Barry sat on the ground with the damp grass beneath him. It had rained all night and all day, the grass was a little too damp. He could feel his trousers sticking to his skin but he couldn’t care less. He was far more interested in what was in front of him – the remains of the US army’s fighter plane.

Not only was the U.S army’s fighter plane in front of him, but under the brown and yellow bunch of leaves – where he found the remains of a uniform – still had a few pieces of the uniform. Usually the uniform would consist a two-piece flight suit in the universal camouflage pattern that offers the soldier protection from flash fires, similar to the one Barry found last time he was here but this one in front of Barry surely had universal camouflage pattern but that too was barely visible.

Barry picked up the left over irregular shaped part of the uniform. It was torn from the sides and looked like the only thing that got saved from whatever attacked the plane… including the person.

“Okay, so this is what we have gathered yet,” Barry said to himself until he looked around, “Where are you? Ah, there you are,” He sighed as a little monkey walked over to him.

A few hours ago – when Barry was still figuring out what to do next since Freya left him – he had a near to death experience when he was walking, trying to figure out the way. While he was busy thinking which turn to take next, he heard a leaves rustling behind him. In classic Barry fashion, he braced himself for a giant animal with fur. Picking up a stick – which could barely defend itself – Barry prepared to attack whatever was thirsty for his blood. As sweat dripped down his forehead and his feet trembled, he snuck in a breath and shouted,

“Come out! I’m ready!” He said, shivering and indeed, being not ready at all.

Barry could feel the anxiety crawl up his skin as the rustling grew louder but he almost laughed to himself when he say a monkey walk on his two feet. The brown fur animal sat and looked at Barry with innocent eyes.

“Oh, it’s just you! Hey there, buddy!” Barry waved at him and the monkey jumped back a bit. Confused, Barry looked at his hand only to realize he has a stick in his hand, “I won’t hurt you!” He dropped the stick. The monkey got on his feet again and within seconds hopped near Barry.

Barry and the monkey had been together since the past three hours. The little monkey accompanied him as Barry tried to figure out what to do next.

“Why don’t you tell me what to do next?” Barry looked at the monkey.

The monkey looked away.

“Yep, you don’t like me too, do you? Do you wanna slap me too?” He rolled his eyes before sighing.

“Monkey,” barry said, “Have I fallen in love?” he asked, “it almost sounds impossible, I know. I mean it’s not like I never had a girlfriend back home but the moments I had with Freya here were… magical. For example,” he continued, “the time when she showed me the fireworks and the time she shared things about her family with me…” he sighed, “but I thought – all this time I thought she’ll come back with me but I guess… that’s too much to ask. I mean, I can’t live without my home and this Island is her home. How can I ask her to leave her home and come all the way to mine? It’s so stupid…” he said in a low voice, “I guess I deserved the slap…”

The sky was almost clear now. At the edge of the cloud there was a brilliant white patch, like a turning page catching the sun. The rest was dove grey with a subtle hint of purple, just enough to announce the coming sunset. Sunset came to the highlands as God's poetry, hues from flame to heather told in soft rolling verse.

A droplet fell on the ground, right before Barry. He looked up at the sky but the orange gold stretches far and wide, the color of fire hearths and tangerines. It was but the reflection of the dawn, the promise of the rising sun that comes after the velvety night has had its say and the land has rested once more. Another droplet fell and before he could look up this time, he realized he was crying.

Barry stared at the tear drop which disappeared within seconds. He looked up to see the monkey watching him. Barry smiled “They say sadness is behind anger, yet anger never comes unless in direct self-defense, and so perhaps I can credit this natural passivity with my willingness to cry and feel pain, to let the sorrow teach me more about my true nature and how fragile we humans are.” He smiled.

Before he could add more, the thunder came as a roared promise of rain, sending shivers down Barry’s veins. Lightning cracked the sky sending heaven's light through the storms.

“There’s gonna be a storm…” Barry’s voice had an urgency of panic. He stood up immediately and looked at the monkey, “Okay, you need to go back to your family because I got nowhere to hide myself…” he explained, as if, the monkey would understand. The monkey got up and looked at Barry.

The orange and red sunset was long gone. It seemed as if someone draped a black curtain all over the sky. It was getting dark.

“Go go shush!” Barry tried to get rid of the monkey but it stayed.

He looked at the monkey as his frustration grew, the lightning illuminated a brilliant pathway above, lifting his eyes skyward, bringing even the slowest soul-pulses back into a steady and strong rhythm but with a sense of urgency to shelter and hide themselves from the disaster. Barry looked over his shoulder and spotted a house – whatever was left of it.

The wind howled like some horror movie opener and the forrest grew quieter. Barry’s heart started racing instantly due to a rapid infusion of adrenaline. His hair were whipping violently about his face which made it hard for him to see. There were no animals and no birds. Leaves stumble around the ground as if caught in invisible laundry machines. The trees creak, screaming as their limbs strain against the onslaught.

Barry took a few involuntary steps backwards and scrambled for the tree behind him. Then the rain started, not slowly, but so thick he couldn’t see a few feet away from him. It pummeled his skin raw in the seconds it take him to get inside. The house far from him was now creaking like the trees and suddenly his eyes drop on its roof and a silent player left his heart, hoping the roof stays put.

Suddenly, something made Barry turn around with force. Before Barry could digest what happened, he felt a sharp pain across his cheek. Again.