Alone - Part 3

Good Morning FFFs!
Wow! What a week. And I thought things would slow down after the primaries. :P I should think again.

Friday was pretty normal. I got some writing done that night.
On Saturday one of my Heart-Sisters came down! It was such fun. We went and played tennis. Okay, so we never played a real game, but we had fun. We talked, went out for ice cream, took a walk and talked some more. Then that night Brother and Sis-in-Law came over for supper with the kiddos. After we ate we went up to the parking lot across the alley (for an old church that doesn't get used much) and let the kids ride bikes.
My Heart-Sis spent the night and left in the morning to make it home in time for their church service. We had a full house at church. Everyone was there!
Monday came and that afternoon/evening S and I went to babysit the kiddos so B & S-i-L could go out on a date. It was so nice out that we took the kids out to play. Boy did they become dirty! Pickle Puss got called "Indian" because she had dirt all over her face and arms from making dirt cakes and pies. :) Funny Boy looked like he had a black eye and Goof Ball and Doodle Bug were just dirty.
Then came Tuesday. S & I watched Sweet Pea and J-J for some friends all afternoon. They are so easy and such fun. I wasn't in a mood to write that night since I'd been working on my book.
Well, on Wednesday I uploaded the interior of my book, my grandma and a cousin came down and we went out for lunch. B&S-i-L and the kids came too. We played at a park, then came to our house. I didn't write again that night.
Yesterday. We got a new van!!!! Did I ever tell you that our old one got totaled after it hit a deer? Well, it did. We've been driving (when we had to go somewhere) my brother's suburban that really needs taken to the junk yard, I mean salvage yard. ;) We are so thankful to have a vehicle again that we know is going to start.
And last night I went to my best friend's house and we got the cover for my book done!!! It looks really neat and I can't wait to see the book in print! You can see a bit of what it looks like by checking out her photo-a-day blog.
I ordered the proof copy this morning! That's why this is a little later than usual. (Not that anyone gets on here this early to read it.)

So, I haven't done much writing at all! I'm hoping to get back into the mood for it tonight or soon. I need to write a few more short stories to go in my "older short story" book.
Now that you've read or not what I've been up to, here is the next part of this story. I hope you enjoy this part. :) And don't forget Triple Creek Tuesdays!

Alone - Part 3

    I wondered how I had known that way of opening the coconut. Had I done it before? Did someone show me how or had I perhaps read it in a book? I couldn’t help but think it was the latter, but I didn’t ponder that question long for I wanted to find the tree where this fruit came from so that I could enjoy more later. That wasn’t hard for when I looked up, there hanging over my head was the tree. Well, it was growing nearby but had grown at an angle so that the top of it was above me.
    “Rone, those would make a nice meal later on,” I remarked, eyeing the trunk of the tree.
    “Yep. Suppose I climb up and cut a few off to take along?”
    Then Ty put in a bit of practical advice. “You know, if you fall and break something, there won’t be anyone to set it.”
    “Oh be quiet, Ty,” I told myself. “Of course I won’t fall. Why I’ve climbed hundreds of trees and not fallen more than a dozen times and never broken anything except a couple of ribs.” Suddenly I paused. Had I really climbed trees? Where? When? Had I fallen and busted my ribs? I began feeling my ribs but they felt all right to me.
    I heaved a great sigh and looked at that tree. I wanted those coconuts. Forget about falling, I was going to climb that tree!
    Placing my hat on the sand near the empty coconut shells, with my shoes and bananas beside them, I walked deliberately to the bottom of the trunk and began to shinny up. Since the trunk sloped, it wasn’t as difficult to get started as I had thought. But the higher I went the harder it became and several times I was in danger of slipping off the side. At last, somehow I managed to reach the top and cut two nuts from the tree. Then I slid my way down. Are coconuts fruit or nuts?
    Now I had two coconuts and two bananas and two empty coconut shells. I figured I might be able to use them, so, after tying my shoes together once more, slinging them over my shoulder, putting my hat on my head, stuffing my banana guns back in my pockets, I tried to figured out how best to carry two round coconuts and two shells. At last, by using the shells sort of like cups, I started off again whistling a merry tune.

    I’d walked along for quite some time, at least it felt like quite some time to someone having to walk very erect to keep his hat on while he carried two coconut cups each balancing another coconut. And since I had to be so erect, my poor toes kicked many a hidden rock in the sand. I was beginning to think about putting my shoes back on, but wasn’t sure they were dry.
    “I wonder how far I’ve traveled, I mean we’ve traveled, Rone.”
    “Haven’t a clue,” Rone grumbled back, “but I’m growing tired— ouch! Of walking!”
    “Your toes hurting too?” Ty asked, trying to be sympathetic. “I keep stepping on rocks or— ouch, sharp shells myself. And Rone.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Have you noticed how warm the sand is?”
    It had grown warm or maybe my feet were just growing tender. I moved over to the water’s edge and boy did that water feel nice as it lapped at my feet. I suddenly thought about my pants, stepped back out of the water, placed my precious cups down and caught my hat as it fell.
    “Ouch!”
    Thorns might hold a hat together quite well, but are no fun to catch. I sucked my pricked finger and then rolled up my pant legs. There, now I could wade in the water near the shore, I hadn’t forgotten those sharks I’d seen back down the beach. Picking up my load again and placing my hat gingerly on my head, I splashed my way along.
    Adventure seemed to be following me or I following it, for up ahead I spied something in the sand. No it wasn’t a hot dog stand, though I rather wished it was, for those bananas I had eaten earlier had practically disappeared from my stomach. But the nearer and nearer I came to the place in the sand, the more cautious I became. I even moved out of the water lest I make too much noise splashing.
    Pausing a little ways from the spot, I stood and listened, looking carefully all around. I couldn’t hear a thing except the water lapping on the sand and those strange bird calls. I moved a few steps closer.
    Yep, it sure looked like tracks; almost as though something or someone had come from the junglelike growth and then returned to it. “Or else walked out into the sea and is swimming with the sharks,” I murmured to myself, turning to gaze out into the water; but I saw nothing.
    “Hello?” Rone ventured at last.
    There was no reply, no answer, no sound.
    I swallowed hard and looked closer at the tracks. They were definitely the tracks of a person. And one who wore no shoes. Could it be Friday?
    “Who’s Friday?” I asked myself. I knew it was a day of the week, but why did I think of that as a name when I saw the footprints? I shivered, though it wasn’t cold.
    “Ty,” Rone cleared his voice and tried to appear unconcerned, which was really thoughtful of him.
    Ty hadn’t quite gotten up the courage to say anything so he just grunted.
    “I— well, I think it would be wise if we moved on.”
    To this Ty agreed quickly and moved back to the water so that my tracks would be washed away. I couldn’t help but steal several quick looks behind me as I hurried on my way. It was rather difficult to do, for my hat slid about so when I turned quickly, and since my hands were full, half the time it was over one eye, which if you’ve never tried it, makes seeing obnoxiously one sided.
    At last I reached some more rocky cliffs. There I was stymied. To climb these without using my hands would be a challenge.
    “I have an idea!” I exclaimed aloud, and then quickly looked back. What if someone heard me? Wait, what if someone had heard me? Isn’t that want I wanted? To be found? To be taken back to civilization wherever that was? Of course I did. But still, those tracks bothered me.
    I set my coconuts and shells on the ground and unbuttoned half my shirt. The bottom half I then brought up and buttoned to the top buttons. This left a pocket like place where I was able to carry my nuts with ease. An ingenious idea if I do say so myself.

How would you have carried your coconuts?

Who made those footprints?

What would you have done if you had been Tyrone and had seen them?