!" She yelled, as she tried to reach back and grab him, as he was floating away from her.

"Sky!" He yelled back, and watched as she was swallowed by the waves. Milo kept his head above the water and tried to swim against the current, back to save Sky. He looked up at a nearby roof and saw Median ready to dive in after her. Suddenly Milo felt a little safer knowing that Sky's brother would save her. Now he put his focus on saving himself.

He grabbed onto a roof as he was being swept by, and sat atop of it, looking around. He noticed that Median had saved Sky, for she was sprawled out on a roof top, but where was Median? He waved her down and shouted that he would be coming her way, not knowing if she heard him or not.

He saw a giant piece of bark floating by, and he timed it out to jump onto it to get taken in the direction of Sky. His plan worked, and he was soon carried over to the roof they resided on. Sky jumped into Milo's arms, and the three sat in awe as their island home, was slowly sinking beneath the waves . . .


Chapter 2.
Three nights later, while the people survived on the food they could scrounge up, and residing on the small mounds of water that remained of the island, something came from the skies that they had not seen before, but had only heard about. The noise it made woke up Milo and Sky, and they watched as it slowly lowered itself down to the island.

Doors opened on the bottom and a line dropped down above a rooftop. One by one, Milo watched as soldiers flew down the line onto what was left of Ahtoo Island. They went over to the little hubbles the islanders were staying on, and took them into the giant ship in the sky.

Milo and Sky didn't want anything to do with this, the soldiers were much too suspicious looking . . . Milo whispered in Sky's ear that they had a chance to escape, so they did. "Where is Median?" Sky wondered.

"I...I don't know, Sky. If I know him, he'll be hiding from the soldiers as well." Milo replied.

A fellow islander was sharing the same roof top a few feet away, she had heard Sky ask where her brother was, and had to let her know . . . "Sky, dear," she said, "Your brother . . . was swept away with the water when he was saving you. I saw it happen."

Sky's eyes opened wide, and filled with tears as she heard this. She was too sad by the loss of her brother that she dived off of the roof top and began swimming toward deeper water.

"Sky, Sky come back!" Milo tried to whisper loud enough for her to hear, but it was no good. He jumped in after her and began to swim with her. Sky kept swimming until she reached the place where the device was. She dove down, and Milo followed her. She took him all the way back to the hallways, and into the room where the device was.

There, she climbed onto the pedestal and broke down in tears, her upper body sprawled out on it. Milo stepped up to the pedestal as well and wrapped his arms around her.

"Sky . . . its going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay." He said, attempting to comfort her.

"Milo, this stupid machine took my brother! If we never had found it, the water wouldn't have come!" She replied through tears.

Milo didn't know what to think. Could that have been the reason?

Sky begins to think on it more, and realizes that it was Milo who wanted to go down and explore the light coming from under water. Her anger that built up was released on Milo. She threw punches toward him, telling him it was his fault for Median's death. Milo simply took the punches, until Sky finally broke down again into his arms.

"Im sorry, Sky. I didn't have a clue as much as you did what this device would bring . . . " Milo said as he too began crying.

"I know Milo," She sobbed, "I'm sorry too." The two stood waist high in water, and supported each other, arms wrapped tightly around one another.

Up on the surface, the soldiers walked toward the water, where there was a blue light coming from some underwater cave . . .


Chapter 3.
While Milo and Sky stood holding each other, they heard the faint noise of footsteps coming toward them.

Milo looked at Sky, " . . . Are you ready to leave?" he asked her silently. She shook her head; she didn't want to go anywhere then where she was right now. Milo nodded and held her close. "Then we won't be going anywhere . . . "

The footsteps echoed further down the hallway, which was at least chest high in water, and the soldiers got closer and closer, until they reached the small room where the device was.

Milo whispered, that he would have to let go at sometime, to Sky. She nodded and pushed her head into his chest. He kept his arms around her as the soldiers entered the room and pointed lasers at them from the end of their guns.

Milo let go of Sky, and she stood behind him with her head down. He kept his arms up like he was protecting Sky. "We won't be going anywhere." Milo quaintly said, with a stern face.

"We're taking you to a better place." The leader said behind a mask.

"That explains the guns." Milo said sarcastically.

"Then if you won't come, we'll just have to take you." He replied, and began to approach him with his three followers.

Milo stood with his hands raised, ready to fight if he had too. He heard one of the soldiers laugh, and pointed a gun toward him. Milo felt a sharp pain below his rib cage; a sleep dart was stuck into him. Sky screamed for a moment as she heard the gun go off. She soon heard it again as it was fired at her.

Milo and Sky soon drifted off after feeling dizzy, with the last though of soldiers feet around them . . .

Milo woke up in a strange place, feeling light-headed. He hadn't recalled how he got there, or how it happened, until he took a good look at where he was. It was obvious. He had been placed in a containment cell, sitting on a rough, flat, mattress. On the other side of the room, a man was sleeping that he had never seen before, and across from him, Sky was still asleep on her mattress. Milo ran over and wrapped his fingers around the bars, and tried to peek around the corner at a way out. It was no good.

Soon, he heard the man sharing the cell with him rousing up, so he turned around. "Mornin' neighbor." The man said.

Milo looked at him, then back out of the cage he was in. "How would you know what time of day it is. The only thing lighting this place is artificial."

"That be it, it don't matter to me." The man said. He had an accent unfamiliar to Milo's home. "You look bored there, mister. You looking for something to do?"

"A way out would be nice."

"Nah, don't bodder none with that, son. I been trying for the last three nights and nothin'."

Milo looked at the man, still holding onto the bars. "Why, what brings you here?"

The man looked back, and then started unpacking a can of sardines from his pocket. "Oh . . . bout three nights ago, when there was water surrounding the whole island I was livin' on. Rushed right through. Came outta nowhere, it did."

Milo looked to the floor. He knew what he was talking about. The man paused for a moment. "...Hey, what's da long face for? You know somethin' bout it?"

Milo looked around the floor, "No, it's just." He paused, " . . . Sorry, please continue."

The man didn't hesitate and took up Milo's offer. "So, these men here came to my island bout three nights ago and told me they'd take me to a better place! Somewheres safe!" He paused again, and slipped a sardine in his mouth, "so much fer dat." Milo sat in silence for a moment, and turned back to the bars, trying to think of a way out. He looked over at Sky as she heard him say her brothers name, quietly sobbing in her sleep. Milo looked to the ground and shed a tear also, he still couldn't grasp the whole fact that one simple discovery, had led him to where he is.

His thoughts were soon broken as he heard the metal doors open, so he quickly fled to his mattress and sat.

The soldiers came in with their guns, lasers pointing at the islanders in their cages. They soon reached Milo, who was avoiding eye contact with the glass holes in the masks they wore.

"Hey, you're that lover boy we found in the cave." He said.

"....good one." Milo replied.

The soldier seemed offended by Milo's comment, and tensed up. They rose their guns up and pointed their lasers at him again. Milo was angered by this and lunged forward, awaking Sky in the process. He grabbed the gun's nose before the soldier could shoot and forced it downwards, causing the butt end to fly upwards, hitting the soldier in the face. Milo did this a few times fast, knocking the soldier unconscious. The other two were startled, and luckily didn't shoot in time before Milo got possession of the gun.

"Come in and get me if you want your gun back." Milo taunted. Lucky for him these were the two stupidest soldiers in the unit, and they did as he said.

The prison door opened and Milo lunged forward, also hitting the other soldiers with the butt end of the gun, in the face. They soon were unconscious on the floor, and Milo stepped out to take possession of the keys, which were hiding in the soldier's vest.

All eyes and ears were on Milo as he maturely walked around the room, setting the islanders free.

"Now . . . you're all going to have to stay here, while I clear the area and set us all free." Milo said, while still unlocking the doors. He finally came to Sky's door and unlocked it, letting her jump into his arms. "...I'll come back for you." Milo said to her while looking into her eyes. She smiled and hugged him, backed up, and watched him leave the room.

Milo crept behind the wall into the main hallway where the soldiers had recently left, and walked toward a room where light was flowing forth. He knew someone was in there, but he had to take them out one step at a time. Being in a room was more convenient, so no one would hear them struggling. Milo timed it out, and was ready to barge in and quickly finish them off. He had never done anything so elaborate in his life, but he needed to put the important things first.

"One . . . two . . . THREE!" he said to himself, and barged into the room . . .

What awaited him, was nothing he had been expecting. There were no people, or lights on for that matter, but simply, the device from within the under water cave, had been taken to the containment center as well. Milo was amazed and dropped his gun and quickly peeked around the corner before he shut the door. He approached the device slowly, brining back thoughts of all that had happened a few nights ago. He put his hands back on the device like he had before, and watched as the blue light became white once again. Milo remembered when he had altered the appearance of the underwater cave, by sinking the matter around him while touching the device. He raised his hand, and moved it along the wall slowly. The wall began to melt away, and within seconds, everything around him had changed. The entire building was gone, and he looked around to see the remaining soldiers, and the prisoners who were now all confused about what happened. Milo soon began to realize more about the device and how it worked. His concern for the prisoners had allowed him to create a wave of water from nothing, and he swept the soldiers away with it.

Milo looked at his hands, and then to the device, and lastly, to the ground. He saw his feet were surrounded by water; could the wave he had created had some connection to the water he was standing in? Milo pondered on how, maybe the water that flooded the island, was connected to how Milo was waist-high in water as he experimented with it the first time. Milo put the pieces together in his head, about the device being controlled by thought, and began to think of Median.

"Milo." Said a voice from behind. Milo turned around and saw Median standing behind him. Milo took his hands off of the device and began to walk toward Median, shocked that he is there in front of him, but as he does, Median fades away. Milo quickly runs back and puts his hands on the device and thinks again of Median, knowing he would reappear. Exactly as he had thought, Median came. This time keeping his hands on the device, Milo started talking.

"...What happened to you, Median?" Milo said silently; still amazed that his best friend was right in front of him after being presumed dead.

"It's not what it seems, Milo, the water I drowned in, was not painful, there were no tears, I simply died, like it wasn't even real."

"Wasn't . . . " Milo looked to the ground with his eyes shut, " . . . real . . . " He saw what was going on now.

Milo soon heard Sky's voice as Median stood in front of her. She fell on her knees and began to weep. Median began to walk toward her, until Milo took his hand off of the device.

Sky stood up and began to question Milo through tears. "Milo, what happened? Where is Median?" She asked.

"Sky, I'm sorry, he wasn't real. He was merely a figment of my memory . . . " Milo replied, waiting to be hit, or something along that line.

After a moment of silence, Milo heard the silent weeping of Sky, and he reopened his eyes, beginning to walk over to her. He then knelt down beside her, as she sat on her knees, and motioned her into his arms. She didn't take anytime to think, and fell into his arms.

"Sky, things will be the way they were soon. I promise you that." He said, gently kissing her forehead as she wept. "All will be back to normal . . . "

After a few moments to calm down, Milo stood up and walked back over to the device. "...Sky, I realized something about this device. It is controlled by thought . . . " He put his hands on the device once again, the white light shining forth. "...then just maybe." He said silently to himself. He closed his eyes while resting his hands on the blue glass that was now white, and thought deeply.

He thought about the waves on the beach, and the light coming from the water. He thought about the ruins and the hallways, and the glimmering crystals being illuminated by the light. He thought of how this all began . . . and something happened.


Chapter 4.
Sky watched as everything around them began to change, and slowly became the beach of Ahtoo Island, where they were, playing on the beach together before they saw the light. For a moment, Milo and Sky's mouth widened with grins that maybe Milo had made everything gone back to normal, until he saw himself coming around the corner . . .

Milo wasn't the least surprised; it was what to expect for going back in time. He watched himself, see himself standing near a strange device, with a girl who looked just like Sky. The past Milo walked over in astonishment and touched the present Milo's face.

"...How can this happen?" He asked himself. The present Milo only had one thing to say.

"Don't go in the water." He said, and turned around, grabbing Sky's hand, helping her off the sand.

The past Sky dropped the beach ball and watched herself stride by, holding her boyfriends hand, who was now walking toward the water; the past Milo standing in awe near the device.

The present Milo and Sky went far into the water, already knowing it wasn't cold, and waved to the Milo and Sky who were standing on the beach. The two dove down to where the ruins were. They remembered everything about the now un-flooded hallways, and the blue light streaming across the walls. They crossed to the room where the tiny pedestal was, hands still linked.

Milo let go for a moment and walked across the small rock bridge leading to the pedestal, and placed his hands on the device.

"Sky . . . come up here." He suggested. She didn't say a word, but did as he said. "I want you to place your hands on the device with me." She followed his orders, and did that as well. The light changed again, now with the power of two people, and shone a pale green. "Sky . . . " he began. "Are you ready for this?"

She looked into his eyes that were now filled with joy. "Whatever you want Milo." She said softly.

"Sky, we're going to change the future. We're going to make it so we never find this device. We're going to erase the sadness, and the floods will disappear . . . are you ready?"

A tear of joy ran down her face, and she simply nodded.

"Close your eyes . . . " he said. He did so, and so did she. Milo recreated everything that happened in his head, and he felt a strong wind pick up. It was refreshing and triumphant.

Soon, he saw a light from behind his eyelids, and he opened them. Sky and Milo were standing on the beach again, where it all began, hands linked. They looked around for any past Milos or Skys, but there was nothing. Everything had gone back to the way it was, before sadness, and before floods. The two stared into each others eyes and shared a kiss that seemed to mean the most to them, like they had accomplished something that could mean an entire future of happiness. As they moved away from each other, they looked toward the trails that lead to the beach, and watched as Median came to join them . . .

End.

By Nathan Malec

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