Chapter 6
The sand was just as hot as it had been the day before. At the first shady place, Bel sat down. She would have to do something about her feet. But what? All she had was this damn purple shirt. After a while, Bel said to herself, I guess it will have to do. She tore at the seams with her teeth until she was able to tear the shirt in two. She wrapped a half around each foot, doubling it up, so there was some protection. When she stepped back on to the hot sand, it felt warm, but no longer burned her.
Bel felt exposed without her coverup. But, then again, who was there to make fun of her stomach? NO one! Not one judgmental soul was there to see her brown and turquoise tankini So, she thought, I’m just going to concentrate on finding those coconuts.
“What the hell kind of palm trees don’t have coconuts” Bel screamed at the ocean half an hour later. She’d walked down the beach, and up the beach, and looked everywhere, but couldn’t find anything. She didn’t want to get to far from the place where she had washed up, that was probably where the boats would go by, so she carefully watched her trail of footprints making sure they didn’t stretch out too far. She walked back to her original starting place and flopped down in the sand.
About five feet from where she had stopped was a big leaf. On the leaf, was a slimy looking pile of seaweed. It was almost in the same place as the one she had kicked yesterday. She looked at it with disgust, and tried not to think about how hungry she was. What, she thought does this stuff wash up all the time? Could some takeout please wash up next?
Bel wondered if she could catch a fish. People do that, right? It can’t be that hard. But, she thought, there would be a few problems. First, she wasn’t sure if she could kill the fish if she caught it. Second, how would she cook it? She didn’t have a fire, didn’t know how to start one, and it was hot enough that it sounded unpleasant to have. So, great raw fish. Sushi.
On second thought, that didn’t sound so bad. She like sushi in the normal world. Boy, what she wouldn’t give for fish and veggies and rice all wrapped up in seaweed. Wait. Seaweed. That’s edible, right? She crawled over to where it was and looked at it more closely.
It sure smelled that was for sure. But past the briny smell and the nasty odor there was a green smell that reminded her vaguely of grass. When she reached out to touch it, she decided that it wasn’t all that slimy. She tentatively picked up one long piece and tore off the end. She placed it in her mouth.
