Paradise Island
Day One:
Shipwrecked!
I woke up hazily on a warm, sunny
beach. Coughing up salty water, I staggered over to a tree and propped myself
up against it. My vision cleared and found that I was stranded on an uncharted
island, and my ship was in poor condition but resting on a cluster of rocks.
After resting a bit, I salvaged what I could from the wreck: a fishing knife,
rope, sailcloth, a scissor, and some driftwood. I was very hungry, but I found
a coconut and smashed it open. I drank the coconut water and ate the meat. Now
I was content, I collapsed from exhaustion.
Day Two: Materials and Fire
When I was sleeping, I made a dream
that pirates brought me home to England. As I stretched and yawned to face a
new day, I realized I would need to gather materials to make all the items I
needed to survive. I spotted some bamboo growing near the bushes, so I grabbed
my fishing knife and hacked all of them down. Soon I found out that when
fashioned into a spear and dried in the sun, it made a formidable fishing
spear. A few minutes later I was getting pretty hungry. After spearing some
fish, I tried making a fire. I used some dry wood I collected from the
shipwreck, and rubbed them together as fast as I could. Within moments wispy
smoke appeared and next minute, embers. I softly blew on them and flames burst
out of them! Quickly adding wood, I was able to create a bonfire. Taking some
bamboo out of my stock, I skewered my fish and started roasting them. Within
minutes, a heavenly aroma arose out of it and the fat started sizzling. After
three more minutes passed, I was able to dig in. Using my bare hands, I ate a
meal fit for a king.
Day three: Exploration and Learning.
Since I knew I had all the necessary
basics to survive, I went around the beach exploring the plants and all the
while gathering new materials. I found a tree that bore berries that were very
tart and sweet with a little seed inside a translucent berry shell. Hmmmmm….. I
wonder if that was a rumberry. I gathered some and put them in my pocket, which
was still intact but degrading fast. The banana leaves proved to be a good
material to make shelter. Thin and strong vines grew on tall, tall trees and
were good for tying things together. I knew that I would need to make a
shelter, so I bound piece of bamboo with some banana leaves, and did the same
thing over and over again until I had enough walls. Then using some of the rope
I salvaged, I made myself a lean – to. Now I knew how to make a shelter.
Day four: Not alone.
When I was wandering around in the
jungle, I saw smoke coming from the east. I decided to take a closer look at
what was causing it. I ran over to it and found a mysterious fire pit. I knew
it wasn’t mine because it was way back at the beach where I first set foot on
the island. Suddenly, a voice shouted, “Who goes there?!?!” A face emerged from the bushes. I soon
realized it was my ship’s cook. “Martin, how did you end up here, eh?” I asked.
“Why, I washed up on the south beach, of course.” he replied. “Well, you better
come along to the beach where I have set up home. It’s the most glorious view
of the beach. There’s a stream surrounded by the prettiest black rocks. There
are beautiful hibiscus flowers, and a great orange tree. You might want to move
your supplies and get over to my beach. I’m dying of loneliness.” I agreed and
moved my lean – to and fishing spear over to his property.
Day five: Building and Agriculture
Now we got our camp set, it was time to make
some leisure related items. We started with a better home. I set out gathering
while Martin was making plans inside his head for the houses. I knew I needed
vines, lots of leaves, and tons of bamboo and some wood. Martin gave me a
seashell axe I could use for chopping down the wood. An hour later, we were
done with the two huts. Sleek bamboo doors, strong support from the wood,
protection from the leaves stacked on top of each other, this was a work of
beauty. To further help our survival, we made hunting weapons. This was crucial
since fish did not provide enough food and was a pain in the butt to get. First
we tried making clubs out of spare wood I chopped down. Because we dried it, it
became hard and light. The clubs were an initial success when some goats passed
by. We were able to salt the meat using seawater and then dried. But goats only
passed by once in a while, so we devised a trap by digging a hole and covering
it with dead leaves. Once we captured some goats, we domesticated them and bred
them for milk and meat. Now we had animals, we needed to make our own crops. We
already had an orange tree, so that was good. But, we certainly needed a
variety of plants to harvest and eat. Martin went deeper into the jungle and
found some dragon fruit and some coriander seeds. The inner beach had lots of
good soil, so we planted them near the orange tree, which was growing on an
outcrop of volcanic rock.
Day six: Culinary skills.
Of course, we did not have the right
ingredients to make our homeland recipes, so Martin devised his own tools. First
he made a stirring tool with a flat stone tied to a bamboo stick. Next he
created a stone pot by scraping out soft coal from a rock and hollowed out the
remaining stone with another stone. The coal was saved as fuel for fire. He
then washed the stone pot out and made handles from the rope I originally
collected from the ship. We dried orange peels for spices and harvested a few
stalks of coriander for seasoning and got out some salted goat meat. I went
inland for finding some other vegetables and found some ripe lentils and saved
a few for planting. I collected an armful and went back to the beach. Martin
plopped them all into the pot with some stream water to create a frothing,
bubbling delicacy. We all ate heartily and slept a good night.
Day seven: Not alone… Again! (We
might escape!)
Morning
Turns out we were still not alone.
There was an island with a couple of small canoes heading out for our beach. We
got out our arms and readied for attack. Then savages got out from their boats
and tried hitting us with spiked clubs, but we hit them back and they ran away.
The next time they attacked, we hid in a tree. Once they realized we were gone,
they turned back. The next few hours, a large ship came to our beach. A band of
mutineers came down holding captive their captain and two truthful crewmembers.
We hid until the mutineers went back to their ship and marooned the prisoners
on the island. The ship was stationary, though. As soon as the prisoners
settled down, we came out of our hiding place and startled the poor lot of
them. After the captain told us his troubles and how he got this fate, Martin
agreed to overtake the ship with the prisoners. I doubted it but knew it was my
only chance to escape this condemned island. The captain had hidden a short
sword in his coat, and had a pistol. The first crewmember had a blunderbuss,
and the second was all knives and daggers.
Afternoon
As we boarded the ship, some
mutineers attacked us, so I knocked them all out and the captain shot them
dead. I gathered ammo and weapons. After hearing the ruckus, several rebels
rushed up from the hull to the deck and assaulted us. The second trustworthy
crewmember climbed up on the rigging and swung from rope to rope, and when he finally
landed on the deck, he did several back flips toward the rioters. With each
jump he threw a knife into an enemy’s throat. The 1st crewmember who
didn’t stage a mutiny was perched on the crow’s nest, and just as the
ringleader came out of his cabin, he fired a shot and it killed off the lead
mutineer. Now, we took control and sailed all the way back to merry England.
Epilogue
Once we returned, I sort of wanted to
go back. This time, I brought back men and women, dogs and cats, and some
supplies. The captain was happy to stay on the island, and Martin and I were
very content to be the governors of the island. A new colony was growing, and
all was well.
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