When I woke up, I heard a strange sound; but I had not opened my eyes yet so I didn’t know what it was or where it was coming from. It was almost like the lull of ocean waves crashing in the faint distance. I opened my eyes expecting to see the bedroom of my apartment, but instead, I was somewhere completely different. I immediately sat up in bed and checked under the sheets. I was still clothed in the same pajamas I had worn to bed the night before. Still confused, I looked around.

I gazed in shock through a pair of wide-open French doors that had white drapes on them, blowing and dancing in the wind. I could see the beach all around me, only the sand was pink, not white. I thought I might be dreaming, so I shook my head and pinched my wrist. I opened my eyes again but I was still in this beautiful room, looking out at a magnificent stretch of beach.

I tore off the covers and stood up, covering my arms. The breeze was a bit chilly, and the air felt strange. It was fall in Chicago, but I couldn’t tell what season it was wherever I had woken up.

Then it dawned on me finally where I must be—the island in the advert! But an even more ominous thought surged through my brain. I was supposed to travel there by airplane first thing in the morning. Celestial Mates sent me my ticket confirmation. How was I already here? I had so many questions, but no answers. I needed to look around this place and see if I was alone.

I could smell something that resembled syrup coming from another room. I slowly crept out of the bedroom, my breath was frozen in my chest. I wasn’t sure what would happen once I exited through the door. Everything was decorated in white. The walls, furniture, and floors were white and almost too bright for my eyes to handle. I could hear a sizzle and clanging noise coming from a few feet away. I decided to follow it, mostly out of curiosity. If I was to let myself become overwhelmed by fear, I would have stayed in the bedroom with my feet still firmly planted on the floor.

When I turned the corner from the living room that also had panoramic ocean front views and open French doors, I gasped. There stood the most beautiful man I had ever seen or encountered in my entire life. Unable to form words with my tongue, I just stood there like an idiot with my mouth open. The beautiful man spoke first, thankfully. “Hello, Cindy. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Togtulir.” He flashed a smile with perfect white teeth.

“Togtulir?” I said, and then quickly felt embarrassed at my lack of manners at stating his unusual name. He only smiled and chuckled politely.

“Yes, you can write it down if you want to, in order to remember it.” His laughter was infectious and his body was gorgeous. I didn’t care what his name was, as long as I got to stare at him.

I turned my attention to the spread of delicious looking waffles and pancakes he had laid out on the kitchen bar in front of me. That explained the syrup smell. This guy is beautiful and can cook? Please tell me he’s the potential husband. I’ll say yes right now if he is.

He noticed me eyeing the food and said, “Are you hungry? I made you a breakfast I thought you would enjoy.”

“Yes, I am pretty hungry,” I admitted.

“Please, sit and we will talk and enjoy this breakfast together.” He gestured to a barstool and I sat as instructed. There was something unusual about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it could be. For one, he was much taller than any guy I had ever met. He appeared as if he might be seven feet tall or maybe even more than that. Even though he towered over me, I still felt a peaceful aura about him. I felt as if he wanted to protect me even though he didn’t even know me yet.

“Are you the guy who submitted for the mail-order bride through Celestial Mates?” I asked, as I cut right to the chase, and he nodded. “Hooray!” I thought in my brain but didn’t dare say it out loud.

After we enjoyed our breakfast and made small talk, I wanted to dig deeper for answers. For one, I had no idea how I got to this island. I had gone to sleep in my own apartment in Chicago, and then I woke up in a different bed on an island that I couldn’t tell yet if it was deserted.

“Would you like to walk on the beach?” Togtulir’s eyes gleamed when he looked at me. I had never had this kind of positive attention before, from anyone I’d ever known. I thought it was the perfect segue into asking him more questions about how I got here, and what steps we were supposed to take now that I was here.

Although I was having a very pleasant time with him, I was still in the dark about a lot of things. I knew that making the choice to come here meant I had to give up certain freedoms, but I still deserved to know what was going on. It was a little unnerving to know I had been basically abducted in my sleep and brought here.

“You know, this island radiates a specific kind of peace in my heart that I’ve never felt before.” I looked up (way up) at Togtulir and smiled.

“I am glad to hear it. I want you to be happy with me.” He peered out toward the sea and I couldn’t help but wonder the journeys and trials he’s faced in his life. If he were still alone like me, I imagined it had probably not been an easy road for him either.

We stopped to rest by a cluster of rocks that were a sandy color. I found this entire beach to be strange, but also intriguing and beautiful. The sand was pink for one thing, and I had never seen sand this color in my life. The rocks were not dark, they were sandy colored, almost the same color as my skin. The ocean was clear, but I couldn’t tell if there were any sea creatures swimming around.

Togtulir looked at me with soul-searching eyes. I took this as an invitation to cut right down to business. “So, there is this one question that’s been nagging me since I woke up this morning. How exactly did I get to this island?”

He sighed and wouldn’t look at me directly anymore. I had a sneaking suspicion he was hiding something from me, and I was bound and determined to find out what that was.

“You were brought here by a boat.” Before he could explain any further, I interrupted him by gasping out loud.

“I remember now! I remember there were these two men dressed in black, with black gloves. They placed their hands over my mouth and injected me with something!” I felt hurt, but I vaguely remember being on a boat. I looked back at Togtulir who was looking at me remorsefully.

“Why did you drug me to get me here? I pledged to come here just by filling out the ad.”

“The memory you have is fake. Yes, you had a sedative implanted in you, but it was for your protection.” He looked so apologetic and embarrassed as he continued to explain before I decided to stand up and storm off. “You were actually teleported to the island for your safety. You wouldn’t have been able to handle the long trip.”

“Long trip? Where exactly are we?” I was getting impatient, but I didn’t want to press my luck because he was gigantic, and I had a bad history of being abused by men.

“Before you ask any more questions, I want to show you something. Come.” He reached out his large hand for me to take. Reluctantly I took it because I still felt like I was swooning in his glowing presence and wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

We walked in silence for a little while, until he brought me to a cave tucked under a sand dune. He gestured for me to follow him inside. I thought to myself, this is it. This is how I’m going to die. My miserable life will finally come to an end, I guess. It’s my own fault for agreeing to come here to be a mail-order bride in the first place.

But as soon as I walked into the cave, there were dozens of lighted candles everywhere, making the entire dark room glow and bringing an extreme sense of coziness. There were white wax candles, and the flames licked and tickled the air around them. “What is this place?” I spun around to ask Togtulir and couldn’t hide my complete awe.

“This is the place I like to come to in order to escape. I like to think and clear my head,” Togtulir stared ahead, with a cloudy gaze coming over his expression. I didn’t want to interrupt his thoughts, so I just nodded my head.

“It’s really sublimely beautiful here,” I admitted. I still felt a little uneasy that he hadn’t told me exactly which island we were on, but I was living in the moment for now.

“I didn’t bring you here to hurt you.” He took my hands in his, as we watched the ocean waves crash against the rocks from the opening inside the cave. “I sincerely want a wife who will support me and stand by my side. I think that girl could be you.” He turned to look at me with those shimmering eyes of his again and I was floored with lust that was hard to swallow.

After a few minutes, the sky began to turn green. “Why is the sky that color? I’ve never seen anything like it.” I was confused but drawn to looking at it all the same. Togtulir looked taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered from whatever it was.

“Is this the northern lights?” I asked, hoping it was because I had always wanted to add watching that to my bucket list.

Togtulir’s eyes lit up as if he’d had a revelation. “Yes, the northern lights. That’s exactly what this is.”

So that explained it. We must be somewhere up north where the northern lights would be visible. I would press him more, but for now, I wanted to witness them for myself. “Well let’s go watch them then!” I exclaimed and we exited the cave.

After a while, the sky only turned yellow and purple before the sun faded away. It looked more like a sunset than the northern lights. I began to suspect Togtulir was still holding something back, but I let it rest for now. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer, besides he was so beautiful I couldn’t stop staring at him. He was dark, brooding and charismatic.

“So, why does a handsome guy like you need to advertise for a wife? Not to mention this island is so serene and lovely I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to stay here. I am glad no one was picked before me because I sure feel like I hit the lotto right now.” I smiled at him as we walked back to the beach house. He explained that night time got very cold here, and that we needed to be back inside before it got too dark outside.

He shut the door leading off the back deck and we walked inside. I sat down on the couch and he offered me a glass of wine. He was so charming and polite I couldn’t believe a guy like him actually existed. I immediately said yes; ready to unwind after an eventful day.

“I have had other prospects when it comes to women and finding a wife. I feel that none of them were engaging enough, or gave me enough of a challenge. I felt bored, but also got the sense they felt the same way toward me. There is not much to do on the island. They wanted to leave and go home because of how isolated it is.”

He seemed sad at the last statement and I felt sorry for him. He seemed to really love it here and I felt like it may have been rubbing off on me some as well. I decided to stay a while longer and leave the anticipation for now on where we were. I liked a good surprise after all. I had nothing to lose and he was so appealing to me. I went to bed that night thinking of a brighter future.