Now what the heck was I gonna do? I checked my phone again and saw that it was about 3:30am. I decided that I wasn’t going to get much accomplished while it was dark out, so I climbed back into the plane, closed the doors and locked them, and went back to sleep. Hindsight, had I been thinking clearly, I would have forced myself to stay awake, in case of concussion. Thankfully, I hadn’t gotten one (I found out later), and was in no real danger.
I awoke to the sun rising up over the palm trees, and some birds singing somewhere in the distance. I made my way out of the plane, to really look around, now that I could see. I didn’t remember much from my days as a boy scout, but I do remember that I could last a couple of days without food, if I truly had to. The problem is that my body could not do without water for nearly as long.
My first task was to inventory my supplies in the plane. I opened both the rear compartment doors, and found a very lightweight tool box, my luggage, a flare gun, and a few extra Bungie cords. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. The flare gun only had one charge, but would be very useful, should anyone either fly low enough, or bring their boat close enough, to shore.
I took the items over to the edge of the tree line, in an effort to make sure they wouldn’t get wet. As I took a short break, a rather large, multi-color parrot landed on a branch above me. It just looked at me, and preened its feathers on its perch. Well, at least I wasn’t alone…
I went back to the plane, climbed up into the cabin, and scouted it out. I got lucky, and found that we had stocked it with a few bottles of water, and some cheap peanuts that the big airlines served as well. The water was good news, but the peanuts wouldn’t keep me going for very long by themselves.
Aside from the water and snacks, I didn’t really find anything else useful in the cabin. I went back to the tree line, sat in the shade and thought about my predicament. How the hell had this happened? Why did I seem to have such shitty luck lately? Was this my fault? Did I check the plane out as thorough as I should have, before taking off? Was this problem something that Shawn should have found? I had been partying with everyone, but didn’t have anything to drink the day my daughter left, so that shouldn’t have been a factor. So many questions, not enough answers, yet.
“OK, enough thinking. Time to get your ass doing something,” I told myself.
What will it take for me to get rescued? This whole area was pretty well traveled, so I should be spotted by a fly-over or something. All I had to do was find a way to be seen. I had the flare, but that was a single shot. I needed to build some kind of smoke signal that could be seen from farther away. Also, I needed to find some food. Perhaps I could do like I saw in the movies, and catch a fish in a tide pool, or something like that. Damn, I was putting my life in the hands of movies now? I shook my head and laughed.
No matter what, I swore to myself that I wouldn’t find a soccer ball and talk to it. That would be just too much. Maybe I would just talk to that parrot instead. Good god, what the hell was I thinking?
I sat under the shade for a bit, wondering how long it would take, for a boat or plane to come close enough to see my flare. I did see one enormous cargo ship, but it was miles away and wouldn’t see my flare. I would need to find a way to build that fire.
I went into the trees, and started gathering anything I could get my hands on. Twigs, branches, big leaves, and even a few large logs from trees that fell long ago. I took all this and moved it a few feet away from the tree line, and built a big bonfire style teepee. I would need to find a way to light it, but for now I had what could be a good signal fire.
Pleased with my minor success, I sat in the shade again and took a sip of water. Before I knew it, the bottle was empty. Damn. I would really need to be careful, and ration my intake. I had no idea how long I was going to be stuck here. Maybe I could hunt around and find a secret stash, like Jack Sparrow. Yeah, a nice cache of Rum right about now sounded great. FUCK!
I checked my phone, and saw that it was already nearly two in the afternoon. I was getting pretty hungry at this point, and looked at those peanuts as if they would pop up into a huge feast. When no such feast appeared, I got up and looked about. There really didn’t seem to be anything nearby that would work for food, unless I wanted to eat palm tree leaves. I hadn’t been on the islands long enough for those to look eatable. I at least chuckled at my own inside joke.
Could I fall back on my lessons from movies, and catch a fish? Should I walk into the trees further to see if I could find anything out there? After deliberation, and a well-timed grumble in my stomach, I decided on going into the trees. I walked inland for at least ten minutes or so, far enough away from the beach that I could barely make out the sound of the waves. Aside from ferns, palm trees and the occasional flowering plants, I didn’t see anything resembling fruit.
The trees gave way, and I walked into a grassy field. There looked to be a small pond, and a few berry bushes along the right side of it. I jogged over to the berries, and plucked several bunches into my shirt. I wasn’t sure if they were ok to eat, but I was going to get some anyhow and hope for the best. After gathering those, I examined the pond. The water looked clear, but not enough to drink without being treated somehow. If I could find a way to boil it, I think I could probably drink it. Also in the pond, were what looked like some little fish, each no more than a couple of inches long. I wondered if they would make enough for me to eat.
I took my gathered berries back to the beach, and sat down again. I tried one berry, slowly, and found it was a bit sweet, but tasted surprisingly good. After having a few, I decided that if I was to get sick off them, so be it. The parrot was still perched nearby, just watching me. I ate my fill of the berries, with a few left over. I decided to sleep in the plane again, figuring that it was safer.
I awoke the next morning, hearing what sounded like the noise of a helicopter flying nearby. I climbed out of the plane, grabbed the flare gun, and searched the sky. I couldn’t see anything, but heard it still. My ears must have been playing tricks on me, because it sounded like it came and went, closer and then farther away. After several agonizing minutes of this, I heard it fade until I couldn’t hear it any longer.
“GOD DAMNIT!!!” I yelled to the sky.
To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Maybe I should have lit the signal fire, instead of counting on the flare gun.