Andy surveyed his crude shelter. This wasn't what he had planned on when he had signed up to work for passage on the shipping boat. He had wanted to hire a boat outright, but he'd only had a small fraction of the fee for a passenger liner. So instead he had used the last of his funds to bribe the captain of the fishing boat. They were on their fourth night out to sea when the storm had hit, if he hadn't been such a light sleeper he might have suffered the same fate as the rest of the crew and have been lost to Davey Jones locker. During his first day* he found the remains of an abandoned mine building. The way the sands shifted under his feet he wondered if the mine was sinking or if the wind was piling the sand on top. He had already noted that the road wobbled when traveled on, and that the sand had pooled on top of it in places. It was encouraging to discover that the large pond, or was it a small lake, near his shelter was fresh water not salty sea water as he had feared. He spent the better part of the day fishing, and rejoiced when he managed to catch a minnow. It had taken a fair bit of work, but he managed to excavate a fire pit and a few chairs. On the third try he finally got the chair set up so it didn't sink under his weight. As he grilled his tiny minnow, he contemplated his future. His initial reaction to being stranded was hoping to be rescued. As the first day had drifted past he had noticed a fair bit of wildlife, which was interesting given the lack of vegetation beyond a few straggles of grass. His fire managed to attract attention on the 6th night. He greeted the officer who'd come to investigate, and found himself saying something he hadn't ever dreamed he'd say that very first day. "No I don't need to be rescued." The officer looked so shocked that Andy almost took it back, but he'd had six days to explore the small island and had started to see how this could be the best adventure of his life, provided he could arrange supply and income sources. He also would need to figure out how to find someone to partner with to raise a family. After a lengthy conversation he managed to convince the officer that he wasn't insane, and that he had a solid plan. Andy waited with baited breath, while the officer stepped away for a private radio conversation with the mainland. The long pauses were the hardest. After what felt like hours the officer came back to Andy. Andy could tell from the way the officer was struggling to compose his expression to neutral, that he was going to like the response. "You must be the luckiest man alive right now. The original project backers have been trying to figure out how to recoup their investment on this island. One of them has strong ties to the science community, and was very interested in your observations regarding wildlife." By the middle of his second week on the island Andy had a few plants planted, a toilet and sink, his own fire pit, and a proper bed. As a bonus news of his adventure was spreading on the mainland and tabloid reporter's were coming out to investigate. If anything about him was making the news they weren't telling him. By the end of the third week he'd managed to provide enough specimens for trade to build himself a small basic shelter. He didn't have any power yet, or proper plumbing. For water he was hauling a few buckets of water every day from the small lake, for power he was hoping to get some solar panels eventually, or a windmill. All in all things were looking up, and the red head had made it clear that she was making up reasons to get her boss to keep sending her out to the island. Which had Andy wondering if she might be "the one". As to getting more people to the island, Andy had decided that a reliable food source would be the main key. He had his eye on a section of land just past the totem pole that might make for a good community garden and grocer. *I'm not using game time for this bit of story line
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