He had just traveled several kilometres on foot when he stumbled on a shrub with yellow succulent fruits. The fruits looked like a distant relative of highbush blueberry. He ate and collected as many as he could. He marked the area should he need these succulent fruits again. Excited, he smiled and walked on. He walked and walked and felt a twitch in his arm but never paid attention to it. He was trying to explore the island and find help sooner. He talked to himself and walked on. He walked and smiled, on and on. It seemed he was now having a dangerous affair with his newfound environment. He smiled even harder when he found strong pieces of wood. He knew immediately what he must do with those pieces of wood. He was going to build a strong tent for his safety — because, of course, any wild animal could miss its way and find his flesh a more desirable delicacy. Even though he was lost, he wanted to stay alive at least. He picked the wood, from everywhere they were scattered. He picked them and began to build at a spot he considered preferable. With the gift of a craftsman, he was able to finish building before sunset. He heaved a sigh of satisfaction and watched his tent with admiration. He checked how strong the door was when closed from both outside and inside. He smiled and went to fetch himself more fruits in the direction he saw them. On reaching the shrub, he committed himself to plucking all the ripe fruits he could. He collected them and turned to return to his tent, munching noisily. At least these could keep hunger away for some time till he could kill another unlucky animal. He had just reached the side of his tent when he saw a hyena lurking around the door. Shocked and surprised, he stealthily dropped his succulent fruits and searched for a very strong stick. He found one, taking the right end of his tent. Slowly and gradually he snuck up on the unsuspecting hyena and smashed its head with the strong wood. The animal yelped and tried to run but fell dramatically. He watched with bulged eyes, his weapon aloft. He watched as the thing struggled. He gave it another hit and watched the thing yelp and take its final breath. A shiver of excitement forced his lips into laughter as he realised he had killed it. He dropped his weapon and carried the animal up, placing its limbs across his neck. He began to chant songs of victory. When he felt he was done holding up the dead animal, he brought it down and went to open his tent. He took the animal inside afterwards and sat outside to enjoy his fruits. Meanwhile, somewhere in Ghana, a man was knocked unconscious by a falling object. In fact, he was knocked dead the way coconuts disembarking from their trees do to people underneath them. People gathered at the scene of action and tried hard to fathom what the object was. The object was round like a Frisbee — and heavy. Police arrived at the scene of the accident and took away the victim and the killer object. They took the victim to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was taken into the morgue while forensic experts and crime scene investigators tried to ascertain what the object was and what could have led to it falling vertically from nowhere. One week later, after thorough analysis and consultations, they concluded the object had fallen from outer space. They said it contained traces of uranium and other radioactive elements. They said a whole lot of things in regards to what they discovered from their analysis. If there was any prominent thing, the things they did say to the general public, it was leaving them frightened and with a growing sense of No. 136 insecurity. No one knew when they would step out and have their head hit by a mysterious object. People were scared. The supposedly wise wore helmets whenever they went outside. And the fears grew when a similar incident was recorded in Brazil in front of a grocery store where a woman went to shop. Everyone knew they had to be on the lookout for these falling objects, these objects that dared to fall unannounced. "Kiss my eyes,” a man from Ottawa said in Toronto. "Come kiss my eyes." He had been questioned and accused by a police officer for being a witness in the sudden murder of one Ms. Sutcliffe. The man had said he only walked in to see his colleague dead and nothing more. But the police officer had begged him to say everything he knew and saw because nobody was going to implicate him in the crime. But the irate man could not take it anymore. He just had to react. "Alright. Calm down,” the police officer said to him and tried to interrogate others. "Calm down. Alright?" He woke the next day and opened the door of his tent. Birds were chirping noisily and flying about. He tried to stretch but discovered he had some difficulty with moving his arms, as if they were some mechanical appendage. He felt quite unwell and didn't know what was wrong with himself. If asked, he knew he wouldn't be totally able to say how he was feeling. Nonetheless, the truth remained that he was feeling strange. Suddenly, he remembered he was lost and alone and began to feel hopeless. This cup needed to pass over him, or he needed this cup to pass over him — whichever way. He yawned and turned to close his tent so he could go for a walk. As he closed the door, he felt quite dizzy and rubbed his eyes. He walked away, looking here and there. On and on he walked. He had not walked for long when a helicopter appeared from nowhere, buzzing out from above the trees near his tent into the open space where he was standing now. Surprised, he fastened his gaze on the helicopter for two good minutes before he remembered he was lost and needed help. He began to wave frantically. He yelled and called out for help. The helicopter slowed and hovered above him. "I need help y'all!" he screamed. "Get me out of this place!" The helicopter began to descend gradually. He yelled further, throwing his hands into the air. Eventually, the helicopter touched down and two men came out. They wore a certain kind of uniform, uniform that he could not recognise and knew he had never seen. The men shook hands with him and asked what he was saying actually. PHOTO BY KRYSTI JOMÉI
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