Teenage Castaways

Chapter Sixteen || Pierre

We were running out of food. The pigs and rabbits weren't reproducing fast enough to fit our needs. Mateo, the absolute sweetheart, gave out any extra food he had, but it still wasn't enough for us all.

Adeline began hand fishing and Fawn tried to start a garden, but it quickly proved difficult. It was too hot during the day and too cold at night. The freshwater was running low and the soil near our camp was mostly sand.

Chad grew crops, but he never had enough to share outside his camp. We all grew skinny in the most painful way, and winter was coming. During winter, the nights would be ice cold, and the days would grow so hot that one would fry if they weren't in the shade.

The same thing happened in the summer. They were seasons of extreme temperature due to our placement on the globe but also to the past generations' meddling.

I never really understood the need for wealth and surplus, but here we were. I guess I didn't understand much about society. Why did we always fight wars? Why did we use so much of Earth's resources? Why did they leave teens to rot out at sea?

They were hefty questions. Or maybe they didn't mean much and I was just a rambler. I don't know.

I do know one thing for sure: no one in the future is going to look at our wreckage and say they were "born in the wrong generation!"

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There was a child on a boat. Little Joey.

"Oy, chaps, it's me, Joey!" He drove his little electric boat straight into our camp. He had been zooming around the seas alone with a lot more food and supplies than the rest of us. But he had finally run out and needed to find land.

"I'd been stalking ya, chaps," he said. "When my engine was low, I decided to floor it onto this here beach."

"How old are you?" I asked.

He scratched his small head. "I'd say about... eight."

Needless to say, we were all thoroughly surprised at the little boy's appearance. Slightly bewildered, Fawn went to build him a house while I struck up a conversation with the eight-year-old.

"So," I said. "You're the captain's son?"

"Cappie's son, ya," he nodded. "Daddy drowned though. Went all- blurg blurg blurg-" Little Joey imitated a drowning man.

I pursued my lips. "I see..."

"I can fish for ya. With my net." He showed off his pinkish-red toddler fishing net. "I can collect a whole feast."

Absentmindedly, I nodded. "Sure. Sure." My mind was drifting from the conversation and I found my eyes on the small boat.

It was small enough for a small child to lay in. There was a little hole in the center to poke your head out, kinda like a kayak except it had an engine. The hole could be flipped closed.

I think the inside was padded so Little Joey could sleep during the night and stalk during the day.

"...I got a radio too," he said. "Lot'suh of pre-loaded-songs..."

I wondered what it had been like for him to be alone. He must have survived storms and starvation alone. Or maybe he had had enough supplies to keep him from the wretched dehydration and starvation. Little Joey was the captain's son after all.

"Ma'am? You got wax in your ears? Cat got your tongue?"

"Oh." I shook my head. "Sorry."

Little Joey shrugged and went to his boat. I watched for a second as he started to expertly unload his things. Only after a bit of hesitation, I offered him help, but he refused. Seeing as he was independent, I went to go check with Fawn on the construction of the house.

In the short amount of time, she had laid down a base for the little home. It was closer to the forest and completely in the shade.

"Very nice!" Little Joey called.

I turned my head and found him lunging his stuff through the sand and toward the new creation. "I agree," I smiled.

Fawn wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead. "Thanks. I should be completely done in a half-hour or so."

"Thanks a bunchie," Little Joey said, bobbing his head up and down.

"Anytime."

That night, we had a feast of sorts. Little Joey introduced himself to Emma and Adeline with cooked fish wrapped in seaweed. They were both impressed.

"You just gotta know where to look," Little Joey shrugged with a wicked grin. "Now it's past my nighty... Night!" Scampering off, he dove into his finished home where he had set up his bed.

Emma laughed. "He's fun," she said, smiling.

"Yeah," Adeline agreed, swallowing a mouthful of fish. "And helpful too."

"That eight-year-old is more helpful than Killian, who is nine years older!" I joked. Adeline snorted and Emma chuckled. Fawn stifled her own laughter.

It felt good to crack a joke, even if it wasn't that good.

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"Hello!" Mateo called as he walked into camp. "I bring fish!"

"Mateo!" Little Joey screamed happily.

"Ay, that's my name."

"I caught some seaweed and some fish too."

"That's mighty impressive."

I smiled from the fire. Mateo was always genuinely kind to Little Joey. "Come bring the fish over here. I'll cook them," I said.

Mateo waved his hand dismissively. "Already did." He smiled.

Sometimes I wondered why Mateo was so good to everyone. When he dropped down the bucket of cooked fish, I went to hug him.

"Thank you so much," I said.

He nodded with a smile. "Of course."

Breaking away from the hug, I took up the bucket of fish and dumped it onto Adeline's stone cooking slab. I doubt she would be using it today. Rarely did she catch anything and hunting was a bust nowadays.

"I'm thinking of starting a garden," I said, sitting on a log.

Mateo said on the one to the right of me. Little Joey followed suit and sat beside him. "It's good to eat fruits and vegetables," Mateo said. "But it's awfully hard getting the seeds and planting them. The soil just isn't that enriched near our camps."

"Can't I just do what Chad does and grow further into the forest? That seems to work for Camp Ginger Ale."

"Ay, but there isn't too much room. But if you really want to, I could get you some seed."

"Really?"

"Sure. I'd be happy to help out."

I nodded. "Thank you!"

"Right then, I'll swing by tomorrow with some seeds." With that, Mateo lifted himself from the log and called a farewell.

As I watched him go, I smiled to myself.