It was late in the afternoon when the ancient bus dropped the three girls at the market place. They loaded up with supplies for the party. Lots of bottled water. A couple of bottles of the strong local rum, to get them in the mood. Some fruit.
All three were 18 years old, on their gap year before starting college. Mel was a tall blond, whose slender waist made her breasts look even bigger than they were. Her skin, after three months of sunbathing, was a deep brown. She had decided that the most important thing about her gap year was to enjoy herself. She had a boyfriend in England, but she was sure that he had no plans to stay celibate for the year. Nor did she.
Her friend Angie was a tall black girl. Her strict, church-going parents had prevented her from seeing boys without a chaperone and she had been making up for lost time since leaving England. Her long legs and large breasts made sure that she had no lack of opportunity. Shelagh was a slim redhead with green eyes and a fair skin. She had stayed out of the sun as much as she could, hard though that was in the company of sun-lover Mel. She was the romantic of the party, much more inhibited than either Mel or Angie.
After collecting their supplies, they walked through the jungle to the beach. It was an easy walk, lasting about an hour, along a clearly marked path. It was the first time that any of them had been to one of the famous full moon parties, and they chattered and giggled excitedly as they walked.
As they passed through the edge of the jungle, the beautiful white sand beach spread out before them. It was already thronged with hundreds of young people. Rum, beer and palm wine were already passing from hand to hand and the sweet smell of marijuana was in the air. Food stalls lined the edge of the beach and a generator had been hooked up to a sound system, although the music had not started.
The girls were wearing swimsuits under their outer clothes, and Mel and Angie stripped off and ran for the water. Mel wore a stunning black bikini, Angie a tight-fitting red swimsuit. They played together in the surf for a few minutes before a group of Scandinavian boys joined them.
Mel was immediately attracted to Ulf. He was tall and rangy, with a short beard around his chin. He was a good swimmer and they swam towards the middle of the bay, away from the others. He pointed to a raft moored in deep water and they raced towards it. Ulf won by a yard and, when Mel reached the raft, surprised her by planting a quick kiss on her lips.
Then he looked at the horizon. "Almost sunset!" he exclaimed, "We must get back to the beach". They swam back together and, hand-in-hand, walked up the sand to watch the best sunset Mel could remember. The bonfires were lit and the sound system started up as the last, red sliver of the sun sank into the sea.
As always happens in the tropics, darkness fell very quickly. The moon was not due to rise for three hours and, with no city lights and only the feeble light of the bonfires, the stars stretched like a jewelled carpet across the sky. Mel thought they were the most wonderful sight she had ever seen.
The tropical night was warm, soft and velvety and Mel did not bother to change out of her bikini. Ulf grabbed a shirt as Mel took him to meet Angie and Shelagh. Then Mel and Ulf danced and drank for a couple of hours. She noticed couples slipping away into the jungle and she could see that Ulf had also spotted them. Picking up a blanket, Ulf took her by the hand and they started to walk away from the sea.
Once they got through the screen of plants at the edge of the beach, Mel gasped in surprise. With even the poor light of the bonfires screened out, the stars were glorious. The path away from the beach showed quite clearly even in the starlight. Ulf put his arm around her waist and they walked slowly along the path.
