By DH
Actually I prefer to sit lazy in the shadow of the palm tree,
watching the fin of the shark that ploughs the waves very
close to the shore since about an hour or two now.
If the shark will drive away all the other fish, I shan't have
dinner today. There's only 5 rather hot cans of beer lying on
the overheated shadowless beach, the ones that the party
people left on my island.
Yes, there have been people visiting me, some crazy jet-set
type of folks who saw me hopping mad for joy once I saw
their boat drift by. They came to my in a lifeboat, brought
along tables and chairs and cold drinks and loads of delica-
tessen, and their lackeys were around, and all... all of this
alledgedly to celebrate my long awaited rescue.
Well I haven't been drinking alcoholic beaverages since I
don't know when, so I started to behave rather foolish very
soon. Or maybe it was just that drink that some travelling
barkeep mixed out of a whim, the one that he called "San
Pedro Torpedo".
I was cursing the damn elephant, which possibly must have
appeared much more bewildering than my clumsy attempts to approach
some of them cuties, me who possibly looks like a freaky old
bum after all the years that I've been spending in this
forgotten part of the world, wearing nothing else but these old
bleached trousers that I once have sewn of a ragged star spangled banner.
Because, y'know, the elephant isn't there any more, and sometimes
I tend to believe that he's never been there, just like this mythical
forth island of the archipelago, by name of "Boredom I".
Probably I was talking too much about the odd San Pedroesian issues,
confusing my audience and myself. I can't say what happened then, I
must have fallen asleep pretty soon. So tip-toe they packed together all their
shiny things and left me lying on my shore, leaving five cans of Cerveza Tecate.
I almost lost my mind when I realized what they have done.
Well, that much about my recent 24 hours on San Pedro de
Nada. This shark seems to be smirking at me, he just stuck his
head out of the brine.
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By DH
Well, it's windy. The leaves of the palm tree
rustle. The sun glistens, the sky is blue, the
waves of the ocean are washing ashore...
Some crabs (!) spread rumours that something's
happening on the other islands, but who wanted
to listen to crabs, huh?
I took a walk around the palm tree, for several
hours. Almost beyond the horizon there were some
clouds, but they vanished.
I day-dreamt of Bolivia, go figure - Bolivian
singers sang about their "grande nacion", and it
rhymed with "cancion" and "corazon". That was
strange.
This shark is still out there in the pond.
Maybe it was better to be in Bolivia now, no
sharks, just this breath-taking altitude of
La Paz.
Do they need taxi drivers, there? I must have
been one in one of my former lives. Since my
knees hurt.
I kneeled down and started to form a face in
the sand. Very Martian. The sun set, there were
stars and eternities above, and I started to
miss the elephant again.
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A conversation by RH, JM, DH
JM
Just in case anyone is interested....
That wood background is an actual photo ofthe pier at Dona Manana. Of course I am not sure where the pier is now...
DH
Re: Just in case anyone is interested....
I heard rumours that the families Maleta-Maron, Anden de Retraso and
Limosna a Mendigos of Seis Casas were rafting away on the pier, when
Doņa Maņana was flooded. Later it was sold to a rather untalented woodcarver
who was living in a landscape with no name and no mentionable fauna.
RH
Re: Just in case anyone is interested....
I heard that it was broken up and sold as pieces of the cross that Christ was crucified on.
DH
Re: Just in case anyone is interested....
Something similar happened to an old sun-bleached, sea-
washed sheet that was sold along with the wood of the
raft - some clever businessmen tore it to pieces and told their customers, that the shreds stemmed from the gown of
a long-gone, still famous and benevolent saint: San Pedro
de Nada.
I kid you not, folks. In the middle of nowhere a church
was erected, with a shrine that contained the shreds of
said sheet; and around the church a new settlement grew
within a year. Guess how the settlers called this little
township. San Pedro Nuevo. Rumours it has that it became
a place where miracles happen. You may ask their mayor,
Amparo Maleta-Maron y Garcia; she will tell you that it's
the simple truth.
RH
Re: Just in case anyone is interested....
I would ask that person, 'cept I don't know how to pronounce their name.
(
geocities.com/redneck_penguin)