Wild Fiction

It took the rest of the day to reach the southern tip of the island. When they arrived, scratched and bitten, Conrad made them wait in the undergrowth for a few minutes while they peered around for any sign of life. They were on the edge of a white sand beach, not very wide, with transparent blue waters beyond it. Off to their right, the sun was threatening to set within the next half-hour.
‘I think it’s safe,’ Conrad said looking from side to side for at least the tenth time. ‘Let’s get into that water.’ He cut off the largest palm frond near them and dragged it to the water’s edge behind James and Rebecca. Several shy stingrays flapped their wings and disappeared into deeper water as they entered. They lay in the shallows, the scratches and bites stinging therapeutically in the salt water. When they retreated back to the bushes, Conrad swished the palm frond behind them in large arcs brushing over their footprints and smoothing the sand.
The labels had come off the tins they had managed to bring to the surface, so they opened each one with the anticipation of a birthday present. The excitement diminished when they all turned out to be smoked oysters.
Conrad used his Swiss Army Knife to sharpen twigs into makeshift toothpicks and handed them out. Each of them wrestled the tightly packed oysters out of the yellow oil in their own style. Rebecca delicately picked at each one and shook every last drop of the oil off before pulling it off the toothpick with her teeth. Conrad plucked each one rapidly and swallowed with only a couple of chews. James took three of the sharpened twigs and formed a mini-fork, which he used to shovel the oysters directly into his mouth from the tin that he held just bellow his mouth.
‘I’m sorry. When I was pulling out the tins, I pulled them out of the same place. I didn’t think they’d all be this aphrodisiac stuff. And I forgot the champagne.’ Rebecca said smiling at the two boys.
‘Don’t apologise to me, I love this stuff,’ Conrad said pausing for a moment with an oyster hovering in front of his mouth.
James nodded in agreement, oil dribbling down his chin and dripping onto his chest.
The sun set and was followed by a green flash as it dipped below the horizon. Palm fronds were pulled together to make mats and covers to sleep under. Exhausted, they all fell asleep before the twenty-minute light window between sunset and darkness had elapsed.