Shipwrecked (Choose Your Own Adventure)

Twenty-Three

You try the teapot, although you can't foresee anything useful coming from it - unless a genie decides to erupt from the crockery, and that doesn't seem very likely. Also, you've have rather bad experiences with genies in the past (see Eight) and a repeat of that would not be necessary.

You look around for the teapot only to discover that it's not where you left it. It's disappeared! You and the lads have a few minutes of turning the campsite upside down looking for it, but to no prevail. Then Ringo spots something interesting lying in the dirt.

Footprints.

Not just any footprints.

Human footprints.

Someone else is on the island! This could spell the end of your shipwrecked state! You and the lads could be back home in London before the day is out!

"Let's follow the tracks!" you cry. "Someone could be here to rescue us!"

"Or it could be a cannibal luring us into a trap," says John.

"Or a sneaky dolphin," George adds. "They're crafty like that."

"You two..." you mutter, shaking your head. "Let's get going! Paul, stop staring at your reflection in that puddle. Ringo, put the pen down. No cat whiskers today. We've got serious surviving to do!"

You and the boys trek off into the jungle. The footprints eventually lead you to a tumbledown shack made out of bamboo, leaves, and other things. There a huge logs set out like benches around a firepit, and what looks to be a predug well.

"Hey, look!" says John. "Somebody's living on this island!"

"In a weird little shack," adds Paul, wrinkling his nose.

"He must be a hermit," John says.

"I've heard his records," Ringo laughs. "Hermit? Like Herman'a Hermits? Get it?"

"We got it, Ringo. Well done," you say, patting his shoulder.

Ringo grins then turns to stare at the shack. "Is anyone home?" he calls. "Hello?"

Suddenly, a figure comes flying out of the blue, taking you and the lads so by surprise that you all fall over. The five of you topple like dominoes and end up in a pile on the muddy ground.

You peer up through a mess of George's spindly matchstick legs and Paul's long, hairy arms to catch a glimpse of your attacker. It's a man - not very old, possibly in his late twenties - with a massive, bushy beard, huge blue eyes, and a crooked grin on his face. He looks rough, like he hasn't slept properly for weeks.

"G'day!" the man says cheerily.

You're struck dumb, unable to speak.

The man leans in close and whispers in your ear. "Hey, have you ever heard of a man called Psycho Sam who lives on this island?"

"N - No," you stammer.

The lads mumble something back, still trying to haul themselves up.

The man laughs. "Neither have I! Well, actually, I have. My name's Sam, but there's still the question of whether I'm a psycho or not."

"Well, are you?" Paul asks timidly (after pushing John's thighs off of his shoulders).

"We'll have to find out," says Sam, grinning. "Would you lovely people like to come inside?"

If you choose to accept Sam's invitation into his rickety home, go to Twenty-Four.

If you choose to grab the lads and run like hell, go to Twenty-Five.