From Sand to Nand

Chapter Five

Pei awoke before the captain and Officer McSchmitt. He went to the woods to relieve himself and realized that his skin was oily, and his clothes were visibly soiled. Luckily, he managed to retain his belongings from the ship. All he had packed for the cruise was a large, extendible backpack that he stuffed with clothes, 2 books, a few gadgets, and gifts for his loved ones back home.

The items stuffed inside nearly shot out from being so tightly compressed and under pressure. Pei was a man of resource. He always tried to work efficiently. Everything had been placed inside his bag methodically. With it now open, he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, a new pair of shorts, a shirt, and some fresh undergarments. He borrowed a small bucket and took his bar of soap with him down to the waterfall for the first time.

There, he discovered the lake everyone boasted of the day prior. At the base of the cliff, the waterhole was nearly the size of a small soccer stadium. It flowed onward from its sole tributary cutting a path through the trees and continuing out of sight. Pei followed the river for a short while and took note of the enormous clay deposits along its outer banks. He rubbed the silt through his fingers and let it satisfyingly slip around in his hand. Suddenly, Pei had an idea. The fish, he thought.

The sun barely cracked over the eastern horizon, but the light was enough to awaken everyone simultaneously. The refreshed crowd began their morning routine. Within the hour, almost everyone had eaten breakfast and began making plans for the day. Some people wanted to build more huts and collect more food. Others mentioned that they wanted to conduct funeral services and try to call for help. Otherwise, no one had an answer for what was to come next.

"We need meat. I think we should catch more fish today and maybe go hunting."

"Captain mentioned burying the dead," an Australian gentleman declared.

Another Asian man replied, "I'm sure it won't take all day. We'll have plenty of time to come back to do all that and to build more shelter, too."

Many people approached as the captain and his crew assembled. McSchmitt took charge and declared that they would make an announcement shortly. When the time came, Captain Royce stood up and spoke, this time less formally. "Alright folks, can you all hear me? Excellent. First of all, I'd like to extend a hand of gratitude to each of you who made yesterday's achievements possible. It's amazing how far we've made it by simply working together. So, thank you."

He and others began a short round of applause.

"Today we're going to address the difficulty of saying goodbye to our fallen friends and family. Anyone who wishes to join us at the beach is welcome to do so. However, please understand this disturbing reality. There's going to be a foul, rotting smell in the air several magnitudes worse than when we left yesterday. It may be too much to handle. If you think you may get sick, then please cover your mouths and noses with a cloth. I also recommend burning as a means of disposal, but I will leave it up to you. If anyone, who hasn't already, wishes to bury a loved one, then you are welcome to do so. The rest will be taken care of by myself and my crew. I think separating ourselves from the sight of them yesterday helped us all grow stronger, but now it's time we go back and face the reality of our losses. Please, take as long as you need to confront your emotions. Some of you may not have deceased loved ones or may prefer to remain up here. If that's the case, then please continue building more shelters and collecting more food. By tonight, hopefully, no one will have to sleep under the stars. We got lucky last night and didn't have any rain. I don't know if the storm that hit us turned into something larger and is responsible for that, but the tropics usually rain every day for, at minimum, an hour. So, let's assume we won't be so lucky today."