The Time On The Island
Raymond Daley
Copyright 16/9/12 by Raymond Daley
Another morning beach combing, a few squids washed up which still look pretty good and taste even better cooked. Plenty of clams and some seaweed too. The usual array of driftwood which has many uses and a few plastic bottles which are always useful. I'm thankful that three of the four bottles still have the screw tops on them too.
Carried everything back to the shelter which only took five trips (mainly due to the awkward size, shape and weight of the wood) and improved most of the walls a bit over the course of the next hour or so. I think this place is totally wind tight now, that had really been bringing the inside temperature down during the nights making it difficult to get any kind of restful sleep.
It's been just over a month now, still no ships on the horizon but I live in hope. The hope I live in is slightly more comfortable than my shelter.
The island is about a mile across, plenty of trees so building supplies and firewood aren't an issue.
I generally try to avoid using the trees that are here to build with or to make fires though, lots of wood and other debris washes up all over the island pretty much every day or every other day. It's rare that more than two days pass without anything washing up.
Most of the island does have sand beaches so I can walk its complete circumference apart from a small area by the cliffs, that's only passable at low tide but it's always good for foraging as lots of fish get stuck in the small pools.
It's not hard to find food providing you don't mind meat, or more specifically fish and seafood.
Water is just about findable too, a couple of the trees are quite good water traps. It'd be nice if there were some fruit trees but you can't have everything.
I have shelter, food, water and managed to get a fire going using some of the driftwood that wasn't ever going to be useful in building or improving my shelter. On a few occasions I've had a decent excess of food so after the second glut I built a small smoker to preserve fish so if I don't catch anything I do at least have some amount of food in reserve in case of an emergency.
You'd think being alone I'd have gotten bored really quickly but every day is different, the weather is never the same, the sea conditions vary wildly too. It's always a surprise to see what gets washed up and where.
Because the island isn't all that big I don't really expend a whole lot of energy on my daily foraging. The highest point of the island is the cliff tops which are about fifty or so feet above sea level, I've assembled a pile of combustible material up there for a signal fire and I try to devote at least one hour every day on lookout. It's quite a good time to gather my thoughts and also I can see all across the beaches and anything that has washed up on them.
Generally the debris comes in at three specific spots, I call them the sure-fires. Now and then some stuff will come up at other points so it's always a nice change when that happens.
Looking forward to a warmer nights sleep tonight.
***
Another day in the sun or so I expected. Weather threw me a curve and rained most of the day. Nothing washed up today, rare but not unusual. Am going to try and build a bit of cover over my fire supplies up on the cliff top when this dies down a bit.
Seems I will be spending most of the day here in the shelter, just too damn wet to risk climbing up to the cliffs today. There is a path where you can walk up but it's very muddy and far too easy to slip and twist or break an ankle or leg in weather like this. Ate some of the smoked fish and dried out in front of a nice fire which soon made me feel better.
At least I know there will be plenty of drinking water to collect when this rain finally stops. I've decided if I can't forage or do lookout then I may as well rest and conserve my energy, food and water.
Hitting the hay early is the way to go today.
***
Seems like it rained through the whole night, it's not as hard today but it's still coming down. I did a quick light forage around the beaches, again another day with nothing washed up. Probably due to the weather making the seas rougher, that's my guess at least. Filled up twelve bottles of various sizes with fresh water, pretty good score on that count.
Made a little rock lined pit when I got back under the shelter, placed the full water bottles inside and a small board over the top then covered it with sand. That should keep the water pretty cold I hope. Ate smoked fish again and some seaweed. Filled me up at least.
No sign of the rain letting up so I might have to rethink my foraging strategy tomorrow. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, in the mean time I'm sacking out early again.
***
The rain has let up a fair amount today, it's just a very light spray. You get wet really quickly but you aren't cold because there's no prevailing wind and the sun radiates like crazy this close to the equator.
Found a few empty metal mess tins, somebody probably lost them off a boat I guess. Useful for me to cook in, dig with, store stuff inside and use to carry things too. Plenty of uses for them, even signalling. No fish or wood washed up but I still have a fairly good store back at the shelter. Found some mussels and razor clams though so it'll be a nice change instead of smoked fish again.
Noted a spot on the edge of the forest where the rain had eroded the ground a bit and discovered what look like tubers. I've dug a few up and marked the spot (using a piece of pink ribbon I found on the second day here). I'll see if they are edible, if so they can go on the menu.
Cleaned off the tubers in the sea and did the skin test back at the shelter, rubbing a small piece of the tuber on the back of my left hand. No reaction after twenty minutes so I cut a small piece off and chewed it. A bit like raw potato! Didn't taste too bad so I am going to boil a couple up to see how they cook.
Ate the tubers (I've decided to call them potatoes even if they don't look like them) with the mussels and clams, extremely tasty and very filling. Left a pleasant sensation of warmth and comfort so those are definitely going to become a cheeky pleasure in the future.
Moved some boards up to the cliff top this afternoon, I'll leave my fire material to dry out for a few more days then shift everything under the rain shelter. It was a pretty simple structure, three sides and a roof for cover that slopes slightly to allow rain to run off. Even with the smoke signal material stored inside it's still potentially big enough to double up as an emergency shelter for me in the event that the weather gets too bad to go back down to sea level.
I spent the rest of the afternoon up on lookout, the rain stopped completely sometime in the late afternoon. I don't really wear my watch any more, far too much temptation to constantly look at it.
You'd go mad in less than a day doing that. Made my way back to the shelter before it got dark, didn't want to be coming down the path then, far too risky.
I wonder if I'll dream tonight. I don't think I have since I got here, or at least I don't remember any of them. Odd that.
***
Quite a nice warm morning today, I went up and checked on the signal materials which are drying out very nicely. I will give them the rest of the day to dry out but be on standby in the event of any rain, they are close to being completely dry so if I can get them under cover today then I will. I saw a few dark fins out in the sea from up here, appears there are sharks hunting close by which might account for the lack of seafood being washed up.
They look to be patrolling about fifty or sixty feet off the shoreline, just outside the shallows. It's a shame the tide only goes out about half that distance or I would definitely try to put up some traps, nets or lines to catch them. Shark tastes pretty good from what I have read. Also their teeth would be excell
ent tools for cutting.
They look to be about ten or fifteen feet long at a rough guess (at least from up here anyway, it's tough to tell from this height with no real reference points in the water), that would last me a week or longer.
Made my way down to the beach and watched the sharks for a while. It's quite a good way to relax.
When the tide finally went fully out I hammered in a couple of long wooden posts a few feet apart right on the edge of the waterline, when the tide comes back in I can get a better idea of how big those sharks are if they come back, it will also be useful as a marker to see how close to shore they come as well.
Gathered a bit more water and went back up to check on the drying out progress of the signal material. Everything felt dry to the touch so I moved it all into the shelter. I left a board across the entrance as well, one side is inside, the far side is outside so it should act as a makeshift door. It's easy enough for me to slide aside but the wind can't easily blow it in.
I could see the sharks coming back in as the tide turned, they came close enough to check out my posts and my estimate on their size proved to be spot on. If there is a group of four then I am sure there are more close by, probably just not as brave or as nosey. Out of boredom I have officially named them The Pathetic Sharks after the comic strip in Viz.
I must be getting desperate for company if I'm anthropomorphising sharks.
For a change I am considering camping out in the emergency shelter for the next few days, I'll make a decision in the morning.
Also, must try and remember my dreams. Finding it very weird that I not only don't remember dreaming, I don't think I even really remember sleeping. I know I must be as I'm seeing mornings and evenings.
***
Went straight up to the cliff top shelter as soon as I opened my eyes this morning. Took some food and water for a few days and a burning log from my fire pit. Built a small fire pit. up here by the shelter door to reflect the heat inside and brought some driftwood up here to keep a fire going for at least two days. If I decide to stay up here longer I can always go down and get more.
Over the course of the next few days I am going to keep lookout all day for as long as there is light.
Using some of the green leaves stacked up into layers I have made something to sleep on to keep me off the ground. That's the quickest way to lose heat, sleeping on the ground, it just leeches the life right out of you.
Two of the Pathetic Sharks were hunting in their usual spot, they ignored the posts today. I reckon that If I secured some netting between the posts and baited it with smoked fish I might be able to trap at least one of them.
Without a doubt, today has been the longest I've ever spent up here since I arrived. I can't really estimate how far out I can see but my view is unobscured in all directions, there's nothing out there as far as the eye can see.
Now and then the odd coconut or tree trunk does wash up so I must be in the drift path of at least one other landmass that isn't within visual range. It's impossible to tell if the horizon is fifty or five hundred miles away, another island could be within sailing distance if I had a boat or raft.
Up here at the cliff top there is an area of flat ground about seventy feet in diameter, I built the shelter as far away from the sheer cliff edge as possible, the entrance faces the path that leads back down to the shore. I can look all around the island and am able to scan the sea in all directions. Where ever something is coming from, I'm going to see it.
One new thing I did note during the course of today was a flotsam line, it gives me a better idea of the currents in that part of the water. It seemed to mostly comprise of wood so I presume the rain we had over the last few days washed it off an island close by.
I've taken a bearing on the line it takes so even if it all washes past me I can still know roughly where on the horizon it originated from. I stamped some sticks into the ground and a few stones, a visual marker is more reliable than trusting my memory.
If I ever decide to build a raft, that will be the direction I head in.
I at least know there would be building materials for shelter and a source of wood for fire, judging from the coconuts there is some kind of food there too. A place to aim at if this island suddenly dries up in terms of food I guess.
Normally I would try and get to sleep when it gets dark but tonight I decided to try and stay awake for as long as I could, I stoked the fire to keep warm but I must have drifted off.
***
I don't remember falling asleep at all last night, it was light when I woke up though, I'd nodded off sat up against the emergency shelter. I guess it must be stronger than I originally assumed if it supported my weight sleeping against it. I was definitely asleep as I felt that first thing early tiredness when I opened my eyes.
A quick scan of the beaches from up here proved fruitless so it looks like either another day where nothing washed up or those sharks are intercepting anything that would normally wash up. If this carries on much longer then I am going to have to decide if I am leaving this island or not.
I took a few hours to go rock-pooling by the cliffs at low tide which scored thirty or so fish. Some can be eaten today, I'm considering seeing if I can refine some salt from seawater to possibly salt cure some of my excess. It'd make a nice change from the smoked fish and it'd be a good way to keep my mind occupied.
Went back up to the lookout and cooked a few of the fish. Also boiled several containers of seawater down to get some salt. I've left a few fish in it to see if this works. This could be a good way of carrying my food if I do decide to leave here.
***
All the sharks were back today.
"Is he still up there?"
"Yes sister."
"I can't see him."
"On top of the bed, I'm amazed he doesn't fall off."
"How do you think he manages to sleep up there?"
"No idea, but he seems to sleep well enough."
"Does he ever come down?"
"Sometimes when we put a meal out, he'll wander around the cell maybe forty or fifty times then finally see the food where we've left it. He only seems to notice certain foods though, we've gathered that much from trial and error."
"Such as?"
"He likes fish, and potatoes. Most sea foods in fact. He even ate some dried Japanese seaweed!"
"Is he still not responsive?"
"I've tried talking to him a few times, he just stands on the far side of the room or up on top of the bed and just stares. I have no idea what he's seeing. We're not reaching him, I'm not sure we ever will."
"How long has he been here now?"
"Two months. He was in a plane crash, the local rescue services found him and his family on a nearby island. Their life raft had drifted ashore and they'd only been there a day. He was the only one to survive the journey. He'd been caring for them but he didn't or couldn't see that they were already dead."
"Where do you think he is?"
"In the cell, right there. I can see him."
"No, I mean in his head. Inside his mind. Where is he? Where does he think he is?"
"It's hard to be sure. I hope he's gone to somewhere he feels safe. If he comes back it'll be such a terrible reality to have to explain to him."
I'm definitely going to string up the first net or fishing line I find. Heck, I might even try to make a net from tree vine. Gonna catch me some shark.
I wish I could remember my dreams. It's a nice island though. I'll stay here as long as the food holds out. There's no real urgency to leave, yet.
THE END.
Authors Notes:- One of the other two stories I was writing when I started and finished "The Mason Procedure." I knew how this finished but struggled to reach it, probably why it didn't get finished first despite being started before the other two.