It was laundry day, defined by Maureen having a pile of dirty clothes in the hut so high that she couldn't possibly justify getting anything new out of the clothes box. So she loaded up a sack and hefted it to the compound, where she spent a good twenty minutes sorting into vague piles of colors and delicates and then dumping them into washing ( Read more... )

It's strange, I find, that over and over again the condition of mortality yields new perspectives on a universe I've carried with me like a well gnawed silicon teat since my metaphorical toddlerhood. Here, my adoring and long suffering public, is something to consider: What is the weight of time? Can one assign some physical value to it? How many ( Read more... )

There was only so much a boy could stand. Patience, as much as it may astound people, was not one of Trevor's more defining attributes. He'd been trying though, but he'd reached his limit. Just sitting around all sodding day waiting for the juice of his eyeballs to dry up in the sun was not the kind of life he was equipped to be living. He'd tried ( Read more... )

Boredom was quickly becoming one of the most common and most parasitic moods in use while on the island. Trevor was fighting it as best he could, but with there usually being nothing to actually do, his effort seemed to be wasted half of the time. When the days were especially hot, it was like being wrapped in a warm blanket that he couldn't get ( Read more... )

The diversity of life in the tropical climate was not limited to the people. Mammals, insects, reptiles, birds and fish were all of interest to one with a curiosity to study. Ayla had learned that word early on. Study. She had studied the creatures habits to know what to hunt and what to avoid. One creature had eluded her because it kept to the ( Read more... )

Trevor couldn't decide what he should be doing ( Read more... )

While perhaps it was not an occasion to rival the dances she and her sisters had attended at home, Jane was very much proud of this, her fourth endeavour upon the Island. It was very much alike in the setting as her previous gatherings had been with food and drink aligning the sides of a space portioned for dancing and with the aid of radios, they ( Read more... )

The only thing that could make this day worse was if Asher's pretty prancing horse decided it needed to take Wednesday for a ride ( Read more... )

House had been in pretty good spirits, generally. After all, he got to diagnose malaria and treat it with wormwood, how cool is that? Of course, all that was before he woke up this morning with some distinct discomfort. The sort of discomfort that had caused him to wince and pull down the sheets and snap up the waistband of his boxers to have a ( Read more... )

Bob liked food, but he always had that. He also liked playing. He knew the others couldn't fly like he could, and that was sad, but Bart would come up with games they could play. This one was really fun, too. Bart had made wooden dowels, sanded smooth so that they didn't cause splinters, and would throw them. The only problem was he seemed to ( Read more... )