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I jump into the high-speed train, letting out a feeling of relief. It was so close! I almost blew the whole plan.

Still... It isn't exactly my fault. I couldn't expect Clarita to escort me to the platform. When she said after class that she was going to accompany me, I thought that she just wanted somebody to walk with to the mall…

If it was any other day, I would've been grateful for some company. But today, I lied to her, saying I was going home… When in reality, I was about to visit another island from our archipelago… Lavana.

I felt sorry about having lied, but there was no other choice, really… I didn’t want anybody to know where I am going. It’s a private matter.

As soon as Clarita left the platform, I immediately got off the wrong train and ran into the underground passage. My train was leaving fifteen minutes later than the wrong one, so I wasn’t going to miss it… But it was really stressful. Ten minutes more, and I would be going in the opposite direction!

I move along the train's corridor, looking for my compartment. This train is much older than the previous one… The low padded seats feel hard, and the air conditioning is broken. I open the small, high-up window and catch a glance of the sea…

I'll never forget the day I first traveled from my home islet to this one, Lazeta. I was just seven back then and about to visit my relatives. Earlier, I had never been on a train, so I was really excited. I had a seat by the window and spent the whole journey looking outside at the beautiful landscapes…

I live in Subanii, a country that's an archipelago of islands clustered together in the southern region of the Suba Sea. There are several small islets but only a couple of major islands.

My friends were all born here in Lazeta, with the exception of Manuel and Lola. Both are from the third biggest island in Subanii, Lavana… Which is exactly where I'm going today.

I take my seat and hide the ticket in my windcheater’s inner pocket. Buying it was a real hassle. Very few trains travel between Lazeta and Lavana. Or any other island and Lavana, if we want to be precise.

Twenty-one years ago, a disaster struck our country. A deadly bacteria was discovered on one of the smaller islets, Laele. Afterward, it spread like fire to the whole archipelago. It was so fatal most people died within three months of contracting it.

Consequently, our country’s population began dwindling at a fast pace. Everyone hoped the plague would end fast, but it didn’t. The deadly bacteria was thriving well in the island’s tropical climate.

The doctors from our archipelago held many summits to find both a cure and a vaccine, and they did; but because our country had a relatively poor health system, and there were many patients, people still died like flies…