THE MOMENT
Lance was surprised to see so many row boats on the shore, and the several dozen people standing around on the sand. But, as he dragged his boat in, he noticed something else that worried him.
"Hello!" he waved at the crowd, just to be sure. They hadn't moved an inch since he spotted them, and not a single one turned to greet him in return. He wasn't sure if this was the wish-granting island; but, he assumed it was due to the strange happenings. He considered quitting there and going back to his ship; but, he looked out over the ocean and it was only empty waves. He scanned left and right but his vessel was nowhere to be seen. And now that he thought about it, none of the other ships that belonged to the assortment of row boats were seen on his way in either.
"I guess that settles that...," Lance shrugged to himself. He'd wanted adventure after all, though he hoped for more control of the situation. "...this is definitely the right place..," he chuckled. He looked up the beach and considered his options. With absolutely nothing to base it on, he wondered if going too far inland resulted in the time-stopped wish-seekers. He kept his feet in the moist sand and made sure the ocean washed over them every now and then as he turned and studied the people already there.
They were all from different time periods, that much was apparent. He could almost see a timeline as the uniform changed from between them. Some of the early ones looked like primitive skin divers wearing just enough to be modest on land. The later ones looked like full-fledged naval officers with chests full of ribbons, and everything in between. Pirate deckhands and well-dressed traders all stood around as if eternally waiting for something. He had a few emergency supplies in his rowboat, and as he wondered what to do next, he realized the others might have supplies too.
Until he had a better plan, Lance decided it would be best to set up a camp where he was for the night and put together an inventory. He didn't know what was responsible for time-locking the others, but he knew he did not want to end up like that. He wanted to get organized, then take a walk around the edges of the island in the morning, not that he knew how big it was either. With a plan in mind, he started toward the nearest boat that didn't belong to him. Although, thanks to a sinkhole, a misstep sent him tumbling forward onto the beach. He panicked as he was about to land face-first in the sand; then, he blinked.
"Hi! I'm Eury from Chroma Corp. What's your favorite number?" A teenager in an orange suit with a purple visor was smiling at him as soon as he opened his eyes. It was disorienting, considering he was about to hit the ground; but, after the blink, he was standing upright and she was asking him questions. It was too confusing and he couldn't keep up.
"What?" he shook his head. "Who are you? How'd you get here.. where'd you come from?" he asked. He looked around and he was now further up the beach next to the others who were still unmoving.
"Hi," she giggled, then she made an exaggerated gesture of putting her hand on her chest. "I'm Eury, I came from Chroma Corp.," she said. "When you stepped on the sand, it froze you in time, and I got a notification you were here. So, I came to do my job," she nodded. "Congratulations on finding the Island of Wishes! You're entitled to one wish; but, we're kind of busy right now. You're welcome to wait until we can start helping you guys...," she waved at the crowd around them. "You're number 17 in line," she said.
"And what, you'll just lock me in time? For how long?" Lance wasn't immediately against the idea. He considered himself to have a good intuition and he got nothing but eager sincerity from Eury so far.
"At least three days, maybe four or five depending on how complicated their wishes are," she said.
“Five days?” Lance shook his head. He believed her, but it didn't make sense. “They look like they've been here hundreds of years…,” he said.
“Oh, nah, it's only been like half a day so far. The island only appears once every 100 years, remember?”
“This guy…,” he pointed at the earliest, almost tribal guest. “...has only been here half a day? They're all from different periods,” he said. He kept his voice calm. He wasn't trying to argue, but they were valid concerns.
“That's right,” Eury nodded. “But, they still arrived just today. It's a magical island,” she shrugged. “It appears every 100 years, but there are a lot of Earths in the multiverse. The century thing is only relative to each Earth. On the island it's showing itself to a bunch of different Earths each day. It's kind of a nexus that exists across different realities to give people a chance to find it,” she said.
“That's…,” Lance was at a loss. He wasn't ready for the multiverse revelation, but the story made enough sense considering what he could see.
“So, what happens if I don't want to wait like them?” He'd already made a decision, but more information was good to have.
“I'll send you home,” Eury shrugged. “Technically, we’re supposed to send you off the island and let you find your way home; but, there isn’t meant to be a wait like this, so I can bend the rules a bit,” she said. “But, you won’t be able to find your way back to this island, even if you do live another 100 years or longer.”
“But, if I wait .. up to five days…,”
“It’ll be a blink for you,” Eury smiled. “Like when you were about to fall,” she said.
“Oh.. yeah… What happened there..?” he felt comfortable asking since she brought it up.
“When someone steps far enough up, time stops for them and I get a notification. I couldn’t get to you right away, you were waiting for about an hour or two,” she said.
“That long.. in a blink…?” he asked. Eury nodded. “Yes, please! I want to wait for my wish!” he said.
“Okay, perfect. Then I’m going to ask you to just wait here,” Eury smiled.
“Happy to-,” Lance froze in the middle of his agreement. His eyes and mouth were open but he was saying nothing and not able to see anything now that time was stopped for him. When it resumed, the missing time would pass by in an instant.