The Island of Damar

hammering it down with rain. I knew this

because I could hear the rain drops

bouncing of the roof of the plane.

Touchdown. We had landed. We floated

along the surface for some time before we

came to a complete stop. I looked out of the

cabin window and stared amazingly at a

huge cliff that towered above the left hand

side of the   sea plane, I could not see the

top of it. There was nothing else to be seen.

My dad rose from his seat and turned round

to face us,

"Well then, we're here," he said as if we

were to be really excited. Me and my brother

both looked at him as if to say 'woopey-doo!'

My dad turned back round and headed

towards the door and begun to open it. Once

this was done he grabbed his binoculars

which he had been looking through most of

the journey whilst making notes, he looked

into the distance.

It was sometime before he shouted, "I can

see them, they're coming straight for us!"

Meanwhile Pete was taking all the cases

from the overhead lockers and was placing

them in a pile at the front of the plane. I

looked out of the plane window once more

and spotted a small, yellow, rubber boat

fighting against the treacherous waves to

make its way to the plane. In it was a man

dressed in a orange kagool. After some

fighting, the boat reached the entrance to the

plane.

"You must be Doctor Shaw?" asked my dad

loudly, competing against the noise of the

waves.

"Yes, that's right. Climb aboard," shouted

the strange looking man.

My dad jumped aboard and almost lost his

balance as a huge monstrous wave came

from behind the boat. Pete tossed all our

luggage to my dad who was piling them up

in one corner. Once this had been done,

Pete himself jumped aboard. I walked

hesitantly towards the door and stood for a

moment watching the rain hammering into

the sea. I turned round and faced Sam, the

pilot, who I had become quite friendly with.

"Good bye then", he said, trying not to laugh,

"and good luck!"

I smiled at him, turned round and daintily

made my way on board the boat. That was

it, there was no way of turning back now. I

turned and looked at the plane, taxiing into

the dull fog which had fallen.

"What?" I bawled at the top of my voice.

"This is your home for the next 10 weeks."

I looked down at a pile of raw materials:

wood, palm leaves and a huge sheet of

tarpaulin.

"You and your dad will have to build a

shelter."

That was it, I'd had enough. Not only did I

discover that there was no TV, computer or

telephone on Damar, but now I have to build

my own shelter. My dad had lied. He told me

the complete opposite. I decided enough

was enough i needed to get away from my

dad before all hell broke out. I walked over to

the shore and looked out at the waves

smashing against the rocks. I was dripping

wet and freezing cold. I made a huge X out

of pebbles in the sand and walked to the left

of me. As long as I kept to the shore line, I

could turn round at any time and walk back

to the X and then I'd know I was back at

camp.

It felt as if I'd been walking for miles. The

shore line was rocky and in some places

sandy. After some time I came to a stop and

sat down on what looked to be a makeshift

bench at the top of the cliff that I first saw

when I had landed. I was there for a long

while. The rain had got worse and it had

begun to hail, they were not huge hail stones

but big enough.

"Hi there, I'm Jak!" called a voice from

behind. I jumped up, scared stiff. I didn't

know whether to turn around or not. Before I

could, the person named Jak appeared at

the side of me. He held his hand out as if

waiting for me to shake it. I pulled my hand

out of my jeans pocket and held his hand. I

couldn't move it, it was as if they were frozen

solid.

"They're freezing," he shrieked, "here, take

my gloves."

I took the gloves from his held out hand and

struggled to put them on.

"I'm Doctor Shaw's son. You?" asked Jak.

"I'm Rhia. Rhia Langton," replied Rhia

politely.

"Oh, your new here aren't you?"

"Yep, I just arrived today."

The conversation seized while we looked

each other up and down. He was gorgeous.

He had short black hair and had huge, dark

brown eyes with long eyelashes. He looked

about early 20's and had a well tanned body.

"I've been here 6 months now," he said.

"Really."

"Yeah. How long are you planning to stay?"

"I think my dad said about 10 weeks."

"Cool, I'll have to get to know you more

then."

"Likewise."

"I think I'll start by telling you about me then,"

said Jak, "I'm 22 and i'm a dentist. Well at

least I will be, when I get back to England.

I've been offered a job."

"Oh really, lucky you," said Rhia, shocked, "

Well I'm 19 and currently have a job at

McDonald's. Slightly different to you eh?"

Jak trying not to laugh replied, "yeah! well

it's better than nothing?"

"I suppose so, it's only until I find another

job."

We spoke for some time and we had got to

know each other extremely well before Rhia

decided to make her way back to camp

whilst holding Jak's hand.

When i arrived back at camp, my dad and

brother had built their hut and were  both

sitting round a red hot fire at the foot of the

hut. Jak however had already made his way

back to his hut after a kiss at the edge of the

shore.

"You're back then? Finally over your little

tiff?" asked Jay.

I walked slowly towards the logs that

surrounded the fire which had been used for

benches and sat down.

"So, do you want the guided tour?" asked

Pete.

"Sure!" replied Rhia.

I couldn't sleep that night. Not only was it

because of the rain gushing down on the

tarpaulin but my tooth was still hurting from

the frozen cheese cake on the plane. I had

never felt so much pain in my life. After a

long wait, I finally drifted into a restless

slumber.

Two weeks have gone now. The weather is

at its hottest and my tan is coming along

great. The island wasn't as bad as I though it

was when I first arrived. In fact, I love it. I'm

getting on really well with Jak now and we're

going out. The only problem is he has

spoken about taking our relationship a little

further. I don't know if I'm ready for it just yet.

I haven't as yet been down to the dig, my dad

doesn't want anyone going down until he's

given it the all clear (safety wise.)

Well, today's the day. I can finally go down

and see what all the fuss about Damar is all

about, I'm going down to the dig.

"Come on then!" shouted my dad.

I knelt down and picked up my bag and

some of my dads digging equipment and

followed him into the dark wilderness. My

tooth was at its worst today. I wasn't really in

the mood to go into a cramped, humid cave

full of archaeological diggers and have to dig

all day.

My dad and Pete were some amount of

metres ahead of me but didn't know how far

I was walking behind. I stopped, and

dropped my bags on the floor. Jak wasn't

going down to the dig today so I wasn't really

that bothered about going. He was spending

the day on Karachi beach. I've decided that I

am ready to take our relationship a little

further but it has to be at the right time in the

right place. I decided to make my way to the

beach to see if I could see him.

"Hi, how are you?" asked Jak

"I'm fine now I'm here with you. My dad

wanted to take me down to the dig today but

I'm not really that bothered. I'd rather be sun-

bathing on a beach with the one I love!"

replied Rhia.

I looked out at the sparkling blue water. I

could see the fish swimming around

elegantly below the surface. It was perfect.

"How's your tooth?"

"It's even worse today! it's really beginning to

bug me!"

"Give it time, it'll drop out soon, trust me, I'm

a dentist!"

He sat looking at me for some time as if he

thinking before he said, "Wait here, I'll be

back in a bit."

I knew what was about to happen, after all

we were in the perfect place for it. I tried to

calm myself but it wasn't working.

Some time later he returned with a smug

look on his face. He sat next to me and

wrapped his arms around my body.

"Lay back and close your eyes" he

whispered softly into my ear.

I did as he said and waited for him to say

something. He did the obvious. Before I let

him go any further I asked him, "will it hurt?"

"Of course not," he replied, "it's just a simple

process"

"I'm rather frightened, I've never done this

before."

He urged to continue, "It won't hurt much

more, just relax."

I was in a great deal of pain but dared not

show it. I felt tears come to my eyes. It's

hurting something awful.

"Calm yourself Rhia, open a little wider so I

can fit more in!"

Suddenly with a jerk I gave a screeching

shout.

"Now that's it, all over with," he slowly pulled

it out.

"Well what a relief, I think I'll enjoy my

holiday even more now that rotten tooth's

out!"