Storymania - An Island Unto Himself, The Novel by Tony Mossor

An Island Unto Himself, The Novel (5)
Tony Mossor

CHAPTER 12

Stu spent the remainder of the day teaching himself the art of basket weaving. He discarded many half finished rejects of various sizes and deformed shapes before finishing a large, wicker box.

Bright and early the next morning, Stu found his way back to the papaya tree at the edge of the clearing, near the hills. He took his big basket with him as well as a long length of speaker wire.

He set about making a trap. He put the basket on the ground with the open end down and propped one side up with a stick. Next, he cut up some of the papaya putting a few of the bigger chunks under the basket. With the smaller portions, he laid down a trail of bait extending into the jungle.

He collected all the other papaya that had fallen from the tree and put them into his shoulder bag. Then, he tied one end of the wire to the stick and strung it behind him in the opposite direction from the bait. Stu hid in the bushes and waited. He waited... and he waited... and he waited.

Finally a big, black crow swooped down to inspect the trail of chopped up fruit.

"Not exactly what I had in mind," Stu thought as he pondered whether or not he was hungry enough to eat crow.

Before he could decide, the raven snapped up a piece of papaya in his black beak and flew off.

"I guess that answers that," said Stu.

Again, Stu waited... and he waited... and he waited. Presently, a black and white, long tailed, tree monkey scurried down from a tall tree at the edge of the clearing and hustled over to the papaya trail, sat back on his haunches and started eating. He ate quickly, looking around nervously the whole while. The little fella was noticeably apprehensive on the ground.

Stu didn’t have to ask himself if he was hungry enough to eat monkey. He knew the answer to that. He picked up a rock and threw it at the skittish primate, sending him screeching and scrambling for the trees.

Again, Stu waited... and waited... and he waited some more. His stomach was starting to growl as if it were gnawing at his insides, trying to digest his own flesh, when one of the baby pigs he had seen the other day trotted out from a jungle path. The piglet grunted and sniffed the air with his blunt snout. He was followed by a second pig and finally a third.

"Hey it’s the three little pigs," quipped Stu silently. "This is more like it. Hey little piggies, come to the big bad wolf."

At first the pigs seemed uninterested in the bait but eventually began to nibble. Once they got their appetites primed, they went into overdrive and greedily ate up the trail of diced fruit. They ate like... well, like little pigs. They grunted and chewed and slobbered and grunted some more until they were at the trap. They ate up all the papaya outside but deferred entering to finish the sweet fruit. They paused and circled the trap sniffing the air.

"C’mon," Stu said to himself, "Don’t stop know, just a little further."

One piglet, the runt of the litter, finally got up the nerve to stick his snout under the basket to inspect the inticing bait. "Come on, Porky. I’ve got my mouth all set for barbecue," Stu said sotto.

Finally, the little runt couldn’t resist any longer. He devoured the first piece of bait and moved further under the trap for another. He ate that one and finally moved all the way under the basket for more.

Quick as a flash, Stu yanked the wire trapping the pig! It’s hard to say who made more noise, the three, startled pigs or the loudly rejoicing Stu. His patience rewarded at long last, he jumped and shouted with gleeful self satisfaction.

The trapped, little pig’s siblings deserted their unfortunate brother with haste as Stu laid siege on the basket to claim his prize! Reaching the trap, he fell to his knees and lay across the basket holding it secure.

"Gotcha! When next I meet ya, I’m gonna eat ya!" he laughed.

It took some time but, Stu waited for the trapped pig to stop squealing and grow still. When this was accomplished, Stu gradually eased up one side of the basket just enough to slip one hand under. With cat like agility, Stu ran his hand under the basket and quickly groped for the pig.

"Gotcha!" he gloated triumphantly, pulling the squealing, little pig out from under the trap by one leg.

In the blink of an eye, the slippery little critter wriggled free and ran shrieking for the safety of the jungle undergrowth.

Did I mention that Stu had cat like agility?

Agile or not, Stu took chase. He wasn’t small enough to duck under the foliage like his prey, rather he used the more conventional, crashing, stumbling, tripping approach through the tangled vines and bushes. Luckily, the little pig took to a trail making Stu’s pursuit easier. The piglet rounded a bend out of sight and Stu followed shouting out his best pig calls, "Here pig, pig, pig! Suey! Here pig!"

Stu rounded the bend only to meet with a most unsavory situation. The little pig had stopped. But,... that wasn’t good. He had taken refuge behind a big, black, bristly, wild boar. Stu skidded to a stop!

"Oh sh..." he blurted halfway before deciding silence might just be golden.

The big boar wasn’t impressed with the interloper. As a matter of fact, he was noticeably agitated. He snarled up his long snout making his formidable tusks loom even larger. He emitted a low growl that came from deep down. Drool hung from his foaming mouth and dribbled to the ground.

Slowly as humanly possible, Stu took one small step backwards... and the ferocious boar charged!

Stu turned and ran back up the path screaming, "Aaaaah!"

He was followed closely by the wild boar. The baby pig brought up the rear.

Just as the boars smelly, hot breath was bearing down on the back of his legs, Stu stepped in a snare and was abruptly swept off his feet! He was entangled in a net cacoon

that left him dangling and slowly turning back and forth, about five feet off the ground.

The wild boar assessed the situation and satisfied that he had made his point, gathered his offspring and escorted him away.

As the entrapped Stu gently rotated first one direction, then the other, he pondered out loud, "I wonder if Robinson Crusoe ever almost got eaten by his lunch? Well, one thing’s for sure, it can’t get much worse... uh, oh."

As the net plumb bob slowly turned Stu had come face to face with the imposing islander in the wooden ceremonial mask! He was standing just three feet away. He must of come up from behind while Stu hung in the air. The long mask concealed him from the top of his head to below the knees. He didn’t say a word, rather he just stared silently.

Not being able to see his captor’s eyes gave Stu the creeps. So did the silence. Stu decided to break it.

"Um... hey, you know what?" he stammered. "I... I sure am glad to see you."

With that, the masked islander drew a gleaming machete!

"Wait a minute!" Stu began.

But, before he could finish, the islander swung one forceful slash with the machete and Stu crashed to the ground with a thud and a groan! He desperately struggled to untangle himself as he jumped to his feet!

The masked islander couldn’t help laughing at the comical scene. Stu wasn’t amused.

"Well, I’m glad one of us is having a good time!" he said indignantly.

The more Stu struggled with the netting, the harder his captor laughed until finally the islander doubled over and the big, wooden mask fell to the ground.

Stu couldn’t believe his eyes!

"It’s you", he declared with surprise, "the girl from the waterfall!"

The beautiful woman stood revealed before him. No longer nude of course, she wore primative island garb, an unadorned bikini - like top fashioned from a single band of earthtone material. A simple twist of the cloth at her sternum divided it into two parts and provided support for the treasure it held. It’s khaki color matched her short, wrap around skirt and complimented her own tanned skin. Her body was as beautiful with clothing as without... and that face, that angelic face.

She turned to run just as Stu shed the last strands of netting. He grabbed her wrist and she swung around wielding her machete high with her free hand! Stu grabbed that arm as well!

"Wait! I’m not going to hurt you. I want to be friends," he assured her.

He smiled as broadly as he could and continued to talk through clenched teeth, "See? Friend. Fri-i-i-iend."

The scared girl began to calm down and repeated his word back to him cautiously, "Fri-i-i-iend?"

"Hey, that’s pretty good," said Stu, "fri-i-i-iend. Friends."

"Friends," repeated the girl.

Stu guided the girl’s machete hand toward the sheath strapped to her waist.

"Look," he said, "this is two friends putting away the big knife".

The girl watched as the machete slid back into safe keeping and then looked back to Stu’s eyes as he continued to hold her hands.

"Friends!" she said happily.

"Look, I’m starving, whadya say we have some lunch?" asked Stu.

Getting no response, he assumed the girl didn’t have a clue what he was saying. He let go of one hand and gradually led the girl with the other. She was hesitant at first but gave in one pensive step at a time.

"I know this great little place by the ocean," Stu continued. "Unfortunately, they

won’t be serving barbecue today."

CHAPTER 13

Back at the beach, Stu emerged from the jungle with the pretty, young woman in tow. Wanting to make a good impression, he clambered to make her feel at home. He ducked under the palm branch awning and into the old, faded bus and quickly tossed out Tiffy’s red, bean bag chair and offered it to his guest.

"Please, sit," he said. "Make yourself at home. Mi casa, su casa," he said in garbled Spanish.

"Say, you don’t by chance speak Spanish, do you? What am I talking about?" he asked himself as quickly as he had posed the question.

Next, Stu retrieved the blue cooler and a bunch of green bananas from inside the bus. He set up the cooler as a table and placed the bananas on top of it. He pulled the bean bag chair next to him as he knelt down on his knees and motioned for the girl to join him.

She cautiously ventured under the bamboo and palm lean to. She looked all around examining her new and strange surroundings, especially the unfamiliar roof over her head.

"It’s okay, it won’t fall. I built it myself," Stu assured her.

He offered her his open hand and she took it. Stu gently guided her down to the bean bag chair next to him. The island girl curiously examined the unknown, nylon material that engulfed her.

"Look at these babies!" Stu said, referring to the bananas. "They’re fresh off the tree. I picked them this morning."

He handed one to the young woman and peeled one for himself.

"Look, ban-a-a-a-a-na," he said.

He took a bite.

"Mmm, good," he continued. "Ban-a-a-a-a-na, try one."

The girl just looked at Stu innocently.

"You poor, scared thing, you don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?" he asked.

After a thoughtful pause, Stu reached over and pulled the peeling down on the young lady’s banana.

"Here, you try," Stu said. "Ban-a-a-a-a-na".

The girl just stared back blankly.

Dejected, Stu took another bite as he reflected on his course of action.

"Hey, I know, let’s start by introducing ourselves. I’m Stu. Stu-u-u-u."

Still, the beautiful girl just looked at him in silence.

Stu tried again, "Me Stu-u-u-u, Stu-u-u-u."

He looked in the girl’s eyes for a response but, got none.

"Stu, Stu," he implored, still nothing. "Great," said Stu, "I’m in paradise with the most beautiful woman in the world and she doesn’t even know my name. This could only happen to me."

"Stu Stu," the girl blurted out with a smile.

Stu was stunned. "Yes... Stu-u-u, Stu-u-u."

"Stu Stu," she repeated.

"This is great," exclaimed Stu. "Now let’s see if we can find out your name. Me Stu-u-u. You...?"

Just like before, the girl stared back at Stu in silence.

"Me Stu-u-u, Stu-u-u," he repeated. "What... is... your... name?... Hey, I’ll call you Friday! I mean, I know it’s really Tuesday, or Wednesday... or Thursday... but, there’s this great book called Robinson Crusoe. It’s a classic. Anyway, it’s a long story but, I think Friday is a good name for you. You like it? Fri-i-i-day."

From the treetops above, a large, blue and yellow parrot swooped down, stole a banana and flapped up to the roof of the VW bus to roost. Stu jumped up and scared the thief away!

"Hey, you big, stupid bird, get outta here!" he yelled.

The thief flew off into the jungle with his spoil and Stu sat back down.

"Did you see that, Friday?" he asked his guest. "Friday, you’re not eating. Friday no like ban-a-a-a-nas?"

"They are green," she answered matter of factly.

"Well, aren’t we the picky..." Stu began but, he stopped short realizing that his mute friend had just spoken a complete sentence. "What did you say?"

The islander repeated her objection, "They are green... and my name is not Friday. It is Tawndalayia."

Stu was dumbstruck for a moment. He regained his voice with an astonishing observation. "You speak English," he said.

"Speak what?" Tawndalayia replied.

"English! We speak the same language!"

"Is there another one?"

"Yeah, there’s another one. There are lots of them. Are you kidding?! In my world people speak many different languages."

"That must be very confusing."

Stu didn’t have a comeback for Tawndalayia’s innocent but, true observation. While he tried to think of one, he took another bite of banana.

"These really are green, aren’t they?" he said.

"You mean the ban-a-a-a-a-nas?" Tawndalayia teased.

They laughed together.

"Come with me, Stu Stu", Tawndalayia said.

"Come where?"

"You show me yours... now I will show you mine."

Stu swallowed hard.

"Oh boy", he said baffled.

CHAPTER 14

Tawndalayia led Stu by the hand as she navigated her way deep into the jungle via a series of paths. Knowing where the paths were certainly made jungle travel a lot swifter than it had been for Stu, not to mention being twenty-five years old versus forty-four. Stu struggled to keep up. It wasn’t long before he was breathing rapidly.

"Where... are we... going?" Stu asked between pants.

When Tawndalayia stopped in response to his labored question, he thought it was to mercifully give him a break. Instead, she pointed straight ahead to a wide spot in the path.

"There," she said.

Stu looked to where she was pointing and his mouth gaped open. About fifty yards ahead, in the middle of the path, in the middle of nowhere, stood a virtual bamboo mansion.

The weary Stu passed Tawndalayia as they walked up to the primative, yet remarkable, structure. It was two stories. The first floor was constructed around the trunk of a massive, sprawling tree. A bamboo ladder extended up through the center of the thatch roof to the second floor treehouse. There was a wrap around porch on the first floor and a balcony on the upper floor. It was open and airy with plenty of big, opened shutters that could be closed in case of inclement weather.

Once again, Tawndalayia took Stu by the hand and said, "Come, I am baking bread. It will be done soon".

She led him up the steps and onto the porch. Stu examined the construction with wonder, not unlike Tawndalayia had curiously looked over his palm branch awning.

"This is your house?" Stu asked.

"You like? I build it myself," she said.

"You?" Stu asked with wonder.

Tawndalayia didn’t hear him as she crossed the threshold. Stu followed her into the house.

The house was filled with the pleasant aroma of baking bread and the interior was just as impressive as the outside. It was well appointed with all the necessary, although primitive immenities. There were a number of wooden masks of different sizes affixed to one wall as well as other island artifacts; a star fish, conch shells, arrangements of bright, multi colored parrot feathers, flowering plants, pottery and so on.

"You like, Stu Stu?" Tawndalayia asked.

"...Oh, sure. It’s not bad, I mean if you go in for that whole, island deco motif kind of thing. You know. You... um, built this yourself, did you?"

"Yes."

"Been working on it long, have you?"

"Oh, my yes, all my life."

"Of course you have."

"I wish you could have see it before the storm."

Stu was almost afraid to ask, "Before the storm?"

"Last hurricane season," Tawndalayia explained. "It destroy house. Gone. I have to built it all over. This was bestest I could do in such little time."

"Oh... What’s up there?" Stu asked, yearning to change the subject. He was looking up through the opening in the roof that led to the second level.

"That is where Tawndalayia sleeps," she answered.

"Cool, can I see?!" Stu reached for the ladder but, Tawndalayia blocked his path.

"No, Stu Stu! It would not be proper," she decreed, noticeably upset.

"I didn’t know. Hey look, I’m sorry, Tawndalay... Tawnda..."

"Tawndalayia."

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