Day 2
Ialari woke with no small amount of stiffness. Sleeping as she did on top of the tall rock did not allow her for any room to stretch out. On top of that, her sleep was broken up by the feeling of things crawling on her. While this was all in her head, it didn’t help her sleep any. As the sun rose on the next day, she quickly realized her growing hunger. While the coconuts would likely sustain her, at least for a time, her body needed something more. Forcing herself to wake fully and sit up, she quickly noticed that the clouds were growing darker in the sky. “First the heat. Then bugs followed by rats. Now a storm?” Ialari was feeling less frustrated and now angry. “Fine.”
Carefully, she climbed back down the rock face. She needed to find more substantive food before the coming storm arrived while also needed to figure out shelter. Looking again at the clouds and how quickly they were thickening and darkening, she decided to abandon the idea of shelter and instead gather food. She’d struggled to sleep long enough that it was now late morning. With that came what she’d hoped for, one of the few things that were looking up for her, a lower tide. As she walked toward the rocks on the shore, she could see that the tide had pulled out just enough to reveal a handful of tidepools. “Finally, something I know.” She muttered as she made her way out onto the rocks. Careful to grip the slippery stone surface with her feet while taking measured movements, she approached the pools. She was quickly greeted with the sight of sea plants. They looked a lot like palm trees yet growing in salt water. She couldn’t remember what they were called but remembered that they were quite tasty; sweet and of course salty. With the burlap bag slung over her shoulder, she proceeded to pull the plants from their rocky roots. They wouldn’t be all that filling but they were much better than coconuts.
As she continued to maneuver around the slippery rocks that made up the tidepools, Ialari found a handful of snails and a plethora of tiny shellfish glued to the rocks. Digging into the stone with her metallic fingers, she scooped the shellfish complete with the rock they were attached to rather than waste the time trying to pull them from it. There were bits of seaweed and even a handful of small crabs. Of course, there were several sea urchins that she avoided while also trying to maintain a distance with her feet. There spines were sharp and able to pierce her dense flesh in just the right…or wrong places. The last thing she needed was to be poisoned. There were a few small fish to be found as well yet she was too slow to catch them without the appropriate tool. “I forgot how difficult this all can be.” She commented to herself as she picked up another snail.
After spending a bit of time harvesting from the tidepools, Ialari returned to her claimed campsite and laid out her bounty. Several handfuls of sea-palms and seaweed, a good number of tiny mussels and a half dozen small crabs would make for a great meal. With the now smoldering remains of her fire, she packed in a bit more coconut husk and worked toward rebuilding the flame. After a few failed attempts, the embers took to the tinder and a flame sparked once more. Feeding the fire with a few more chunks of wood, Ialari took one of the coconut shells that she’d split in half and filled it with a bit of sea water. She stacked some stones around the fire in a way that tapered upward and allowed for the support of the shell. This way the water in the shell would boil without the flames consuming it. The water in the shell would help keep it from catching on fire. When the water in the shell began to boil, Ialari dropped one of the small crabs into it. Although she felt a tinge of guilt for boiling the poor creature alive, her hunger overcame that guilt. After the first crab was boiled, she removed it and dropped in another.
She devoured the meat from each crap while tossing aside the shells. When she’d eaten all of them, she broke open the snail shells and dropped the creatures in to boil. She had to refill the shell a few times as the water quickly boiled away but, in the end, between the mussels, snails and crabs, she was finally feeling satisfyingly full. She decided to save the sea-palms and seaweed for later. She considered leaving it out to dry but time was not on her side. Drop by drop, she could feel the rain start to fall as thunder boomed all around her. The storm had arrived.
Words: 826
Ialari woke with no small amount of stiffness. Sleeping as she did on top of the tall rock did not allow her for any room to stretch out. On top of that, her sleep was broken up by the feeling of things crawling on her. While this was all in her head, it didn’t help her sleep any. As the sun rose on the next day, she quickly realized her growing hunger. While the coconuts would likely sustain her, at least for a time, her body needed something more. Forcing herself to wake fully and sit up, she quickly noticed that the clouds were growing darker in the sky. “First the heat. Then bugs followed by rats. Now a storm?” Ialari was feeling less frustrated and now angry. “Fine.”
Carefully, she climbed back down the rock face. She needed to find more substantive food before the coming storm arrived while also needed to figure out shelter. Looking again at the clouds and how quickly they were thickening and darkening, she decided to abandon the idea of shelter and instead gather food. She’d struggled to sleep long enough that it was now late morning. With that came what she’d hoped for, one of the few things that were looking up for her, a lower tide. As she walked toward the rocks on the shore, she could see that the tide had pulled out just enough to reveal a handful of tidepools. “Finally, something I know.” She muttered as she made her way out onto the rocks. Careful to grip the slippery stone surface with her feet while taking measured movements, she approached the pools. She was quickly greeted with the sight of sea plants. They looked a lot like palm trees yet growing in salt water. She couldn’t remember what they were called but remembered that they were quite tasty; sweet and of course salty. With the burlap bag slung over her shoulder, she proceeded to pull the plants from their rocky roots. They wouldn’t be all that filling but they were much better than coconuts.
As she continued to maneuver around the slippery rocks that made up the tidepools, Ialari found a handful of snails and a plethora of tiny shellfish glued to the rocks. Digging into the stone with her metallic fingers, she scooped the shellfish complete with the rock they were attached to rather than waste the time trying to pull them from it. There were bits of seaweed and even a handful of small crabs. Of course, there were several sea urchins that she avoided while also trying to maintain a distance with her feet. There spines were sharp and able to pierce her dense flesh in just the right…or wrong places. The last thing she needed was to be poisoned. There were a few small fish to be found as well yet she was too slow to catch them without the appropriate tool. “I forgot how difficult this all can be.” She commented to herself as she picked up another snail.
After spending a bit of time harvesting from the tidepools, Ialari returned to her claimed campsite and laid out her bounty. Several handfuls of sea-palms and seaweed, a good number of tiny mussels and a half dozen small crabs would make for a great meal. With the now smoldering remains of her fire, she packed in a bit more coconut husk and worked toward rebuilding the flame. After a few failed attempts, the embers took to the tinder and a flame sparked once more. Feeding the fire with a few more chunks of wood, Ialari took one of the coconut shells that she’d split in half and filled it with a bit of sea water. She stacked some stones around the fire in a way that tapered upward and allowed for the support of the shell. This way the water in the shell would boil without the flames consuming it. The water in the shell would help keep it from catching on fire. When the water in the shell began to boil, Ialari dropped one of the small crabs into it. Although she felt a tinge of guilt for boiling the poor creature alive, her hunger overcame that guilt. After the first crab was boiled, she removed it and dropped in another.
She devoured the meat from each crap while tossing aside the shells. When she’d eaten all of them, she broke open the snail shells and dropped the creatures in to boil. She had to refill the shell a few times as the water quickly boiled away but, in the end, between the mussels, snails and crabs, she was finally feeling satisfyingly full. She decided to save the sea-palms and seaweed for later. She considered leaving it out to dry but time was not on her side. Drop by drop, she could feel the rain start to fall as thunder boomed all around her. The storm had arrived.
Words: 826