Island Story

ENGLISH CLASS 3 RD YEAR CESEM

Anja Dietrich 2

away, spending the rest of the journey on the his head broke through the water, and thank god

lower deck, half time in, halftime just outside – holding Kelly in his hand. I took over – and

the men’s toilettes. Diarrhea after consuming Keith went down again, looking for Richard and

raw fish... Poor little chap. Keith seemed to be the skipper, no one of them could be seen...

prepared for that and after some yellow pills out Kelly didn’t breathe, I held her nose, blew into

of Keith’s metal box and two glasses of water her mouth, as I had learned with my emergency

Richard started feeling better. But still he training in driving school, terribly long ago it

wouldn’t come back up to where the others seemed. Finally she coughed, threw up and,

were. thank god, took a breath... Keith was up again,

The sun was getting low and the small shape on nothing.

the horizon, our first destination, drew nearer. He went down some five or six times more,

The island took more and more shape in the while I was pressing onto the piece of wood.

dimming light. The first bottle of rum out of The ocean started turning purple in the light of

Kelly’s backpack was nearly empty, the the fading sun. Tears ran over my face and

skippers eyes were glancing and seemed to sink millions of thoughts raced through my head,

over and over again in Kelly’s deep neckline. driven by one outlining all: sharks. I was

Keith had his third joint between his teeth and bleeding, as well as Kelly from her nose, we

seemed to float somewhere else – just not here. would be easy prey at this hunting hour....

My head felt a little heavy and my tongue went Then we started swimming...

slow, I just had one word in mind – cruising. It was dark, maybe far past midnight, when

Yeah, that’s what we did, cruising! No worries, Keith and I had finally sand underneath our feet.

no hard labor, just cruising. Kelly seemed asleep, maybe unconscious,

A terrible crackling noise shot me back into maybe dead. We dragged her through the

reality, the boat screamed and tilted, as if a giant shallow water and fell like stones as our feet

squid had clenched his long dreadful arms touched the dry terrain.

around to crush it. It must have been somewhere around midday,

Chumbaco had jumped up, white faced he drew when my eyes opened. It took a while to realize

his arms towards the steering, but it was too where I was, wondering if I was still asleep and

late. The boat had hit a coral reef that stuck out dreaming or not. I was lying on sand, the shade

of the water at low tide. Already Richard came of palm leaves over me, my clothes where gone

running up, horror in his eyes, screaming and replaced by some huge banana leaves, my

“water, Water, there is water everywhere!” I head hurt. Only slowly the memories of the last

moved as quick as I could, my head bouncing, nights horror came back, I got up and peered out

terror striking me – We were sinking. Kelly was of the shelter, wondering how I ever got there. I

only half awake, the alcohol had switched of all saw Keith not far away, bending over Kelly,

her conscious body functions. Chumbaco didn’t somehow cleaning the wound on her arm. My

move, he only stared full of fear. Only now I clothes hang nearby. I dressed into the dry pants

realized that there were neither lifejackets nor and a shirt and walked over to Keith. Only now

floats on the boats.... I realized my terrible thirst and the grumbling of

The hull tilted dangerously and I only focused my tommy – it had been ages ago that I ate

on holding Kelly in one hand, my small something – and the dehydration of a heavy

daypack in the other. Then black cold waters, hangover made my tongue feeling like rough

stirring, panicking, terribly determined to not let sandpaper.

go what I had in either hand.... Keith had been up first thing in the morning,

Next thin I remember is a strong pull on my carrying me and Kelly to the nearby bushline

sweater and a deep breath, Keith had pulled me since the sun was getting hot. He had left us

up, onto a floating piece of wood I wrapped my there, looking for help somewhere nearby. But

arms around desperately. Only now I realized, he only came back carrying an old plastic bottle

that I had lost Kelly, I screamed, but Keith was with fresh water, he hadn’t seen a sign of human

down already, searching. He stayed down a beings anywhere. Kelly was still unconscious

scary long time, seconds, maybe minutes, until and there was no sign of Richard or the skipper

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ENGLISH CLASS 3 RD YEAR CESEM

Anja Dietrich 3

along the long beach. We had just experienced the forest, only the water murmured as it rushed hell, on a place that looked like paradise itself. down black, smooth rocks.

Having fresh water helped us over the first Somewhere here Keith found some dry wood, biggest needs – drinking and cleaning the he seemed to have a nose for all the things wounds we had suffered. I still couldn’t really needed, and by rubbing some matches he had get it that I just had stranded on a beach, not kept dry in his metal box he lit a fire. I found knowing where I was, no papers, no money, no some fruits and even caught some fish. Keith nothing... I must had lost it all in the accident. had showed me the day before a berry he knew But wait, my fingers ran over my tights, oh my from tribes in Africa, their juice affected fish god, my pocket knife was still there – I had like drugs, poured into a pool the fish would get placed it in a zipper pocket to prevent it from numb and only swim very slow – easy to catch falling out. What a high gift it was finding it by hand.

now... We filled our bellies – and fell each into deep The rest of the day Keith walked around the dreams soon, completely forgetting to hold bush, picking some fruits, he even came back watch, floating away in each ones little world. with some protein he explained – mites. It Big noise – birds screaming – woke us up in the almost turned my stomach seeing what I was morning- Heavy – hearted we set forth again, supposed to eat for dinner... Kelly was still climbing the waterfall and the onsetting unconscious, but the heat on her head had country. The air drew colder, nice for a change lowered, thanks to some medication Keith had after the humid heat in the valley.

given her. By some miracle he rescued his metal It was somewhere around midday when we surviving box over all the tumult. suddenly reached a clearing. It rushed to my The same night we found Richard on the beach. head in an instant – there will be people here to His faced looked downwards as he drifted in the help us! Instinctively I ran out into the field, shallow waves.... We buried him close by in the screaming, shouting for help, and it took Keith bush, a place I will never forget as much as I some seconds to haul after me, pull me to the will never loose the heavy knob in my throat ground and hold my mouth, fiercely piercing me when remembering this days. with his eyes.

Kelly woke up the next day, after we had spent But it was too late, they had seen us.

a night full of fear of wild beasts and fights with the mosquitoes. Keith and I had held watch alternately.

It was the third day on this beach when we felt strong enough to start walking and looking for help. Kelly had recovered quickly, the big limp on her head had turned blue, but she seemed to have lost her speech, she hadn’t said a single word since she woke up. Numb and absent she stumbled between me and Keith when we set out for the forest, along the little fresh water stream Keith had discovered.

We walked for hours, upwards steadily, my head spinning from the strain, the fear of snakes and spider and the question why the hell I was here. We hardly spoke in these hours, everybody seemed to trot in his own little world, wiping the sweat of the forehead once in a while. Keith led, but it seemed he also didn’t know where to go. It was beginning to dusk when we arrived at a small pool the water from above had formed. A total quietness hung over

15.10.2000

ENGLISH CLASS 3 RD YEAR CESEM

Anja Dietrich 4

„What have you done?“ hissed Keith, pressing gave us housing. We spent 3 days in the care of his strong body onto the ground next to me – nurses before the policemen picked us up and „don’t you know what this is? This is a ganha brought us back to the mainland.....

field, drugs, you know, and these are Kelly had been the only one of us who still had gangsters!“ My heart stopped, but how was I her papers on her, her parents where waiting on supposed to know with not having seen a the port already and took her with them Marihuana plant ever before. instantly. There was no thanks, no question no The gunmen drew neared, the held Kelly in their good bye. Kelly was still in shock and her arm already, she was till completely passive and parents wanted to get her out and away ASAP. seemed absent. I felt the kick of a foot in my Keith and I started to work on what we just had stomach, a hard piercing pain and the I got been trough, he was a great help, we got to pulled up by a hard hand, looking into a strange know each other very well, and love wasn’t very asian face shouting on me in a strange language far.... I quit the job on the trailer, gave a short

I didn’t understand. notice to my parents that I found my place and Keith they hid with a gun, he dropped and his travelled with Keith South East Asia for a nose was bleeding. Then they dragged us to a while... We got stuck here in Phong Ngu when hut nearby, where we were locked into a small our cash ran out, Keith started working as a hut with armed guard outside. Still we didn’t fishermen and I found job teaching English in have a clue where we where, what was the local school. We live simple, but happy, happening and who these guys were. only once in a while nightmares still hit me with It was hours later that we saw a face in the small a pale figure facing downwards in the slight window facing westwards – and – thank heaven surge of shallow blue waters...

– it was a western face! My hopes did summersaults, I woke up Keith and Kelly, as the man entered the room.

He carried a tray of food and some water with him and asked us in broken English to please eat something, he would be back very soon. We fell over the food like starving wolves, we hadn’t eaten proper in days.

Short after the white face came back and asked us to follow. We were paining, Keith’s head crusted with blood, Kelly’s temperature had risen again, she was murmuring strange things. My stomach hurt awfully and I was in the desperate need for a toilet.

The men proved to be Policemen, we got caught in the middle of the hunt for drug dealers. They had discovered this plantain some days ago and had pulled in to arrest the operator the same day we arrived out of the bush. But the drug dealer had been warned, they had vanished just before the Police arrived and a big hunt begun. We were accidentally taken as on of them and therefore immediately arrested, before it was clear that they had caught innocent backpacker. The questioning held on over our tale, our stranding, our quest.

After long time of talking and excuses we got transferred to a jeep who brought us to a nearby village – about 30 miles away – where a nursery

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