Chapter 2

ch 2 ... hope u like it

Chapter 2

Ferida and Vik were up.; Tracy stretched her hands and yawned as she flipped around on the floor covered by a thin layer of cloth. The sun had risen high and the air felt humid and breezy. She dragged herself out of the tiny tent to find Vik crafting oars for the boat. Ferida was busy gathering some leaves for a soft cushion base for the boat. The idea was to pile layers of leaves until a soft bottom was created for a comfortable journey. Once Ferida and Vik were done with their work, the three decided to get themselves some breakfast.

Tracy led and the two dragged behind. When it came to things like working for the stomach, she was always on the move.

With a bag stitched from one of Ferida’s spare shirt, the three walked into the denser part of the jungle. They had not yet explored much of the island. Tracy pushed through the large leaves and branches, as they walked further in. Suddenly the whole scene seemed to change. It seemed to be a beautiful enchanting place.

The place was covered with juicy light green grass. The sun shone perfectly over the field highlighting the apples, mangoes and grape wines. The fruits looked addictive as they hung from beautiful trees. The apples looked juicy red and the mangoes looked full, with rich and plump. None of the fruits seemed dusty or spoilt. The same number of grapes were in each bunch and all the grapes were of the same shape, size and color. They were a perfect dash of purple and navy blue which fitted neatly on the delicate creepers.

The pattern of growth seemed to be the work of some highly skilled farmers but no one was in sight. Not even a single house was visible.

Tracy, Ferida and Vik plucked to their armful; apples, mangoes and grape bunches. They also took some extra for the boat trip. Once their bags were full and their hands could carry no more, they decided to leave for the camping grounds.

Admiring their collection, they retraced their steps to their camp. They gently placed their treasures next to the tent. Grabbing a fruit each, they stepped towards the half made boat; they were now engrossed in their fruits.

“Love touched my lip

heaven in every sip

as my soul takes a dip”

murmured Tracy as she bit into her mango.

The three of them were so profoundly involved in their fruits that they did not even speak. Vik’s eyes were wide open in amazement. Ferida’s however were closed and she was immensely enjoying her fruit.

When the three of them finished, Tracy asked Vik how the apple tasted. Instead of replying, he ran towards the tent and picked up two apples and a mango and returned. He tossed the apples towards the girls who untidily caught them. “Try it,” he said, “I don’t know how to describe its taste.”

The girls bit into their apples and instantly turned towards each other in wonder. Every bite into the apple was accompanied with a crackling sound and splash of sweet and thick juice. They were amazing, juicy, heavenly; the finest in the world.

They also decided to try out some grapes. They were perfectly round and exceptionally tasty too. All of them tasted the same, all sweet none sour. The seeds were crunchy munchy. They had never cherished eating the seeds!

With the tastes still lingering on their tongues, they resumed work. The three were deeply involved with their crafting and the next time they spoke was a few hours later. Once they were done with their bit, they brought together the various pieces and began joining them with some twine they had gathered. A little later the basic structure of the boat was ready, what remained to be done was a little touchup here and there.

The three debated on using the tent as a sail but decided not to, as they felt it safer to just row.

With a little more crafting and shaping, the boat was finally ready. They decided to leave the island the next day after sunrise. It was getting dark, the sun and moon exchanged positions. The colors of the sky gradually changed from yellow to orange to red to purple and then to ultramarine. The color blue finally settled through the sky.

They filled their hungry stomachs with some juicy fruits and warm water. Finally when all was done they were too tired to talk and went straight to sleep.

Unusually for her, that day Tracy woke up the earliest. In the one week of being stranded on the island she had always woken up last. She walked out of the tent admiring their handiwork. Now they had a perfect boat and a tent as well. With very little resources, they had not only managed to put up a strong tent but also a beautiful one.

The sun was slowly rising. There was a beautiful mixture of blue and orange in the sky. The moon had faded away making way for the bright Sun. There was a clear line in the sky separating the orange and the blue. Tracy regretted not getting up early all these days. She had missed this wonderful sight of nature.

Vik came out of the tent with his arms on his waist.

“A perfect inspiration to a wonderful poem,” commented Tracy as she walked towards her cousin.

“A sky line of wisdom,

and a birth ahead…,” said Tracy thinking of the next few lines.

“With a sizzle of beauty,

love it does shed…,” continued Vik.

“A sky line of wisdom,

and a birth ahead

with a sizzle of beauty,

love it does shed…,” repeated Tracy.

“You make a very good poet,” she commented as she patted Vik on his shoulder.

Both of them then quietly admired the sky. Finally the sun was up completely, spreading his warm yellow love across the whole area. Ferida woke up to the rays that penetrated the tent. The three of them then gobbled down some fruits.

They looked into the sky remembering their family and all their friends. Tracy missed her little sister Lily, who was almost like a part of her.

Their stomachs said enough, though their tongues thought differently. They then began to work. They loaded their boat with all the fruits they had gathered. There was enough to last the whole journey. They decided not to carry the tent along. Ferida put out the bonfire which had provided them with warmth and light ever since they had arrived.

It was finally time to get going. Tracy glanced at the sky and then the island for one last time. It was finally time to say goodbye. They pushed the boat till they reached ankle deep water. Ferida then got into it. They then pushed it slightly further and then Tracy jumped in. Finally Vik gave the last push and leaped into it as he did.

The force of Vik’s push caused the boat to move for quite some distance. Once the boat slowed down it was time to use the oars. Tracy grabbed both the oars and began to paddle. It was real fun, though hard.

As they passed the part of the sea where the land beneath them was no longer seen, they felt a sudden rush of tiredness. Tracy’s eyes felt unusually heavy and her mind forced her body to take a sleeping posture. Everything felt a bit hazy and she yawned several times. She was not fainting and she was pretty sure about that. She had fainted before but the feeling now was completely different. She could somewhat make out her surroundings. Vik and Ferida looked to be fast asleep. “Vik, …Ferida,” she somehow managed to utter, there was no reply. Tracy shook Ferida by her leg and then tried the same on Vik; they both lay still.

Slowly her senses started to weaken. Tracy could no longer feel herself breathe. Her eyes forcefully shut and her body grew numb. Her body felt light and windy.

A sudden gush of cold air blew past and that was it. Tracy did not remember a thing thereafter.

Reviews

[Akshay Rawal]

To commend about your descriptive qualities, the part where they eat fruits is sense-provoking and even the reader can taste them. I don't want to comment about the plot, as I failed to derive any, but the narrative is engaging and nice. By the way, this reminded me of Robinson Crusoe.