Day 09: Tsunami Alert!

Last night I slept horribly, the worst I’ve done since arriving in Fiji. When my body finally collapsed onto my mattress I was only seconds away from dreaming. My eyes easily fell heavy and my conscience seamlessly slipped from wakefulness to sleep. I was ready to recuperate from the day before and eager to wake up refreshed. Just as I bid the living world goodbye I was struck by the first of many annoyances.

BZzzzzzzzzz. BZzzzzzzzz. My hand lazily swatted around my face. I quickly turned over and fell back into slumber. Than again the pesky fly came buzzing around my head, shifting from one ear to the other. Again I threw my hands in the air dissuading the persistent bug away from me. Over and over he came back, and in my half conscience state I was unable to fight against him effectively. Instead I kept on swatting my hands and pillow lazily in the air wondering the entire time whether the fly was attacking me in my dreams or in real life.

Persistent and constant were the attacks. I had become quite tired and annoyed early on in this game. This bug, no bigger than a toenail clipping, was embarrassing me worse than Dale does at right foot left foot. And as my aimless flails flung fruitlessly, I began to perceive the next noise that would further hinder my sleep.

A long deep howl haunting the night repeated itself again and again somewhere far off on the small Fiji Island. What little sleep I now had became riddled with dreadful distorted images of a crimson beast praying to the midnight sky.

In response to this treacherous call to the gods other creatures took onto reciting the same prayer. From all directions the noises came, some close, some far, but none as pronounced and as powerful as the first. Cleary, I thought with a groggy mind, this is no country for light sleepers.

I tossed and turned, swatted and swung. But no matter what I did the torments would not cease. All through the devils night I went from dream to wake, not knowing which was which. The full moon, as I supposed it must have been, shone a dark deep blue shadow across the land for what seemed both a day and a night combined. And when it was finally ushered away behind the tree covered mountains calmness once again returned to my side of the world.

In replace of this serenity was light; Big blasting beams of light crashing through my windows, practically burning the paper thin drapes to nothing. As if God himself had flicked a switch, my room was invaded by light like a wave coming down on a sand castle. It was morning, and with the first peace I’d felt all night it was time to wake up. Though I fought against it for as many minutes as I could, it was inevitable. I was up.

I wake to find I am not the only thing stirring at such an early hour. The phone rings, and its Dale’s newspaper. “Heading in early?” I ask him, but find the reality to be quite the opposite. “No man, they told me to stay home… there’s a tsunami warning for Fiji and were safer on higher ground where we are”. Neither of us knows how to take the news, but just sort of accept the dark threat.

I continue to make breakfast, which turns out deliciously, while Dale checks for updates on the internet. As I flip the eggs over and get the ham and onion ready for a quick sizzling, Dale is busy finding out just how much danger we might be in.

“Good news Hart” he tells me as I bring the sandwiches and fruit bowls out to the table. “The Fiji times says that the Tsunami warning has passed”. We sit down to eat, “and what’d the Daily Post have to say”.

“Well they don’t have any updates posted yet, probably because their internets out again… or just still out.” we both have a laugh. As if just to add to the joke Dale will find out later this same day that the phones are out of order as well.

After breakfast Dale gets the call for a story to do while I laze around the house enjoying another day off. My agenda consists of studying, a little Naruto watching, an episode of The Sopranos in Spanish, and a little tedious computer troubleshooting. Not as fun as going to the beach, which was the original plan, but a good day none the less.

To finish off the night we do some grocery shopping, get delicious creamy coconut buns, and live a few more hours in the lives of New York City homicide detectives in the form of the wire; and so passes another day on the pacific island.