Page 248 of Storm over the Caribbean

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I stumbled again. My head was starting to feel dizzy.

“Mr Ambrose! Why won’t you let me eat one?”

I did not answer.

“Mr Ambrose? Give that fruit to me,now!”

Again, I did not answer. Mostly because my tongue felt far too numb to move. Still, I tightened my hand around her wrist. She wasnotgoing to touch those fruits.

“Mr Ambrose? Mr Ambrose!”

Something blurry appeared in front of me. A monkey’s butt? No…no, that was my wife’s face.

I don’t think I’m thinking quite clearly anymore.

That was my last thought before the world began to tilt.

“Hey!”

Oh, no. That hadn’t been the world. That had been me.

Thud!

And that…too? The pain was distant. Muted.

“You son of a…!”

On the other hand, her shout in my ear was not.

“You…you…you said you knew it was edible!”

Blinking through the accursed mist that descended over my vision, I met her warm, chocolate brown eyes, wide with panic, and for once, could not bring myself to glare at her.

With effort, I parted my numb lips. “I…lied.”

Remember me. Survive.

Then—darkness.

If you Do Not Give Up Printing These, Consider Yourself Sacked!

(Chapter 16, “Awakening”, from Mr Ambrose’s Perspective)

***

From somewhere far away, I heard voices. Muted voices. One of them seemed familiar, though. Who…who could it…

I frowned. It was so hard to think.

Then why not just sleep a little longer? Rest? Relax, and—

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Relax?! What kind of demon had suddenly possessed me?

Growling, I shook my head, chasing away the drowsiness, and suddenly, the voices became much clearer.

“…where to get food, do you?”

Lillian? She was…talking to someone?

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