I Wish I Had A Box
Retirement • Stranded On A Deserted Island - Part 5
Wishes
I Wish I Had A Box
I wish I had a box.
And that the box was made of flaky, tasty pastry crust.
And that the flaky, tasty pastry crust box was filled with delicious cherry filling.
And that the flaky, tasty pastry crust box filled with delicious cherry filling was baked until the edges were golden brown.
That is what I wish.
Two Old Guys On A Park Bench
Retirement
Hmmm…
A Serial Story Of Adventure And Surprises
Stranded On A Deserted Island • Part 5
Rescued?
When we left off last time, our hero and Amelia had found Jake’s ship washed up on shore. Amelia got the inboard motor working while Jake befriended a monkey. They filled the ship with food and headed out to sea.
Amelia steered the ship out to deep water and cut the motor.
“Alright, check the GPS,” she said.
I scanned the display and said, “Well, the bad news is there are no other islands anywhere near here. We’d be fools to leave the island without a sail. But the good news is we are near the shipping lane from New Zealand to Hawaii. Let’s head there and drift for the day. We can do some fishing and watch for ships. If no ships pass, we’ll return to the island and try again tomorrow.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
We set a course for the shipping lane. Once we arrived, we cut the motor again and got out the fishing poles. Amelia and I fished while Cheetah helped himself to several pieces of fruit.
“Jake, the water is quite calm. Do you think the record player would work?”
“Let’s try it.”
The gentle swell of the sea didn’t seem to affect the arm of the record player, and the Stevie Wonder record I put on played without skipping. Soon the funky keyboard playing on the song Superstition came on.
“This music is very unusual. What is that instrument?” Amelia asked.
“That is a clavinet. It is like a piano, except it needs electricity to amplify the sound. Many instruments in this time require electric amplifiers to produce sound loud enough to hear. Electric guitars and basses are two common ones. There are keyboard instruments called synthesizers that use electric current to create sound. Some also use computer software, umm, a sort of machine language to produce sound. Some keyboards can sound like other instruments.”
“I think I prefer Frank Sinatra’s orchestra.”
“This song was ground-breaking in its time. The man playing and singing it also wrote the song. And he was blind.”
“That is quite a feat, but I still prefer Frank Sinatra.”
I laughed. “Many parents said the same thing at the time.”
We fished for a while and did quite well, catching several large fish.
“We will have fish for dinner tonight. If we don’t see a ship,” I said.
“I would much rather see a ship than eat fish. But fish is better than papaya again,” Amelia added.
It would be fish for dinner. We saw no ships. The sun was getting low in the sky when we headed back to the island.
“We’ll try again tomorrow, ” I said. “And every day until we get rescued.”
“Or run out of fuel,” Amelia added.
“There is still a chance a plane might fly over and sees us.”
“Let’s hope so.”
The next day was pretty much a repeat of the first. More fish, no ships. On the third day, Cheetah had apparently lost interest and didn’t show up. It was a shame because the third day was the charm. A container ship came into view. I fired up the motor, and we headed for the ship.
As we got closer, Amelia looked at me and said, “Don’t tell anyone who I really am. I have experienced the insanity of fame. I can not even imagine the madness that would ensue if it were discovered that I traveled through time.”
“What if people recognize you?”
“They may. But I am eighty years too young. Who would think it or believe it?”
“I did.”
“Yes, and that is troubling. But I would still like to try to hide my identity.”
“I have a sister named Emma. We’ll pretend you’re her.”
“Good. That is more believable than the truth.”
Once we got close, they realized our ship was damaged, and they helped us aboard. We were escorted into the galley. The Captain of the ship met us and brought us some food.
After introductions and pleasantries, the Captain said, “I am Captain Bonaventure. What are you doing out here in the middle of the ocean?”
“Our ship was damaged in a storm. We drifted by an island and swam ashore. The next day our ship washed up on shore. Emma fixed the engine, and we have been drifting in the shipping lane for three days hoping for a ship to pass by. Which you did.”
“You are very fortunate. Are you Americans?”
“Yes, we are.”
“Good. There is a US carrier not far behind us. I will radio them, and they can come pick you up.”
“Thank you, Captain,” we both said.
“Enjoy your food. It shouldn’t take long.”
I realized there was no way to hide the truth from the Navy. They would undoubtedly check out our story.
“We are in trouble. The Navy will ask us our names and where we are from. I still have my passport. We can say yours was lost in the storm, but in this time, it is an easy matter to disprove a false identity. And if you tell them who you really are, they will either think you’re delusional, or worse, they might believe you. The government and the military would not want your story to get out. They would try to figure out how to replicate what happened to you and use it. And you would be stashed away somewhere. Essentially, a prisoner. Or an experiment.”
“Perhaps we should have stayed on the island,” Amelia said.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a helicopter landed on the cargo ship, and we were escorted onto the helicopter. Amelia was fascinated by the helicopter and asked many questions, which the pilot good-naturedly answered.
Once onboard the aircraft carrier, we were escorted to what looked like a meeting room. It was empty except for a large table in the center with several chairs surrounding it. An armed sailor stayed with us while we waited for our interview. A few moments later, an officer entered and introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Lieutenant Anderson. Welcome aboard the USS Nimitz. Captain Bonaventure said you are both Americans, and your ship was damaged in a storm. Is this correct?”
“Yes, Sir,” we both replied.
He placed a pad of paper and a pen on the table in front of me.
“Alright, I will need your names and the phone numbers of anyone you would like us to contact regarding your status. When we get in range of Hawaii, we will be able to radio in, and they will contact your family.”
“Umm. Alright. Thank you. I am Jacob Hasty, and this is my sister Emma Hasty.”
I wrote down my parents’ names and phone number and told him they would contact everyone else.
“Very well. Let me give this to one of the men, and I will be right back.”
He stepped out of the room.
I turned to Amelia and whispered, “Something is wrong. The military can communicate anywhere on the globe via satellite. They don’t need to be in range to radio.”
Lieutenant Anderson returned and said, “I am going to have to look in your backpack now. It’s standard procedure for any unauthorized visitors.”
He opened my backpack and started removing its contents. When he got to my iPhone, he picked it up to look at it, and it woke up. He twitched a little in surprise.
“What is this?”
“It’s my phone.”
“Do you mean a telephone?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Stay here. Don’t move.”
He left with my phone and sent in another armed sailor to watch us.
Several heart-pounding minutes later, he returned with the Captain.
“What is this device?” The Captain asked.
“My phone.”
“This is a brand new ship. We have the most current technology available. I’ve never seen anything like this. What does it do?”
“It makes calls, runs applications, connects to the internet.”
“What is the internet?” he interrupted. “Is this Soviet technology? Who are you? Really.”
“Alright. I’ll tell you the truth, but you’re not going to believe it,” I replied.
I told him the whole story of my shipwreck, Amelia’s crash, and our rescue by the container ship.
He turned to Amelia and stared at her intently.
“You do look like the photos I’ve seen of Amelia Earhart, but you are about forty years too young. You don’t seriously expect me to believe you went through time?”
“I scarcely believe it myself, and I lived through it,” she replied.
When the Captain said, “forty years too young,” something clicked in my head.
“Captain, what year is this?” I asked.
“It’s 1976. How long were you shipwrecked?”
“1976!” I blurted out before the Captain could finish his sentence.
Another crew member entered the room, walked over to the Captain, and said, “Captain, a freak storm just appeared out of nowhere. It’s huge.”
Amelia and I both looked at each other and said, “Time Storm.”
Continues next Monday.
Happy Monday. Thanks for reading and responding. You make it fun.
Mark
Monday Morning Mark • 129
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Very cool, Mark. I had no idea where you were going. This is so clever.
Now, please pass the cherry pie before someone gets hurt.
Great story continues. I told you a while back I thought I knew what was coming and the way it is going is close to what I thought. What I have no idea about is the monkey. Cannot wait to see what happens there.