Darkness comforts the soul. Not all souls, just this particular one. But that’s how it’s supposed to be, naturally. From the beginning, eons of centuries ago, in a dark remote corner of the universe, this filthy little planet took shape. Darkness encompassed all. There was no love, no hate, no due dates, no time. Just the fledgling stages of the most beautiful and pure indifference ever conceived.
Waves constantly crashed against the unforgiving coral. It was dark and he could barely make out his hands that he held up in front of his sweat covered face. The heat was sweltering, despite the blackness of night. He had no clue where he was or why he was there. But clearly it was some place tropical and remote. He felt no pain, so any kind of injury was not a factor. There was a tree line he could make out some yards behind where he was standing. Oddly, he felt no need to call out for help or to see if anyone would answer. He was wearing ragged loose fitting clothing, his beard not much unlike that of some unsightly vagrant. He just plopped down right there in the sand and didn’t know what to think. Recollection was proving a challenge given his sudden state of confused bewilderment. There were only the unrelenting waves and the random arrangement of tiny specks of light spattered across a black canvas.
It was beginning to become light out and the man woke with a start from the fetal position on his new bed of sand and coral fragments. He noticed rats scurrying into the dense foliage that made up the tree line. Fresh water, he needed fresh water immediately. His throat felt like fleshy sandpaper. He began to jog at a slow lope south down the beach along the tree line looking for something, anything that might resemble some semblance of human life. At that moment, he immediately thought of all the times in his life that he would have done anything to get away from human life. But this was no time for reflecting on his past misanthropic desires.
He suddenly spotted just up ahead a clearing that appeared to lead into the profuse vegetation made up mostly of dense scrub and towering Pisonia and Coconut palm trees. It was still mostly dark as he peered into the abundant gnarly flora that lay before him. His failing loafers and ragamuffin clothing were not the most desirable combo to be trudging about a dense forest in, but it’s not like he had other options at this juncture. He stepped thru dead palm branches and incredibly sharp low lying bushes. His skin constantly being scratched and scraped by foliage that looks like it was designed by a masochist with a hard-on for pointed punishment. At the base of a curved and oddly shaped tree he was able to make out a knot in the wood with an opening at the top which had managed to collect a small amount of rain water. He dove at the sudden opportunity for a much needed drink. He quickly sipped and lapped up the small amount of water accumulation at the base of the warped little tree. It wasn't nearly enough to quench his undying desire for more. Such is life.
Ahead he was able to make out the first rays of oppressive sunlight which would soon be all the way up. He made it thru the jungle forest of thick undergrowth and came to a massive lagoon. The island he was on, while seemingly covering a large area, was really only a small strip of atoll in the shape of a Toucan’s bill with a fairly shallow lagoon comprising the middle. Again he resumed walking, this time in a northerly direction. Coconuts, rats, and different varieties of crabs abounded. The sun, that universally unimpressive ball of fusion, was already punishing and it was still only early morning. He seemed to be coming to a point on the beach where there was a narrow entrance for the lagoon water to enter. It appeared to be low tide as the water was shallow and didn’t rise past the knees. By this time, his stomach was churning with hunger and was not shy about voicing it’s yearnings. Despite being in shock, he noticed old cracked coconut shells lying about and had the wherewithal to grab a few to use for catching falling rain should a storm cloud pass over. He once again headed into the dense shrubbery for the shade of the looming palm trees. A clearing with nothing but old dead palm leaves and branches seemed worthy of a spot to stop and rest.
He sat down with a thud and leaned back resting on his bony elbows. Tipping his head back and staring up at the straggly canopy overhead, he began to drift off into his former life. She had long dark satin hair just past her perfectly proportioned shoulders. Her skin was as close as one could get to porcelain white and peppered with little freckles in all the ideal places. With breasts as if molded by a talented young artist with everything to prove. She had gripped his youthful unassuming heart from the first moment he met her. Like most young and inexperienced folk, he thought he knew all there was to know about life. But her emergence shattered any and all control he thought he had over even his most basic emotions and actions. Time spent with her was time spent without a concept of time at all. When times were good, they were the best of his life, unrivaled by any other. But when times got bad, as they inevitably do, his life came to a screeching halt and all knowledge of an outside world ceased to exist.
Suddenly, a shooting pain gripped his midsection and he began to vomit despite not much coming up. Then, he immediately removed his trousers as he suddenly felt the urge to defecate. After about three or four rounds of dry heaves at both ends, shaking and sweating profusely, he fell unconscious.
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