The first few days on the small island were hard on Magda, the isolation wore heavily on her and at first she refused to explore beyond the few safe and accessible rooms of the house. Eventually though she set aside her heels for her flats and started pulling up all of the dry weeds to burn in the stove. From the layer of ash she'd had to clear out, she wasn't the only one who used the oven this way. With no electricity there really was no other option. Another day another wave of nausea and not just nausea, she could no longer deny the her middle was thickening and that her perfectly tailored dress no longer zipped up. Anger and frustration boiled in Magda and she lost it, she screamed at the heavens above until her voice was a raspy shred of a squeak, and when she could no longer get out a squeak she threw her shoes out of frustration before collapsing back on the bed sobbing. Eventually Magda stopped crying and went to fetch her shoes, she'd need them to avoid splinters. To her subdued delight she'd knocked a board loose from the wall, stuffed inside were some very dated fabrics. Magda pulled the fabric out and found a plain shift that could be used as a nightgown, and a ghastly pink thing that would keep the chill of the fog at bay better than her thin silk dress did. Magda was surprised to unearth some plant seedlings trying to sprout under the brambles and weeds. Out of a desire of for something other than the dwindling supply of outdated canned soup. She pumped water and watered all of the struggling plants. Crying and weak from hunger, Magda had run out of soup the night before, she finally payed attention to the loan tree near the house that had greenery on it. Apples! Magda devoured as many as her stomach would hold, their juice dripping down her chin. Never before had such a simple fruit tasted so good to Magda. Sitting under the apple tree savoring one final apple Magda reflected on her short life to this point. Growing up in an orphanage apples such as the ones on this tree had always been on the table, but they'd never been fresh, nothing served at meals had been from fresh. Everything was always withered and on the edge of rotting, and there'd never been enough to fill hungry growing bellies. The couple who ran the orphanage had always done their best to try to bring to cheer to the table, but Magda had always pushed them away. They hadn't been her mamma. A tear leaked out the corner of Magda's eye and trickled down her cheek, over the course of the last 18 years her memory of mamma had become very fuzzy, but she could still remember the loving sweet laughing smile as mamma tossed her in the air and called Magda her sweet joy. Magda jumped up swiftly pushing memories back behind their locked doors she didn't want to remember more, remembering more always brought pain. Throwing on the horrid pink thing Magda pushed herself to explore the rest of the island, it was mostly empty, an abandoned mine with a barely standing shack was the only sign of habitation besides the house she was living in. As she walked the daily light drizzle began, and much to Magda's delight she spotted a ship off in the distance. Despite the rain, Magda hurried in the direction of the ship, skirting past the lizards and other creepy crawlies that lived in abundance on the island. Grabbing a stick with moss on one end she ignored the urge to scream and drop it as a spider crawled across her hand and into the moss wrapped around the middle and waved the stick frantically as if it were a piece of cloth. Movement was that movement? She tightened her grip and waved the mossy stick trying to recreate some of the patterns from when she helped Lacy practice for cheer tryouts. A light blinked in her direction and she suddenly wished she'd paid more attention to Jacob's constant talking about Morse code. Magda made her waving more exaggerated. Just as her arms were growing leaden and she was ready to give up hope, she spotted a boat lowering over the side and rowing towards her. Magda allowed herself a moment of collapse before straightening back up and composing herself. Despite the outdated dress she easily slipped back into her carefully crafted persona of wealth and entitlement that had served her well up until recent events. Magda harvested apples from the tree contemplating her future. The ship was a science vessel, no room for an extra passenger, but they were willing to trade. She'd tried to offer some of her apples, and they'd offered her some of theirs instead. They asked about the island wildlife and if she'd noticed any rocks or minerals of interest.
She'd showed them the shiny rock she'd picked up earlier and they'd traded her a multi tool pocket knife, and a few mre's. When she described a lizard she'd spotted earlier they got really excited and let her know that they'd compensate her with whatever they could get shipped to their station if she'd trap specimens for them. When she'd pushed for passage they'd explained that her island was so far away from everything that no one would come out for one person for anything less than 50 thousand. With great effort Magda kept her calm and requested a list of what she could get shipped to her through them.
2 Comments
lisabeesims
6/10/2019 03:36:20 pm
So glad she has something to barter with now!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
July 2019
|