#emre 02

It’s time to expand. Such had seemed inevitable as soon as Rose had seen Frank’s shelter – which still feels decidedly like Frank’s, and not theirs, and certainly not like home – for the first time. But after a night of little elbows jammed into various limbs or planes of her face thanks to Jo, Rose has decided that it’s at least time to start scouting locations.

And so that’s why she’s winding her way through the jungle with Frank’s spear in hand and a furrow between her brows. What does one look for in island real estate, anyway? She’s certainly not building an oceanfront vacation home. That sort of thing might have happened in another life. But not in this one, in its current shapes and forms.

And maybe it’s worth asking if she should be building anything at all. If she should be settling into this place instead of trying everything she can to escape it. But when a wide-eyed little girl watches her every move, how can she take those sort of risks?

Jo is nowhere to be found now, though, likely still asleep. And it’s for the best – not only because of creatures she might encounter in the jungle...

Or, well, maybe it’s exactly because of that. Such is one of the many irritated thoughts that flare up in Rose’s mind as the rustling she turns toward turns out to be some unwelcome company. They haven’t spoken since she scolded him about manners. And here Rose was hoping it might stay that way. Of course she’s not so lucky.