Bindi & Coen, the star crossed lovers.
After the birth of the Golden Child, there came a time of wondrous peace and prosperity to Isola. For the first time in generations, there was no struggle, no conflict for the villagers. Life was perfect and beautiful for a time.
But the people grew bored with perfection. With no troubles or conflict to unite them, no struggle to occupy their senses, they began to turn against each other, in small but significant ways. Life was no longer beautiful in Isola.
The Golden Child had never aged, so not only was he not even aware of the adults fighting, he was more interested in partying and playing games anyway, and wouldn't have been much help.
One day after many years of grief, two girls were born into this hateful atmosphere. Two girls who were rivals all their lives, from the very day they were born. Lowana and Jirra despised each other from the outset. They caused their families to turn against each other, eventually dividing the village into two separate camps, constantly fighting and bickering.
They competed for every thing, including who would become a mother first. As it was, they birthed on the same day, at the same time exactly. Lowana gave birth to a handsome, brave and sturdy son she named Coen (Supernatural being who sounds like thunder), while Jirra was blessed with a delicately pretty, brilliant little girl she named Bindi (Little girl). Then they fought over whose was the most beautiful, more accomplished child.
The women's competitiveness and fighting grew more intense, more vicious until the tribe was in complete disarray. All that consumed their minds was proving their superiority over their rival. In all the turmoil, no one noticed the children as anything other than tools in their struggle for supremacy. Bindi and Coen were left more and more to their own devices. Both neglected by their families, it was only natural that they turned to one another.
They knew they had to keep their friendship a secret from their families, and while they were young it was easy. All the children played together in a group, so none of the adults noticed that Bindi Lee and Coen were inseparable. As they grew older, and the other children found their own individuality however, the adults became suspicious.
By this time, the split in the village was irreparable. Both sides blamed the other for the problems, and due to the bickering, fighting and tattling between Lowana and Jirra, the two factions focused their rage on the children. Even the elders of the village, who could still remember the golden age of Isola, were manipulated into taking sides. The poisonous atmosphere was so bad that once the adults discovered that the children were friends, they outlawed them from seeing each other.
Bindi and Coen were heartbroken. They had fallen in love over the years, a pure and gentle love untouched by the adult's problems. But now the days were gone when they could swim and play together happily, forgetting all the fighting for just a little while. Even their former playmates turned against them and chose their sides. Life was awful.
The children, now teenagers became depressed and lethargic. They naturally drifted to the fringes of the villages; seeing as they couldn't spend time with each other, they didn't want to spend time with anyone. Things were so bad the teens became recluses, spending all their time avoiding contact with anyone.
One day as Bindi sat despondently under a palm tree, eyes half closed to disguise the fact that she watching Coen (as was her habit), she noticed him slipping inside the Great Cave. It had been opened many years previously, in the early days of the golden age. The Golden Child had moved the massive boulder covering the cave's entrance one day, and the villagers had explored its mysteries, wondering at the berries inside and the other obvious evidence of habitation.
With all the celebrations and new prosperity though, they soon lost interest in the dark and poky cave. The beaches, lagoon and flower orchards were much more tempting than a fairly spooky and cold cavern. It was soon abandoned and gathered nothing but dust and cobwebs over time. Now it seemed that Coen had chosen it as his special retreat.
Bindi watched him quietly for days through lidded eyes. He seemed happier and more purposeful than he'd been in a long time. His step was faster, his eyes brighter, and he finally began to put on the weight he'd lost when they were first separated. Bindi heart swelled with happiness for him, even though she was still desperately sad, her love for him was so great that just to see him looking happier filled her with a bittersweet joy.
Seeing Coen happy made Bindi stronger too. She was no longer content to let the days go by, lost in a haze of depression and obedience to her elders. Rebellion eventually took the place of her sadness, and she decided to defy the rule not to see Coen. One day she came to a decision; she would gather a little food and disappear into the cave forever! Only Coen went into the cave, she figured, so if she hid herself in there, she would be free to see him as much as she liked.
The next morning she woke up before dawn and put her plan into action. Before the depression had overcome her, she was a skilled farmer and fisherperson, so she was able to quickly and silently gather berries and seafood that would not be missed by the others. Filling a small woven basket with her goods, she slipped through the village in the pre dawn light and quietly entered the cave. She was filled with excitement as she entered. What would Coen think of her bold plan? Would he help her, bring her food and keep her company? Or had he truly moved on with his life?
Bindi didn't know, but she was prepared to risk everything to find out. She could no longer live without sharing her life with Coen. If he rejected her, she didn't want to go on.
It was very cool in the cave, although the temperature outside was already warm before the sun rose. Bindi had edged her way to the very back of the cave, and couldn't see a thing in front of her. Not being terribly fond of spiders she was glad she'd thought to slip a firestick into her leather dilly bag.
She peeled some fibres from a coconut husk in her food basket. Cracking open a crab, she cleaned the top shell with her teeth and filled it with the coconut fibres. Unwrapping the banana leaf from her firestick, she placed it in the middle of the fibres, and blew gently to make the embers on one end of the firestick glow. The fibres slowly caught alight, and by that weak light, she could see well enough to gather dried leaves and sticks from the floor and feed it. Soon she had a merry little fire blazing away in the crab shell.
All the excitement had made her hungry, so she cooked the crab meat for her breakfast. She was so preoccupied with this task that she didn't even notice Coen quietly entering the cave. He was stunned and delighted to see the vision before him.
Many times Coen had dreamed of creeping into Bindi's hut and stealing her away to the cave forever. He worried though, that she had forgotten about him, didn't love him anymore. Now to see her here before him was like that dream come true. He folded his trembling legs under him and sat down to gaze at her with wonder.
As he watched, he noticed something strange. The smoke from her fire...he hadn't smelt it when he walked to his cave, and he couldn't smell it now. Puzzled, he looked from Bindi to the fire, and that's when he became aware of something very peculiar. Bindi's smoke was not filling the cave and creeping out the entrance as it should, in fact it was being sucked out through a large crevice low down on the wall in the back of the cave. It was very odd, but in his delight at seeing Bindi, he pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
After he had drunk his fill of watching her, he spoke,
"My love, I hope there's enough there for me too!"
Bindi gasped and spun around. Her eyes filled with tears and she rushed to Coen, flinging herself at him and nearly crushing him with her hug. She couldn't believe it, here he was, and joy of joys, he had called her "my love". Bindi felt her heart swell fit to burst.
The next few hours were spent talking, laughing and loving. They fed each other the crabmeat with their hands, just for an excuse to touch each other. They talked so quickly they could barely understand the other, except for the fact that they already knew what was in the others heart. It was wonderful and began to heal their hearts, wounded from the long months of separation.
Finally they were quiet. Coen lay with his back against the cave walls and held Bindi against his chest. He stroked her hair with one hand and leaned back to sleep with his loved one in his arms. Just as he was about to fall asleep however, he remembered the strange smoke. As much as he tried to put it out of his mind and rest, it nagged at him until he could stand it no longer. Being a trained scientist and skilled healer, he knew the smoke was acting in a way it shouldn't be able to.
"Bindi," he whispered, "Are you awake?"
"Mmm...hmmm," she mumbled into his chest, and tightened her arms around him.
"My love, I need to get up, just for a minute I promise..."
"Ohhh," sighed Bindi, and stretched all over, "What is it honey?"
Quickly Coen explained to her the phenomenon he'd noticed. Bindi immediately sat up. She didn't really understand what was happening, but she knew by the tingle of excitement in her stomach that something truly significant was about to happen. Ever since she was a little girl she'd experience this strange tingle just before something wonderful happened, so she'd learnt to trust her instincts.
Together the young lovers began to examine the crevice. As they got closer, they realised that the air was being sucked into the crack. It must lead somewhere, but where?
They tapped the rock, but it was as solid as could be. Then Bindi realised that the crack went right to the floor of the cave, and widened down the bottom. Because of her construction ability, she instantly she realised that if they dug down a little, scraping away the years of built up silt and debris, they may be able to squeeze through the crack on their hands and knees.
Excitedly, they began to dig with their hands. Within a short time, they had shifted a great deal of dirt, and the crevice was fully revealed. Bindi was right! It would be a tight squeeze, but they could do it! Being the smallest of the two, Bindi wriggled her way into the crevice first, with Coen following closely behind.
They crawled through the dark tunnel, brushing through cobwebs, until eventually they saw a light up ahead! The tunnel gradually widened again, until it became large enough for them to stand up again, forming a new cave looking out on a beautiful fertile plain. Filled with excitement, Coen and Bindi, the two soul mates, finally emerged from the darknes together. Hand in hand, with their hearts in their mouth, they stepped out of the cave and into their future...
Hope y'all like it, sorry it's so long!
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