When the first spray drenched her shirt, Sarah was initially concerned about giving the native guides an unintentional show as the wet shirt clung tightly to her breasts. Now, her only concern was to survive this ordeal. Goose bumps covered her exposed, tanned legs due to exposure from the cold ocean spray, and she fought hard to avoid shivering. She could hear the boat struggling against the swells as dark, pungent diesel smoke poured from the ancient motor.
"Why did I agree to go on this stupid trip?" she yelled in the direction of the guides.
Supar looked back at Sarah, observing how sad and lonely she appeared. Sarah, in turn, caught Supar watching her, so she managed a small, brave smile for him that said she knew everything was going to be all right. Unfortunately, she did not believe that small lie for a moment as another large wave crashed against the boat.
The small vessel bounced from swell to swell, and Sarah refused to relinquish her grip on one of the old rusty cleats. The grey, violent storm was rapidly closing in around the small boat, causing Sarah to question her sanity for agreeing to go on this research trip in the first place. What sane primatologist would travel in a boat that wasn't large enough for safe passage in a second-rate theme park, let alone a vast ocean? For Sarah, all of the scientific research and good intentions meant little in the middle of this tempest. It was then that she realized the whole boat trip had become a metaphor for her sad, lonely life.
Their journey began earlier that morning with little fanfare as just another routine island-hopping trip. They were traveling from Maumere to one of the many local islands that littered the Flores Sea, a trip that would normally take a half-day, at most. It was just Sarah and the two guides aboard a small wooden boat that totaled less than thirty feet in length. Once underway, the two guides were preoccupied with the operation of the boat, so Sarah sat alone, busying herself with updating her journal. The morning began with a beautiful tropical sunrise; however, as they made their way into the open ocean, the clouds rapidly moved in, and the water started to get choppy. She could hear the small motor straining against the waves, more smoke than usual filling the pristine ocean air.
They soon spotted their island destination, and Sarah gave an outward sigh of relief at their apparent luck. However, as they got within a half-mile of the island, the boat's ancient motor started to sputter with the strain of its task. The chop continued to get rougher, and to their dismay, the motor failed entirely. The two guides became frantic in their efforts to restart the engine as the strong ocean waves began a ferocious assault on the small boat. Within minutes, they started to drift away from their island destination and were back into the vastness of the raging Flores Sea.
The powerless boat drifted for about an hour as the seas continued their violent assault.
"Look!" Supar yelled as he pointed to a much smaller island off their port. Sarah grabbed the old tattered navigational charts from the hold, but the island appeared to be absent from the charts.
"Just get us there," she shouted above the howling winds as the rain streaked down her face.
Sarah watched helplessly as the guides struggled with the motor in the inclement weather. After much effort and amid an unending torrent of unintelligible curses, they finally coaxed the tired engine to start. With the storm continuing to strengthen and after an animated debate in Bahasa, the guides decided to bring the boat onto the small island to wait out the rampaging storm. A nervous Sarah tried to use the radio to get somebody's attention, but the weather was causing havoc with the radio as well. She realized that they were truly alone in the middle of this horrific squall.
The boat rode up and down the twenty-foot swells, causing Sarah to become ill with the unending motion. They were out of options, so taking shelter on the unknown island was their only possible salvation.
Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot Part 1
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