Outcast Island

Outcast Island Chapter 4

“You look like a warrior. Strong and scarred.” She said as she inched closer.

“I was at one time. I have never let my blindness keep me from doing the things men with eyes are able to do. I was born blind in one eye and was taken as a prisoner of war for a time. My captors blinded my other eye and forced me into manual labor. So now I am blind in both eyes, and cast out from my captors to an island with a woman I have all the time in the world to get to know!”

“I suppose we are alike then. You were born half blind, and I was born with only one arm.” She said.

“I do not see it like that!” He said with exuberance. “The gods made a perfect eye and placed it in my head. It was so perfect they thought it unfair to the rest of the world to give me another, lest all the men grow jealous! And you! You were born with the most singularly perfect arm! The gods made it and said, ‘it is so perfect she does not need another!’”

She said nothing, but a smile slowly started creeping over her face.

“Tell me,” he said. “You did not allow others in your life to shame you and keep you from doing everything that two armed people attempt, did you?”

She smiled. “No! As a young girl I could climb any tree as fast as any boy! I cut the coconuts just as well as they did!”

“That is impressive! So you are as strong as your voice is beautiful!” He said, with his chin high in the air, praise flowing from his lips.

She smiled. Then asked, “You said you learned many things other men do not learn. What did you learn while you were blind and a captive?”

“I’ve learned many things! I can weave mats and baskets just as well as I can sew and mend fishing nets. Since I was blinded, my other senses have become highly tuned. I can prepare food without even tasting it. My sense of smell lets me know the food is spiced right, and my hearing lets me know when it is cooked to perfection!”

“Well then, I shall let you cook because I am terrible at it! I was never allowed into the kitchen! That wicked grandmother only ever gave me the leftover scraps that even the dogs would not eat. Most of my food I ate, raw from the garden.” She said with a tinge of spite.

“Then you have eaten very healthy! If you know how to garden, and you wish to stay alive on this island, we could have a very nice life together. I can be your strong-scarred warrior and build and cook whatever you wish. Whatever you may need done, if you are not able to fulfill yourself, then I shall do it! Although to garden with only one hand, I should say, swinging a hoe or a scythe, that takes skill. You may not even need my assistance! You have learned to do these things with only one arm?” He asked with a smile.

“Yes, of course! I can do most things like any woman can. I may not be as graceful or elegant as two armed women, but I still find a way.”

“Who cares about grace and elegance? Are those not just impressions of two armed people? What do they know of elegance with one arm? Have you ever thought; what elegance would look like if all people had one arm? Wouldn’t people with two arms seem strange? What taunts and ridicule from two armed people would have meaning if all people only had one arm? I think this, about people with two eyes that can see! If they had no eyes to see with, they would realize that beauty in the world comes in many other forms. They do not perceive this beauty, so I do not allow their words to affect me!”

“Your weakness has made you strong of heart.” She said meekly.

“Thank-you. I am sure that yours has strengthened you as well.” He said humbly.

“What is your age?” She asked

“Thirty five. Yours?”

“A bit younger. Not that it matters.” She said.