“Captain Gus, we are low on resources sir!” Waves hit the side of our ship like they were angry. It was almost impossible for a man to stand still. Thunder roared up in the sky. Whales the size of towers passed by. “Sir?” “Enough!” Gus looked terrified and angry at the same time. This wasn’t his idea of a “voyage”. Gus had two options. Either we could go exploring more and potentially find an island. Or we could go all the way back to where we started. But the second option could potentially take weeks and we couldn’t last that long. Gus was in deep thought. It looked like he was battling himself. “We will find an island ahead!” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself it would be okay. Would it?
“Captain, we just lost Daniel!” Gus took his glasses out. His mouth moved but there were no words. “Don’t let his corpse rot. Dump him. Dump him now!” His heavy body made a big splash through the water. He was one of the many men that had starved to death. We had all accepted our fate. But not Gus, he could never give up. Deep down he knew that we would survive. “Gus, we are all going to rot.” “We will survive Jack” “How! Will food fall out of the sky?” We sailed even deeper into the ocean. Gus was the only one left waiting. “Jack, prepare to stop the ship.” In front of us: an island. We were so happy we started kissing and hugging each other. The minute we got on the island we were like apes. Jumping around and eating anything and everything we laid eyes on. Gus looked like he had just eaten and wasn’t really hungry. He really was a fascinating man. Imagine growing up in a poor family, in a poor country and by the time you were 23 you were one of the richest sailors that ever set foot. He always had a little smirk on his face. It is said that when Gus was little he ran away from his home and hunted for food. Then at 14 he got caught and served as a slave. He escaped again but this time with his owner’s money. First he started off by selling simple silverware. He then realised that he was a marvellous persuader. Gus could manipulate you into setting your own house on fire. He became rich with businesses like selling guns. But he was never satisfied. Then one day he came to a big realisation. Like Christopher Columbus, he too burnt with the desire to set sail to the vast and discover foreign land. We set up a big warm fire. Everybody felt fantastic. Laughs echoed through the forest. “Boys wake up! Wake up” Gus screamed at the top of his lungs. The natives had surrounded us. A spear was right beside his face. He looked neither scared nor sad. He almost knew this was coming his way.
They took us to their temple. Women were screaming and praying to their so-called “gods”. The tribe leader came. “Welcome Gus. It has been a while.” He opened his mouth wide and smiled. I looked at the crew and they were speechless. The silence felt like hours. “This is between you and me. My men are not a part of this. You will not punish them!” The native started laughing. He wiped his mouth. In a deep and serious tone “I am afraid that option got off the table when you set our homes on fire and ran away.” I looked at the vast beautiful sky. The bird I saw had huge wings. I don’t know the exact reason why but I always loved looking at birds. They always seemed so elegant. “What did it feel like, Gus?” “Not as good as I expected but decent.” Gus took a deep breath. I saw him sweat for the first time. “Gentlemen, it has been an honour.”