by Robert Lyon
“I’m not kidding and get more damn fish.” I stood up and looked out at the water with her spear in hand and saw Tommi on our boat, so I swam back out to her.
Once I swam back to the boat carrying Michelle’s spear I held onto the log and Tommi blurted out, “Don’t just jump off Hackel and don’t just jump on Lyon” I started to say
“Okay” but Mitch spoke over me in a depressed monotone manner and asked, “Where’s the net dude?” I replied, “Their still working on it” We heard whistling sounds above us like in coming mortars, or so we imagined, and then we were pelted by fish. One hit Tommi right in the face, on hit Mitch in the back, I said, “Their flying fish, catch them!” Tommi’s shirt was open
her bra was showing and the cold of the water had her nipples erect as I gazed at her chest I watched two fish fly right in to her shirt and she scooped them in. I laughed and said, “Your good for all kinds of things Tommi.” She frantically kept repeating,
“Get me back to shore, get me back to shore” Mitch groaned and rolled off the log but Tommi lunged forward yelling at him,
“I’m gonna lose these damn fish, if you don’t stop fucking around!” Mitch yelled, “What fish is she talking about Rob!!?” I replied, “The two that just flew into her shirt” We started swimming the boat back to shore as Mitch said, “Those actually were fish…” Tommi responded, “Yes, Mitch”
I had Tommi float on her back holding the fish against her as hard as she could as I pulled her through the surf. Jennifer rushed up and asked, “What happened to her.” Tommi ecstatically replied, “I caught two!” She started to open her shirt and I said, “Wait, need to be higher up the beach, those damn things will flop their way back into the water.” Mitch finished pulling the boat up the beach, grabbed my spear and ran back into the water. I handed Michelle her spear back and she carefully inspected it for any damage. Michael started cleaning the fish and Michelle asked, “How are we going to cook those?”
Mike said, “Ah-haha, with the fire.” Michelle retorted, “Don’t burn them…went fishing with my father as a kid and he burnt the fish and we couldn’t eat them at all, so next time we tied them way above the fire in a smoke teepee”
Michael looked over at Tommi and said, “I know what she is talking about, do you want us to cook them?” Tommi looked around and realized they were in fact talking to her and replied,
“Sure” with a shrug.
I lay resting on the beach realizing we had been out there for hours. Tonight we would need a shelter; I sat up and
looked at the green reed patch down the beach. From around the corner some were visible from where we were. I got up still dizzy from the ocean so I drank some more water and headed down to the reed patch, I noticed every time someone Drank any water Mike Elper seemed to react like his trophy was being used to scratch someone’s back but I didn’t really concern myself, it did seem to keep us ‘water conservation’ aware.
The reeds where tall and straight, they looked like bamboo but some of the dead pieces and wetter pieces broke as easily as celery. The reeds had a lot of flex to them and some of the dried out reeds were fairly sturdy. I began to gather pieces that were suitable and looked for strong and flexible reeds still growing, I placed them in piles sorted by length, flexibility and width. I knew it was a hut not a lean-to I would be going for so I called it a cabana. I figured six columns and a roof and maybe the soft plant material we were taking from the palm leaves could be made into some sort of bug netting like a curtain. As I hauled the reeds over to our camp I passed some thick bushes and Athena popped out and asked, “Hey, What happened, I saw you go out on the water.” I replied, “We got some fish.” Athena responded happily, “Thank god, I’m starving…What are those for?” and she pointed at the reeds. I answered, “Building a shelter.” Athena said, “Okay.” and went over and grabbed another pile and we walked together back to the camp carrying the reeds over. Athena and Jennifer watched as I wrapped the reeds around each other and they handed me some line that
Athena had been making using more of the palm bark and I tied bundles together being as sparing as possible with the line. Once
I made some thin poles I twisted them around each other and tied them together then I dug out a small hole about a foot and a half deep and set the column I had formed into it. I told them,
“We’ll need six of these and have to weave a roof out of these reeds.” Jennifer had been helping with the fish but she sat down with Athena and started working on another column. Mike Elper saw what they were working on and said, “I’ll get some more of that bark.” and he headed off to the palm trees. Seeing how quickly they were able to form a column together I started making a woven reed mat that we would use as a roof.
“How many of these thin poles Rob?” asked Athena. I said,
“Just use three” Mitch walked up the beach with three more fish stuck to his spear. Michelle jumped up and said,
“Awesome…so, that one works too.” Mitch said, “Ya. Whats with the fake trees?” Jennifer laughed and said, “Building a shelter, dinner will be ready soon sweet heart” Athena glanced around to see what guys were looking at her in the face of that inspiration; she noticed I was looking at her, Tommi was looking at me, Michelle was looking at Michael, Michael was looking at Jennifer, Mike was looking at Jennifer and Mitch was looking at Michael. Athena got dizzy thinking ‘who’s looking at who better not mean something’ everybody went back to what they were doing as Mitch asked Michael, “How much longer cooking the ones you started.” Michael responded, “Probably less than ten minutes” Athena leaned over and whispered to
Jennifer, “Jenn, I think you’re getting gang banged tonight”
Jennifer slowly looked up at her with a huge growing grin and saw the shocked look on Athena’s face then Athena started to nod and pointed at the guys looking at her, Jennifer Cringed and scratched behind her ear then shook her head to get that visual image out of her mind and replied to Athena, “So who’s banging you?” Athena said, “It was just Rob looking at me, but I think
Tommi wants him…so maybe he’s getting gang banged too.”
Mike came back with handfuls of dark brown dry palm bark
fibers and Jennifer said, “Thanks mike, I’ll take those.” and then nudged Athena’s foot and whispered, “At least he took care of himself.” Athena Looked up a mike with a degree of fright then back at the smile on Jennifer’s face and slumped forward in hard laughter. Mike said, “What? Those not the right ones?” Athena glanced at the fiber and tried to stop her laughter as she replied,
“Nope…perfect, just perfect.” Jennifer interjected, “It’s a girl thing.” Michael looked over at mike and said, “At least they’re not crying” Mike said, “I only cried a little.” Mitch said, “Me too.” Michael looked surprised at the change of tone and I said,
“The rest of us are still in shock.” and I laughed. I wove together some very flexible reeds that looked like a green bamboo in four sections of herring bone overlay as they erected the six columns.
The pattern I used left small diamond shaped holes in the four sections and one in the center, it looked like the five found on dice; once we placed it atop the columns we threaded some more line through the ceiling mat and the columns securing there fairly well. The small Diamond shaped holes allowed light to pass through like spot lights, the girls were concerned about rain getting through but in anticipation of moonlight passing through we all agreed we’d just cover those holes when it became necessary.
I went down to the shore and started gathering smooth stones from the surf and beach while the others ‘tried out’ the cabana, the fish would be done soon and I needed to stay busy to stave of thoughts of my hunger. I took the stones and started forming a courtyard patio in front of our cabana spreading around its sides. They sat and watched in bewilderment as I placed the stones together in a circular pattern. Michelle asked,
“What about walls?” I replied, “we’ll use the soft fiber for curtains, w
e don’t want any mildew in there.” Athena
interjected, “Or the smell of feet.” Michelle scoffed, “I just made Rob wash my feet!” Everyone moaned and laughed.
Athena said, “I’m gonna’ make him wash my ass.” I interjected,
“Okay ass and feet washing later, let’s eat.” Michael laughed and said, “Thought of that make you hungry?” I said, “No I haven’t eaten in so long I just don’t feel the hunger anymore, but the dizziness is a clue I’m gonna die if I don’t eat.” Mike said,
“Ya, I stopped feeling hungry too, but I feel sick as hell.”
We divided up the fish and all ate from our palms. Michelle rubbed her thigh as she eat and I recalled that being a habit of mine in elementary school which I had to stop because my friends mocked me. I guess it was a stimulation to get a starving stomach restarted. There was about two hands worth of fish for each of us and would normally been an acceptable volume of food for lunch as a fish sandwich, which in this case was a full blown thanks giving dinner. It was late in the afternoon so we all laid there resting, Michelle put her feet on my chest, Athena used my thigh as a pillow, Jennifer used Athena’s thigh as a pillow and Michael rest his head between Jennifer’s thighs.
Mike and Mitch lay off to each side and feel asleep.
The sky had turned a deep deep blue, there were clouds over the distant southern horizon, and it appeared to be a rain storm with sheets of gray descending down to the ocean. The roughness of the seas on the horizon was noticeable even at the distance of twelve miles; through the sheets of gray were blue skies behind the rain storm. Looking at it was dizzying; the sands were soft and crept across the beach swarming and stalk or trunk rising from the land. The wind only whispered the threat of a howl and made the trees dance a waltz as though it were playing a sonata. The ocean swirled and the cool water lapped at the land and rolled up and around our makeshift boat.
The jutting rocks painted the wind with dust and powder, and flowers gave up their pollens and fragrances, bowing to the winds gentle caress and firm resolve. The breezes carried that fresh floral scent of the island once again. A puffy cumulous cloud passed over the island and gave us a moments shade. The survivors sat in a daze mesmerized by the forces of nature dangerous and majestic swirling around us.
“Well at least it’s cooled down now”, said Mitch. Mike replied, “Ya…and I’ve got to take more water over to the psycho’s” Michael asked, “What are they doing over there?”
Mike replied, “They’re forming small groups that attack each other…I’ve been making more cups…well, buckets? ...Big damn containers for the water I’m taking over so they don’t fight over it” Athena said, “They need food as bad as we did, got to get more fish.” We all said simultaneously speaking over each other, “We know” But we needed the rest, and the storm in the distance would be distinctly good or bad for the fishing but there would be a definite direct effect. Jennifer asked, “Was someone just snoring?” Michael said clearly, “No.” and we all tensed up.
Tommi said, “I saw the hoof prints but I wasn’t sure.” I said,
“That’s what I thought too, there’s a damn cheeseburger running around here somewhere.” Mike said, “Now that sounds good.” as he sat up. There was a rustle of brush near us and it seemed to be running away. Athena said, “That damn thing comes around a lot. But we were too busy to do anything about it so I didn’t say anything.” Michelle interjected, “Except to me.” Athena replied,
“oh ya that’s right, where is your spear?” Michelle pointed to the west and said, “Right over there.”
We continued to just lay there, no urgency at the moment.
We had finally eaten but only the smallest morsels maybe eight bites each, but being that it was fish the flavor lingered. Mitch
asked, “What’s it gonna take to get that pig?” Athena said,
“Michelle’s blessed spear.” Michelle added, “Well we prayed over it.” Michael said, “If that’s a wild boar it’ll take more than a spear.” Michelle said, “That’s why I spent so much time on it…it’s a javelin.” Mike said as he laid back down, “Need a pig pit…er’ tiger trap.” I said, “I need a sling and some arrows.”
Athena replied, “How about you just make that into a real boat, and we’ll get the pig?” I sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll focus on refining out boat.” Jennifer said, “Move your head Michael, my twat itches.” Michael laughed and said, “I hope we get rescued soon.”
I headed over to the log boat and inspected the lashings, they had loosened a little, nails weren’t an option, I looked down at the sand around my feet and thought, “I could actually make a glass bottle long before I could make a nail, metal spike, or thumb tack.” I knew I would need some tools and another log so
I started wandering the island looking for any material that might inspire me. I figured, ‘drill a hole tack them together with a wooden peg and seal them with smoke resin’, seemed simple enough in my mind just need to do it with Neanderthal tools and
I had worked with plenty of them, just not so much with their tools.
I said to myself narrating my thought as I wandered,
“Okay, I’ll just get another log, split them both, tack them together with a few wooden pegs, and then seal it with smoke…Ya! That’ll be about as big as a surf board, I’ll get six more logs, split them all sand them down, peg them together and seal it with smoke. Or maybe I’ll get lucky and find a boat somewhere in the bushes because both those things are equally as probable.” As luck would have it shortly after I finished ranting I found a fair sized chuck of pumas stone that had
washed up the beach, I picked it up and noticed some smaller ones so I pick them up as well narrating again, “Pumas and sand, okay got stuff to sand with…seriously?” My coveralls were tied down around my waist and I had put my tee-shirt back on I search the sand area for a little longer maybe a sea snail’s shell could give me a mold for a ceramic drill bit? I uttered, “How about I carve some wood to an appropriate drill bit shape, melt some sand and make a volcanic glass drill bit? Or I know! I’ll use my telepathy and ask NASA to drop a drill bit from the
M.I.R. space station!” I didn’t want my mood to affect anyone else so I headed further down the beach. As I looked around there on the shore was a coconut washed ashore I picked it up somewhat elated and realized it was just half a rotting shell and I threw it so hard my wallet and keys fell out of my pocket. As I picked them up I thought of the few dollars I had in my wallet for the soda machine or ships store, and as I picked up my keys it occurred to me…I still have my keys! So, one the beach I also managed to find the drill bits I would need in the form of my keys, I had five two for my car, toe for my lockers and one from my last car. The thought of intentionally damaging or altering those keys sent a chill down my spine, ‘Damage my car keys?
Why!?’, not being able to get into my car without a locksmith was a very small issue; after all I was at risk to never even see it again.
Michelle had been using her locker keys all along, it was how she had refined her javelin but for fear of the keys being used as a weapon she didn’t mention it to anyone. The only other metals we had were our belt buckles and me being in coveralls I didn’t wear me belt that day. During a simulation of mutiny I had actually broken a brig cell lock with my belt buckle on my previous ship, for which I received the extra duties of
verifying that actual brig prisoners were ill equipped to affect an escape. I had met some unsavory souls amongst some that were just young, impulsive, and had made bad choices. I stood taking inventory of what tools I had, sanding equipment, drill bits, I still needed a hammer and I just couldn’t get a couple of brig prisoners out of my mind, a murder suspect from another ship and an Iraqi intelligence agent; I felt haunted like someone was watching me.
Jennifer said, “Mike, I need to wash my hands…just a little fresh water.” Mike said while distracted by his thoughts, “Go ahead. I think those guys and girls over there are just going to die or
kill each other in a day or two anyways and we may never get enough fish for them.” Jennifer pours some fresh water out of one of the vases into a deep cup and lowered her slender fair skinned hands into the water she pulled them out and pointed them up running her pink finger tips over the back of her hands glistening with water she caressed the inside of her palms with her thumbs bring the blood closer to the surface giving them a pink hue she rubbed the excess down her fore arms rolling up her sleeves, her dungaree shirt was open revealing her white cotton bra. She glanced around to see if anyone was watching and wet her hands again and ran them down the sides of her neck, rubbing the back of her neck and releasing a soft moan.
She slumped back in relief and reached in a final time and unbuttoned her pants and loosened the zipper, she placed her wet fingers down her panties and let the fresh cool water flow down over her crotch. Michael had come over to use some water to freshen up as well. He wet his hands and ran them across his face then down his muscular shoulders as he shed his shirt,
Jennifer seeing this reached into the water again and ran her pink fingers down Michael’s neck and down his chest,
Michael’s nipples became erect and Tommi, working with
Mitch on the net coughed. Jennifer wet her hands again and reached under her bra and with a swirling motion moistening her breast all the while she sat relaxed with her legs spread and her pants still unbuttoned and loosened, with her head cocked to the left and her eyes closed. Michael sat kneeling near her and started breathing heavily he wet his hands again and moistened his abdomen and pushed the beads of moisture all across his chest back up to his neck and then lay down on his side.