ISLAND ISOLATION

“I’m hungry.” Sara proclaimed as she hung the wet clothes they dried off with on their clothesline.

“We can investigate; see what is here to eat.”

“That sounds great.” Sara grinned.

Grissom took her hand in his and they began to walk around the island. Grissom was in a makeshift sarong and so was Sara. She wore a bra piece with hers.

“Well, for starters, we have Conch, lobster, turtle and game fish, shellfish, crabs. We can catch and eat all of those. We just need to build a fireplace and create some dishes maybe from the remnants of the plane.”

They walked on further. “We have dune grasses, sky rocket, Sea Grape, Sea Purslane and seaweed to chew on.”

“We also have trees. Cashew Nuts, Coconuts and Papaya.”

“Wow, you know all about this?”

“I know about a lot of things. I figured someday they would come in handy.”

“I guess you figured right.” Sara grinned.

“There are also Milk Berry, Darling Plum and Cacti.”

“In addition to that, the astringent properties of the bark, leaves, root and fruit make teas prepared from these items extremely effective in controlling diarrhoea and other ailments.”

“Wow Mr walking encyclopaedia. I am glad I am here with you.”

“So what do you feel like eating? Any requests?”

“Surprise me.”

“We need to build a fishing rod. A spear for fishing, a fire pits, some pots of some sort and gather some food, are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Sara grinned.

Sara went to work cutting small trees down and whittled them to a point for spears to spear the fish and crabs. While she did this Grissom collected fruits and plants for them to eat. She peeled the bark of a stick and attached a thin piece of the rope. They made a make shift hook out of a piece of tin from the plane.

“I have food; we just need a place to cook it and some wood.”

“I’ll get the wood if you build the fire pit.” Sara said walking away.

Grissom collected big rocks and lined a circular pit. He took a piece of metal from the plane and cut holes in it and placed it suspended on two rocks. This was their “burner.” They just had to wait for the wood. Sara came back with an armload of wood.

“What are we going to light it with?” Grissom asked.

“I have a lighter in my purse. It may still work.” He looked at her. “I once was a smoker.”

“Once the lighter is gone we will have to use flint and rocks.”

“I’ll pray the lighter is new.” Sara giggled.

“What are we using to start this?”

“Dried leaves should be sufficient.”

Sara grabbed a handful and threw them into the fire pit and piled the wood on top and then more leaves. Grissom started the fire and it started blazing.

“We need to build some pots and we are good.” Grissom added.

He twisted the metal into two metal pots. He put water in one and boiled it.

“I got a crab, some seaweed, a couple of coconuts, for fluids and a papaya.”

“Yum.” Sara added. “We shouldn’t starve.”

“No. We can live off the land for a very long time.”

Grissom threw the crab into the boiling water. They chewed on the seaweed as they waited for it to boil. He took a sharp rock and put a couple of holes in the coconut.

“Here, drink.” He passed it to Sara.

She took a drink and passed it back. She bit into the papaya.

“Crab’s done.”

Grissom took a piece off and passed it to Sara. “Fresh.” Sara giggled.

“It should be.”

“It’s good. What a feast.”

“We should be great for a few weeks.”

“Yes. Then someone is sure to find us. They will realize we are missing…I hope.”

“We will be fine. I assure you we will be fine.”

“I know. I trust you. You have built us a house. We have food. What more could a girl ask for?” Sara kissed him.

“Now that I am full I am gonna lay down, care to join me?”

“I just want to stoke the fire. I’ll be right there.”

Sara walked into the shelter and crawled into bed. Grissom came in behind her.

“I think we should build a piece on to out house to accommodate the fire pit. It can be our kitchen. That way when it rains, which I know it will, we can still cook things.”

“Sounds good. Can we nap first?”

“Sure thing, sweetie. We also should try to gather some extra food.”

“Sure.” She mumbled.

Grissom latched together more walls to attach to the existing shelter. Sara helped him position them up and fasten them together. For the roof, they fashioned a chiminea out of bamboo and roofed around it. They stood back and admired their work.

“WE need a table now.” Sara laughed.

“That is easy enough.” Grissom assured her. “There is an old tree over there. If we cut off a chunk we can use it as a table. We can probably find smaller ones for chairs too.”

“You are absolutely amazing. What about table linens and dishes?” Sara joked.

“I think you are asking for a bit much.” He laughed.

“Let’s go gather some food, Gil, before dark.”

They collected fruit, leaves and the like. Coconuts, nuts and grasses. They decided to leave the fish to catch fresh daily. They retreated to their shelter and put away their finds.

“So what will we do tomorrow?”

“I think we should check out the animals and stuff on this island. I think I want to start cataloguing the types here.”

“That sounds good. I may do the same thing with bugs.”

“Sounds good.

“Are you warm enough?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Just wondering if you needed me to cuddle with you.”

“You know better than to ask. I am always up for cuddling.” Sara grinned.

He kissed her lightly.

“Kiss me like you mean it.” Sara growled.

“Oh is that a dare?”

“Take it any way you wish.”

He kissed her long and hard. “How was that?”

“Mmmm. Much better.”

His hands trailed down her body. They rested on her breasts.

“Ouch, that hurts.”

“What hurts?”

“Them. They hurt. Must be nearly that time. That will be interesting out here.”

“I’ll stop.”

“No, don’t stop. Just be gentle.”