Episode 9

The Bunk

Tortoise stared at the bunk above him, which was empty. He stared at his scaly arms. After a while, he stared at the wooden wall. Someone had scratched a strange symbol into it, he couldn’t make out what.

He felt sick. Again. Not for the first time, he wondered why he had agreed to follow Gecko down to the beach. He already missed his house, and the little garden out the back. Who was going to water the plants? The plants would need watering. And had he closed the door? He went over it again. He was pretty sure he remembered closing the door, but he couldn’t remember if he’d locked it. Not that anyone would break in, of course. There was, after all, nothing that was worth stealing. Well, except maybe his collection of pebbles and stones. He thought about it some more. No, he probably hadn’t locked the door. In fact, as a general rule, he never locked the door. So he probably didn’t lock it this time. Why would he? He was just going out for a walk.

He felt sick.

What about the window? Did he close the window? Maybe. He didn’t remember closing it, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t closed it. Sometimes he just did things automatically, out of habit. And most of his days were very similar, he realised now. His morning meditation. Fetching water. Breakfast and so on…

He felt sick.

Still, it bothered him. Not being able to remember. And it hadn’t looked like rain. So if it did rain while he was away he should just accept that everything was going to get soaked. Because it was usually windy when it rained. So he would have to dry out the bedding, maybe even throw it out. Start over. But he usually shut the window, because you never knew when it was going to rain; he just couldn’t be sure that he did shut the window. And that’s what bothered him, he realised. Even more than the thought of starting again. Not being sure. He just wanted to be sure.

He felt sick.

There was no use thinking about it. It was like those caterpillars going round and round in a circle that time. The fact was he had gone down to the beach. He was on a ship. Not even the first ship. And he was seasick. He should probably eat some more of the herb Gary had given him, even though it tasted bitter. Then put out the lantern and try to get some more sleep. That would be the sensible thing to do.

Tortoise tried to muster the energy to get up. He felt seasick.

After a few minutes, he felt a bit better.

He tried again.

Tortoise woke up. It was pitch dark, but he could feel the ship moving and creaking, and after a moment he could hear paws in the hallway. A few moments later someone pushed aside the scrim and entered the room. They were kind of medium-sized with dark fur and a friendly face that seemed a bit worried.

They paused, and raised their lantern. Their whiskers twitched.

“Is everything okay?” Tortoise asked.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” they said shyly but a little curiously. “I heard you weren’t feeling well.”

“That’s okay,” Tortoise said. “I was already awake before you came in.”

They hung the lantern and sat down on the opposite bunk. The lantern swung a little, brightening and darkening the room. Tortoise sat up. The world tilted.

They seemed unsure of what to say. “I’m Song,” they said at last. “But I can’t sing,” they added after a moment. “Not very well. Everyone says so anyway.”

“Song’s a nice name,” Tortoise said, suddenly feeling bad for not saying anything. “I’m Tortoise. No one says anything about me.” He paused awkwardly. “Well, I think Gecko thinks I’m a bit boring. I mean, I am boring really. He’s much more interesting than I am. And I’m sure you can sing really well actually. And if not, I’m sure there are other things you can do.” Tortoise felt sick. He hoped he hadn’t said the wrong thing. He wasn’t very good at meeting people, he decided. At least not when he was sick on a pirate ship.

Song smiled. “Nice to meet you, Tortoise.”

Next episode: And So The Weeks Slid By…