The next morning, the island was unusually quiet … at least in the main town. The birds still chirped and the waves still kissed the rocky shore, but an odd weight hung in the air, like the island itself had sensed something stirring beneath its skin. It was as if the chaos in the forest's depths was in a sandbox.
By mid-morning, word began to spread.
A group of boys had ventured too far into the forest and claimed they'd seen people in black moving through the trees with equipment- metal things that blinked and beeped. One boy swore he saw a drone zip through the canopy in the early morning hours.
At first, the elders dismissed them, but they couldn't ignore it anymore with the arrival of the boats- not the usual lone fishing vessels, but unmarked, sleek, and purposeful. Four of them docked quietly but firmly, like they had every right to be there.
