There was this male engineer, considered very smart and and resourceful by his
male bosses, on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for the first time. It was
wonderful, the experience of his lifetime. He was waited on hand and foot.
But, it did not last. A hurricane came upon them unexpectedly. The ship went
down almost instantly.
The man found himself somehow swept up on the shore of an island. There was
nothing else anywhere to be seen. No people, no supplies, nothing . The man looked
around. There were some bananas and coconuts, but that was it. He was
desperate and forlorn, but decided to make the best of it. So for the next
four months he ate bananas, drank coconut juice and mostly looked to the sea
for a ship to come to his rescue.
One day, as he was lying on the beach stroking his beard and looking for a
ship, he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. Could it be true, was
it a ship? No, from around the corner of the island came this rowboat. In it
was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen, or at least seen in 4 months.
She was tall, tanned, and blond hair flowing in the sea breeze. She spotted
him also as he was waving and yelling and screaming to get her attention. She
rowed her boat towards him. In disbelief, he asked, "Where did you come from?
How did you get here?" She said, "I rowed from the other side of the island.
I landed on this island when my cruise ship sank." "Amazing," he said, "I
didn't know anyone else had survived. How many of you are there? Where did
you get the rowboat? You must have been really lucky to have a rowboat
wash-up with you?" "It is only me," she said, "and the rowboat didn't wash up,
nothing else did." "Well then," said the man, "how did you get the rowboat?"
"I made the rowboat out of raw material that I found on the island," replied
the woman. "The oars were whittled from Gum tree branches, I wove the bottom
from Palm branches, and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree."
"But, but," asked the man, "what about tools and hardware, how did you do
that?" "Oh, no problem," replied the woman, "on the south side of the island
there is a very unusual strata of alluvial rock exposed. I found that if I
fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into forgeable ductile
iron. I used that for tools, and used the tools to make the hardware. But,
enough of that," she said. "Where do you live?" At last the man was forced
to confess that he had been sleeping on the beach. "Well, let's row over to
my place," she said. So they both got into the rowboat and left for herside
of island. The woman easily rowed them around to a wharf that led to the
approach to her place. She tied up the rowboat with a beautifully woven hemp
rope. They walked up a stone walk and around a Palm tree; there stood an
exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white. "It's not much," she said, "but
I call it home. Sit down please; would you like to have a drink?" "No," said
the man, "one more coconut juice and I'll puke." "It won't be coconut juice,"
the woman replied. "I have a still, how about a Pina Colada?" Trying to hide
his continued amazement, the man accepted, and they sat down on her couch to
talk. After a while, and they had exchanged their stories, the woman asked,
"Tell me, have you always had a beard?" "No," the man replied, "I was clean
shaven all of my life, and even on the cruise ship." "Well if you would like
to shave, there is a razor upstairs in the cabinet in the bathroom." So, the
man, no longer questioning anything, went upstairs to the bathroom. There in
the cabinet was a razor made from a bone handle, two shells honed to a hollow
ground edge were fastened on to its end inside of a swivel mechanism. The man
shaved, showered and went back down stairs. "You look great," said the woman.
"I think I will go up and slip into something more comfortable." So she did.
The man continued to sip his Pina Colada. After a short time, the woman
returned wearing fig leaves strategically positioned and smelling faintly of
gardenias. "Tell me," she asked, "we have both been out here for a very long
time with no companionship. You know what I mean. Have you been lonely, is
there anything that you really miss? Something that all men and woman need.
Something that it would be really nice to have right now." "Yes there is,"
the man replied, as he moved closer to the woman while fixing a winsome gaze
upon her, "Tell me ... can I check my e-mail?