(Revised and unnecessarily  longer than the first)

This is basically just more world-building, something I need to control better 😅   

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Let's get to the point.

The Bermuda Triangle.

Situated between the actual island of Bermuda, Florida, and somewhere in Puerto Rico, it's reign of mysteriousness dated as far back as 1492, give or take.

The best documentation was done in the 1900s though, when human ingenuity brought about motorized planes and watercraft.

Even with the upgraded tech about twenty-seven officially documented incidents with direct contact with the Triangle with an estimated 924 deaths and/or disappearances is only a fraction of the people it has claimed.

The myths and rumors of the Bermuda Triangle range in the thousands but only a select few people know what actually happens there.

And one of those people is named Brilis, Brilis Isles for long, Bri for short.

He is a CountryHuman, an entity that controls a stretch of land, rules over a good amount of people, and upholds some semblance of government.

Yes, that means there's land in the Bermuda Triangle.

How?

Ask the volcanoes 3.8 billion years ago.

How is it not seen from the satellites in space? That's a question for another day.

Now there's the question of if he's a Countryhuman, where are the people? What good is a ruler without his people?

Well, those would be the unfortunate souls who got sucked up, thrown into the center of the Triangle, and made it out alive. Any plane or boat would be broken beyond repair so there would be no technology or any contact with the outside world.

In short, they're stuck. Mind you, it isn't all that bad. Got a criminal record or search warrant out on you and want to drop off the face of the earth? You picked the right place.

In all seriousness the islands are a literal paradise, with plenty of food, lush vegetation, animals roam around, and plenty of room for everyone. The best quality of life if you didn't mind a few days of hard work.

The hard part is accepting you'll probably never see your family, friends, or home ever again. But unless you liked to battle raging hurricanes and storms visible from the sunny coasts of the isles, you weren't going anywhere.

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"Bri, how old are you?" The country looked up at the young kid standing on a stool to reach the counter, mindless playing with some leftover flour.

"Why do you want to know?" He chuckled, kneading some bread dough.

"Becaauussee. You never say anything about yourself." The kid whined.

"That's because you don't need to know that stuff. A proper gentleman never reveals his age. I think that's how the saying goes."

"But-!..... mmmmmm... okay then, old man, when's your birthday?" Bri snorted slightly, shaping the loaves on the thick wood board.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you. Sometime in October, I think." The country smiled at the kids antics.

"Jose! Why are you here?" Jose's mother came rushing into the home, her cheeks flushed.

"Don't go wandering off like that." She muttered then turned to Bri who was busy making loaves of bread, apron covered in flour.

"Thank you for looking after him." She said, sighing and gently taking the child's arm.

"Of course. Could I interest you in a loaf of bread or three?" Bri laughed and smiled back kindly, gesturing to the tray of loaves behind him. Today was one of those days where he just needed to stress bake.

"Oh, yes, that would be lovely." The woman laughed along with him.

After some friendly chatter, mother and son left the cozy home, leaving the country to continue making bread in silence.

Kneading, shaping, then throwing them in the stone oven for some time till they smelled baked enough.

Bri looked out the big open window while taking the apron off. A walk couldn't hurt.

Past the curtain that separated the inside from the cool outdoors was a vast canopy of greenery with shades of blue and yellow thrown around carelessly by the setting sun. Bri inhaled deeply, reveling in the fresh air.

Today could've gone better, Bri thought to himself, recounting all that happened.

Woke up, as usual, checked his garden, went to drop off some eggs his chickens laid to Mr. Henderson, check-up with Joseph and the watch team, then do whatever till someone asked for a favor. A seemingly quiet day till the self-proclaimed princess of the isles got mad at the fruit for being slightly bruised.

Lily, as much as Bri liked her graceful name, had about as much grace as a drunken bird with honey-covered wings trying to fly.

She couldn't seem to adjust to life on the island even after two months. She'd butt heads with anyone who tried to have a civilized conversation. The only way to shut her up was to throw her in the ocean. Fun. 

Lily always persisted she deserves the best and today Bri just couldn't stand it.

"If you don't shut your mouth and learn that the sun doesn't revolve around your pretty little head I'll throw you on a raft and pray that a hurricane swallows you whole like I did to Mr. Mathason!" Bri remembered every word he said at that moment. Felicity, Bri's unofficial mother, very quickly and calmly turned Bri away while chastising Lily a bit nicer but still with a frown on her face.

Bri stormed off, gritting his teeth and shut himself in his house the rest of the day, steaming but also regretting what he said.

He hated using his authority to gain a lead on others but sometimes it was necessary especially when the "law" was in question.

Well, this time it was just empty threats to an entitled brat but if an actual criminal were to be caught?

Mr. Mathason attempted to murder Felicity. What was Bri going to do, shrug and look the other way? Hell no. Bri essentially sentenced the man to death, throwing him on a barely functional raft and pushing him far out to sea, no food, no water.

Harsh? Definitely.

Necessary? Probably not.

But Bri needed to enforce his authority and show he wasn't going to tolerate idiots who dared hurt his family.

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Right, right, calm down. Bri looked out at the beach and the vast stretch of water before him, never seeming to end.

How Bri would love to see what's past the water. To the lands that the survivors talked about. To America, Mexico, France, Britain. To so-called "civilized" land. Especially to see what the fabled "McDonald's" was.

Alas, it is all an impossible dream as he and all the islanders knew. Any ship was beyond repair and building one with what primitive technology they had at their disposal would be a very stupid kamikaze mission.

Over the years that survivors have accumulated on the isles, Bri learned to accept that he just wasn't going to see the rest of the world. He was needed at the islands to keep the peace.

He distracted himself by learning any new language that a survivor happened to know, learn how to make new foods and cultures, or hone his building skills even more.

The sand crunched beneath Bri's feet. A dream is just a dream stick in the past and present, right? Gotta look ahead to the future if you want to get anywhere. At least, that's what Joseph says.

The smell of bread suddenly hit Bri as he realized he'd been gone a bit too long. Clumsily scrambling back to the house, tripping twice on his face as he did so, Bri snatched his, what Felicity called, "giant Italian spatula" and scooped out the bread and placed them on the counter.

Just right. Bri breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want a repeat of last month when he was technically "homeless" for a couple days because he burnt his house down from flaming bread demons.

How he wasn't completely traumatized to never bake bread again was still a mystery.

Bri left the bread to sit and cool and went to the back of the house to his room. Stretching as he entered, Bri got some matches and lit the candles scattered around. The golden light they emitted reflected off the strange shiny objects Bri collected from the wrecks. They ranged from clocks with cracked glass, jewelry, a can of corn, and a huge golden shield that was so polished Bri could see his reflection.

The sun wasn't completely down yet so Bri took the opportunity to get a suitcase from underneath his bed and open it. It held his most prized possessions, brightly naturally colored rocks that he had been collecting consistently for years now. They were shiny, which Bri appreciated, but they were very light and impossible to break open. None of the survivors knew what the rocks were but always gave Bri them if they found any.

This got some people jokingly calling Bri a giant pigeon, whatever that was, as Bri liked to feed and interact with the wild birds that landed on the islands.  Bri shook his head smiling and closed the suitcase with a thud.

"Hey, Bri! I got the report here if you want to see it." Out at the front of the house, Joseph, Bri's unofficial dad figure, stood with papers in hand and a makeshift pen in his mouth.

"Hey, Joe. Anything major happen today?"

"Nope, well, besides that scuffle with you and princess. You alright?" Bri looked down, fidgeting with his hands.

"Yeah...I just...need to apologize tomorrow."

"Oh come on Bri. Nothin wrong with a bit of tough love. I say let the princess wallow for a few days. It'll do her some good to suck up her pride." Joseph nudged Bri playfully but he just looked down which cause Joe to sigh.

"Unless it festers inside ya for too long. Do whatever you feel like." Joseph ruffled Bri's hair roughly which caused the small country to laugh slightly.

"Alright, alright, I hear ya. Stooooppp." Joesph just smiled and handed Bri a paper.

"Get to sleep. We need you to be in tip-top shape oh great leader."

"Ha ha Joe. See you in the morning." Bri said in a sarcastic tone, rolling his eyes.

"Night kid!" Bri watched as Joseph walked into the darkness, his path lit only by the glowing flowers that lined the man-made road.

Bri turned back inside and glanced at the report which was just drabble that Bri didn't need to know. Sighing, Bri tossed it on a pile of paper collecting dust in the corner of his room and went to change into something more comfortable.

Finally lying down on his bed and sinking into the mattress was the best feeling ever. His muscles relaxed and all the worry of the day seemed to melt away. He blew out the candles and settled in comfortably.

Tomorrow would probably be the same, save the drama with princess. Bri would have to make the effort to distribute all the bread he made, then apologize to princess....maybe, and check up on the bridges that connect the islands to make sure they didn't snap.

Busy, busy. Better than nothing Bri supposed.

Bri slowly closed his eyes and drifted off into oblivion.

Tomorrow was another day. Hopefully, a good one.

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I'm much happier with this revision so guess I'm rewriting all ten chapters to straighten my story out

Do you want me to keep the old drafts and put it in another book that has more info about the book ie descriptions and art or should I just delete them? It's really your guys' call

((:

Thank you for reading

Enjoy

(Edited :0 I know)

(1967 words)