Doctor Abbott

Untitled Part 13

Ben woke to an Asian man singing to himself while flipping fish on a wood-stove. The room was dark with the exception of a lantern that lit only the small space surrounding the stove. The light would not do much good in the cramped space due to the shadows cast by piles upon piles of junk. The fish did little to mask the attic style odor of the room.

The man stopped what he was doing and turned around to offer Ben a ladle full of water from a pot on the floor. His accent was thick and his voice was very deep. "Oh, you are wake. Good. How you get here?"

"Do you mean in general or today?" Ben replied but speaking was incredibly painful and he had to strain to get the words out.

"When gom kill their enemy they make example of them. Not you. Two tribe leave you to die. Why?"

"I wish I knew. So far life on this island is a complete mystery to me."

The Asian man handed Ben a plate with the fish on it. He was tall and thin with a dark complexion. His long black hair and beard had Ben thinking he resembled a wizard of some sort. "Hmm. I think you need new island. You have no friend here. You get well and we find you new island."

Ben accepted the plate and ate most of the food within a few bites before asking, "Is there any way home?"

"Mmmm, no way home from here. I been here many year." The man pulled a ladder over from the other side of the room and climbed it. As he peeled the curtain back to retrieve what he was after, there appeared to be stacks of jugs up in the eaves of the cottage.

"You make the vodka. Do you supply both villages?"

"No, I supply all villages. Gom like to eat and drink. I make potato vodka, they like it." He smiled as he poured some for the doctor, "Here you drink. Will stop pain."

He accepted the liquor and took a small sip to avoid being rude. However, he feared the consequences of it thinning the blood too much to make a hearty go of it."You said 'gom' this means bear, you're Korean?"

"Yes, Korean Rock Solja." He pounded on his chest to display his aggression. "I come here and open liquor store." He followed with a wink and laughed at his own joke for a few minutes. "You know Korean?"

"That's cute, I was stationed there for a year as a civilian army medic. What's your name? I am Doctor Benjamin Abbott."

The Korean man took a swig of the jug, "My name is Young, I am foreva Young." He got himself chuckling again on his own pun. "Rest but be careful, you are not on ground. This tree house." With that, the man pointed at the door and turned to wash out the bowl. As soon as he finished he climbed into a hammock above the sink basin to sleep.

Within a few days, Ben was moving about a bit. Working his leg and cleaning the cabin to repay the man for his kindness. Each day the hermit would descend from the tree house and fill a travois with goods. He strapped it to a wolf who eagerly awaited a treat before journeying with him, and Ben would marvel at the pack of animals that followed him. He would be gone most of the day and return at night with items from the different villages.

A few times he returned with items that could have only been obtained by contact with humans and Ben now found himself beyond curious. The tradesman had secrets, well-guarded ones.

Each night Young would perch himself on the porch of the well-crafted tree house and drop meat to the many wolves that would show up. Some he clearly had trained and others were not from his pack judging by their cautiousness when approaching.

By the second week Ben had been assisting him in the evenings to offer the food to the animals. A few times Young motioned to Ben to climb down the tree and join him in hand feeding the wild dogs. "You don't find this a bit daring?"

Young smirked, "No, they worry for their enemy more than for me. You gain their trust and then their enemy will respect you." He then took his two fingers and ushered Ben's attention to his eyes, "Same is true of gom. You must gain their trust."

A sense of shame took over as this strategy had failed him miserably so far, "Well, all that has gotten me is nearly killed and my wife held hostage if she's even still alive."

Young walked over to Ben and popped him right in the forehead, "You have stronger mind than that Abbott! Use it. You won't defeat your enemy on their terms. They are too big to see the ground. The ground is where you must work then. If you want respect, EARN IT! Like the wolf, gom will kill what they don't respect. Wolf respect me so gom respect me."

"That is just it though, I don't want respect, I want to go home. I have been to the most God forsaken places on earth and not one compares to the savagery I have endured here. The most fascinating part is that these creatures are probably the last of their species and they will most likely be the cause of their own extinction." Ben pulled apart a few strips of meat and offered them to the few wolves that were relaxing in front of him then he chucked a piece to one that was pacing back and forth behind them. "You trade with humans don't you?"

The comment got a stubborn glare from Young, he didn't even answer, he just stomped off and climbed his tree. Ben finished passing out the meat to the eager animals and followed him up. He found a plate of fish and greens waiting for him inside but Young was already up in his hammock with his animal skin cap pulled over his face. The message was clear that this was not a discussion he wanted to have. Ben ate the food and washed it down with a hearty amount of the potato vodka before passing out.