Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

Natalie ran ahead, laughing, her hair flying behind her like a comet’s tail. "Come on! Look at this!"

They followed her to the edge of a clearing, where thick grass as soft as fur sprawled across the ground, encircling a vast pool. It was different from the one they had entered before - this one shimmered with liquid light, gold at the surface but streaked with blue, violet, silver beneath. It pulsed in time with their footsteps.

"It’s another portal," Emma said, stepping to the edge. "Not to the island. Somewhere else."

"To ourselves," Grace said softly. "To what we haven’t seen yet."

"No more dreaming," Rose whispered. "This is the waking world now."

Jude stood behind her, looking out over the pool. He saw reflections - not just their bodies, but their futures. Emma holding Lucy. Zoey and Stella dancing under moonlight. Sophie lying on moss, her hand on her swollen belly, eyes closed in peace.

He blinked. That last image struck something deep.

But it vanished before he could speak.

Susan knelt at the water’s edge. "Do we go in?"

Zoey was already stripping her wrap off, her body glowing with anticipation. "When has hesitation ever helped us?"

With that, she dove - graceful and fearless. The water lit up where she passed, rippling outward in waves that shimmered like heat. She surfaced moments later, laughing, her hair slick against her skin, golden droplets clinging to her lashes.