Visited by the Dreams

Chapter 18 - The Oyster

Working on the structure of the boat continually each day gave Greg and Susan ample opportunities to discover ways to make their efforts more efficient. Their days were long and they worked hard, but by the end of the next week, they surprised themselves by how much progress they’d made, not only on the structure of the boat, but also on the lamps. 

The manufacture of the oil lamps Susan had in mind to make turned out to be relatively easy, once they determined the best process to use. It was something they could accomplish in the evenings while sitting around the fire, with very little effort other than to watch various mixtures liquefy and boil, and to pour them off into the bamboo containers at just the right time, the oil first, followed by the wax. The wicks were set into the containers ahead of time and the lamps were held upright by a cord attached through holes punctured on opposite sides of the rim, then looped over a nearby branch. These would remain that way overnight, upright and out of the way while the oil cooled and the wax set. Based on the volume of fluid their coconut shell bowls could hold, they found it was possible to make two of these each evening, which meant they had ten lamps made and ready and stored in a crate by the following Saturday.

In that same amount of time, the cabin on the boat gained a bamboo floor; framed walls, roof, and ceiling; and bamboo coverings for the walls with an opening to serve as a door facing towards the stern and openings for windows on the remaining three sides. Rails were installed around the outside perimeter of the deck, and benches which would serve as handier storage than the holds were planned and being built in strategic positions around the deck. Finally Susan had begun making mats to cover all the walking surfaces, inside and out. Eating their lunch on the boat every day during their workdays had quickly made clear the necessity of all those things, and even though none of those features was actually finished, all were getting very, very close.

“Do you want to swim ashore with me today?” Greg asked when he called a halt to the end of their workday on that Friday, an evening in the middle of June.

“No thanks, I think I’ll swim on my own,” Susan replied. “I want to explore the area just beneath us a bit.”

“Beneath us?” Greg asked looking confused.

“Beneath the boat … I see something in the water down there, but I can’t quite make out what it is from the surface.”

“Like fish?” Greg asked curiously.

“No, not something swimming. Whatever it is, it seems to be fixed … stuck to the bottom. I’m wondering if it could be shellfish,” Susan explained.

“Where?” Greg asked.

Although he enjoyed swimming ashore too, but he typically swam on the surface unlike Susan who seemed to enjoy diving down under the surface of the water.

“There.” Susan pointed to an area of discoloration in the bottom which Greg presumed to be change in the makeup of either the rock or the sand, but looked odd enough for Susan to want to investigate further. “Could you take some of my things to the beach for me?” she asked as she began pulling off her jeans and shirt, handing them to Greg as she prepared to dive in, so that she was standing there in only her panties and camisole.

“Sure,” Greg asked looking bemused, surprised she felt comfortable enough with him to do that as she bundled up her clothes, and left them with him.

Greg watched in fascination as Susan equipped herself with a net bag and an obsidian knife and dove in and he kept watching as he stood on the deck looking on from above. The water was quite clear for a long ways down, something he’d first noticed while working on the boat when a handful of colorful tropical fish swam by. They did that occasionally and they often stopped to watch. This time however, he was watching Susan, diving down to the particular patch of discoloration on the bottom she’d pointed out to him before going in. She swam right for it, and upon reaching the bottom, began tugging on something, working at it with her knife. She didn’t stay down long though before returning to the surface empty handed.