EPISODE 2 – SOLITARY REFINEMENTTrent loses his grasp of reality as he begins speaking to real or imagined figures to cope with unending isolation.
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Trent loses his grasp of reality as he begins speaking to real or imagined figures to cope with unending isolation.
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Unexpected Provisions
In a weakened state, one foggy morning, a tap on the door rouses Trent. By the time he gets there, no one is visible. Instead, he sees a large rabbit—a hare dressed for cooking—in a sack with some tea leaves and berries that he carries into the kitchen. The nourishment clears the fog from his morbid thinking. Someone wants him to live.
Each evening he thanks the shadows for what he discovers every morning. This goes on for weeks until one day, while retrieving provisions, he catches sight of an Indigenous woman wearing loincloths gazing at him from a distance. He motions for her to come nearer but she flits into the forest like a butterfly lost in the ferns.
After breakfast, Trent unsuccessfully tries to follow her path. He hopes to find a civilization that endured the disease that plagued the island years ago. Nevertheless, the daylight visibility of the woman validates the sanity he thought was lost when speaking to unresponsive shadows.
As more weeks pass, the woman becomes a vocal window shadow with terse responses in the evening. With a mesmerizing hip sway, she remains out of reach during attempts to approach during the day. Trent learns her name is Luana. The belief that this stranger is the sole survivor and heir to the island intrigues him.
“Was the arrow that pierced my shoulder intended for me?” Trent asks with trepidation, considering the possibility that this wild woman may have killed off the population and is now hunting him.
“I don’t miss a target. It was perimeter protection against wild animals.”
“Where’s my boat?”
“On the other side of the island.”
“Can I have it back?”
“Not right away.”
“Do you want to leave with me on it?”
“This is my home.”
“Then you don’t need the boat,” he replies with frustration that abruptly ends the conversation, with her disappearance into the foliage.
Gaining the vessel is a sensitive subject that should remain in abeyance. At least he knows it’s still safe and accessible. What becomes more apparent is that Luana wants companionship. Sailing away would end that. So he needs to befriend her.
Seeking Camaraderie
He proposes that they go hunting together—from a distance. The next morning he finds a bow with handmade arrows in place of his breakfast. At a distance of a hundred paces, he crouches while mirroring her staccato stalking as they lurk through the bush in search of food.
With her bow ready to release, her gaze is fixed on the movement of branches and displacement patterns of insects, while he is fixed on Luana’s adroitness. With the swiftness of a successful field goal kick, her arrow pierces a hare. She stealthily motions her finger at another target in front of him, but he misses.
Luana then leaps up a tree like a flying squirrel to gather berries. She is the only one returning from this expedition with a bounty. Trent returns with an awe of her ability. He asks if she’s willing to share but she doesn’t verbally respond. Instead, she begins dressing the animal and lighting a fire a hundred paces from his cabin.
“It sure smells good,” he shouts, while closing the gap, a couple of steps at a time.
When he gets halfway there, she flees, leaving his portion behind. The next day they try to close the proximity again without success. By the end of the week, he’s finally able to kneel beside her. The crackling firelight illuminates a native beauty near his age, requiring no makeup. She extends a stick with a roasted fish that he savors, while they continue staring at each other.
This is not the time to bring up a conversation about the boat. He’s afraid to say anything that might send her scurrying into the woods. So he asks what he believes she wants to hear.
“Do you want me to stay—here on the island—with you?”
She replies resolutely, “Stay!” before disappearing into the brush.
Trent picks up the remaining berries left behind and heads back to the cabin, contemplating this new development. Should he remain in the middle of nowhere and help begin a new civilization? Or is his destiny awaiting him back at medical school, perhaps kindling a relationship with Dr. Julie? The latter option isn’t possible unless he finds his boat.
Unintentional Eviction
During the nighttime shadow conversations, Trent learns that Luana lives in the caves.
“Have you ever lived within a cabin?”
She replies, “I used to sleep where you reside.”
The realization that he took her home, forcing her into the caves, courses through Trent’s veins like ice water.
“I’m sorry. Do you want to share the cabin?”
There’s no reply until morning when he opens the door and sees her waiting in the distance.
She tells him, “We need to bathe.”
As he makes his way to the coast, she shadows him. He loses sight of her for a moment, but then he sees her with a coconut in the distance. Mirroring his pace, they descend into the water.
Without undressing, Luana pours the milk of the coconut over her head, then wades over to Trent, anointing him with the same juice. She kisses him on the cheek and runs into the forest. Later that night, she knocks on the door and enters when he opens it, her bosom covered only by long locks of hair.
Trent welcomes the reconsideration as a remedy to loneliness, asking, “Have you changed your mind about sharing the cabin?”
“The ceremony at the beach,” she innocently replies as if he understands the significance.
“What ceremony? You mean the coconuts?”
“Yes. I am your wife. You asked me to share a home. That was a proposal.”
Continued…
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