The Island: A Gender-Bending Fantasy
Bill was standing on the dock looking at the 20-foot boat named "Reel Magic." A forward cabin and two fishing seats off the rear. Plenty of room for Deem and himself for the three-day trip they were planning.
Deem had been his best friend since they had been randomly placed in the same dorm room. Bill had been wary when the Indian man walked into his room and introduced himself as "Deem." Deem was 7 inches shorter than Bill's 6'2" and much thinner than his 240-pound football player build.
It did not take long before they both had discovered that they had a lot in common. They were fans of history and were good mathematicians and often struggled with English. Although Deem did point out that English was my native language and his third language. Over the next three years, they became best friends, often joking that maybe they would make better partners than the flow of failed relationships they had been through in college.
After college they had both gone their own ways, Deem back to India to join the family business and Bill back to Portland to start his own engineering firm, but they never lost contact. Always trading emails, text messages, and talking, they continued to stay best of friends.
Now, after all these years, they found that they have the ability to get away from all the hassle of their jobs and catch back up in person. Bill was always a sportsman, and although Deem rarely found the time, he also enjoyed the outdoors, so when the opportunity arose to go on a fishing trip to the South Pacific, they both jumped at the opportunity.
Bill especially was looking forward to the trip. Having recently fallen on some hard times socially, he had found himself in a rut. His firm was doing great, and he really had all the money he would need for the rest of his life; he also wanted someone to spend the time with. This was becoming more and more difficult as his financial situation continued to grow. Either the ladies he encountered were obviously looking for someone with money, one blind date going as far as to ask him directly how much he was worth, or once they found he had money, they became clingy. In the end, his recent girlfriend could not understand why he would run off to the South Pacific without her, especially to meet up with a guy. Going as far, in their fight, as asking him if he was gay and wanted to hook up with Deem. His response was simple: it would be a lot easier that way! He hung up the phone, blocked the number, and returned to work. Thinking to himself, A LOT easier!
Now they were on a boat motoring through a small chain of islands in the South Pacific. Looking for a good place to do a little fishing, drink a few beers, enjoy the warm weather, and forget about all of the hassles of the real world.
The boat was spacious enough, with two small bunks, a small cooking area, a refrigerator (now full of mostly beer), and room for their gear. The deck had two swivel chairs for fishing, storage for fishing gear, and tanks for storing their catch. All was perfect for three days out on the water.
The first day was great. A couple of fish were caught and cooked, many beers were drunk, and tension was relieved.
Early on day two, Bill went over the charts and found an underwater shelf just north of some island where he thought they could catch some tuna or similar larger fish. It was several miles from the islands but still close enough for them to be seen in the distance. Unknown to them at the time, the island and distance had blocked their limited radio signal. Throughout the day they had enjoyed catching several smaller tuna and laughed at losing several sets of gear to some even bigger fish. Deem, always the more careful one, pointed out some dark clouds on the horizon. This is when things got interesting. First, they discovered the issue with the radio and pulled out a small emergency satellite radio. Through the crackle of interference, they heard the following:
WARNING: Major typhoon moving over the island; small boats should immediately find shelter. Wind 60-70 mph with gusts well over 100 mph. Heavy rains and high seas for the next 24 hours. Larger boats should head for open waters or seek shelter.
"Crap!" Deem explained "Somehow, I think we might be considered a small boat!"
"Yea, and it looks like we might be in a little trouble." Bill announced as he actively turned the boat south towards where the island was, now invisible with clouds and rain squalls.
"The islands are south; we are going to head that way." Bill continued, "Hold on, this is not a speedboat; it is going to get bumpy."
Turning the boat and pushing the engines to the max, Bill and Deem started to feel the first rain falling as they pushed for land.
Over the next 30 minutes, the skies darkened, the rain turned into walls of driving water, and the waves became larger than their boat. With each raise, they held on tight as they were slammed into the trough between waves.
"I can't see shit!" Bill exclaimed, "It is all I can do to keep us heading south, and that is just a hope; the compass is bouncing all around. Keep an eye out for an island; I do not think this boat is going to hold out for the whole storm."
"Got it, but man, it is deep, and all I can see is waves." Deem! exclaimed, picking himself back up off the deck as the boat slammed into the next trough.
For what seemed like hours but was probably less than a single hour, Bill and Deem were through around the South Pacific, boat at full throttle. At one point Bill slammed his wrist into the shield in front of the steering console, leaving a nasty welt, and Deem came up from the floor of the boat with a cut on the side of his head, a small trickle of blood running down his face.
"There! To the right!" Deem yelled over the storm, "An island! I swear, it's there!"
Squinting into the storm, Bill saw nothing but trusted his old friend. Turning the boat slightly to the right, he pushed towards where Deem pointed.
This caused the boat to slide and toss, even moving sideways through the crests and troughs, but Bill quickly got the hang of the slide with the waves, then turning down the back of the crests and into the troughs. After a few minutes, in which they both were starting to turn a little green, Bill saw the island.
With a hoot, Bill rose with the next crest. The island was only a couple hundred yards straight ahead, still just a dark mass through the storm, but definitely an island, and from the look of it, a somewhat large one. Bill hoped he was not driving them towards a cliff, but he knew they needed to press on.
The next crest slammed them down, and with a crack audible even over the storm, the steering went loose and the engine started to run rough.
"DAMN!" Bill exclaimed, "I think we hit something!"
"Yea, think!" Deem shot back!
Riding out the next crest, when the boat was slammed to the bottom with another audible crack.
Keeping his eyes towards the shore, Bill lost all steering control before he could turn his head. Deem yelled, "Shitttt! We just lost the engine!"
Turning, Bill's eyes widened! "Holy shiiitttt!" Sure enough, the engine and all of its mounting brackets--hell, the whole back of the boat--were gone!
The next crest raised the boat high in the air, and Bill saw the beach coming up towards them. With a slam, the boat was driven onto the shore. Bill turned just in time to see Deem fly over the edge of the boat and into the darkness before the boat itself slapped him up into the air.
Luck was on his side as he landed in the sand. Coming up, Bill tried to get his bearings. The wind and rain were still driving, but Bill was able to make out palm trees ahead of him. He crawled on his hands and knees, throwing himself over a fallen tree and curling up against its base, hoping that his friend had found shelter as well.
To this day, Bill could not tell you how long he lay curled up against the root-ball of the palm tree, but he came back to his senses when he heard his name yelled through the rain.
The rain had slackened a lot, and the wind was tolerable as Bill stood and returned the greeting from his friend.
Deem was standing about 30 yards away, deeper into the palm forest stretching up the side of the island.
"Deem! Man, am I happy to see you! You ok, man?" Bill asked while walking towards him.
"Been better, Bill," Deem chuckled. And Bill could not argue that; they were both still soaking wet, and Deem's head wound still seeped down the side of his head. Adding to this, they were both covered in sand.
"Yea, we do look like two shipwrecked sailors, don't we!"
Deem laughed, "We need to find some shelter and let this blow over, and I do not think that will work!" pointing back over Bill's shoulder.
Turning back, Bill saw what was left of their boat, wedged between two rocky outcroppings near the shore, waves still driving it further and further onto shore.
"Well, we are not getting back in that!" Bill said, "And it looks like we are not getting our deposit back!" he added with a chuckle.
"Always the smartass!" Deem shook his head, laughing. "Come on," he waved, "let's see what we can find."
Bill and Deem spent the next hour moving through the dark trees, trying not to move too far from shore since that was the only light they had. Finally, giving up, they sat facing each other, backs to a couple of large trees.
"Well, this is not good!" Bill said, "Maybe we can salvage something useful from the boat in the morning. I doubt much of the electronics are good, but the cabin and living quarters are in the front, so most of our gear should still be good."
"Plus, I put that last tuna in the front well, so unless it broke open in the storm, we should be able to salvage that for a few days of eating. Plus, this island seems pretty big; hopefully there is a village or something somewhere where we can get a ride back to the main islands." Deem cheerfully added.
Sitting in the dark, they both drifted in and out of sleep with the canopy giving a little protection from the rain.
As the sun rose, Bill awoke looking out; he was happy to see that the boat was still wedged in the rocks, and although the back of the boat was still missing, he had hoped that a lot of their gear would have survived the storm (although it would be soaking wet). Watching the waves crash onto the shore more calmly this morning, we had to admit, although the situation sucked, the beach at least looked somewhat inhabitable, albeit something off of an episode of Gilligan's Island with the boat dominating the end of the beach.
Deem slowly came awake shortly after, and glancing over Bill's shoulder, asked, "Um, Bill, what is that?"
Turning back towards the forest, a dark shape could be seen sitting deeper into the trees, pressed back against a cliff of rock.
"Tell me that is not a building??" Deem? asked. "Tell me we did not miss a building stumbling around in the dark last night!"
"Ok, I won't tell you." Bill laughed, climbing to his feet.
"Someday, my friend, I will have the last laugh, smartass!" Deem chuckled, joining Bill as he walked towards a small structure set back into the trees.
About 30 yards back into the tree, set along a rise of rock that seemed to run along most of the beach, they found a small shed that looked like it had been abandoned for years. Assembled from what looked like boat planks and with most of the roof missing, it was definitely a small cabin.
Moving inside, they found a shed about 10 feet square, wood-planked floors, part of an old broken chair, and a table lying against the wall.
