The Proposal

The witch fell to the ground abruptly.

The president had to restrain his arm that almost went on its own to steady her, she looked up at him from beneath long coal-colored lashes, the contrast between her fair skin and her dark eyes and hair was a heavy load for a man to carry, but this was not the biggest contrast this fake woman showed him.

Her eyes wore the manliest of all looks, it was fixed deep within them, making way for her fearless soul to gaze upon him. For three seconds or maybe four, he imagined he was looking at himself in his mirror. The thought was...

"Extremely disturbing..."

"...Marry me."

She said, desperately.

"... Fuc*ing hell?"

.

.

.

"Did you hear what she just said to our president?"

"You are just hallucinating you fuc*ing idiot."

"I did not even tell you what I heard you as*hole!"

"Are we all under the influence of the nymphs' spells now?"

"We are doomed! Doomed I tell you"

"SHUT THE FUC* UP MEN!"

The president shouted over the panicking statements that were humming in his head, they were coming from the mouths of his men all over the ship. If he did not act fast, the men's morals will crumble to dust.

The stories that were passed from father to son were of two kinds, some told of the nymph's abnormal control over the elements through their tabooed witchcraft, and some told of the nymph's seduction as means to disarm a man or drive him temporarily out of his sanity, pushing him as far as to believe that he was having the most intense intercour*e the fathers knew of.

But the tales of the fathers never talked about mind tricks similar to the ones that he was facing right now, to make things worse, the men he chose to take on this mission were not the most talented or the strongest, but the most loyal ones.

He chose the ones who were ready to give up their lives for him on this mission.

If these men were to fall for the witch's theatrics and believe her crazy as* proposal, they might start getting ideas that would put his original plan into more doubt, some would even hesitate to slaughter the true rebels behind the division that befell Men's Island.

There would be nothing worse for his well-knitted plan than to have a nymph joining his cause or offer her loyalty to him, it would mean that more of this type might be found on the Women's Island, and it would mean that the entire plan behind the men's revolution had to be discarded and a new one had to be imagined from square one.

'My authority over the men is being jeopardized by this devil.'

The president was not one to act without studying his next moves and so he did the only thing that he could, he ignored her, focusing his attention back on his men.

"DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE ACT OF THIS WITCH, SHE IS TRYING TO GET INTO YOUR HEADS, DO NOT ALLOW HER TO, TAKE HER TO THE MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON WE HAD PREPARED FOR HER! TONIGHT WE CELEBRATE OUR VICTORYYYYY!"

"HOORAAAAAH"

"HOORAH"

Riding the wave of the men's excitement, the president eyes located the cook and he waved for him hurriedly. The older man approached and pulled the nymph up to her feet, he guided the witch with sure steps in the direction of his kitchen.

The president unwillingly admitted to himself that the shirt she wore was only adding to the creature's profound sex appeal.

While the covered parts allowed room for the imagination to paint different sizes of the parts that the deprived men lusted over, day in and day out, her long naked legs were killers enough to assassinate the will of committed monks, let alone his immoral soldiers.

Having put two and two together, the president's sub-plan for his original one was formed. The first action to take was getting her off the board while the attention of his men was still on him.

"YOU WILL EAT AND DRINK THE FINEST OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES! TONIGHT, WE FEAST AWAY UNTIL THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY!"

"A FEAST WITH THE PRESIDENT!"

"A JOYOUS OCCASION!"

"NO MY MEN! I SHALL INTERROGATE THE WITCH TONIGHT! NOTHING CAN TAKE AWAY THAT PLEASURE FROM ME!"

"HOORAAAAH"

"LONG LIVE OUR PRESIDENT"

The president smiled widely for his men, in his head, he was taking an inventory check for the most suitable option the ship had to offer.

'I will paint the witch's body into unbecomingness tonight.'

****

Paradise was an island that constantly enjoyed the sun, even when it was winter, there were many days when the sky wore a very clear blue. It was still a very green place to live in even with the absence of rain, the nymphs of earth and water were more than enough for the prosperity of the plants and animals, but this was not the case today.

Dark clouds covered the island from all directions, the women in the village closed their doors and stayed inside while the nymphs shed tears that reflected the queen's sorrow, no one knew Paradise can be such a sad place, it was unheard of.

Between the Odd World and Paradise, the boats of the suitors continued to sail, the restless sea gave the eager suitors a hard time, rocking them left and right in a subtle warning that it would not carry them without a price this afternoon.

Jason and Hector shared a boat, determined to arrive in Paradise, while many boats were retreating already, they encouraged each other to push forward through the less than friendly waves.

"Do you remember all the techniques we talked about?"

"Hector, will you shut up about it already?"

"I am telling you, man, you need to make sure you are delivering the maximum amount of pleasure before you take it out."

"Stop! Just stop all the stressing about it already! your gadgets will take over for you so give your brain a rest! Otherwise, you will really fail to get it up when the time comes!"

"You know man, ancestors like you were the reason why we ended up in this fu*ked up situation in the first place."

"Shut up Hector! Just because I tolerate your shi* does not mean that the rest of the men will do, you are lucky the storm is blocking your voice from being heard by the rest of the suitors."

"What is up with this weather anyhow man, I thought Paradise was always sunny."

"Just another test to our wills for sure, and mine is made of iron, no wave can stop me today!"

"Iron sinks in the water you fool! Switch to a wooden will, it better suits our situation right now."

"Haha, my good friend! I chose my companion well! Look at the other boats, some of those spineless cowards are heading back to Men's Island already!"

"What a good-for-nothing bunch, they are not serious about pursuing a woman if they turn back from something as insignificant as this."

"But that is better for us, right? We will get a higher chance of being selected if the men's numbers are low."

"Low numbers or not man, I would rather die on that island than come back a virgin at this age."

"Shhhhhh do not jinx our future bringing death right to our faces by calling upon it, anyhow, you know how intense it can get for the ones who do not get picked."

"You mean the ones who CLAIMED they had sex with nymphs instead of human women? They might as well be making up stories to cover up for their embarrassment, everyone gets picked anyhow."

"No no no, I talked to one Hector! the level of detail that bastard used to describe the whole thing is not something that he could have made up on his own."

"Details huh, do tell me about those details and I will be the judge of that, you have always been a trusting fool."

"Shut up man, perhaps you know him! Big Ajax from the mines?"

"Ahhh is he the son of that famous restaurant owner?"

"Yes! Yes! That is the one."

"Who does not know of the scary-looking fellow? How the hell did he ever pass the nymph's vetting process?"

"His points must have been high because of the financial stability he would have offered a child in case he was blessed… with a boy."

A gloomy atmosphere that matches the mood of the sea set over the boat and darkened the bubbly excitement the men were using to push forward.

While some suitors went to Paradise to court women and were fine regardless of the result, the majority went to get a chance of having children of their own, and so for the majority of the suitors, the risk of losing ties with their soon-to-be born children was equal to the possibility of keeping them.

If a child is born to the couple in the following seasons after at least seven to nine months, boys were sent to Men's Island once they became one, while girls stayed with their mothers, and the fathers were only informed of the child, but they were not allowed to see them.

Hector tried to steer the conversation back into creating a more cheerful atmosphere.

"So what about those details good Ajax bragged to you about?

"Oh yeah! That was a good topic man, he said not one, but two nymphs appeared when no woman approached him!"

"Cough! Two! Cough… Cough!"

"Do not choke to death before arriving!"

"Cough! Haaaa what about not bringing death by calling it, huh? And what did you expect? Throwing this piece of information in my face so casually really Jason…"

"I am telling you, man, he said he had always been intrigued by the idea of twins but that was just kept for his wildest sexual fantasies, so imagine his shock when he saw a nymph and her twin approaching him, he fell to his knees as soon as they started touching him, he said the pleasure he received this once will last him a lifetime, yet he applies every single year!"

"And that my friend is how you can tell that the poor bastard is lying, why would he want to go again if the pleasure could last him a lifetime as he claims?"

"Come on man, have some sympathy! Imagine tasting the best food you can think of until you are full, would you not want to go back and eat it again the year that follows? It is not easy I tell you! He said his application keeps bouncing back."

"Haha! Perhaps the nymphs did not like his techniques after all!"

The two men kept laughing and sailing in the direction of Paradise, ignoring the sea that was out for blood again, that was until a huge wave swallowed their boat whole.

The last thing they saw before they lost consciousness was a very beautiful woman with long white hair swimming in their direction, her light warmed up both, their hearts and the dark cold sea.