Page 27 of Redemption Island

The silence was sharp as Garvey stopped whittling. Looking up at him, his eyes were focused on mine, brows raised in surprise. He pursed his lips and slowly nodded.

“Well, you are actually learning something.”

I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face because I didn’t know what he meant, but I let it slide. I didn’t have time for a confrontation with them. I wanted them off my island.

“We brought more books,” Garvey said, pointing with the stick toward a sack. I’d taken to long hours of reading with no television, no stock reports, no merger stats to review. I’d re-read a handful of classics, intermingled with some informational texts. I stood to search the pile.

“Robinson Crusoe?” I questioned as I held the book in the air. “The Lord of the Flies? Really?”

“It was my turn to pick,” Colton offered, pleased with his selection. One book was about a man shipwrecked on an island, and the second was about a group of boys’ whose plane wrecked and they worked survival of the fittest to the extreme by killing one of their own.

“The Little Prince?” I stared at the thin book in my hand. A child’s story, I instantly thought. “Interesting choice.”

“You might learn something from it as well,” Garvey suggested. I thumbed through the pages and slipped it into my back pocket. “Do the dance,” he added, patting my shoulder before leaving me again.

+ +

After dinner, she sat at her table working on her papers, and I lay on her bed to read. I brought The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry with me, sensing a kinship with this young man who wandered the universe, asking questions and discovering things.

“I don’t think you are my rose,” I said, breaking the comfortable silence we had developed around one another. She looked up from her notes and shifted to face me. “I haven’t nurtured you enough. You aren’t under a glass with me. I think you are the fox.”

“Instead of a mouse?” she giggled. I’d developed a soft spot for that sound over the last few days. It was a rare gift, and I cherished each time she directed it at me.

“You are still a mouse, but maybe more of a vixen,” I said, wiggling my eyebrows over the edge of the book.

“How so?” she chuckled again, standing and approaching the bed. I scooted over, hoping she would take the hint and lay down next to me.

“You tempt me.” She stopped at the side of the small mattress.

“But I am not sly or sneaky like a vixen,” she replied, her voice rising in a playful octave.

“True.” I paused to tap the book on my chin. “But I am smitten by you.”

The comment stopped us both, and our eyes met. She didn’t blink. The air in the room held its breath.

“I mean, I am taken by you.” My voice lowered, and I shifted my eyes to the words on the page but was unable to focus on any of them.

“Read the passage to me,” she said, sitting on the bed, and I tapped the book on the pillow, signaling she should join me by lying down.

“Who are you?” asked the little prince, and added, “You are very pretty to look at.” I looked over at her after I read, and stared at her a moment. She was beautiful lying next to me, and my heart skipped a beat.

“I am a fox,” the fox said, she read, breaking my gaze. She nudged my arm, encouraging me to read my part.

“Come and play with me,” proposed the little prince. “I am so unhappy.” I stopped at the words. How true it was, or had been, before coming to this island. I wasn’t happy, but I didn’t have time to dwell as Juliet spoke her part.

“I cannot play with you,” the fox said. “I am not tamed.” Juliet shifted her voice while she read, so I lowered mine as I continued.

“Ah! Please excuse me,” said the little prince.

But, after some thought, he added:

“What does that mean--'tame'?” I read.

“You do not live here,” said the fox. “What is it that you are looking for?” How true the words seemed, and I considered the question spoken in Juliet’s voice.

“I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean--'tame'?” I read again.

“Men,” said the fox. “They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?”