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They’re still shaking hands.
That is until Wilson goes right underneath them and lets out a deafening “BLLLLEEEARRGH!”
I swear Owen jumps a few feet.
She looks down at Wilson. “Oh hello. Who do we have here?”
“BLLLEAAAAAARRRGH!”
“That’s Wilson,” Fred says proudly.
Please don’t translate what Wilson just said, please don’t translate what Wilson just said.
Stay cool, Fred.
“Here,” Fred says gently, resting his hand on her arm to guide her. “Why don’t I show you around?”
We all watch as they walk off toward the dinghy.
“Uh, bye Fred!” Tai yells at him.
He just looks at us over his shoulder and motions for us to go on our way.
I roll my eyes. “Figures. The minute someone better comes along…”
“So, you folks look all packed and ready to go,” the pilot says. “How about we throw your stuff in the back, get you all buckled in, and let’s ditch this place.”
We look back at Fred who is down by the water, laughing at something Owen said.
Wilson stands between us and the lagoon. He watches us as we start getting in the plane, gives us one last little bleat, then runs toward the researchers.
Bye, Wilson.
There are five seats on the plane, one beside the pilot, four in the back. Tai volunteers to sit in the front with the rest of us buckled in the back.
Then the pilot turns the prop on and the plane roars back to life.
Lacey reaches across and holds my hand, giving it a squeeze.
It’s too loud to hear anyone talk, but I know what we’re all feeling.
The plane gets to the end of the runway and then starts going, faster and faster and faster, going over bumps and rocks, shaking like hell, then the pilot pushes the throttle forward and we’re lifting off.
We all crane our necks to look at the land as it drops away from us.
I manage to see Fred and Owen, standing by the lagoon and waving up at us.
I wave back.
Goodbye!
Then Wilson takes the opportunity to headbutt Owen from behind.
I laugh. They’re going to be just fine.
We’re all going to be just fine.
Higher and higher we go, until we can finally see what Plumeria looks like from above.
Well, I’ll be.
Cock and balls.
Bye Dong Island, I think to myself.
Then I sit back in my seat and close my eyes.
Twenty
Daisy
“Oh. My. God,” I say, leaning back in my chair and patting my stomach. “That was mind-blowingly good.”
“Fucking right,” Tai says, munching on his last onion ring, eyes closing in bliss.
The four of us are sitting around a table in a bar just off Main Street in Nadi, Fiji. The remains of our first real meal after getting off the island are scattered in front of us. When we poured in here, like thirsty desert wanderers finding an oasis, the first thing we did was talk the ear off the waitress (obviously we were all dying for someone else to talk to), then order everything on the menu.
Everything except fish. We’re kind of over that.
I had chicken fingers with tons of different dips, fries, a big fresh salad, and two pina coladas. I’m on my third one right now.
Lacey had a giant cheeseburger with fries and a Mai Tai.
Richard is still finishing his personal pepperoni pizza, sipping comically from a blue drink in a gigantic fishbowl, garnished with paper umbrellas and pineapple and those little plastic monkeys.
Tai had a double bacon cheddar burger with onion rings. He’s also drinking countless bottles of beer, going through them faster than the waitress can bring them.
We are stuffed.
Blissed out.
Drunk, with a borderline food coma.
“Room for dessert?” the waitress asks as she comes over. Her name is Layla and she knows our whole life story by now. “It’s on the house. Castaway discount.”
I shouldn’t eat dessert. My stomach is already freaking out after I just stuffed it with fried food after over four weeks of living on fish and canned shit.
But still I say, “Yes please.”
We all do.
“All right,” she says. “I’ll get the menu.”
“You know what,” Tai says. “Just bring us one of everything.”
She raises her brow. That’s probably not what she meant by the castaway discount, but she walks away to put in the order.
I grin happily at everyone and take another long sip of my drink, the sugar and alcohol going straight to my brain. It’s hot here in Nadi, more humid than it was on Plumeria, but there’s a fan overhead creating a warm breeze, and all the windows open to the street. Cars drive past, tourists do their shopping as they enjoy the day.
I can’t believe we’re out in the real world again. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment forever. It was worth the wait, even as exhaust fumes come into the restaurant, even though there’s a baby screaming in the corner of the bar.
At least we’re all in clean clothes.
