The Island part 1

I had seen it in the distance as I relaxed on the beach.

It wasn’t immediately apparent though, it had been pointed out to me.

‘That’s Spinalonga over there’.

I peered over my shades, ‘Oooooohhhhh yes, so it is’.

From a distance the Island was camouflaged against the mountainous backdrop of the bay. The only thing that distinguished it was a bulky building that jutted out, half way up, its dark, empty windows staring back at me and the other holiday makers on the beach. This building had been a hospital, and for most of Spinalonga’s inhabitants, this building had seen their last, rattling, breaths.

All around me on the beach, sprawled out on blue sunbeds, tourists clutched at books while they tanned themselves in the mid afternoon sunshine. Some were not so engaged with their reading matter, but a majority were captivated by a book called ‘The Island’, a book that unraveled a love story encapsulated in the history of Spinalonga and offered an insight into the reality of life there. Often you would catch sight of one of these readers, staring out, wistfully over the sea to the Island.

The first few paragraphs of the book described the departure of one of the mainlanders to Spinalonga, and her grief. A colony of infectious, afflicted people awaited her and as a Leper, she was not expected to return to the mainland.

‘We’ll have to go over to visit’. I was immediately hooked.