Lost & Found- James Conrad

Prologue-1958

Mom, where are we even going?" I looked over to my mom who was steering our ship.

"We are going to an island where nobody has been there before."

"How do you know that nobody has been there if we have a map of where we are going?" My mom laughed quietly. She pushed a few buttons then she picked me up and placed me on her lap.

"Your father and I have been studying this since before you were born. This map has been around for years, but we are the first to finally use it." I stared at her with wide eyes.

"So we're like explorers?!" She laughed again.

"We're exactly like explorers." She tickled me until the boat sirens went off. My mom and I looked off into the distance to see a huge storm looming in the distance. My mom put me down and went towards the controls. "Lauren, I need you to promise me something. I need you to make sure that you're going to be safe no matter what happens. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded. "Yes, mom." I braced myself against the rail of the control center of our ship as we entered into the storm. I was tossed around the ship as my mom barely kept a hand on the wheel. It felt like hours until I saw the sun again. I looked and saw a beautiful island. I ran outside to see this strange new land. When we made it to the mainland my mom and I left the ship to explore the area. "Mom this is so cool! We're the first people to ever be here." My mom smiled as she took pictures of the area and of me. By nightfall, we returned to the ship to get ready for bed. On the way back in my mom and I heard a growl. We both whipped around looking for the source of the noise. My mom saw something then she turned to me quickly.

"Lauren, RUN!" I turn and ran towards the direction of the ship. I heard many gunshots until I heard a high pitched scream that was quickly cut off.

"MOM! I cried as I turned back to see a lizard-like creature looking in my direction. I slowly backed away until I realized it could see me. I ran as fast as I could back to the ship but I was stopped by something huge. I looked up to see a giant monkey looking down at me then back at the lizard thing. It stepped over me and ran over to the lizard thing. I watched as it killed the very thing that killed my mom. It then turned back at me, bowed its head slightly then walked away. I called out to it. "Wait! Thank you!" The monkey looked back at me and nodded its head as if he could understand me. I finally made it back to the ship. I didn't know what to do. I was all alone on this island surrounded by monsters that want to kill me constantly. I curled up into a ball on my bed that I made up of my extra clothes and my sleeping bag and went to bed.
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It has been about a week since I lost my mom and I can't stop thinking about those lizard-like creatures. I've been thinking about how I used to hear from my dad how he tamed a tiger because he showed him that he was no harm and how he tamed a snake because he showed him respect. I finally decided that I was going to find one of these things and see if I can tame it because what have I got to lose. As a ten-year-old, you don't exactly know much about the world, but you do know about things your parents tell you. My dad said I could be anything I wanted to be and I was going to be able to tame these creatures. I grabbed my backpack, filled it up with food, water, a gun, a compass, and a knife, then I set off into the jungle. I walked pretty much all day until I ran into what looked like a graveyard. I had a feeling that something was down there and I wanted to know what. I quietly walked around until I heard the very growl I heard only a few days ago. I immediately fell to my knees to see an even bigger one walking towards me. I bowed my head and thought of my parents in case this was the last time I would see daylight. Instead of feeling teeth I felt something nuzzle my head. I looked up to see the lizard-thing look at me with curiosity. I stuck my hand out to touch its nose and when I made contact with the creature it made almost a purring sound. I laughed because I was totally amazed at what just happened. The very species that killed my mother is standing before me. I stood up and walked closer to the creature. It bowed its head at me as I approached. "Your not so bad are you buddy? You're way bigger than the last guy. Do you have a name?" The creature cocked its head at me. "Do you want a name? What about Spock?" The creature snorted. "Obviously you do not like that one. How about Alpha?" The creature looked at me with what must be excitement. I walked closer to Alpha so I could pet him. "Do you know a good place for me to stay? My boat crashed and I have nobody left." Alpha lowered his shoulder and nuzzled me unto his back. "Wait, where are you going?" He took off into a run. I death-gripped his pelt as he ran. We arrived at what looked like a large hole. Alpha crawled inside as I heard him make some noises. I heard other creatures respond. I saw at least ten of these creatures crawl out of the crater and paused right before me. I stared at these creatures in wonder. They looked at me then back at Alpha then finally bowed before me. I smiled as I walked forward to touch each of these creatures. One of them allowed me to get on top of its back so they could hunt because the sun was going down. I knew that these creatures were going to be my family while I waited for somebody to come looking for me. Little did I know it would be a decade and a half until I saw anybody else from the outside world.