Alice was standing on the shore of a peaceful beach when she saw it. A figure had caught her eye as it sailed across the water. As it drew closer, Alice saw that there was a boy sitting on a raft. He was paddling furiously to get to the land, as if he didn't know how to steer a boat.
"Hey!" he shouted from the raft. "Could you help me? Please?"
"Um," Alice said awkwardly, "Sure."
She rolled her jeans up to knee height so they wouldn't get wet and walked out into the water with Sparky at her heels. The water was deep enough to go over his head, so he had to doggie-paddle to keep following Alice. The boy tossed her a rope, and she caught it.
"Okay, now just pull me to the shore," he instructed.
It was a lot easier than Alice had thought it would be. The water carried the burden along with small waves. The raft hit the sand, and the boy stepped into the shallow water.
"Thanks," he said. He smiled.
"You're welcome." She smiled back.
The wind blew through his blonde and curly, medium-length hair. It settled over his blue eyes. He brushed it out of his face. He actually looked related to Alice. He had a white t-shirt with shabby gray pants, and they both appeared to be made of cotton. They were too big for him because he was so skinny. He looked like he was only 14, but his eyes looked thousands of years old. They didn't have the same gleam as another teenager's would.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"Alice."
"Stone?"
"Yes . . . how'd you know?"
"Well, you just look like your father. From what I've heard, anyways . . . only better. He's kind of . . . well . . . you know . . . ugly."
"Yeah, I think I know my own dad. Kind of . . ." her voice trailed off. "Anyways, what's your name?"
"Icarus," he answered.
Alice sat down on a rock. Sparky shook the water from his fur and hopped onto her lap. Alice stared at the sea. The sun was directly overhead and made the water sparkle like it was a sea of diamonds. It went on for miles and miles into the horizon.
"You came a long way, didn't you?" Alice asked him as she continued to look at the water.
Icarus nodded. He sat on the sand beside the rock. "I traveled from an island very far from here."
"Crete?"
"Yes. I traveled a ways with my father on wings he had made. He told me not to go too close to the sun, but I didn't listen. Once I was out in the warmth of the sun's glow, I couldn't resist. The wax on my wings started to melt. It didn't hold the feathers. Without them, I spiraled into the sea."
"But you didn't die from the fall," Alice pointed out. "How'd you survive?"
"The fall certainly hurt. I'll tell you that," he said. "But it didn't kill me. I did my best to keep afloat. I detached my wings. There weren?t any feathers left, so they weren't of any use to me anymore. I swam with the currents and I eventually made it to land. My father would have been proud. If only he had known I was alive."
He stopped. He looked like he was going to cry. He didn't have a family anymore. Alice felt fortunate. One of her parents could never die, although the other was on the brink of passing away. Would her father remember her if she died?
She pushed the thought out of her head long enough to say, "I want to know what happened."
Icarus sighed and continued, "There was one person on the entire island, and she was a healer. She took care of the wounds from my fall. After that, she continued to care for me. Every day, she'd make me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She had plenty of marvelous food on her island. It seemed like she'd never run out, and she never did. The island was pleasant, and so was Calypso. I decided to stay with her. I was there so long that I lost track of the time. There was something magical about that island. I never aged."
Calypso? Icarus had found Calypso!
"Could you find it again?" she asked.
"She told me that no one would ever find it unless they needed to. But if you needed to find it, maybe you could. I might tag along. It wasn't until after I left that I realized that I didn't want to go in the first place."
"Ok, but I think we're going to need a better boat than that."
The raft Icarus had sailed on was made of sticks. It was a miracle that it could even float with a person on it. Besides, it wasn't big enough for two people and a dog.
Sparky leapt out of Alice's lap. He ran over to a mound of sticks and leaves and barked at it.
"Good eye, Sparky! We can use those to make a new raft. You're so helpful," she said. She walked over and scratched Sparky behind the ears. Then, he seemed to shake his head.
Icarus walked over and dug through the pile. "I think Sparky saw more than you think he did."
With much effort, he pulled out a rowboat. It was sandy and small, but it was certainly better than anything Alice and Icarus could even hope to make. It had two oars on the inside, too.
"Perfect."
"Yes. Perfect," Alice agreed.
Icarus looked at Alice's backpack. He inquired, "What supplies to you have?"
"I've got food, extra clothes, a knife, and a blanket," she replied. "Well, that's what my dad gave me anyway. What do you have?"
"I've got a fishing rod. That's all."
They spent the rest of the afternoon preparing to start their journey. Icarus fished. He laid the fish he had caught on the sand to be like trophies. While Icarus fished, Alice inspected the boat for holes. She didn't find any, and she was really happy about that. It could take a lot of work for her to figure out how to clog holes, and she was short on time.
A while later, Icarus built a small fire to cook the fish he caught. They wanted to save the food they already had, because they could be away from shore for a long time.
They ate their fish in silence. Or at least until Icarus spoke up. "I noticed something odd. The supplies you have seem to be more like things you'd bring for a land journey."
"I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you mean by that."
"Well, wouldn't the extra clothes and the blanket get wet? It's not like your sailing on a cruise ship."
"I hadn't noticed," Alice admitted. She was really confused now. Her dad knew she would be out at sea, so why did he pack her things that would get wet? Something was wrong, but she couldn't figure out what.
