Unloved: The Abandoned Beauty

The sun slowly peaked above the horizon, shedding light into the night sky.

Colette stirred in her sleep which luckily did not disturb the surrounding chimps, the ones that had unscrupulously piled on top and around her.

Last night, Colette had gone to sleep with Bobo as she had done every night after meeting them.

Bobo had immediately ran over to her as he spotted her nearby the chimp living area and dragged her to his little bed, as if she would forget where it was. Bobo had been sharing his bed with her, the bed was made of leaves, branches and a small amount of grass, it was surprisingly comfortable to sleep on.

Most of the surrounding beds were on trees but some were on the floor, it must be due to the lack of predators on the island. As expected of the murderous chimps though, capable of exterminating all predators on the island, this thought brought back memories of them trying to hunt her down in her previous life, giving her a chill.

Luckily, Bobo's bed was on the floor because she wasn't going to try and sleep in a tree, she'd fall out for sure. When she went to sleep, it was only her and Bobo in the circular bed, which surprisingly was big enough to accommodate her although she still had to sleep in a fetal position to properly fit.

Upon waking up she noticed that several other chimps were in the bed.... piled on top of her like the day before and the day before that.

As to not disturb them though she lay deathly still.

She was unable to move until Bobo woke up, he shooed the other chimps away and clung to Colette.

...

"Aiya little Bobo sure likes the ugly creature, even spending time to make a new bed for her." commented a chimp to another as he pointed to Colette

"Let them be, she has yet to bring us any harm and even saved him. He is a pitiful child, his parents brawled with the fang beast bravely, losing their life. Sacrificing their life to exterminate the last of those beasts." A chimp reminisced about Bobo's parents as he stroked his short beard.

"If the ugly thing ever hurts little Bobo, let me have a go at her." Another chimp chimed in rubbing his hairy hands eagerly.

...

Colette separated from Bobo and made her way to officer Lenny to discuss what to do now, it was likely that he would be leaving the island now. She contemplated a lot last night, whether she should or should not leave.

She made her way to north of the island where she had first washed up, she saw Lenny beside a small boat with Tim strapped to a pole.

"Ah I see you're up already little girl! Come'ere, I wrapped up my work and packed last night, I'll be leaving the island. You want to go back to your family right, they would be very worried about you so come with me." Lenny offered to Colette, but at the mention of going back to her abusive family she felt sick in the stomach and went pale.

"Are you alright?" Lenny asked worried as her healthy complexion turned to a deathly pale one so quickly. As he took a step closer she backed away in a trance. It was clear to Lenny that she was recalling something traumatic as she started to violently shake so he took a few steps forward to help her sit down.

"Don't touch me!" Colete screamed as she flung his arm away from her to which Lenny stopped moving closer and back away.

She never really enjoyed close contact with people, although it wasn't to the point of Haphephobia, it still irked her when people got close to her. Of course, her close friends were an exception.

She assumed it might have stemmed from not have much close contact with others growing up, being ostracised by her family. While at school she avoided contact with the other kids lest they touched one of her bruises.

She still desperately avoided the touch of others in case it triggers something. Towards the end of the her last life it was significantly better and she believed that her trauma was gone. However, it was obvious that it wasn't and it seemed like it hadn't gotten better at all, was it related to her going back in time??

"Didn't expect you to be so s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e gosh, sorry..." Lenny finally said bringing Colette out of some of her memories.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to act like that. I'll be staying on the island, I have no family to back to." Colette quickly apologised and was bewildered by her own reaction.

'From her reaction, it doesn't look like she will be persuaded to leave with me now. I'll come back for you then, I'll leave a few resources behind and maybe that should be enough for her to survive until I come back. Though from the way she was moving through the forest she seems to know her way in the wild, it's strange that she only came here a few days ago. She shouldn't have that much experience living in the wilderness at that age, well for an ordinary child anyway. Haha she reminds me of my junior ha.' Lenny thought as he removed some items from his bags placing them on the ground.

"Thank you, officer Lenny have a safe trip back." Colette thanked him.

"Kiddo, I'll come back for you at another time, you seem accustomed to the wilderness but I'll leave these behind for you to use and . I'll be getting ready to leave now, don't forget me haha." Lenny said before turning away and making his way to a small boat, setting off waving goodbye to Colette.

Colette didn't say anything she only waved back, because she knew for a fact he wouldn't come back. It's virtually impossible to find your way back to the island, she would know, she tried finding her way back here countless times but to no avail she never found it.

...

Colette gathered up the things that Lenny had left behind which included a kettle, a small pot, a ferro rod, a sleeping bag and a Kershaw Ken knife. Seeing the items that Lenny left behind Colette's eyes brightened because in her last life there was barely anything that was useful to left behind at their hideout.

Already this life was going so much better than her last life, better resources and a better relationship with the chimps!

After the departure of Lenny, Colette got to work on building her home, although sleeping among the chimps and with Bobo was not bad, she was still more susceptible to the weather conditions of the island. Her body has not adjusted yet and with no available medication on the island so she was likely die from any illness she gets.

Haphephobia - The fear of being touched

Ferro rod - a metal tool that can be used to start a fire

Kershaw Ken knife - a small folding knife