An Island Unto Himself, The Novel (8) "To my house." Stu motioned to an imaginary attendant. "Waiter," he said snapping his fingers, "a doggy bag, if you please". "Who are you talking to?" Tawni asked, looking into the darkness. "Nevermind. How are we going to carry all this food?" "Leave it, the sea birds will eat it," Tawni answered. Tawni helped Stu navigate the VW bus through the jungle, showing him which pathways were wide enough to accommodate the van. Dangling vines and protruding branches scraped against the sides of the VW as they maneuvered through the winding maze of trails that led them back to Tawni’s house. Once there, Stu parked the bus and they went inside. "Let me hold Trusty Zippo," Tawni said. Stu put his lighter in her dainty hand and she clinked it open and lit one of the tiki torches that were placed around the spacious room. Squawker had been roosting soundly on his perch but, the lit torch woke him. He sleepily opened one eye to see what the commotion was. Stu had stayed close to Tawni in the dark since he wasn’t familiar with the arrangement of the room. After lighting the torch she turned around and was suddenly eye to eye with the clinging Stu. He was just as surprised as she was at the proximity of their faces... their eyes... their lips. Tawni didn’t know what else to say so she finally stammered, "Goodnight, Stu Stu," and quickly headed for the ladder that led upstairs to her bedroom. Stu followed her to the ladder. "Where do I sleep?" he asked hopefully. "Anywhere you want... down here," Tawni said and with that, she turned and scampered up the ladder. Stu watched her until she disappeared through the roof. Then he just stood there looking at the ladder. Suddenly, the ladder was also pulled up through the hole in the roof! Stu could have sworn he heard snickering from behind. But, when he turned around, he and Squawker were alone in the room and Squawker was fast asleep. At least he looked like he was asleep. CHAPTER 18 Over the next few days, Tawni showed Stu around the neighborhood. They spent the first day exploring the jungle. Tawni taught Stu how to climb a coconut tree, or at least she tried. It’s not easy climbing a tree with no limbs. Stu never made it very far off the ground but, Tawni had a good time throwing coconuts at him from overhead. Later, they came upon a roosting flock of small green parrots in the tree tops above them. The birds were squawking and screeching and making a terrible racket. "What’s their problem?" Stu asked. Tawni pointed to a nearby thorn bush on the ground. "They have been eating berries from this bush," she said. "But now, they have eaten all the berries on the outside. They know there are many more berries but, they cannot get to them because of the thorns. Watch this," Tawni said. She reached deep into the foliage of the bush and snapped off a long twig full of red berries. Then, she raised the twig of berries high above her head. This caused the green birds to shriek even harder. Two or three swooped down to inspect the offering but weren’t brave enough to light on Tawni’s hand. They returned to the tree tops and screamed louder still. At last, one of the brood, ironically, the smallest one it seemed, swooped down and fluttered around Tawni’s head checking her out. After a couple practice approaches he came in for a landing on Tawni’s finger and plucked one of the berries and choked it down. Tawni fed him a second berry and stroked his little head with her finger. When she touched him, the small bird screeched and flew away. But, his hunger overpowered his fear and he soon returned. Again Tawni fed him a berry and again Tawni petted his head. Again the parrot screeched and took flight but, this time he just fluttered directly above Tawni’s head and then lighted back on her finger for more berries. The more Tawni fed him, the more the parrot tolerated her stroking. He didn’t like it but, he put up with it. Pretty soon Tawni was down to her last berry. She had an idea. The little, green parrot fluttered his wings as Tawni placed him directly on Stu’s head. He seemed content there. "Hey, I think he likes me!" Stu said looking up. Tawni fed the bird her last red berry. He promptly ate it. He promptly pooped on Stu’s head and he promptly flew away. Tawni’s eyes bulged when she saw the deposit the parrot had left behind. Stu noticed her wide eyed expression. "What?" he asked. "Oh, nothing... Um, my traps are not far from here. I must check them. Come on." Tawni’s snare traps were scattered throughout the jungle, from her house almost to the hills. Stu and Tawni checked them all. Most of the camouflaged traps were undisturbed. One or two had been sprung but the game had slipped the net and escaped. Tawni showed Stu how to reset and conceal them. Finally, they had checked all of the traps but the last one. It was near the end of the jungle, close to the hills. Unlike the others, it had trapped a quarry, three quarries to be precise. It held the three, baby pigs that Stu had tried to catch previously. "All right!" Stu yelled. "Looks like we pig out tonight!" The piglets squealed as Tawni lowered the net snare to the ground. Stu continued to harass the pigs. "So, we meet again. Let’s see, should we have ham or bacon this evening?... I know, sausage! But, link or patty? Say, where’s your old man now? Ah, who cares? He was kind of a boar if you ask me." About that time, Tawni got the net untangled, opened it and freed the threesome. "There you are little ones," she said kindly, "come back when you have grown some". The pigs squealed and scattered, bumping into each other as they hurried off. Stu awkwardly chased after them but, to no avail. "Hey, what’s up with that!" Stu demanded. "Too small," Tawni said and she walked off down the trail and around a curve. Stu just stood there dumfounded. When he regained his senses, he followed after Tawni. By the time he rounded the curve in the trail, there was no sign of her. "Tawni?" he said. No answer. He walked faster. "Tawni?" he said, a little louder. Still no answer. Stu started to worry that something had happened to his new, fem friend. After all, the jungle was full of... of... Well, it was full of something! Stu was sure of that much. To make matters worse, dusk was looming. The jungle canopy made it seem even darker. Stu picked up his pace and started to run. He rounded another bend and literally ran out of jungle! Suddenly he was knee deep in a field of wildflowers that stretched all the way from the jungle to the hills. The dainty, pale, pink and blue blossoms looked like a sea of flowers that rolled like waves under the gentle breeze that was blowing. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a delightfully relaxing sight. But, there was still no sign of Tawni. At least it wasn’t nearly as dark out here in the open. But, Stu reasoned he’d better find her fast, before it did get dark. He started tromping his way through the high flowers, yelling out as he went. "Tawni!... Tawni!..." he shouted. He was startled when a soft voice answered back from practically right under his feet. "I am right here, Stu Stu. Do not step on me." Stu stopped so fast that he nearly tripped over his own feet. He looked down to find Tawni lying on her back, surrounded by flowers. Her hands were folded behind her head and she was staring up at the sky thoughtfully. "What the hell are you doing there?!" Stu demanded. "Watching the clouds." "Watching the clouds?! You had me scared to death!" "I always watch the clouds when I come here. This is one of my favorite places." "Well..." "I am sorry, Stu Stu. I should have told you." "Well..." Stu always found it impossible to stay mad at Tawni for long. She was so innocent and so pretty. "Lie down, Stu Stu," Tawni said patting the ground next to her. Stu did as directed. "I like to watch the clouds move across the sky and change shapes. Aren’t they pretty? That one looks like Squawker," she said. "I can’t imagine a cloud looking that sinister," Stu said. "Stu Stu!" Tawni said, popping him on the shoulder. They lay there and watched the clouds as dusk closed in and the clouds changed from white to gray. When the sun started to set behind the trees, the clouds changed to pink. The two sat up, side by side for a better view of their second sunset together. The colors were vivid. The whole scenario reminded Stu of one summer night years ago when he and Mary were dating. They sat together on a blanket on a hillside and watched the 4th of July fireworks below in the little Ohio town where they grew up. The colors of this sunset made Stu want to ooh and aah just like he did way back then. Tawni broke Stu’s state of deja vu when she said, "Time to go home, Stu Stu". Tawni held Stu’s hand as she led him home through the jungle. It was the only way as it was so dark that Stu couldn’t see her to follow, even just inches away. Although Tawni knew these trails well, it was so dark that at times Stu had to light the way with Trusty Zippo. When he did, Tawni would release his hand. When they didn’t need the lighter, Stu would snuff it out to preserve the lighter fluid. At least that’s the excuse he gave Tawni. Truth be known, he just liked holding her hand. But, even though his head was filled with thoughts of the beautiful, island girl just inches away, there was still room for the memories of that special 4th of July night so many years ago. When they arrived back at Tawni’s bamboo house, they had already lit two torches together before Tawni realized that they were still holding hands. Embarrassed, she slowly let go of Stu. He looked to her eyes but, she wouldn’t make eye contact. "Goodnight, Stu Stu," she said in her always cheerful voice. "See you in the morning," she said as she turned and climbed the ladder to her bedroom. Stu watched after her long after she was gone. "Well, at least she didn’t take the ladder this time," he said. No sooner had the words left his mouth than the ladder disappeared up through the hole in the roof. Just like the night before, Stu could have sworn he heard snickering behind him. But, when he whirled around, Squawker was fast asleep on his perch. CHAPTER 19 The following morning, Stu found himself alone on the beach. It was early, it was overcast and a cool mist hung in the air. Stu was collecting sea shells and thinking. He was using Tiffy’s net shoulder bag to hold his finds. His favorites were a big conch shell and half a sand dollar he had found. He had a few others that were keepers as well. He probably would have picked up more but, truth be known, Stu was doing a lot more thinking that collecting. Stu had always found it easiest to think when he was walking by himself. Back home, he often went for late night strolls around the neighborhood by himself to sort things out. Sometimes when he was feeling especially frisky, he would even jog and think. The quiet and the rhythm of his pace always seemed to free his mind. Heaven knows Stu had a lot to think about this day. He thought about Tawni and the island. He thought about home, about Mary and Tiffy and Brad. He thought about Tawni some more. He thought about his recent birthday that had passed forgotten. He thought about what it meant to get older. He thought about Tawni some more. He thought about his job, Mr. Fisher, Mike his supposed best friend and Kimmy his real best friend and he thought about Tawni some more. The more he thought, the more he walked. Without realizing it, he had ventured farther up the coast than he ever had before. He was miles away from where he started when he began pondering the magic coins, the one that had brought him to his island paradise and the two he still had left in his pants pocket. He felt to make sure they were still there. He had been doing that a lot lately. He wasn’t sure why. After all, who needs magic coins in paradise? Stu pulled the crusty, old coins out to look at them. He held them in his hand and rubbed one curiously. It was just starting to glow when Stu heard Tawni calling his name. He turned to see her running up the beach toward him. He put the coins back in his pocket. He could feel the warmth from the one radiating coin against his thigh. Tawni caught up to Stu in short order. She was out of breath. "Stu Stu," she said between breathes, "what are you doing?" "Me... oh, you know... just collecting sea shells. How did you find me?" "It wasn’t hard," Tawni said, pointing to their footsteps in the otherwise undisturbed, wet sand. "What do you mean, collecting?" "Saving them, you know." "Why do you want to save them? They are always here." "Well, I wanted to have some to take back." "Take back?" Tawni didn’t understand. Stu wasn’t really sure if he did either. "...to your house," he said. He pulled out the sand dollar to show her. "Look at this," he said. Tawni didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. "It’s broken," she observed. "Well,... yeah." Stu contemplated the worth of the shell briefly before tossing it over his shoulder and into the water and retrieving the conch shell to show her. "How ‘bout this one?" he said. "Very pretty, Stu Stu," Tawni said. "But, I already have lots of these..." Stu’s face fell and Tawni detected the disappointment. "Of course, I can always use one more. They come in handy for... for all kinds of things. They make good water holders... and other things." Tawni figured she better quit while she was ahead. She decided to change the subject. "We are not far from my boat, Stu Stu. Want to see it?" "Boat? You have a boat? Yeah, sure I want to see it." "Come, it is not far," Tawni said leading the way. They walked another hundred yards or so to a place where a big, fresh water creek emptied into the sea. Stu asked and Tawni confirmed that it was the same creek that fed the waterfall way up in the hills. When they got to the creek, they turned and followed it about a quarter mile upstream. Here they came upon a smaller stream that joined it. They turned again and walked along the smaller stream another forty or fifty paces to a small cove where the boat was tied down behind some overhanging, leafy branches that concealed it quite nicely. Although primitive, just like all of Tawni’s possessions, it was quite a nice boat. It would best be described as a antediluvian catamaran. It consisted of two pontoons carved from long, slender tree trunks. They were wittled to sleek upturned points to be as aquadynamic as possible. The pontoons were joined by a rattan seating area big enough to seat at least four. The rig was powered by a canvas like sail that had been died a multitude of bright colors. The sail reminded Stu of a mix between a loud, Hawaiian shirt and a loud, tie died shirt. There was a wooden handle that extended from the sail’s square frame so that it could be turned to catch the wind. There was also a rudder at the rear for steering. "This is great!" Stu declared. "Are you a good sailor, Stu Stu?" Tawni asked. "I don’t know. I’ve never had a chance to try it," Stu answered. The two of them hurriedly untied the sailboat. Stu was excited. His island paradise was turning out to be everything he had ever imagined and more. He was finally getting a chance to try things he had only dreamed of. Stu and Tawni waded into the shallow cove and pushed the freed catamaran through the branches that hid it. They continued on to the big creek. The water got a little deeper there, about waist high. A few more minutes of pushing and they were in the open surf of the beach. "What now?" asked Stu. "Climb on," Tawni said. Stu climbed aboard and helped pull Tawni on as well. Tawni positioned herself between the rudder and sail handle so that she could reach both at the same time. Stu sat in front of the brightly colored sail. "What now?" he repeated like an anxious kid. "Now just hang onto my ass!" Tawni said trying to imulate Stu but, it didn’t quite come out right. "Don’t mind if I do..." Stu started to quip. But, no sooner did the words leave his mouth than Tawni turned the sail into the wind and they were off with such a jolt that Stu nearly tumbled right off the boat! He probably would have fallen off altogether if he hadn’t crashed into the sail’s mast, ribs first. The impact knocked the wind out of him. That hadn’t happened to Stu since he played JV football in highschool. He had forgotten how excruciating it felt. "Are you okay?!" Tawni shouted from her captain’s position. Stu tried his best to answer yes but, no words came out. At least he was finally able to sit up somewhat straight. He leaned back against the mast for support while Tawni headed the cat out over the breaking waves. Every time Stu managed to get a breath of air back in his lungs, they topped a breaker and crashed down hard on the other side, knocking it out again. Eventually, they cleared all the white caps and found smoother water. About two hundred yards out, Tawni turned the craft parallel to the shore. She manipulated the rudder in sinc with the sail like an authentic sailor, caught a burst of wind and they were off! Stu tried to stay calm,... or at least tried to look calm but, that’s not easily accomplished with both arms wrapped tightly around the mast in a death grip. Tawni shot straight up the coast in a bee line as fast as the wind would push the fleet craft. It seemed to glide on top of the water, more like a hydroplane than a boat. Stu wasn’t sure how fast they were going but, it felt faster than he had ever traveled in a car. The force of flying headlong through the salt air caused him to squint and thin bands of tears involuntarily streamed from the corner of both eyes toward his sideburns. They stayed this course for some time and covered miles of the big island’s coastline. Just when Stu was starting to relax his hold on the mast, Tawni suddenly whipped the sail around and turned the rudder. The cat practically turned on a dime and headed back in the direction from which they started. Stu clung to the mast as his butt skidded across the knotty rattan seating. Before he knew it, he had slid around the big pole 180 degrees and was facing Tawni. Tawni turned the sail to the wind again and before long had regained top speed. "Having fun?!" Tawni shouted to Stu. Though they were only a few feet apart, Stu could barely make out what she was saying as the air rushing past carried her voice in the opposite direction. "Yeah," he answered, "fun". After another twenty or thirty minutes, Stu finally began to get his sea legs. He learned when it was okay to let go of the mast and when it was necessary to hang on. He really was starting to have a good time. That’s when Tawni popped the question. "You ready, Stu Stu?" she said. Stu answered her question with a question. "Ready? Ready for what?" he said. "Ready to sail boat," Tawni said, slowing the cat to a drifting stop. "Oh, hey no... I’m fine right here, really," Stu said trying to graciously decline without forfeiting his machismo. But, contradictory to his babbling, Tawni took his hand and pulled him over to her at the rudder. She sat him down where she had previously been positioned and then she sat in his lap. "It is easy, Stu Stu," she said. "Tawndalayia will teach you." Stu gave in, thinking he had never had a teacher like this before. Tawni placed one of his hands on the rudder and the other on the sail grip. She in turn, held his arms at the wrists and guided him through the motions of steering the rudder and turning the sail. It wasn’t long before Stu was getting a feel for things... so to speak. "Hey this really is easy," he said. "See, I told you," Tawni said. They sailed like this for quite awhile, Tawni directing Stu and Stu directing the catamaran. They laughed and sailed and had a grand old time. Then, Tawni decided that Stu was ready to solo. Without a word she let go of his arms and leaned back against him. "Hey, what are you doing?!" he yelled. "I can’t drive this thing by myself!" "Yes, you can. You are doing very fine, look," Tawni assured him. Stu looked and sure enough he was doing fine. At least he was until the wind blew Tawni’s hair in his eyes and he couldn’t see! That’s when he instinctively jerked the rudder and the sail at the same time, as hard as he could... in opposite directions! The craft turned sharply, too sharply and went up on one pontoon. Tawni grabbed for the rudder but, it was too late. The cat flipped over on one side and the two occupants went airborne. Tawni managed a somewhat graceful swan dive into the clear, aqua water. Stu just sort of sprawled, tumbled, hurled into the brink. When Stu surfaced, he was horrified at the site of the catamaran turned up on one side with the tip of its tall mast under water. The sail was half in and half out of the water. Tawni’s pretty, wet head popped out of the water as she surfaced next to him. "Oops," was all Stu could think of to say. Tawni didn’t say anything, she just swam to her capsized craft. Stu followed. "Tawni, I’m so sorry. I sunk your boat". Tawni didn’t say anything, she just climbed onto the mast and untied a hemp rope that was wrapped around the base. The other end was tied to the tip of the mast. As Tawni unraveled the rope from the base of the mast, Stu joined her. "Tawni, speak to me," he pleaded. "I feel so bad?" "Are you hurt?" Tawni asked. "No." "Then why do you feel bad?" "Because I wrecked your beautiful boat, that’s why." "Come with me, Stu Stu," Tawni said. "You are about to get second lesson in sailing." With that, she put the end of the rope in her mouth and scaled the rattan that spanned from the floating pontoon to the upright pontoon above them. Stu followed as best he could. Tawni helped him up on top of the airborne pontoon. Then she stood up, holding the rope and directed Stu to help her. He was shaky but managed to get to his feet and balance himself enough to help. "Okay, grab the rope, Stu Stu," she said.
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