Chapter 3: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I woke the next morning and went for my daily swim. I decided that it was time to explore the island a little more and climbed a tree to look for a good spot to get into the woods. I did spot an area that seemed to be more clear than the rest of the tree line, but I would have to cut some small bamboo to get into it. My new found machete would do that. I approached it with caution, aware of any wild critters that may be roaming about. Seeing nothing, I started hacking away at the shoots. Pretty soon I broke through most of them and cleared a good path.

I carefully went through the woods until I ended up in a small clearing. A clearing in which, it seemed there had been a plane crash. Was this island a magnet for transport accidents? As I examined each piece and approached the cockpit, I wondered if there were any survivors, and if they were rescued.

I was looking for rope, or something I could use to tie together my raft base. I did not find anything of the sort. What kind of plane doesn't have any rope? Then I spotted something else, it was a piece of paper. Making sure not to tear it, I opened it very gingerly. It was a map! It seemed it could possibly be a map of the island, though I was not positive at the time. I would have to explore further and gather my bearings. The sun was up when I continued my journey. I continued through the trees until I ran into another clear area.

Orangutans! There were three. What was that on the ground next to them? It looked like some kind of Idol. Maybe there were Island inhabitors that I had not run into yet. Or maybe there used to be, but not anymore. Many of these thoughts ran through my head when I saw this idol. I was distracted so much that I just started walking up to it, without thinking. Obviously I had gotten a little to close for the Orangutan on the ground. He did not seem to appreciate the invasion of his territory. He attacked me as soon as I came within reach. After the fight I quickly got up and stepped back, pretty far. Actually I ran away. I'll be honest. That was one mean ape.

Where I ran to actually, I stopped right in front of a banana tree. I stopped for a minute to think. Apes like bananas right? After all it was food. Everyone likes food. I picked a couple. Maybe they would help me get close to the Orangutans and snatch up that idol. I had no idea why the small decoration held such a fasination to me, but I just had to have it. It would look great back at camp. I grabbed those bananas and stepped a little closer to the Orangutans. Waving the banana in the air, offering a treat seemed to catch the eye of one that was lying up on a branch.

I was pretty sure that one was a female. She did not look so aggressive. She swung down from her resting place and walked right up to me. I offered her the banana, and a few more. She seemed to like that. Pretty soon we were playing together. We played a game I liked to call "Stick 'em Up", a game in which I would use my hand as a gun and tell her to put up her hands, and she did. Then I would shoot, and she would fall down and play dead. I decided to name her. I looked for characteristics to seperate her from the others, and named her Tiki. That seemed like a good island name. We played together well into the evening. She also liked to play a funny faces game. She and I would make weird faces at each other. Pretty soon it was getting to dark to see, so I headed back to my camp. Without the idol. I would come back tomorrow and work on befriending the other two Orangutans.

I slept that night dreaming of apes and bananas. In the morning before the sun was up, but also before the moon had set, I wrote in my journal. Everything about the day before was put into that entry. I seemed to talk about that idol a lot, and couldn't get it out of my head. I wanted to go right then to get it. I knew though that I would be there most of the day trying to get that mean ape to like me.

Knowing that, it was time for breakfast. I headed to the ocean to take my swim and spear me a fish.

I cooked that fish as quick as it would cook. Then I ate it twice as fast. I couldn't wait to get my hands on that little wooden decoration. Since I had already gotten close to Tiki, I figured I would say hello to her, then start working on the other two. Though I did want to save the mean one for last. He might be a challenge. I offered a banana to the second Orangutan. She seemed to look at Tiki then back at me, after she thought about it for a second, she started over toward me. I smiled inwardly at myself and thought "they are so gullable aren't they?" It did not take much to befriend the second ape. She seemed very gentle as well. I was pretty sure that one was a girl too. After studying her for distiguishing marks and mannerisms, I named her Puna. She and Tiki both stood there asking for treats and attention. They were cute actually, I was begining to really like them. It was time for the pack leader. I stood back and offered a banana. He seemed to be considering it, since the rest of his family seemed to like me. It may have taken a little while longer than the other two, but that was expected. He was male, and the protector of his family. But pretty soon he was playing just like the other two. I named him Waiata, I don't know why but that popped into my head while I was playing with him. He seemed to be more eager to play than the others after a while. He was the first one to let me get so close as to groom him. Waiata seemed to like that. Maybe he thought of me like a mother? He allowed me to pluck and straighten his fur, and seemed to enjoy it. We played one more game of stick 'em up and then I turned to my task at hand. Waiata still seemed to keep an eye on me while I was on their territory, but accepted me. I walked up to the idol and looked at it for a minute. Then picked it up... nothing happened. For some reason I had expected something to happen when I touched it. Nope, but I did decide to take it back to camp. I knew the perfect place for him. As I walked out, I said goodbye to my new friends. I brought the idol back to my camp and placed him on the perfect rock. Then I stood back and examined him better. There was a hole in his head, it was like he was missing a jewel. I started talking to this idol like he was a person. He would be company for me, it was lonely on this island having someone to chat with was great.

I named him Spaulding. The sun was setting, it was getting dark and I was getting hungry. Before sunset I had things to do. I told Spaulding I would be back and went off to do my chores. I cut some more wood to build a fire, and fished for my dinner. I was getting better at cooking and it seemed the fish were tasting better. After I had my fill it hit me how tired I was. I bid Spaulding goodnight and got into my lean-to. Even though I was really tired, for some reason when I tried to lay down, I was too excited. I sat and thought about the day and Spaulding before I finally was able to fall asleep.