CHAPTER 22 – FRIDAY

The prisoner is running directly to my tree. But he doesn’t see me. I don’t move.

Then he runs around me. I’m still behind the tree.

When the first cannibal runs close to me, I jump from behind the tree. He is shocked. I shoot him. The second cannibal sees this. He tries to shoot an arrow at me. I have to shoot him too.

The prisoner stops when he hears the gun. He turns. He is scared.

I smile at him. I show him that it’s OK to come closer. He comes to me. He goes down to his knees. He puts his head on the ground. Then he takes my foot. He puts my foot on his head. I show him that he can stand up.

He stands up. He looks at the dead cannibals. He goes to their bodies. He looks at the holes in their bodies. He probably can’t understand why the canniblas are dead. It’s unbelievable for him.

He takes the arrows from the dead men. We take the bodies of the cannibals. We hide the bodies in the forest near. Then we go to the deeper forest.

I take the man to my cave. The cave is my secret. Nobody can find us there. I give him bread, meat and some water. He is very tired. He sleeps immediately.

I have an opportunity to look at him. I see that he is young, slim but very strong. I think that he is about 25 years old. He has long black hair, dark skin and a pleasant face.

I let him sleep and I go outside. I sit near the cave. And I watch the space around the cave. Some canniblas can come and look for us. But they don’t come.

Three hours later, the man comes out of the cave. He shows me how happy he is that he is alive and safe.

I speak to him. I give him a name. His name is Friday because it’s Friday today. I tell him my name and I teach him “yes” and “no”.

We stay in the cave at night. The next day, we go on top of the hill. I see through my telescope that the canoes are gone. We are alone on the island.

We go carefully to the beach. First, we go to the place with the bodies of the dead cannibals.

When we find them, Friday wants to eat them. I’m angry. I show to Friday that it’s not good to eat them. Here I understand that Friday is also a cannibal.

We bury the cannibals. Then we walk to the beach. What we see is horrible. There are human bones on the sand. The sand is red with blood.

We collect all the body parts. We prepare a big fire. I want to burn the body parts in the fire.

We go to my house. I make a little tent for Friday. The tent is between the two fences which are around my house.

I’m a little scared. I don’t know if Friday can hurt me.

After some time, I see that I don’t have to be scared. Friday is a very good man. He is like a son. And I’m like a father for him. In many situations later, he shows me that he wants to give his life for me.

I’m very happy that I have Friday on the island. I begin to teach him. I teach him what he needs to know about life like a European.

First, I teach him some new words. I start with hi, hello, bye, thank you. It isn’t easy at the beginning. But I’m patient. I’m happy that I can speak to somebody.

WORDS FROM CHAPTER 22