by R.H. Proenza
The thoughts of a man-crushing boa never got too distant from my mind while walking through the dense vegetation. We followed a circuitous path through the underbrush. Some of the terrains indeed needed clearing with our machetes where vines had grown across the path. It seemed everything grew with great vigor on this exotic island. Even so, there was no monotony in the foliage, for nature’s variety abounded. There were strange beautiful flowers of every conceivable hue and shape. Fruits and vegetables in esthetic colors and textures hung here and there in plentiful quantities.
The fauna was just as varied. A world-class zoo of birds, mammals, and reptiles inhabited the island around us. They were all singing, screeching, fluttering or crawling away as Melissa and I passed. The plentiful insects no double kept them all well fed.
The distinct sound of gurgling around the next bend announced the approach of the girl’s fresh water supply. As we rounded the curved trail a sparkling stream appeared. The water washed over large smooth river rocks that rested in its path. It meandered off to the right, into the forest and out of sight from where we were standing. Its sound and sight were a delight to my senses. I could not help but kneel down at the edge and thrust my face into the inviting water. The brook was crystalline as well as refreshing to my face and throat.
A little further down and to the left was its source. There was a beautiful small waterfall cascading over a sharp precipice and splashing a veil of white water onto the bedrock below it. The smooth bedrock had been polished out over hundreds of years of falling water. It had created a small shallow pool visible to its bottom. Opposite the waterfall, the beautiful little pool narrowed to form the mouth of the stream from which I had drank earlier. I looked around and could hardly take it all in. This place looked like something a person would conjure up in a dream.
The trees, vines, and foliage were verdant and robust owing to the nearby water. The peacefulness was disturbed only by the pleasant sound of the running stream. One could almost forget you were on an island and forget the near-drowning at sea and the fact that we were marooned. I stood frozen, absorbed in all of it for many minutes. It was... medicinal to the soul.
“This is my special place,” she said almost reverently, breaking the silence. All this time the girl had not spoken a word also absorbed in the surroundings as I had been. I could tell she seemed to respect the beauty of the nature around her, never taking it for granted.
“I see why. This truly is a special place. In all my twenty-five years, lass, I have never seen a place quite as this. It is a paradise lost… and you have found it!” His face lit up and she smiled at me for the first time since my arrival.
Walking a bit further we sat in a thick carpet of grass just to the side of the falls. We watched the beams of sunlight glisten and show colors of the rainbow through the fine mist that hung about us. The sounds of the splashing waters were mesmerizing. This place was indeed magic. At that moment it did not matter to me that I was thousands of miles from civilization as my smile told. And in all likelihood would never be rescued. I turned to look at her only to find her staring at me. She looked away, embarrassed at having been caught.
How handsome he is, she was thinking. I have to quit looking at him…but after all, I haven’t seen a man for a long time, especially one who looks as beautiful as he does. She had caught him looking at her on more than one occasion. I’m certainly not used to these feelings I get inside when he looks at me!
I smiled at her shyness. The sudden rush of color to her face made it glow with astonishing beauty. What an absolutely perfect face, he observed. The sunlight that broke through the trees illuminated the healthy luster of her hair. What a delightful girl she is!
Melissa felt herself blush a second time under my gentle admiring gaze. Wanting to break the awkwardness of the moment she stood and walked to the pool’s edge. “Rik, I’m sorry I behaved like I did yesterday when you called me Lissa.”
“That’s all right, Melissa.”
“You see, that’s what my father used to call me…”
“Oh. Oh, yes, of course, I didn’t mean to…”
“Don’t think anything of it. I just would rather you call me Melissa. I guess after so long of being alone I’m still not used to having company.” I smiled at her in agreement looking deeply into her eyes. “Well, um, we’d, uh, best continue walking. I will show you the area full of thin saplings where you can cut all you want for your hut.” She looked at me. “Rik, you do know how to build one, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve had to live in the wilds with friends on hunting trips and other occasions for periods of time. It was always for enjoyment, though, never for true survival, but I can manage.”
The girl stood up none too soon. There at the edge of the pool and with the water’s reflection highlighting her beautiful face she had looked more like a goddess to me. “Um, yes, we had better leave,” I muttered.
She took me on a grand tour through the trail she and her father had made. She was careful to point out the local food sources as we came upon them.
Soon we arrived at an area containing an abundance of trees. They were straight, thin, tall sapling trees suitable for constructing a hut. Raw materials were plentiful. There were tough vines and broad banana leaves for the picking. I surveyed the trees and vines, and plans began taking shape in my head as to the design of my dwelling. Leaving the trees behind, Melissa’s hut came into view again and I realized we had made a large circle through the bush.
She opened a thatched enclosure serving as a storage bin of some sort next to her hut and showed me its contents. “Goats are plentiful in another part of the island so my father and I prepared these skins and hides for our needs. You are welcome to use any that you find useful. You may also use those fishing tools over there until you can make your own.”
“I am overwhelmed with your generosity, lass. How will I ever be able to return the favor for saving my life, and now for all this help?”
She stopped for a moment and said with a cute smirk on her face, “Perhaps someday I may think of a way!” Her eyes seemed to glisten and an unexpected smile broke across her face, momentarily dazzling me with her beauty. She blushed crimson at her own sudden candor and turned disappearing into the hut.
After clearing my head from the effect her presence made on me I walked off and returned to the cluster of saplings. I stood machete in hand, ready to make some lumber. I worked for several hours, selecting, cutting and stacking the wood. I bound them together into small packets that were easy to carry. I worked to dusk until I felt I had accumulated enough lumber for a modest structure. I would return the next day to finish binding it up and bring back what I couldn't bring back today.
On my way back I gathered an armload of bananas, breadfruit, papayas and such, and headed for the girl’s hut. The unexpected aroma of cooked seafood met me before I got there. I found Melissa tending a fire over which stood a rack of fish being slowly heated and smoked. A few crabs had been opened up and skewered with branches and were hanging near the flames. Several wooden bowls and utensils had been placed on a hemp mat where the girl sat along with a large gourd of water with berries inside.
I approached and marveled at the ingenuity and efficiency of the campfire meal. The girl was amused by the look on my face. “Yes, I can cook," as if answering my thoughts. "I thought you might be hungry after all that work so I pulled up some of my fish and crab traps from the surf.”
“Melissa, your talents continue to amaze me!” Her face lit up. I picked up some fruit to bring you but I’m afraid my contribution is far too meager compared to all this.”
“Nonsense, Rik. Come on, let’s eat…and thank you for the fruit. I love fruit.”
I could not believe my palate. The wonderful cuisine attested to her clever cooking skills. I was not attempting empty flattery when I told her so. Following the meal, she appeared happy and content. The poor girl; it was evident s
he was starved for company.
“Melissa, how long ago did your fath…uh, how long have you been alone?”
“After a pause, she said, “This is the end of the sixth month. My father showed me how to keep a record by cutting notches on that coconut tree over there. It's like a rudimentary calendar.”
“Good heavens, six months… all by yourself!” I blurted out. “I’m so sorry for you.”
Her forehead furrowed with the memory. “At first it was horrible. After my father died the loneliness suddenly rushed in on me. It was maddening as you can imagine. I was barely able to sleep the first week for the terror I had of the darkness, and the noises in the night I could not explain. I even considered ending my life, twice, but I lacked the courage. Then I befriended a lovely baby parrot that had broken its wing while learning to fly. As I nursed it back to health I forgot about myself and my loneliness.
“By the third week, I pulled myself together and determined that I was going to survive, or die trying! I simply fell back on all that my father had taught me. Then about a week ago a fierce storm appeared on the horizon yet again. It looked like the one that killed my father – a typhoon I think. I braced myself for the worst, but all the island got was just a lot of rain and bad winds. A day or so later I noticed a large wooden plank floating on the waves near the shore. Something large, it seemed, had washed up on the sand and… To my surprise, it was a man... YOU!
“I checked, and you were still alive. At first, I was excited to see another human being. Then I started worrying about what kind of person you might turn out to be, and I began fearing the worst. I contemplated leaving you to die in the sun. I'm sorry, but I just didn’t know. Well, while I was looking you over you opened your eyes and I saw… what you really were.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean you saw what I WAS?”
“Um, my father told me I had this…‘gift’. He said that from childhood I could see into a person’s eyes and actually look into his soul – what the person was really like ‘inside’. It was true. I proved it to myself and to him many times.”
I was fascinated as she held my attention. “I could have been some barbaric rogue pirate and had you for breakfast, you know! Well, what did my ‘eyes’ tell you?”
“Your eyes told me you were no barbarian and I had nothing to fear. So I pulled you to safety and fed you for several days. When you awakened I still had to be cautious, but now I know I was right from the start.”
“Well, I’ll certainly sleep better tonight knowing that ‘I can be trusted’!” The girl gave a delightful giggle at my pale humor.
“Rik, I have a confession to make.”
“Very well, what is it?”
“You see, while you were unconscious I had to, well, you see, you were covered with all that salt and sand and… you see it was necessary to, uh…”
“Yes, go on Melissa.”
“Um, I’ll tell you tomorrow,” she said visibly uncomfortable.
“Well, all right, then. Nevertheless, all that wood cutting has exhausted me. I need to get some rest. If you don’t mind, after I bathe in the ocean I’ll just lie on the mat and watch the stars. They seem to comfort me.”
She looked skyward. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they… like tiny jewels. My mother once had a diamond on a chain, a gift from my father when he visited Africa once. I had it with me on the trip but was lost when the ship went down… the only keepsake I had from my mother,” she added sadly. "I think of her every time I look up at the stars."
After a brief moment of introspection, she shook away the thought and stood up and started toward the hut. She stopped halfway and turned. “I enjoyed tonight so much. Thank you for the pleasant company.”
“Melissa, the pleasure was all mine. You are delightful to be with… so very delightful.” Her face reddened.
“Rik,” there was a pause as she looked on with sparkling eyes. “I really enjoyed it. And... and you can call me Lissa if you like.” She gave me her dazzling smile and darted through the door.
Brilliant points of light studded the night sky. The recognizable tapestry I had memorized out at sea was one I so enjoyed. Looking up I began to make tentative plans of how I would build my dwelling. I found I had to keep pushing away the image of Lissa’s beauty which kept interfering with the house plans! The lulling sound of the surf in the distance and my tiredness took me over for the night.
Morning blades of sunshine pierced through the gray cloud band that hung to the horizon. Yellow brilliance spilled through each cloud gap in different directions. A quiet cluster of birds flew in precise formation inches above the ocean’s surface, no doubt looking for some morsels to break their fast.
I blinked away the darkness from my mind and viewed the remarkable colors of the erupting sun. My eye also caught a dark unfamiliar shape sitting at the shoreline. It was some sort of rectangular object, like a large box. I got up and ran to see what the incoming tide had brought. What appeared to be flotsam from a sailing vessel – perhaps from my own! – had landed near me. As I approached I prayed it would be something useful.
A sturdily constructed dark chest was sitting half embedded in the sand. It appeared to be in good condition after being at sea. The dark chest, expertly made of hard African ebony wood, was covered with intricate hand carvings hinting at the value of what was to be found inside. The familiar name of the captain of the Lady Glasgow etched into the side of the chest gave me a wave of sadness. It confirmed what I already knew.
