Day Eleven: The Mysterious Rabbit Corpse

I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling right now! Even though I’m standing here under the sunlight, I feel as though I’ve stepped into an icy cellar. My mind is in chaos, and I even begin to doubt whether I’m still lost in some hallucination. The scene before me sends chills down my spine.

A rabbit’s head lies alone by my side, the scent of blood so strong it churns my stomach. The blood has already stained the grass beneath it red, and countless insects are greedily feasting on the remains. Most of its body is gone, the ribs vanished, and deep bite marks are embedded in the torn flesh. This lonely rabbit’s head is only a few dozen meters from me. I don’t know how others would feel in this situation, but I can say that I am frozen in fear, almost stupefied.

Maybe it was ten minutes, maybe longer—I just stood there. Then a sudden gust of wind woke me, making me realize I should find something for self-defense, even if it might be useless. Yesterday’s hallucinations had left too deep a mark on me; now, any scene like this immediately brings tigers to mind.

Thankfully, the wind sobered me a little, and reason slowly returned. A tiger seemed unlikely; with prey like this, a tiger wouldn’t leave so much behind. But some carnivorous beast was almost certainly the culprit. My mind raced with possibilities: wolves? Leopards? Bears? Or perhaps some other ferocious animal I’d never seen? Or maybe someone else was on this island, trying to intimidate me? My thoughts spun wildly.

In the end, I decided to return to my shelter as soon as possible, to reinforce and improve it. I picked up what I considered a very thick branch and started walking back. I knew that unless I made preparations, I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Luckily, the sun was still high, but I still felt a chill. Yesterday’s visions had been too real; even now, among the trees, I felt as if a tiger might appear at any moment.

A branch snapped in the wind—a simple sound, but it startled me badly. Cold sweat soaked my back. I started to run, as fast as my still-healing foot would allow, ignoring the pain. The wind howled past my ears.

At last, I reached the shelter, collapsing onto my “bed” and resting for a long time until my breath slowed. I had to stick to my plan; the sun was already dipping westward, and I didn’t have much time left. I got up and headed into the woods, gathering every branch I could find.

Gather, pile, gather, pile—again and again. Fortunately, the recent flood had knocked down many small trees nearby, making them easy for me to drag back. Some were simply too heavy for me to manage, so I left them for another time.

Then I got to work. I stuck the longer branches evenly around the “bed,” leaving a gap of three finger-widths between each pair. It wasn’t for lack of trying to make it denser—if I did, I’d quickly run out of branches. Next came the vines; there were plenty of those. I soon brought back several bundles and wove them in S-shapes through the branches to hold them in place. Luckily, the vines were thick but very tough. I secured one at the base of the branches and another near the top. Any leftover short branches I wedged into the gaps for extra strength.

Looking at the finished little fence, I was quite satisfied. My shelter now resembled a small house—roofless, but still, a home. Then an idea struck me. I went out and gathered even more vines, nearly stripping the area bare within a hundred meters. I tied one end of a vine to a small tree I’d dragged over and tossed the other end onto the “roof” of my little house. I looped it over and tied it to another small tree, both trees leaning against the fence. I repeated this with several more vines. Finally, I covered the top with palm leaves I’d collected before falling from the tree days ago.

Perfect! Though the house wasn’t truly perfect, I was immensely satisfied—for the first time, it felt like a home. I couldn’t bear to waste the extra vines, so I wound them around the little house again and again. I gave it a few gentle shoves; it was solid. I used the leftover branches, sticking them into the ground at an angle outside the house, hoping they would deter wild animals.

As the setting sun cast its golden light and darkness prepared to descend, I suddenly realized a crucial problem—I’d forgotten to make a door. I couldn’t get in. I wanted to slap myself. How could I forget something so important? With night falling fast, it was too late to build a door now. All I could do was pull out the branches I’d stuck into the ground, one by one.

The vines made it difficult, and it took me great effort to pull out just three branches. At last, as night fully fell, I got inside. I shoved the branches back in haphazardly, leaving them loose and wobbly. “Ah well, it’ll have to do for now,” I told myself.

I lit a fire and began to eat dinner. I was getting tired of these red fruits, though I longed for something else. I would never go out at night, so I told myself, “I’ll look for more food tomorrow.”

Then, suddenly, a series of sharp noises sounded just outside my “house.” “Clack, clack, clack.” Goosebumps prickled my skin, and my heavy breaths made me feel even more suffocated. The noises continued, along with the sound of something heavy being dragged. Fear transformed within me, morphing into anger. Yes, anger! Whatever it was, if it wanted to come for me, it should just come—why keep tormenting me with these threats?

Rage took over, and I became fearless. I grabbed a thick branch, shoved aside the sticks, and charged out.

“Damn!” I couldn’t help but curse, for I saw an incredible sight.

A giant coconut crab was struggling to drag away my suitcase! It was actually stealing from me! My belongings!

I snatched the suitcase away, ignoring its raised pincers, and slammed the case down hard, jumping on top with all my strength. A crunching sound—and just like that, it became my prey.

Coconut crab meat is delicious. Tonight, I placed the meat into the big coconut I’d found earlier and simmered it in coconut water—coconut-crab stew! No one could have guessed how delicious it would be: tender, sweet, silky, and springy. I swear, it was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in my life!