Evening Glow

by Nick Niels Sanders

  “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Why?”

  “I feel so naked.”

  “You ARE so naked. What’s so bad about that? I’m naked too.”

  “I feel ugly.”

  “Oh, Shelly,” sighed her friend, wrapping arms around her in the biggest, closest hug Shelly had ever had. “You are not ugly to me. I think you are beautiful. You have a big, generous soul and it needs a generous body to hold it.”

  They stood in thigh-deep water, hugging, for what seemed like a long time.

  “Oh, Val. No one ever said such a nice thing to me before.”

  There was another lengthy silence.

  “You are so voluptuous and sexy.”

  And another silence.

  “Oh, but I think you are sexy, with your compact little body. Having you hugging me like this may be the sexiest thing that has ever happened to me.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing. I’m getting horny just hugging you.”

  “Me too.” A note of relief could be heard in Shelly’s voice.

  “What shall we do?”

  The two young people, so attracted to one-another and so aroused, had no difficulty in finding ways of sharing pleasures between them, only vaguely understanding how this would change their relationship. Eventually, they found their way back into the cool water to play and splash and recover.

  Val put on her wet nightgown, Shelly her wet dress (carrying bustier and panties), to return to camp, arriving just in time for lunch.

  Lunch

  It was after 1:00 by the time they began to come back to camp in groups, Maria and Marcella watching them: Valerie and Michelle coming from Bathing Beach in wet clothes, Valerie changing to dry at their lean-to but Michelle arriving at the Kitchen Tent in her wet dress; Mark, Ron and Ralph coming from the center of the island, talking of their discoveries; James and Paul coming over the lava line from Coral Beach; Jeanne appearing from her lean-to, obviously just waking up; Julia coming from the infirmary with requests for food for the three patients. Everyone converged on the Kitchen Tent, where Marcella served them a casserole dish incorporating the remaining fresh vegetables, two packages of ground beef that had thawed, and half a dozen eggs. It was generally hailed as delicious; everyone ate well except George and Roger.

  James, looking around at the others, realized that he had overlooked a public health issue among the people gathered around him – sunburn. Paul had been recovering from sunburn when he had stepped on board the Fiji Queen; it had largely faded over the next several days, but now he was out and about without a hat or shirt, and his ears, nose and shoulders were getting quite red. James figured that if something didn’t change, his torso, arms and legs would follow suit very soon. As he looked around, he noticed that Maria’s nose and arms were a little red. The same was true for Jeanne and Julia, who were both pink about the face. James remembered Jim looking sunburned when he boarded the Fiji Queen. As he looked, he recognized that he and Ron had dark complexions and doubted either would burn; Ralph, tanned from working outside as a carpenter, would probably also not burn. The rest were of some intermediate risk.

  “I have just realized that some of you are discovering sunburn,” he announced.

  There was a small hubbub as people looked at themselves and at one-another, making the same observations James had just made to himself. Clearly, some were burning, and everyone was concerned.

  “I don’t suppose anyone thought to rescue a gallon or so of sunscreen, so we will have to use older preventions and remedies. The worst part of the day for sunburn is in the two hours before and after noon, when the sun is highest in the sky. The four of you who are already burning – Paul, Maria, Jeanne and Julia, should probably stay in shade from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. There are three of us who are probably at pretty low risk of burning – me, Ron and Ralph; the rest of you should plan to stay in shade from 10 AM to 2 PM.”

  This brought another round of conversation, mostly about the impossibility of doing such a thing. James let it run on a bit, then interrupted.

  “I know that seems to make the day something very difficult to deal with. Let’s do some creative thinking and see if we can think of anything that would make a difference in how we organize our days to avoid excessive sun exposure. I know, for instance, that the Mexicans, and many other tropical and subtropical peoples, believe in a ‘siesta’ – a nap – in the middle of the day. Would it make sense for us to get up at sunrise, nap in the middle of the day, and go to bed at moonset?”

  Again, the discussion raged for a few moments without any apparent organization or direction. Everyone was reacting; no one was communicating.

  Maria helped to get the conversation more organized. “Well, I certainly won’t be much good for anything if I am sick with sunstroke. I think I will find a way to stay out of the sun for those six hours. How many of us have experienced sunburn in the past?”

  The only hands that didn’t go up were those of James, Ron and Ralph.

  “Then we all know how bad it can be. Since we cannot turn off the sun and we don’t have any sunscreen, and no one seemed to think of bringing a hat at 3:00 in the morning when the ship sank, here we are with very few alternatives.”

  There were nods.

  Marcella: “Would we have to rearrange the meals?”

  Julia: “As much as I hate the idea of rearranging meals, I like it a lot better than sunburn. I think we ought to consider having breakfast earlier and supper at or after sunset.”

  “I could do that. Breakfast at sunrise. Lunch at noon. Supper at 6:30 or so.”

  “I think that would work for me, though sunrise may be earlier than many of us can mobilize for breakfast,” Maria agreed with Marcella. “We may lose sleep at night, but we will gain the possibility of a mid-day nap that will keep us out of the worst rays of the sun.”

  Paul: “My ears and my nose would very much appreciate that, I assure you.”

  James: “How about everyone else?”

  There was a general assent.

  The two groups of explorers shared information about what they had found. With the help of Ron’s drawings, it was clear that the green-leafed plants discovered by the two groups were probably of the same species, and since Paul had had no adverse affects, they could presume that the leaves were edible. James was more excited about the possibility that water had been discovered. They were going to need water sooner than anything else, so this was important. They would return the next morning with several large empty jugs to see what they could do about gaining access to the water and bringing some back to camp.

  Valerie raised the issue of Michelle’s second outfit – which they had neglected to make because she had not presented herself for fitting. Maria and Marcella agreed to work on this after lunch; Valerie would take charge of the infirmary; Jeanne and Julia would clean up the kitchen. Ron would take Jim for a walk at 2:00.

  It promised to be a lazy afternoon. No one had any important plans. James planned a nap. Mark thought a nap sounded good to him too. Paul and Ralph thought a swim would be nice, but did not speak until after Maria, Marcella, Jeanne and Julia had claimed Bathing Beach for the afternoon.

  Afternoon Activities

  Lunch came to an end; James kissed Maria and went to their lean-to to lie down and was sound asleep in a few moments; Mark said goodbye to Julia and did the same, complaining again about how much his knees were hurting him; Ron went to visit Jim and found him waiting, with his empty lunch bowl sitting beside him. Valerie was also there, collecting bowls and spoons from the three men to take back to the kitchen for clean-up. At two Ron and Jim set out for Coral Beach, to wade in the water. Ron had brought a special present for Jim – when Ron had rescued his sketch pad and pencils, he had also picked up Jim’s recorder, so as they waded, Jim began playing.

  Paul and Ralph waited around the kitchen to see if there would be anything else for them to do, and were assured that there wasn’t a thing f
or them to do, and would they please get out of everyone’s way. They checked the time to see that it was after 2:00. walked to the water, stood briefly in ankle-deep water having a discussion; simultaneously, as if powered by a single spring, they took off their sulus, turned to the water, walked forward about six steps, dove in and began swimming vigorously toward the reef. The water was surprisingly warm, but very refreshing. Initially, they made a lot of splashing, but then settled down to some real swimming. Ralph was in better condition than Paul, but that could not overcome Paul’s advantage in height and reach – Paul reached the reef first and climbed out onto it, joined a moment later by Ralph. They walked as gently as they could on the top of the reef, looking for where the ship had gone down. Paul knew the approximate location well from having piloted the raft out to pick up James that first night, but the exact location was a bit of a mystery. The mystery was solved when they spotted a small oil slick not far from the outer border of the reef. They stood looking at the spot for some time, then turned and found their way back across the top of the reef to the calm water inside of it, dropping back into the water to swim some more.

  At the Kitchen tent, Maria, Marcella and Michelle watched the men leave in different directions, laughing among themselves as Paul and Ralph stripped to go swimming, emerging to walk around, naked, on the reef. However, this was the opportunity they had wanted to get Michelle out of her dress and to fit her for a second set of clothing. Because they were now reduced to smaller scraps and remnants, and because Michelle was going to require a larger garment, this challenge might keep her standing naked for some time; since the “fitting room” rigged the previous day was gone, the absence of all the men was crucial to Michelle’s comfort. It went well. Maria and Marcella were gentle and business-like in the fitting process; Michelle gradually became comfortable standing naked while they worked around her, and emerged from the process with an interesting patchwork sulu with many tied corners, and a halter top that was scant compared to others, covering her breasts well, but consisting elsewhere of mere straps of supporting cloth. Soon they were done and Michelle went to rinse her dress and hang it to dry at her lean-to, then to show Val her new outfit. She stayed with Val at the infirmary for the rest of the afternoon.

  By the time Michelle’s outfit was complete, the cleaning of the kitchen was also complete; Maria, Jeanne, Marcella and Julia set out for Bathing Beach, each carrying a dry outfit to wear back after their swim. At the beach, they washed the clothes they had been wearing and put them on the rocks to start drying, then swam and splashed together for some time before coming out of the water, drying off in the sun, putting on dry clothes and taking the wet ones back to camp to hang up to finish drying. Julia confided to Maria that this was the best she had felt in days. She was becoming accustomed to allowing some disorder around her; the daily trip to the beach in the afternoon was very helpful to her sense of being able to keep herself in order.

  When she got to the lean-to, Maria found that James had finished his nap, gotten up and left. She wondered where he had gone, but knew it could not be far. She went back to the kitchen, pulled out the computer, and began to catch up on her journal. The battery was about half gone.

  James had gone back to visit again with Roger, still sitting by his lean-to, head bent to look at the ground between his feet. His pajamas were gradually becoming dirtier and his feet are now colored dark with fine grains of sand. The conversation was again in short spurts from Roger, generally followed by pauses before James said something to elicit another response.

  “I am here again.”

  “Thanks for coming to see me.”

  “Have you eaten?”

  “A bite or two. Nurse Valerie insisted…. She actually fed me.”

  “Yes, I can imagine her doing that.”

  “Why do you both bother with me?”

  “Because you are important to us.”

  “I don’t see why.”

  “Why shouldn’t you be?”

  “I’m just a broken down old bastard whose wife died.”

  “Yes. And so are all the rest of us just broken down old bastards who have lost something or other along the way. We hurt too, you know. Maybe not as much as you do. Maybe not in the same way exactly. But we do.”

  “Let’s all kill ourselves.”

  “Or let’s all talk and help one-another and go on.”

  “I don’t know if I can.” The tears were flowing again.

  “Would you like to tell me a bit more about Jayne?”

  “Yes…. I told you she was a minister’s daughter?”

  “Yes.”

  “She just celebrated her 60thbirthday in April…. She was one of five daughters and no sons in her family…. She and her sisters went to public school, but their parents schooled them in religion…. They raised her to believe that she was destined for greatness…. If only she exerted herself…. With will and force…. She was a very forceful woman.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “When she was 25, she moved to Sydney.”

  “That must have been hard on her family.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they were happy with one less mouth to feed…. She went to work in a business office.”

  “You told me how good a business woman she was.”

  “Yes.”

  “And?”

  “And she married the boss’s son. I understand it was a long courtship. They had a daughter. Jayne has not seen her daughter for over 10 years.”

  “Oh?”

  “Jodie became a Buddhist. She rejected her mother and her mother’s Christianity. There was a terrible row…. I sometimes wondered if it was my fault.”

  “Why?”

  “Jodie choosing Buddhism, I mean. I was never very religious, not like Jayne. But she never seemed to care about my religion. But she cared intensely about what Jodie chose. She cut Jodie out of her will.”

  “Goodness.”

  “When Jodie was young, Jayne’s husband and his father were killed in an airplane crash…. So Jayne was left with a substantial fortune. Enough to be completely independent.”

  “What happened then?”

  “She sold her father-in-law’s business and began investing.”

  “How did she do?”

  “She was very successful.”

  “And then she met you?”

  “Yes, about a year or so later.”

  “And she helped you with your business.”

  “Yes. And we were married.”

  “But she was financially independent.”

  “Yes. But there was an advantage, both social and in her financial dealings for her to be married. So I helped her too.”

  “And you helped her to raise her daughter.”

  “Yes. I love Jodie, even though I have not seen her since she and Jayne parted ways.”

  “I wonder what Jodie is doing.”

  “I don’t know. If we get back, I think I will try to find her.”

  Here again, sobs interrupted his ability to talk.

  “You can go now. Thanks for listening. I would like to be alone now.”

  “I will come to talk again if you would like me to.”

  Evening glow

  Supper was another meal in a single pot, which seemed, more and more, to be Marcella’s style. This was a shepherd’s pie, using frozen peas, dried mashed potatoes and frozen ground beef, but it was the spice mixture that really made the day. It was the first meal entirely without fresh vegetables, but there was a fruit salad dessert. Somehow, spirits were better this evening. Perhaps that was because Jim joined them at supper, seeming to be completely restored to his previous good health. Perhaps it was because the giddy happiness of Val and Shelly was so communicable. Perhaps it was just that they were settling in, and slowly realizing that, at least for a time, they were going to be able to survive. Regardless, it was an evening for laughing, for telling jokes and for exchanging stories.

&nbs
p; After supper, Jim brought out his recorder and began by playing a few classic airs recognized by everyone. In a few moments, he was besieged with requests for tunes people knew. Some of them Jim also knew. A smaller number had words to sing that more than one or two remembered. The sun set in its usual blaze of red and orange glory as they sang and laughed together.

  The waxing moon was high in the sky and large enough to cast significant light this evening, and it was by this moonlight that the dishes were washed and the kitchen put back into good order in preparation for the morning. Agreements were easily reached about who would watch over the infirmary – now populated only by George and Roger – and who would watch over the fire. Maria and Marcella agreed on a menu for breakfast, and Maria indicated that she would cook so Marcella could sleep in. Marcella gratefully accepted the offer.