“…you better apologize!” Alright…yes…it was my fault cutie walked off, to only God knows where. I already feel bad enough, about it…I don’t need Howie’s stalker giving me shit about it, too! The argument with her was rather one sided and didn’t even last that long, before I just turned away.
It was already past dark…well…there was the bright glow that was streaming from the moon…but you know what I mean. It was potentially dangerous for her to be out this late, by herself. If I had to take a guess…I would say that it’s already past midnight.
Resa was extremely worried about her and, to be fully honest, I was too. I might not, exactly, get along with the woman and she may annoy the life out of me…but I don’t wish her any harm, ya know? And the way she passed out last night…really makes me wonder. Hopefully I don’t find her out cold somewhere on the beach.
Now I understand that Resa was all pissed off about what I said, to Kris…but don’t I, at least, deserve a “way to go” for constructing my cool ass fishing pole? I think I do! This thing is sweet, as fuck, man! See…I started out by forming one of those hair pin things into a hook…which actually worked out pretty well. Then I braided thread, from that torn sheet, for fishing line and attached it to the perfect stick!
I mean this stick brought the whole damn thing together! It was forked at the end I used for the top and had a smaller branch coming off to one side, down at the bottom. So I put the string between the fork, at the top and ran it down to wrap around the smaller side branch. It was as close to a reel as I was gonna get, and honestly, I couldn’t wait to try the bitch out!
Wait…since when do I get excited over shit like this? Hm. Maybe I’ll be better at this survival thing that I originally thought? I can see it now…AJ McLean, survivor extraordinaire, successfully defeats all that nature throws at his ass! Hellz yeah!
Aha! There she is! She’s still a little ways down the shore, sitting in the sand and…I’m not sure what she’s doing, actually…but she looks like she’s working on something. I guess it’s now, or never…I have to suck it up and apologize, to her. As I drew closer, I saw the huge “S.O.S.” message that she had written in the sand, along with an arrow, pointing toward our base camp.
“Hey.” Her voice was soft, as I plopped beside her, in the sand, and wrapped my arms around my knees, to match her sitting position. Her eyes were fixed on her hands and she seemed out of it, again. “Why are you here?”
“Oh…did you forget? The cruise ship went down…and this is where the raft landed our sorry asses.” Yeah…that was a lame ass attempt, at a joke…I admit it…but I laughed anyways. I tend to try cracking jokes, when I know I have some serious graveling to do. In my mind, it breaks the ice a little bit and makes the whole ‘apologizing thing’ a tiny bit easier…but that’s probably just me fooling myself. “Seriously…I came to find you. Are you ok?” Oh don’t look so surprised…I’m not a complete insensitive ass hole, ok?
“Yeah. I’m fine…” She didn’t sound it. Hell…she didn’t even look it, at this moment. “…just…thinking.” If we make it back to base camp, without her passing out on me, I’ll be damn lucky! “What about you, though? Are you okay?”
“Uh…yeah…I guess…” Clearing my throat, I attempted to reassemble my thoughts. I hadn’t expected her to ask how I was doing. I’ve been a shit head. Why would she care? “…I mean we’re all doing the best we can, considering the circumstances, right?”
“I suppose so.” Her soft sigh made me uneasy, but I ignored it and stared out over the water. The dark blues mingled together in a way that I had never seen before. And the glow, of the moon, cast a silver sparkle on the waves that seemed to bring the water to life. The waves seemed to glitter as they danced up onto the sand. My breath was taken from me, as I actually took a moment out of my life, to really observe the soul of nature. Having time to really appreciate nature, the way it should be, is a rare thing, for me…either I’m just too busy, or I don’t even think about stopping to really look. “It’s pretty…isn’t it?”
“Huh?” Snapping from my thoughts, I glanced at her with a lifted brow then chuckled. “Oh…yeah…it is. I don’t ever really pay attention to nature’s soul. Nick does. I’ve given him a lot of shit, over the years, when he’s talked about nature having a soul. But…right now…it…it feels like I’m…like I’m insignificant…to the majesty, of our environment.” Hold up…did I really just…yeah…I sounded gay, right then.
“Sometimes…I can spend hours…just…taking in everything around me. Our world has so much beauty, to offer us, that it’s impossible to ever see it all. If it circumstances behind it weren’t so frustrating…being stranded without supplies and all…this would be the ideal night. The sound of the waves crashing…the twinkle of the stars…the soft glow of the moon…the light breeze…the smell of rain…” Trailing off, she leaned back on her hands and looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read. I was just about to ask why she was looking at me, like that, but my thoughts were interrupted by the strangest sound.
“What was that?” Wrinkling my brows, I turned to look behind me. In a way, being stuck on a deserted tropical island was kinda cool, but the uncertainty of what was in that rainforest was nerve wracking. Who even know how big this island is or what is lurking in there?!
“It sounded like a monkey, didn’t it?” She was looking off in the same direction as I was, and then we both glanced at each other. Once we stood up, we inched toward the tree line. Cutie was ducked behind me just a little bit, as if I could protect her.
“Sweet. Meat!” Hell yeah, I liked the sound of rotisserie monkey, at that very moment. I’d even skin the damn thing my damn self! “Let’s kill us some din din darlin!”
“Whoa. How the heck do you plan on capturing and killing a monkey?! We don’t have…a gun…or traps. Climbing trees is doable but climbing trees and swinging from vines in a high speed monkey chase? One of US will end up dead!” Holding onto my arm, with both hands, she poked her head around to look up at me, like I had lot my last marble. Fuck yeah I have! Let’s kill a damn monkey, bitches!
“I don’t fuckin know how! Maybe my manly hunting instinct will kick in, or some shit. All I know is I’m starving for some real food and those damn coconuts ain’t fuckin’ cutting it no more!” Although she stayed behind me, she kept up with me, as I started into the thick of the rainforest. It was hard to listen for the monkey over the noise of our movement, but despite all that, I could just barely hear it in the distance. Realistically, we probably wouldn’t be able to catch or kill the damn thing…but hell if I wasn’t going to give it the best fuckin’ try, I could!
“I hope so because…I don’t know anything about trapping. If we had a gun…I might stand a chance. Oh…I see some cashews too…we should get some on the way back. I know this killer recipe that I could substitute monkey for…with cashews and citrus fruit which I’m sure we can find.” My eagerness for some good food seriously overpowered the annoyance of hearing her ramble on. When you’re in a survival situation, I guess the prospect of food can do wonders for a guy’s mood, ya know?
“That actually sounds good. You cook often?” Small talk? I was making small talk? Hm. It didn’t last long, though. Holding my arm out, in front of her…almost in a protective manner…I froze. “Shh. I hear something.” Lowering my voice, I tried to listen. I definitely heard rustling, off to our right. Dear God…please don’t let it be some kind of huge ass carnivorous animal! Yes…I know carnivorous is a big word…not all big words are foreign to me, ya know. Geez!
“It’s coming from over there.” Is it completely insane that the analogy that comes to mind, for her voice at that moment, is soft as velvet? Yeah…that makes me sound gay…not that being gay is necessarily a bad thing…but I’m not actually gay, therefore I don’t generally like sounding it. The next thing I heard was a mixed squeal. Part of it was from cutie and part of it was from the wild pig that I just saw run past.
“Come on…that thing was only a couple yards away. Forget the monkey…the pig will be easier to catch. Just don’t trip or fall.” With that said, we took off into the thickness of the jungle, in hot pursuit of dinner. Tonight was going to be a good night, damn it. I didn’t fuckin’ care what it took or what I had to do…daddy was eatin’ meat, one way or another!
“Circle around to the left…maybe we can corner it.” I had to admit…I was surprised that she was keeping up. From what I’ve noticed, cutie was pretty clumsy most of the time, but not tonight! I swear that our instincts had to be taking over. Jumping over roots and pushing through the greenery, I felt like I was flying. Man…what a rush!
“I can see it! Keep going straight ahead, Kris.” The pig looked like it had a slightly injured leg, or something because, although still running fairly fast, it seemed to be having a bit of difficulty. That just made it easier on me! My mind honed in on my surroundings…jump over the root…dodge the fallen tree…duck under a branch…jump up and grab a vine to swing over a mudded area…I felt like I was one with nature or some crazy ass shit.
“Tell me where to go AJ! I can’t see it!” I could barely see her but the brightness of her clothes helped a bit. Thank god for the bright moon that was out and the lack of storm clouds. She was maybe five or six yards away and we were gaining on the pig.
“Start coming toward me. It’s straight ahead…about 4 yards...just on this side of that fallen tree.” My hand grabbed a branch from who knows what kind of tree and snapped it off, as I ran past. If I had any luck in the world, this thing would be strong enough to kill this pig. A few more feet…I can almost smell it…here comes cutie on my right…almost there…
“KILL IT AJ! HURRY!” Face first, in the mud, she had a grip on one of the hind legs. The pig was letting out the highest pitch squeal I have ever heard. Dropping to one knee, the mud splashed up as I used my other foot to kick the pig over. “AJ! I CAN’T HOLD IT! KILL IT!” Quicker than I could blink, I plunged the sharpest end of my stick into the pig, aiming for it’s heart.
“DON’T LET GO YET!” I was almost sure I pierced it’s heart, by the quick rush of blood that was spilling from the animal. We were both a mother’s worst nightmare…covered in the nastiest mix of mud and pig blood.
“I’M NOT BUT IT’S SLIPPING!” I had no choice but to swing my leg over and straddle the pig, holding it down so she could get a better grip. A few minutes that felt like an eternity later…the pig fell limp and we looked up to stare at each other, while huge grins started to form on our lips. We actually chased, caught and killed a wild pig!
“WE DID IT! THAT WAS FUCKIN’ AWESOME!” Jumping to our feet, we both started jumping around like damn nutcases. After hugging and celebrating, we grabbed some vines to tie the pig’s legs together. Once that was secure, we slipped a thick branch length ways between its legs and hoisted it up on our shoulders, to carry it.
“Wow! That…was such a rush! I can’t believe I didn’t…twist and ankle or something!” She wasn’t the only one who couldn’t believe it! I thought for sure that I would be carrying her back to base camp. Boy am I glad that’s not the case!
“I can’t believe we actually caught this thing! I’m so excited to have some pork! Oh…we need to grab those cashews you saw, too. What did you say you had a recipe for?” Yes…I was being fairly nice…I was in way too good of a mood, to be an ass, right now. Like I said…the prospect of food does wonders for a man’s mood!
“Good thing you remembered…I already forgot about that.” Looking over my shoulder, I raised a brow at her, not sure how she forgot about that when we had talked about it no more than ten minutes ago. “The recipe is actually for whitefish…but pork will substitute just fine. I’ll use some cashews, banana, and coconut…maybe some herbs that are growing near the camp…and cook it up. It’s an odd but very tasty dish.”
“Banana and coconut mixed with pork and cashews? Hm. That does sound a little weird…but hey…I’m so damn happy about eating meat that I don’t give a fuck how it gets cooked!” A light giggle floated to my ears and I couldn’t help but chuckle too…even if I wasn’t sure what was so funny. Like I said…me man…me eat meat…me happy!
“I promise…you’ll like it…you won’t have to choke it down, or anything.” Trudging through the brush, on our way back to base camp sucked, since I was so anxious to get there. You know…it’s shitty how every time you’re excited about something…it takes forever to actually get to that point, in time? Like…you sit and watch the clock, tapping your foot and it seems like every tick, of the second hand, takes hours.
“And I have no doubt about that…I assure you. There’s the camp site! And the fire is burnin’ bright! I can’t wait to get this thing skinned and cooking!” Now I was going to have to rely on that manly instinct, to guide me on how to skin the damn thing. As if I’ve ever skinned anything other than my fuckin’ knee!
“We should skin it tonight and hang it…then process and cook it in the morning. That’s the best way, of doing it.” Seriously? There’s no possible way that cutie has done this, before…she’s too much of a girlie girl. She freaked out about being covered in mud, so there’s no way that she can butcher a pig!
“You’re shitting me, right?” Carefully, we laid the pig down, on some of the palm leaves that were piled by the fire. I could see that Resa and Howie were already passed out, for the night…so there wouldn’t be any huge celebration over our kill. Bummer.
“Um…no. Why would I be?” With a raised brow, she looked at me like I lost my fuckin’ mind. What is it with people looking, at me, like that?! Oh…yeah…I guess my sense of style might generally have a little bit to do with that, huh?
“Because I wouldn’t think some pageant Barbie princess would willingly even look at a dead pig…let alone skin one.” My tone of voice wasn’t harsh and I didn’t really mean it offensively. In all honesty, I was just voicing my thought. But…by the hand on her hip and the look on her face…I knew I had done just that…offended her. Oops!
“Excuse me?! I will have you know…”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hopefully you all are still enjoying this. Thank you ALL for your feedback. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts.
