Broken Alpha by Paulina Vasquez (ebooks online reader TXT) 📕

senses and elemental gift. In the distance I could see our destination come into view, Agistri Island seemed to be covered in pine trees.

“A forest! Think maybe I could stretch my legs out?” Rae asked.

“Leo, what’s the island population like? Do you think we might be able to go out for a run in the forest?”

“This is one of our favorite islands to run at.” He smiled back. “The island has less than twelve hundred inhabitants in three main areas. The forest has a steep trek, so the tourists tend to stay away and prefer the beaches.”

“I could use a run too.” Rocky said.

“We’ll take the last ferry back at 5:00pm so that we could run later in the afternoon when most tourists are either eating or going back to the mainland.” Leo explained the plan and we nodded our head in agreement.

The ferry reached the port of Myloi and we disembarked. We walked through the village of Megalochori, it looked like something from a postcard with its beautiful scenery and architecture. “I need something to eat.” I said as my stomach growled at me.

“There’s a place up ahead, we can grab something there. We usually have a late lunch at Raina’s Taverna, they have the freshest seafood on the island.” Rocky told me.

“Sounds great” I said. Ten minutes later, we walked out of the small cafe and I was enjoying delicious spanakopita with a coke. We strolled through the village, towards the beach.

The village has a quaint little charm to it, and everyone seems so happy. The roads and walkways are paved with brick, some are more artistically designed than others. The buildings are mostly whitewashed in that typical Greek island fashion and everything seems so clean.

This island had a nice laid back contrast to the hustle and bustle of the city. The beach was beautiful, and the water was a gorgeous clear blue. We walked to the far end of the beach for more privacy to claim our spot. Leo set up a pop up shade canopy in case the sun got too hot. We set our bags down, stripped off our top layer of clothing and made a run for the water.

“This feels amazing.” I called out.

The water was the perfect temperature and I couldn’t get over how clean and clear it was. I could see my own shadow beneath me as I swam around. Leo and Rocky had grown up together and were very competitive, they had a swim race out to a floating navigation buoy and back. I was the referee and watched as Rocky, who is smaller and more agile then Leo, swam back faster, beating him to the finish line. Once we cooled down, we headed back to the shore.

“Leo, could we bury you in the sand?” Rocky asked.

“Oh wow, I haven’t done that to anyone since my brothers and I buried my dad when we vacationed in Jamaica.” I said excitedly.

“No way! I’m here to work on my tan, have to get ready for next weekend.” He smiled.

“What’s next weekend?” I asked.

“The Dionysus festival! Lots of parades, floats, costumes, wine, plays, festivities and debauchery for three days!” Leo’s face glowed with excitement.

“Sounds like the Greek version of Mardi Gras.” I said.

“Actually, we celebrate carnival here in Greece too, we call it Apokries. It’s one of the largest celebrations of the year in this country.” Rocky told me.

“I can hardly wait.” I smiled.

We pulled our towels out of our backpacks and dried off, then we rolled the towels up to serve as pillows. We laid on the sand soaking up the sun and flipping through magazines. Rocky and Leo argued over several celebrities featured in the magazine trying to determine who was a werewolf and who wasn’t.

A few hours later, we were seated at Raina’s Taverna in the outdoor dining area overlooking the beautiful sea. Our table was under the shade of a really tall tree and the location was picturesque. A pitcher of ice water was placed in the middle of the table, it was beautiful and made from Greek blown glass. We sat quiet and studied the menu for a few minutes.

“Kalispera.” The waitress greeted us.

“Hello.” I responded.

“Ah! English, no problem.” She seemed to recognize that I didn’t speak Greek, even though Rocky and Leo could’ve easily translated for me she switched to English.

“Good afternoon, welcome to Raina’s, I’m Nathalie and I’ll be taking your order today. Do you have any menu questions I can assist you with?”

“Hello Nathalie.” Leo gave a flirty smile.

“What are the specials today?” Rocky asked.

“Today’s special is a whole grilled seabass with a shrimp skewer, lemon rice and spinach.” She said.

“That sounds great, I’ll have that.” I said.

“Me too.” Rocky nodded her head.

“Make that three specials and also bring us two orders of the Greek muscles and a large order of the fried squid.” Leo smiled handing Nathalie back his menu.

“Excellent! I’ll be back with that soon. Would you like anything else besides water to drink?” She asked.

“I think we’re okay with just the ice water thank you.” Rocky told her.

“Excuse me, where’s the restroom?” I asked.

“You can go through the restaurant and down the stairs, or you can go down the patio stairs over there and enter the first floor on the side door to the restrooms.” She said.

“Thank you,” I told her and excused myself from the table.

I took the scenic route down the stone steps of the outside patio to the first level. The restroom was just inside the side door to the restaurant. A few minutes