Island Rush (12 page)

For now, I shoved the pain aside and kept my mind focused on the task at hand. I thrust and pulled myself up with the help of my arms and legs until I was about half way up. I kept doing it and pushed, no matter how thirsty, tired and hurt I was. 

I made sure not to look down either and tried staying focused as I kept moving. I won’t lie, though, I struggled more as I got closer to the top.  Until… I was there. 

The green ball shaped objects hung just above my head when I looked up. Then, I forced my eyes to look down. I realized just how careful I needed to be. It would hurt to fall, that’s for sure. Mr. Rush was now standing, staring up at me.  He appeared much smaller, which did not help. 

I tightened my legs around the tree with my left hand gripping the tree harder. I gingerly began raising my right hand since I had the support to stay up. I took a hold of the green coconut and pulled but wouldn’t snap away from the tree. It didn’t budge, and when I tried a few more times, I knew this would not work. 

I returned my hand and caught myself before I could slip. I stared up at the goal above me.  Beyond the small cluster of coconuts, I saw the branches there.  They didn’t only support human-sized leaves, but the branches acted as an umbrella, spreading out and dipping down. They looked strong too.

When I climbed higher, all I heard from under me was his voice. “Don’t Janice!” I ignored him. This was more than just proving I wasn’t weak. I was hungry, and I wanted some food and water. This could save us. 

I once again tightened my grip around the tree while freeing one hand, reaching up and grabbing one of the branches that was close. I closed my eyes and only let a single picture filter through my head.  That was my mom. She always was strong and kept me strong.   

I was scared how much it would hurt if I fell, but I had to do it.  I let my grip around the tree go and threw my hand up to join my other wrapped around the small branch. It was quite a gamble because, at that moment, the branch dipped down and felt like it would snap.  Before it could, I quickly swung my right leg up and boosted myself up. It was still dipping down so I quickly inched back towards the center of the tree. The rough texture became thicker, and the branch stopped bending down.

I breathed a sigh of relief and carefully extended myself along the branch, my bare stomach pressing against the hard branch.  That made it clear enough that my shirt had ripped.

My hands gripped the branch I was lying on as I allowed my gaze to reach the ground.  I noticed Mr. Rush started pacing back and forth, obviously worried. 

I put my focus on the coconuts, which I noticed, were inches away from my face. Only this time, I was above the coconuts, and I wasn’t about to lose my grip when I pulled. The branch under me would hold.

I grabbed one of the five coconuts and pulled as hard as I could. It finally gave and the force I used came back at me when I swayed, but I held tight with my other hand and stayed balanced. I looked down at the small man and let him know what to do. “Be ready to catch these when I drop them!” That was something we didn’t want, for them to break open. It was valid fear with how soft they felt.  Probably because they weren’t ripe enough.

“Okay, go ahead,” Mr. Rush exclaimed back, coming closer to the base of the tree and craning his neck, his hands ready.

It seemed hard at first to snap the coconut from the tree, but finding the trick by twisting and pulling, everything went smoothly after that.

Mr. Rush caught each one, setting them to the side in the grass. The second I dropped the last one, I made my proud announcement. “That’s it!”

“Look around while you are up there! Can you see anything? The creek?”

I took his suggestion and did the best I could with trying to remain stable. I looked out over the treetops, but all I could really take in was how crowded all the trees were under the moonlight. I wasn’t high enough to tell much, but I could see farther down the shoreline. It was a more depressing observation. This island looked even bigger.

“Not really,” I said down to him, disappointed. Looking down reminded me of my next job, which would be much harder.  The man voiced my own question.

“Can you get down?”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t too confident, but I had to try.  I tried to slowly ease my body to dangle from the branch as I had before.  It didn’t work out as well as I planned.  As I gripped the branch to do so, my body went before I was ready.  My hands broke from the branch, and I started to fall, front first! 

It happened so fast. I was falling towards the ground. My mind, heart, stomach did flip, and I couldn’t think! The second Mr. Rush noticed from the other side of the tree, he sprinted in the direction to where I was falling. As the ground came fast, I was shocked to find I didn’t hit it. Mr. Rush made it below me just in time to break my fall.

I landed on him and in the safety of his grasp. Immediately, though, I was worried. It was like I gave all the pain I was about to endure to him. I couldn’t imagine how much badly he hurt now, though; he landed on his back – for the second time tonight!

I lifted my head in worry and took in his face. His face reflected the pain that the weight of my body brought him.  He looked ready to either scream or cry. His breaths came rapidly as did mine but that look on his face, the one saying he was obviously hurt, changed when his dazed eyes met mine.

His breath was hot against me, and I noticed just how close we were. I don’t think he realized what he did, but his hand grazed and rested on my bare side. It sent my heart skating in circles despite that insane fall. The warmth of him beneath me made the hairs on my arms stand on end. Wonder lit his features, and he stared at me — stared like he would in class. Kind of like he did when I woke him this morning.

“Janice…” he wheezed.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, remembering now wasn’t the time for this. Or anytime, actually. Taking him in, his face slowly conjured up the pain he somehow seemed to push out of his head before and he groaned.

“Please. Get off. You’re pressed against an area I don’t want any more damage to come to,” he said in a shaky voice, indicating his little ‘friend.’ 

When I rolled off of him and was beside him, I felt an unexpected feeling, other than pain. I felt a loss of warmth as if I was attached to him that moment and would always want to be connected to him. He grunted when I was off, and he didn’t maybe couldn’t move an inch. I was sore and aching from the fall. I considered for a second that he breaking my fall was just as bad as the actual ground seeing that he had a tight and hard enough build. But he was the one in real pain now.

I looked over to him and spoke in a concerned voice. “I’m hoping this changed your mind about resting.”

He laughed through the pain. “Yeah, I changed my mind. But before we rest, we need the coconuts.” He moved a little and grunted. 

“Do you think you can move? Stand? Walk?”

He nodded but didn’t move. I got to my feet and spotted most of what was my shirt off in the grass, where it landed when it was ripped by the tree. I returned to him and took in the scraps from when he attempted to climb it. I lightly wiped the blood from his chest and stomach. When I got to his legs, I noticed that his shorts were in perfect condition compared to my clothes. A few cuts but that was all. He said nothing during it all and only stared up at me.

“Why is it that my shirt is destroyed when your pants aren’t?” I asked in a lighter voice, hoping to make him feel better somehow.

“Just because it’s not ripped doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. It’s quite sensitive.”

I fought the urge to laugh and put on a confused face. “What are you talking about?”

Even though it was dark, I could see through the moonlight that he blushed bright red. “Just a little pain wouldn’t result in a rip of my clothes.”

“So you’re saying your little friend is extra sensitive?”

He looked away, embarrassed at my words and my nickname for it. I couldn’t take it and was laughing harder than I have in a long time.

He interrupted me. “Can you just get the coconuts please?”

I raised my eyebrow. “You want to move onto your coconuts now, do you?” I laughed. I saw his face break slightly, and he smiled shyly over his still there embarrassment.

“I think you know what I mean. I am starving and so are you.”

I knelt next to him, putting his arm around my shoulder and helping him stand. I was grateful he could support most of himself when he was up. He walked stiffly in circles for a few minutes before he stopped wincing and could walk comfortably. I tore the rest of my shirt off and used it to wipe away the small amount of blood on my stomach too. I was left in just my bra now and the belt that was helping the cut on my back.

I collected the coconuts and sat against the tree, waiting for him as he continued walking back and forth, testing his back. I observed one of the coconuts and pressed it against my palm. I had no idea how this would satisfy our stomachs, but we were about to find out.

He stretched his arms, making his back arch, and a loud crack ran to my ears over the ocean waves. Mr. Rush sighed in relief. He at least felt a little better by the time he strolled over and sat against the tree with me, the coconuts resting in the tall grass in front of us. We stared, not sure what to do.

Finally, he spoke up. “You should grab two of those large leafs.”

I glared at him in the darkness, the cold starting to crawl back through my body. “And why can’t you get them?” I knew he could hear the unhappy tone in my voice. 

He raised an eyebrow at me, looking at me as if I crossed a line. I felt satisfied to have caught him off guard. “Um, I just fell from a tree and hit the ground only to have you fall on me,” he said.

“I didn’t fall on you. You decided to catch me, and are you saying I’m overweight? I wouldn’t be talking about the size after what you just said a few minutes ago!”

“Jesus, I said no such thing of you being overweight. I’m just saying I am a little sore so could you be the one to get your lazy ass up. Stop being such an immature brat,” he snapped at me. 

His words shocked me but made me realize what I just said to him. I was being a bitch, and I didn’t even realize— Oh, shit! My period. It made me blink, taking a deep breath in at realizing what it was. I am prepared, though, at least.  Being on an island has made it clear that you have a lot of thinking time. I thought about what I would have to do when that came and my answer: the place was covered in moss.

I took a deep breath, ashamed for my outburst. “I’m sorry about that. I really didn’t mean to lash out.  I am very grateful you caught me just in time too. That would have been ugly.” I got to my feet, uncomfortable for apologizing.

He appeared amused.  “Period, right?”

“You know, it’s very rare that it affects my mood.” I walked away, blushing.  I wasn’t mad at what he just said because I deserved it. Not to mention it was true; I was going to have to find moss.

I returned with the leaves he asked for, still having no idea what his plan was. I found out after he stood up carefully and led me down to the beach, carrying one of the coconuts and both leaves. We stopped near the edge of the water by a big rock in the sand. We set the coconuts down as well as the leaves next to the rock before we sat down in the sand too. My jaw trembled from the cold, making my teeth chatter. It was a lot colder now that we were closer to the water.

Mr. Rush took a coconut in one hand and instructed me to press the one leaf flat up against the rock.  As he explained it, it sounded like a good idea.  That’s why when he asked me to do the next thing, I curled the ends of the leaf up so it was shaped like a bowl, one side pressed against the rock. He held the coconut inside the bowl and smashed it against the side of the rock.  The green soft shell broke open to its watery core.  It dripped into the leafy bowl I was supporting for a long moment. There was a lot of water in it.  It made me want to take the leaf bowl I was holding together and run. 

Luckily, the moon was upon us so we could see what we were doing perfectly. He delicately set the now empty shell of it down on the other leaf so the sand didn’t touch it.  Then he looked up at me from where he was kneeling across from me, a very satisfied smile on his face. “We better appreciate this.  We won’t always get this lucky. That’s why we should only have one tonight. Save the four for tomorrow or later.”

As tempting as it would be to finish off all five, I knew he was right, and that was the smart thing to do. So after admiring it like losers, Mr. Rush ended up carefully taking the leaf bowl from me and inching closer.  I sat up slightly from where I was sitting as he held the bowl under my chin, a sign for me to drink. I didn’t waste another second.

I dipped my head and sipped the warm liquid. I swear it was the best thing that I have ever swallowed.  It was silk floating down my throat, erasing the awful burning sensation at the back of my mouth. It was water feeding the dry, cracked dirt. It was the melting of snow under the sun. And it was nothing like the dew on the grass, making us frustrated because there wasn’t enough.

Mr. Rush was in the same shape as me, and I was going to take a lot of satisfaction seeing him get the same relief I just did. Taking in his dry mouth and wanting eyes… I lifted my mouth from the coconut water.  He knew that was a sign it was his turn.