Adjusting to Island Life

As Mo Hu traveled back to his campsite, he contemplated his struggle of survival and listed his immediate needs. As the first need, shelter, was now secured, he began to identify the other essential necessities. Food and water were easy to note and his earlier explorations had identified many sources to include fish from the sea, fruits from trees, edible plants, small animals that could be hunted, and water from nearby streams. Protection emerged as the next imperative on his list, as he would have to leave the cave or hunt occasionally, it the strength of the beasts on the island was unknown. So he would need to carry weapons when he left, also he would need to secure the door to the cave since it was so easy to enter. To protect himself he would also have to explore, exploration itself was required to learn the island terrain, to identify new sources of food and fresh water, and spotlight potential human or nonhuman enemies or friends. Lastly, the least important priority was comfort. Mo Hu knew he would live on this island for years and there was no reason to affect his mental state by living in a miserable environment. He acknowledged the importance of comfort along side the other priorities and how providing a semblance of normalcy would maintain his well being.

Mo hu gathered his belongings and moved to the cave, placing his things into the room on the right and sat down at the table in the main room.

'Starting tomorrow, I'll wake up in the morning to spear fish, eat breakfast, and clean up. Then I need to go out and start mentally mapping the surrounding kilometer as a start and any fruits, vegetables, herbs, or other useful plants gathered will be a bonus. Since I brought all those seeds with me when I left the village, I should find a place to farm and I can use the forest and sea to supply food while the crops grow. Finally, a forest this size should have a population of smaller birds and animals, so I should set up a series of simple traps.' Mo hu strategized and for the first time in many weeks, he was able to lower his guard.

The next morning, Mo hu arrived at the beach and with little difficulty, secured enough fish for all his meals for the day. After washing up, he ate his first meal, grabbed his ghillie suit and a wooden spear and went out into the forest to gather food, check his traps, and map more of the surrounding terrain to memory. After he returned in late afternoon or early evening, he would use the culinary skills from past life to turn the island's offerings into flavorful meals, using only the minimum of herbs and spices. After dinner, he would have to bathe to maintain cleanlines, and he noticed that the filth that had been purged was not as pungent as before, with lesser amounts of fluids being excreted. He would finish the day exhausted and swiftly sleeping within minutes.

The next few months had Mo Hu settling into this routine and gradually he noticed changes within himself. The constant pressure on the island seemed to wane, and to help maintain cleanliness, he fashioned a simple wooden bathtub and used the water from the nearby stream for water. Originally, when he first arrived on the island and ate his meals here, the warmth that followed after was mainly centered in his lower abdomen. Over time, that warmth would spread through his bloodstream and into organs, muscles and bones. Then, one day, after his evening meal, he felt the sensation he was familiar with until it intensified from an unpleasant feeling to one of the most painful experiences of Mo Hu's life. Doing his best to endure, he grabbed the water skins he had previously prepared and headed to the beach where he stripped down and sat in the water. Just as the pain had pushed him to his knees, pungent black oily fluid dripped from every pore. He sat in place as his body was racked in excruciating pain, only moving to drink the water to stave off dehydration. Eventually, the pressure inside his body reached the limit he could endure when he physically felt the awkward sensation of something inside him popping. Instantly, it was followed by a series of pops covering every part of his body. The quickness of this chain of events nearly caused Mo Hu to faint and when the sensation was complete, his body was still for a few moments when the pressure he had felt on the island since he arrived lessened and was absorbed into his body. As he continued to absorb this unknown pressure, he noticed his body rapidly strengthening and after a few minutes the absorption stopped.

Mo Hu realized that he had undergone a profound change that seems to have unlocked some hidden potential that he couldn't fathom at this time. He strengthened his determination, slowly stood up and walked out of the ocean and back into the cave, his body as strange fusion of strength and exhaustion. Too tired to comprehend the changes he felt, Mo Hu ignored everything to lay down in his makeshift futon, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.