Opening my eyes, there was a small lizard stuck over my face. I screamed and shot up in the hammock. The sudden movement caused the hammock to rock back and forth too violently, resulting in me landing on my ass in the sand. Completely stunned, I laid there for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Damn lizard," Growling, I looked around for the little wet-dream blocker. Even if it was only a dream, it was amazing.
After the lizard incident, I went inside to watch a movie. Just as Mystery Inc. unveiled Alicia Silverstone, the satellite phone rang.
"Everything okay?" Aidan asked with concern.
"Well, hello to you too." I laughed.
"Sorry, hello. How are things?"
"Everything’s good."
"What did you do today?"
"Um...Devan and Bradley came today –"
"Yeah, it’s one of the days they show up. They didn’t bother you did they?"
"No, they were actually great company for a while." I laughed lightly.
"Company?" His tone rose.
"Uh…yeah, they showed me where the snorkeling stuff was and –"
"You shouldn’t snorkel alone –"
"I didn’t."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, umm…they stuck around and showed me how to snorkel. We went a few miles down the beach." I paused. "Then afterwards we talked about Devan’s fiancée and Bradley’s college plans." I confessed, hoping the topics of discussion would keep him from acting like a caveman.
He was silent.
"Aidan?"
"Yeah," his voice was quiet.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," his response clipped.
"Oh-kay," I took a breath. "Well, I guess I’ll let you get ready for work or whatever." The phone call was just uncomfortable now.
"Why, got plans with the boys?" he snorted.
"Excuse me?" My tone rose a few octaves.
He sighed. "I’m sorry. I just….this was supposed to be us there, not you and the help," he growled.
"Hey…I offered to pack my stuff –"
"No. I’m sorry. Really, I am." It sounded like he was sincere. "I’m glad you aren’t bored out of your mind."
"Thanks," I furrowed my brow.
We talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie: The sound of rocks smacking off of glass woke me.
The room had fallen dark, not nighttime dark. It was thunderstorm dark. Looking at the windows, hail like rain beat off the glass. Sighing, I went to get something to eat from the kitchen.
The rain continued for the entire day, barely easing up. I tried the laptop, but the satellite was out due to the storm. The TV barely got a local news channel. Turns out the hurricane had shifted its route. It wasn’t going to come on land or to the island. However, there would be storms as a result. Great!
Turning off the fuzzy TV, I started to charge up my IPod and my extra laptop battery. The rain resulted in me watching movies and reading for most of the afternoon. I snuck a nap in too.
When I woke from my nap the rain wasn’t as rough, so I decided to grab my camera and go down to the beach. After doing a ghetto-wrap-job with plastic wrap on my camera, I walked to the beach. I took some great pictures of the angry ocean as lightening streaked in the horizon. The clouds swirled dramatically as if they were dancing. It was breathtaking.
The rest of the evening and the next day went pretty much the same, though at the end of the following night I lost all power in the house. The only thing still running was the fridge, since it was connected to a small generator. Lighting candles, I found some battery operated lanterns in the storage/laundry room and set them up in the bedroom.
Sitting on the bed, I powered up my laptop and connected the digital camera. While the pictures transferred, I started to feel nauseous. I saved the pictures, shut down the laptop, and decided to lie down.
Waking the next morning I discovered what was wrong with me. Cramps were consuming my abdomen and back. It was the tell-tale sign of my cycle. My first trip was to the bathroom and to my necessities bag. I pulled out my pill case and became instantly annoyed. I wasn’t supposed to start yet. Resolving to the fact that the change in environment daily activities brought this on, I tossed out my pills and planned to restart them when this was over.
The rain continued throughout the morning but lightened up by late afternoon. The power was still out. Exploration around the house revealed that a large branch had landed on some lines leading into the house. Assuming these were the power lines from the main generators and solar panels, I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get the branch moved on my own.
Humidity began wreaking havoc on the island. Even as the sun set, my body only found rare relief in the ocean or showering with ice cold water.
That evening, when I stepped out of my fourth cold shower, I looked at the pajamas I’d laid out. My towel was already starting to stick to my back, sweat beads dripping between my breasts. There was no way I was putting pajamas on. Tossing the clothes back into my trunk, I slid on my boy short underwear and a small cami.