Day Eight: Evening
The man looks to me to be about six foot seven inches, a good head taller than me, and of some mixed race descent. His hair is basically stubble and jet black. He’s positively huge and I sincerely hope that we don’t end up having a direct one on one conflict. He’d break me in half without popping a bead of sweat.
He came up to me on the beach and I let him speak first. I’ll do the best I can at reproducing our conversation.
“Hello.” He spoke in flat tones, giving me no clues as to his origin.
I pasted on my best hopeful look. “Oh my god! It’s good to finally see another person. My name is Robert Peterson and I’ve been alone here for too damn long. Good to meet you.” I stuck my hand out and waited.
He looked at me and looked at the boat. A smile spread across his face like an oil slick. “Well by god good to meet you too, Rob. Name’s Josh and me and my crew just landed here thanks to that storm. Well I’d say we, but they’re dead thanks to all the bashing that we took and I’m it. So it’s good to see you too.” He took my hand and gave it a firm, but controlled shake.
“I was going to go on board and have a look around, but if it’s as bad as you say I’m glad that I’ve been saved the trouble.”
“Yeah it’s pretty fuckin’ grim. So how’d you get here?”
I looked out at the ocean. “Lifeboat from a cruise ship. I was at sea for days. Thank god it was well stocked with provisions so it wasn’t much of a hardship. The worst thing has been being by myself.”
“Cruise ship huh?” His thick brow wrinkled. “Must’ve been way off course. No cruise lines come within quite a ways of this speck of dirt. Damn shame too, cause it’ll be a bitch getting out to the shipping lanes in what we have. We might have to end up eating one another.” He smiled and I took a sharp blow to my confidence, so the sick look on my face wasn’t entirely pretend.
“Oh I hope it doesn’t come to that. There seems to be enough fresh water, fruit, and animal life around here that a man could do okay for a while. A gun would help though. Do you have one by chance?”
“Nope. No guns for me. Last gun I used put me in the hole. We might be able to rig something up trap-wise though. I used to be a Wilderness Scout leader.”
The idea of this man alone with a bunch of young boys was more than a little unsettling. “Well that’s some luck. Okay Josh….Josh right?”
He nodded.
“Well Josh, if you can bring whatever you can carry that might be useful I can take you to where I’ve been camping and maybe we can make a more permanent shelter than I’ve been able to.”
He smiled again. “Got my pack right back by the tree line. We can go get it and head on. I’d rather not go back on board. Probably smells pretty ripe in there by now.”
We get our stuff together and I took him to a spot where I had made camp last night. We decided to sleep there and make a new camp tomorrow. He’s snoring and I’m pretty certain that it’s real. Now that he’ll be where I can see him maybe I’ll get an opportunity to take care of him at my leisure. Don’t think I’ll be getting much real sleep until then so I won’t wait too long.
He came up to me on the beach and I let him speak first. I’ll do the best I can at reproducing our conversation.
“Hello.” He spoke in flat tones, giving me no clues as to his origin.
I pasted on my best hopeful look. “Oh my god! It’s good to finally see another person. My name is Robert Peterson and I’ve been alone here for too damn long. Good to meet you.” I stuck my hand out and waited.
He looked at me and looked at the boat. A smile spread across his face like an oil slick. “Well by god good to meet you too, Rob. Name’s Josh and me and my crew just landed here thanks to that storm. Well I’d say we, but they’re dead thanks to all the bashing that we took and I’m it. So it’s good to see you too.” He took my hand and gave it a firm, but controlled shake.
“I was going to go on board and have a look around, but if it’s as bad as you say I’m glad that I’ve been saved the trouble.”
“Yeah it’s pretty fuckin’ grim. So how’d you get here?”
I looked out at the ocean. “Lifeboat from a cruise ship. I was at sea for days. Thank god it was well stocked with provisions so it wasn’t much of a hardship. The worst thing has been being by myself.”
“Cruise ship huh?” His thick brow wrinkled. “Must’ve been way off course. No cruise lines come within quite a ways of this speck of dirt. Damn shame too, cause it’ll be a bitch getting out to the shipping lanes in what we have. We might have to end up eating one another.” He smiled and I took a sharp blow to my confidence, so the sick look on my face wasn’t entirely pretend.
“Oh I hope it doesn’t come to that. There seems to be enough fresh water, fruit, and animal life around here that a man could do okay for a while. A gun would help though. Do you have one by chance?”
“Nope. No guns for me. Last gun I used put me in the hole. We might be able to rig something up trap-wise though. I used to be a Wilderness Scout leader.”
The idea of this man alone with a bunch of young boys was more than a little unsettling. “Well that’s some luck. Okay Josh….Josh right?”
He nodded.
“Well Josh, if you can bring whatever you can carry that might be useful I can take you to where I’ve been camping and maybe we can make a more permanent shelter than I’ve been able to.”
He smiled again. “Got my pack right back by the tree line. We can go get it and head on. I’d rather not go back on board. Probably smells pretty ripe in there by now.”
We get our stuff together and I took him to a spot where I had made camp last night. We decided to sleep there and make a new camp tomorrow. He’s snoring and I’m pretty certain that it’s real. Now that he’ll be where I can see him maybe I’ll get an opportunity to take care of him at my leisure. Don’t think I’ll be getting much real sleep until then so I won’t wait too long.
© 2004 by Scott Roche
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