Page 34 of Totally Shipped
We all fall asleep around the fire.
I sleep real hard, thanks to monkey-wine. Monkey-wine, laughter, and loving. I know I have a huge grin on my face as I wake up. I lay on the ground with my eyes closed and go back over all the fun of ‘Christmas Day’. It was honestly the best Christmas I’ve ever had.
It’s still quiet in the glade, so I don’t think anyone else is stirring yet. I’ll be a good team player and get the fire going.
If only we could find a coffee bean plant. Life could be virtually perfect here.
Moving quietly, I’m surprised to see Daisy is no longer snuggled between Leander and Killian. Probably had to go potty. She has been complaining about needing to pee all the time, poor baby.
I’ve got the fire lit, water on the boil, and fresh bananas collected when Key comes leaping out of the plane.
“I slept on the plane, Uncle Gray! Do you want to play frisbee? Did you know the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day?”
“I do, noodle, but let’s wait until we are back on the beach? We’ll get some breakfast here first.”
She nods in her good-natured way; the kid is so easy-going. “Where’s Daisy?” she asks.
“Probably taking a bathroom break,” I tell her.
“I need to go too…” she says, I notice her hopping from one foot to the other.
“Want me to come with you?”
She shakes her head.
“Alright, don’t go too far though.”
“I won’t,” she says, skipping off.
Leander is the next one up. He sits up, and it makes me grin to see a squashed crown of flowers in his hair. Not sure when that happened.
“Morning,” he says. “Gotta see a man about a dog…”
He stumbles through the trees. When we are at the beach, we have a latrine area, but out here it’s a free for all. Hope he doesn’t trip over the girls while they are attending to business.
Damn, should have brought more eggs with us. If you mash a banana and add it to beaten egg it almost turns into a pancake—definitely everyone's favorite breakfast.
Those almost-deviled eggs last night were bomb. We’d mixed the yolks with a bit of cooked yam.
“Morning, Gray.” Rex jumps down onto the floor of the jungle. Killian is shifting as well and waves a hand at me.
“Pine tea?”
I throw some pine needles in the boiling water. Yeah, not coffee, but it’s not too bad. We’ve all gotten used to it.
There is some distant laughter, then Leander and Key come back, Leander chasing Key as she giggles like crazy.
“Still no Daisy?” I ask, as they sit down by the fire.
“Nope, she must have gone in a different direction.
The fire hisses as water sloshes over the edge of the aluminum basin we boil water in.
“You guys watch the fire, I’ll go track her down.”
There is no reason to worry, but I don’t like her being out of sight for too long. She could trip, or just keel over. Her center of gravity is off, and darling Daisy was clumsybeforebeing pregnant.
The jungle smells ripe and rich, and leaves drip with condensation.
