Message in a Bottle
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The first thing that I do is to get myself and the ship’s crew organized. We all have a job, and we’re going to make it a priority to keep the boat afloat no matter what. If you can’t work with me, then you should be off this ship right now!
I am the captain of this vessel, so I’m obviously going to take command. I know it doesn’t look like much right now, but there are still some things we can do. First up, we need to get ahold of a good source of food—or at least something that will give us energy.
Then, we need to figure out how to keep our water clean and drinkable. There isn’t a single working toilet on this ship—that means no shower or bath for anyone! Not even Captain Zapp Brannigan. He’s going to have to learn to live without his favorite way to relax. It’s not as if he has any other options anyway.
I’ve got to tell you, though, one thing is making my mind up already: we’re definitely keeping the original name for this tub. No “Shipwrecked” here! Nope! Not happening!
I’ve already taken a few samples from the ocean floor around us. There seems to be plenty of algae around; we’ll probably be able to harvest quite a bit once we find the plants that grow better in the sunlight. That should be easy enough since the sun is shining brightly overhead.
And that also means that we may eventually have access to fresh water. The seas around this island are filled with coral reefs, and we could use those to filter the water through a variety of different filters. I’m not sure yet if they’ll produce drinkable water, but at least they’ll help make the seawater safer for drinking. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
There is an important order in which I need to take care of each problem. First comes food. Without it, none of the rest matters. Next is water. After that, I want to figure out if the air on board will become contaminated by mold.
Mold can spread quickly in a small space like this, and I don’t want us all breathing mold spores. It would only make our situation worse. Finally, we need to get this ship floating again. I’m hoping that the engines will start working soon after we put them into action, but I’m not counting on anything until I actually see them working.
So far, they haven’t done anything but sit idle in their cases. Maybe the problem is that the fuel needs to be refueled. Who knows? I’d love for someone more experienced in these things than me to come along and explain how everything works.
So, for now, it’s time for me to do what I do best: solve problems.
⁂
“I hate when people talk about the future!”
-Captain Zapp Brannigan
The next morning I was up bright and early. It took me just a little while to figure out that the sun came up pretty much everywhere in the world in exactly the same place. This island, for instance, was positioned on the side of the continent facing south.
That meant that sunrise was coming up over the eastern horizon. When I went outside to look, I saw that the sun seemed to be a little too big, which I guess made sense because I wasn’t looking at it directly, but rather its reflection off the ocean. In any case, that’s how I knew it was time to get moving and check out the surrounding area.
We were on the western coast of the island, so the ocean stretched out in both directions—which was great for me since I had a lot of things to think about. I needed to find something that would provide food for us, something that would make clean drinking water available, and then something that would help us get our ship back on track.
As I walked down the deck, I could see that our supplies were beginning to run low—and the lack of toilet facilities didn’t help matters any. At least we were still alive, but there was a long way to go before we were ready to leave this island behind.
I decided to head westward and explore the coastline in hopes of finding food. My first step was to grab a fishing pole and try to find some edible fish. I tried using bait, like a couple of dead squids that I found washed up on the rocks near the shoreline, but they wouldn’t bite. Instead, I used a lure that looked like a crab with a large hook stuck through its pincers.
After casting it several times, I finally caught a fish, which turned out to be a huge grouper. Once I had him reeled in, I started pulling the hook out of his mouth. He fought hard, and the whole experience reminded me of the movie Jaws—except this guy wasn’t going to attack me, thank goodness. He just wanted his revenge.
After releasing him back into the ocean (he swam away slowly without a care in the world), I began walking toward the shore, where I noticed a lot of strange-looking plants. They looked kind of like pine trees, but there were no needles or anything.
Instead, they had spiky leaves, and I saw tiny yellow flowers growing out of the sides of their branches. I thought it would make sense for me to start looking for fruit, so I headed deeper into the forest.
It was amazing how many different species of plant grew on this island. There were shrubs, ferns, mosses, grasses, mushrooms, and even vines. Everything looked healthy and happy as if they were thriving off the rich soil on this tropical island. If nothing else, we had plenty of food to choose from if we ever decided to stay on this island for an extended period of time.
Unfortunately, most of the vegetation appeared to be edible, and I didn’t have any idea what kind of fruit it was supposed to produce. The only thing I did know was that there weren’t any other signs of human life on this island. That might mean that there wasn’t anybody on the island to hunt these plants for food, so it was possible that they were poisonous.
As I continued to walk down the shoreline, I came across a group of giant crabs. They looked like they were about four feet tall and had shells nearly as big as my body. They seemed to be guarding something, and after taking a closer look, I realized that they were protecting a nest full of eggs.
I thought about trying to take them, but then I remembered that there had been no signs of people on this island, and it was possible that these crabs were part of a natural ecosystem here. In other words, they probably wouldn’t like it if I took their eggs for no reason.
With that in mind, I decided to leave the crabs alone and keep looking for more sources of food. Just then, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Captain Zapp standing at the top of one of the sand dunes nearby. I figured he must have come down the beach from somewhere, and as soon as he spotted me, he came running down the sand hill in pursuit.
“Hey, you! Stop right there! Don’t move!”
He sounded excited, so I stopped and waited to hear what he had to say. He was holding onto his gun with his right hand while waving the barrel around, and I could tell that he had a really good grip on it.
“What do you want?” I asked, trying not to show him that I was nervous about all this.
“Where are you going?” he demanded. “This is private property.”
Zapp’s accent was pretty thick. I couldn’t understand much of what he was saying, but I assumed he wanted me to give him an explanation about why I was exploring this particular part of the island.
“Look,” I said, trying to sound polite, “my friend and I have been searching for fresh water for two days now. We’re both dehydrated, and we haven’t seen anything except these giant crabs. Is it alright if we come down here? You won’t shoot us, will you?”
I was hoping he would let us pass without too much trouble since I hadn’t actually done anything wrong yet. Captain Zapp didn’t answer, though, and he kept pointing the gun in my direction. I decided it was time to take action before I got shot.
“Listen,” I said. “My friend and I aren’t trying to cause any trouble. Just tell us what you want us to do and maybe we’ll go on our way.”
Captain Zapp lowered his gun a little bit and stared at me for a long moment. Then he looked at the ground in front of his feet and started talking again.
“You can search for food on your own land,” he said, still pointing his weapon in my direction. “But if you come into this area, you’ll be punished.”
He raised his gun up again and pointed it directly at my chest. It felt like he had a pretty good aim with that thing, so I immediately backed up a step.
“What are you doing?” I asked, getting increasingly nervous. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“That’s not true,” Captain Zapp replied. “If you don’t stop walking down the beach, you will be punished.”
I knew that I had messed up somehow, but I tried to play it cool by acting surprised.
“Punished? What’s the punishment?” I asked.
The captain smiled and pointed the gun back at my chest again.
“If you don’t listen to my orders, then you will be punished,” he repeated. “Now turn around and return to the ship.”
Captain Zapp made me walk backward until I reached the top of the dune, and then he ordered me to start climbing down the other side of the hill. He stayed on top of the sand dune until I disappeared behind the next one. After that, he went back to watching the giant crabs and left me alone.
I guess he didn’t think I posed enough of a threat to worry about me anymore, which was good because I needed some time to think.
After climbing down the dune, I started heading toward the center of the island. I knew that if I just wandered around in a random direction, I’d end up finding water eventually. But I also had another plan: I wanted to get as far away from Captain Zapp as I could.
Once I found a large piece of land that was surrounded by water, I planned to head straight there and start exploring for myself. If I could find an abandoned shack or something, it would even be better. I knew that I might be able to use it as a shelter for a few nights while I rested and figured out what I should do next.
Eventually, I came across a large rock formation that was located close to the middle of the island. The stone formations were covered in moss and trees, and it seemed like they extended a couple hundred meters past the beach. As I approached, I saw several small caves hidden amongst the rocks, and they seemed like the perfect place to spend the night.
When I reached the base of the rocks, I sat down in the sand for a few minutes to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. Captain Zapp was obviously someone who didn’t take kindly to people who trespassed on his territory, but that didn’t mean that he was dangerous.
He might’ve been armed with a gun and a grudge, but he probably wouldn’t kill me unless he really thought I was going to attack him first. Still, I didn’t feel comfortable being around him after what happened earlier. So I decided that I needed to leave the island as soon as possible and make sure I didn’t run into him again. I knew that if I did, I might end up getting shot for real, and that would definitely change things for me.
After taking a short break, I headed into the cave on the opposite side of where the sand dunes were. It wasn’t very big, but it would be more than enough room for me. I crawled through the entrance and quickly found a nice spot inside to lie down.
There were no plants or anything growing on the walls, but that was okay with me. At least this place looked relatively clean compared to most other places I had seen so far in this world.
I spent a few hours lying down and relaxing, and then I finally got up to explore the rest of the cave. There was a small opening in the ceiling of the main part of the cave, and I followed it all the way around until I reached a second opening on the floor.
This time, I climbed down into a narrow tunnel with a single lantern hanging above it. There was an iron grate over the hole in the ceiling, and it led outside into a large garden. The plants weren’t as vibrant as the ones on the beach, but they still looked beautiful.
Some of them were bright green, and others were yellow or red. I had never seen anything like these colors before, so it was exciting for me to see them up close.
I walked around the garden for a little while and picked some of the leaves off of a couple of different kinds of flowers. They tasted sweet and refreshing, and I ended up eating three whole bunches of them before realizing how much trouble I was in.
I wasn’t supposed to be here! If I was discovered by Captain Zapp, he’d probably shoot me dead right on the spot. I decided that it was best if I headed back to my boat and waited for him to leave. Maybe he would forget about me after a while, and then I could go back later without being noticed.
It took me a few hours to climb back up the dune, but when I reached the top there was nobody waiting for me except for two giant crabs. I froze in fear as they slowly came closer, but they didn’t seem to notice me. I kept staring at the ground as I slowly backed away, hoping that they would leave me alone.
One of the crabs stopped walking, and the other continued on towards the sea. But then the crab that was walking turned around and stared directly at me. The creature opened its mouth and made a clicking sound with its beak, and then it started moving towards me again. The other crab quickly joined its partner in coming toward me, and now I was completely trapped on top of the sand dune.
“Please, don’t hurt me!” I pleaded as I watched the creatures approaching me. “I’m not a threat to you, and I have nothing that could interest you! Please just let me go!”
The monsters ignored me as they drew closer, and the one that was walking toward me was much larger than the other. It was almost half as tall as I was, and it had six legs instead of four. Its body was brown with black spots, and it had a wide tail and long claws on its hands and feet.
The monster had a thick shell that looked like it was made out of hard rubber, and it was covered in spikes and sharp edges. It had three horns sticking out from the top of its head, and the tips of those horns had sharp points that glinted in the light.
Suddenly, the crab lunged forward, and I quickly threw myself backward. It was too late; the creature grabbed hold of the back of my shirt and pulled me straight up to its face. The claws on its hands dug deep into my back as its beak poked out of its mouth. The creature opened its jaws wide, and I could feel hot air blasting against my chest. Then the monster closed its lips around my neck and began to squeeze tightly.
I gasped in pain as my throat became crushed under the weight of its beak, but the monster’s grip loosened slightly. I tried to push the creature away with both of my hands, but it wouldn’t budge. Instead, it lifted me up and brought me close to its face again.
The creature opened its mouth as wide as it could, and its breath stank horribly. I gagged and tried to pull away again, but the monster tightened its grip even harder and held me in place. I couldn’t breathe properly, and I felt tears running down my cheeks.
Suddenly, another creature appeared out of nowhere. It was standing on top of the sand dune a few yards away from us, but its eyes were fixed on the crab holding me. It was a huge dragon, and it must have been a few hundred feet long.
Its wings beat rapidly, causing sand to swirl around it, and the creature’s scales reflected the sunlight in brilliant shades of blue. As I watched, it spread its massive wings and leaped off of the cliff behind it. When it landed on the sand dune, it was only twenty feet away from me.
I looked at my captor in disbelief. The crab was still squeezing me tight in its beak, but I could clearly see the shadow of the dragon as it loomed over it. In an instant, the creature dropped me onto the ground and scurried away into the grass. It disappeared into the tall weeds without ever looking back at me, and I quickly sat up and rubbed my neck where it had squeezed me so badly.
“What are you doing here?” the dragon asked in a loud voice as he stepped closer to me. He had large, pointed ears, which gave him the appearance of a bat, and he had a small red nose that stuck out between his lips. His scales shone brightly in the sun, and the tips of his wings glowed like tiny flames. I knew right away that this was no ordinary creature; he had to be some kind of legendary being from legend.
“I…I don’t know.” I replied with a trembling voice as I got to my feet.
The dragon stared at me for several seconds before turning back towards the ocean. “Come,” he said in a low voice. “We must speak with your father soon.”
I followed the dragon down the hill, and we walked along the beach until we reached the forest. The trees grew tall and thick, blocking our view of the sun above us. We walked through the foliage silently for several minutes until finally reaching an opening in the trees.
The dragon led me to a large clearing within the forest, and when I looked around I saw that it was surrounded by high cliffs on all sides except the left one. A large pond filled the space in front of the rocks, and there was a lot of fish swimming around inside it. On the other side of the pond, I saw the ruins of an old stone castle sitting on a rock formation jutting out of the water.
As I stared at the ruined castle, I noticed movement in the shadows of the forest. At first, I thought that it was another giant creature, but then I realized that it was actually a man hiding behind the trees. I watched as the figure slowly came out of the shadows and approached us.
He was dressed in a dark green cloak, and his long hair was tied up behind his head in a ponytail. His skin was pale and wrinkled from the cold wind blowing through the forest, but it also shined from his efforts to stay warm. He stopped in front of me and smiled as he bowed his head.
“Hello, my child. It is a great honor to finally meet you after all these years. My name is Kael, and I am Lord Rellos’ son. I have been told all about you since you were born. If you will come with me, I would like to show you something.”
He gestured towards the pond, and I followed him over to it. There, we found a strange stone pedestal with a large black orb resting on top of it. The top of the orb was open, and Kael reached inside and pulled out a glowing gemstone that looked like a firefly trapped inside a glass ball. He placed the stone on top of the pedestal and turned it around until the light was facing outward.
The End