Day 12: I go into the water to search for shellfish. My stomach felt as hungry as a howling coyote. I step into the reef, and use the backpack as a net for catching fish. I try and scoop up prawns, clams, and grouper, and I manage to catch quite a bit. Believe it or not, I caught more than I imagined!!!!!!!! However, when I was least expecting it, out of the blue this huge mass of purple and violet came bursting straight towards me like the speed of a bullet train. I thought it was a huge jellyfish, since I had no way of knowing what it was, I assumed off the top of my head that it was venomous. I bolted for the beach, but before I knew it, this thing, which I named the violet lined squid, had stung me on the leg before I was aware of it. Though I could barely feel the initial impact, when I got back to shore, I noticed my leg was swelling up like a hot air ballon and it was throbbing like the heartbeat of a thunderous sky. I knew this thing had bit me, but I didn't know whether I was going to perish as a result. I started thinking right away of my mother, who one day in New York, got hit by a reckless cab driver who hit her and she thought she would die, but thank god she was able to get to the hospital, where they cleaned her up and put her under care for six weeks. She survived, but the journey was very hard- she had to get several blood injections, a bone doctor had to saw her rib off and stitch the area where it was missing, and if she could it, maybe I could survive this potentially fatal sting. My mom helped me even though she was miles from where I was.
Day 13: Woo! The swelling is still bad, but it wasn't as painful as when I had actually got bitten by this animal in the water. I've wrapped that T-shit I found in the backpack around my leg as a tourniquet, in order to reduce the pain and swelling and avoid death. I realize that I threw up a little in the night, but without any blood or serious side affects. I seem to be recovering- maybe that sting wasn't so bad after all, or it was from a little violet-lined squid who can't inject me with a lethal dosage of poison from its mysterious tentacles. I heard a buzzing from my ear, which sounded like an electric razor, and it started to get pretty loud. I turned around to see what it was. I was exhilarated- that thing was an airplane! I jumped up and down like an infany kangaroo, overjoyed that there was some sign of rescue. I made a lightning fast dash to the cd, then hold it up to the sunlight to create a flash that would signal the airplane. It doesn't turn, and I know the pilot doesn't see me. If it at least flew through the skies, I felt optimistic that it would come by again.
Day 16: The weather is stunningly gorgeous- clear skies, soft breeze, majestic sunrise of magenta, clear-blue crisp water, and I see dolphins jumping around. I think it'll be a great day. I leap into the water at the speed of an F1 race car, but just after 10 minutes of swimming in the water, I notice the dolphins are swimming towards the shore; I immediately figure that there's something going after them, about to attack. I feel maybe I'll get attacked too, since I'm in the direct path. I look below and it's clear water, so I see what's beneath. If the conditions were gloomy, then I wouldn't have been able to spot what was below- to my amazement, I see what looked like a pack of 7 million LETHAL banded sea snakes (aah!) I'm in a hysterical panic that I'll get bitten but I have a proactive strategy not to get bitten. I pretend that I'm one of them. With the strength of one thousand fiery tigers, I swim for the shore, realizing I am in the race of my life. However, one of the sea snakes wraps itself around my ankle and injects me through its fangs into my achilles tendon, and I automatically know that I'm done for. I have this race against time- I have only 72 hours to live at most, and if I do not get help, I know I'm dead and it will be the end.
Day 19: I have been dreaming that I feel trapped in my own body like a caged tiger in the zoo, and yet around me I can hear voices- which I haven't heard for three weeks. I can hear them, but I can't respond back to them. I see my family in front of me, trying to reach out to me and help me survive, but I can't reply to them. In my mouth I taste salty sand, and before I know it, my eyes open like a curtain rising on a stage. It's a bold night, with ten million clear stars in the sky. I see a man in a yellow jacket standing above me, the mouth movements say, "are you okay"? However, I don't a word that he says. He picks me up effortlessly and transports me to his boat. I'm a ghost, without any feeling or knowing of what's going on. I can breath and see, but that's it. I start to doubt whether I'm even alive, considering how serious the bite from the sea snake was. My eyes begin to close, and the next time I open them, I find myself awake in a room full of white walls.
No comments:
Post a Comment