The Island That Needed a Reference
A marine surveyor discovers an island applying to join the mainland. To approve it, she must visit the three continents listed as its previous employers.
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How it begins
The island had excellent references.
That was Helen's first concern.
Places with excellent references usually had something they wanted her to overlook.
She read the application again.
Applicant: North of Somewhere.
Current occupation: Island.
Reason for relocation: Personal growth.
The enclosed photograph showed palm trees, a small mountain and a beach arranged with the deliberate tidiness of someone expecting an inspection.
Jonas looked over her shoulder.
"I know that beach."
"Everyone says that about beaches."
"No. I repaired its jetty."
"When?"
"Forty years ago."
"Where?"
He pointed toward the Atlantic.
Then toward the Pacific.
Then stopped pointing.
Helen laid the reference letters across her desk.
Three continents.
All enthusiastic.
All apparently relieved to recommend the applicant to somebody else.
The first letter praised adaptability.
The second praised its willingness to take coastal direction.
The third consisted of one sentence.
Please provide adequate space.
Outside the survey office, a gull struck the window and flew away looking offended.
Helen checked the harbor camera.
The island was waiting beyond the breakwater.
It had put on a lighthouse.
"That's new," Jonas said.
On the beach, a row of people stood beneath a banner.
WE WOULD LIKE TO STAY FOR A WHILE.
Helen read the application one last time.
There was no section for people.
Only mineral rights, docking fees and potential development value.
She took a blank sheet.
"Before we discuss the references, we need to meet the residents."
Jonas reached for his coat.
The office printer began producing another document.
A property company had already submitted a competing claim.
It described the island as a flexible asset.
Helen looked at the little lighthouse.
Its light turned toward the shore, patient and deliberate.
She switched off the printer.
For once, she intended to inspect the thing itself before deciding what sort of box it belonged in.
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Outline and characters
- Helen receives the island's application
- Jonas recognizes the first continental reference
- They visit its previous mooring places
- A harbor authority claims ownership of its movement
- The island reveals the ecological damage it is escaping
- Helen discovers the application hides displaced residents
- They reject a contract that would fix it permanently in place
- The references testify to mutual care rather than employment
- The island gains a voluntary seasonal harbor agreement
- Helen creates a process for places that need to move
Characters
- Dr. Helen Vale, 35. Marine surveyor assessing an island's improbable application
- Jonas Marr, 41. Retired navigator named as one of its references
Series possibilities
- A river applies to change the country it flows through.
