Island of the Unemployed

FIFTH YEAR

A month later...

River couldn't get Mila out of his head. It seemed everywhere he went he could hear her voice call out his name. Images of the time they spent together played in his head. How she would get animated when she talked. The way she would reach out and touch his arm when she got excited. He could picture her big sympathetic eyes miniaturized by her huge glasses looking at him so intently.

He knew it didn't make sense to believe she was still alive, but, somehow, in his heart, he was sure that she was. What if she was living some nightmarish existence? Could he really go through life wondering, not knowing what had happened to her?

He passed Sophie and Trevor's house, through their backyard, and down the incline they ascended for the first time in the pouring rain not that long ago. The view this time could not have been more different. The sky was clear and the ocean was a beautiful shade of blue.

The sound of hammers pounding, and saws cutting through wood echoed up the side of the cliff. He saw the sailboat on dry land, lifted onto blocks not far from shore. Kadee was there directing the construction effort.

"How are you, my friend?" Kadee said with a warm smile, as River walked up to him. "Did you come to help me build another boat? Maybe Simon can give you a job change."

River laughed. "Probably not a good idea. Look what happened the last time we built a boat together."

"Ha! Maybe you are right! I think that was possibly the worst boat ever made, but we are here! So, the boat did its job. We just did not know what that job was when we were building it."

An elderly man took a break from sawing a square out of a hole in the hull. He leaned back against the boat, looked up, and gave River a nearly toothless smile. River smiled back.

"Do you think it will sail again?" River asked the man. The man nodded back.

"He can't hear you," Kadee said. "His hearing is even worse than Trevor's. As you can see, there is much damage to the boat, but I think it will sail again."

"What happened to his teeth?"

"They were knocked out when he fell out of the train car. Poor man. He was seventy years old when the company retired him. That was five years ago. He has been waiting for his wife to arrive ever since. I think that is what keeps him going."

"Is he going to be okay? He looks tired."

"He works at his own pace. He will be fine." Kadee gave the older man a pat on the shoulder, and he and River strolled down the rocky beach. "How is your job going? Are you still taking care of that man? The one that is always angry with you? What was his name?"

"Walter? No. He doesn't need my help anymore. I have plenty of others to keep me busy, though."

"Oh. Good. I know it was frustrating for you to work with him."

"Oh, he's okay. We get along better now. He even comes over sometimes to visit sometimes."

"Oh. That is good."

"We play cards. He loves playing cards! He's really good at it too. Beats me every time."

"They have cards here?"

"Yeah! Funny, isn't it? The way they copy things we had in the Grid?"

"How do you shuffle them? Is there a machine?"

"No. You have to use your hands."

"Hands? Oh. That sounds very difficult. How do you do that?"

"You know the hand gesture used to shuffle them in the Grid? It's something like that, but you have the actual cards in your hands."