An I for an I Makes the World Go Bound
Cheerfully progressing in the plantation, the man remembers his unsuccessful fishing outings, which had only yielded fish once. He had been so happy to see something edible in his net, that he had rowed to the dock and hurried to the house to prepare the bass. He had found the flesh chewy and bland, but it was a change from fruits. The images were still vivid, as the following night had been marked by an unforgettable incident. A severe thunderstorm had swept across the island, waking him up and preventing him from going back to sleep. It had lasted until the morning, when the sun had eventually pierced through the sky. Then he had seen that the wooden cabin had been damaged. Thankfully, no water had leaked in, yet the roof needed fixing. Wondering about the extent of the havoc the elements had wreaked, he had quickly surveyed the area. While several trees had been knocked down, the ravages were not as important as he had first feared, however, the hurricane had left a nasty surprise for him. Emerging from the forest on his way to the shore, he had been shocked to see that his boat was gone. In his haste of the preceding day, he had neglected to moor the dinghy. If the loss of his net and of all his fishing gear had not posed that big of a problem, that of his means of returning to the land had dismayed him. The coast guard had assured him that he would patrol the region at regular intervals, so the man was not anxious. Nevertheless, going back at will wasn't possible anymore. As he watches some of the visitors departing the grove, the man muses that the sorry event had not been without positive effects. For one, in order to avoid wasting time, and any associated disappointment, he had decided to restrict his sustenance-seeking efforts to food that could readily be gathered, such as fruits and nuts. Furthermore, he had created a tool to make harvests easier, consisting of a pole at one end of which he could fit his machete. Thus, he could cut fruits and even small branches without having to climb up the trees. Given that his plan was to stay for only a year or so at most, he didn't take care of the trees. After all, he was supposed to be off farming duties, and it seemed pointless as no one would suffer from it anyway, because, just as the couple had reported and the coast guard confirmed, the isle was uninhabited. In the orchard, the man is delighted by the sights, which includes varieties of trees that he has never seen anywhere before. They remind him that after many moons on the island, he had finally become bored. He had been everywhere, examined every corner, tasted every berry, and tried every apparently fun activity. He had wanted to go back home, but either he would miss the ship of the coastguard when it was due to police in the vicinity, or the crew wouldn't notice him. He couldn't figure out why they didn't respond to his fire signals, so he reckoned that they didn't understand that he was stranded. Although he had been confined to the cabin more frequently than he would have liked to, his writings hadn't progressed that much, and certainly not as much as he had originally projected. He had squandered a lot of time sleeping, and getting depressed about the circumstances. The man remembers that at that point, it had occurred to him that he might be forced to remain on the isle for much longer than he had initially intended. Hence, he had resolved Takers Economy
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Christopher Stewart