Psychologist Neil is a civilian embedded with a division of Marines sent out as part of a peacekeeping mission overseas in the Pacific. When the local political situation erupts into open civil war, the American troops are ordered to evacuate. Neil escapes in a small plane, along with several military personnel. The plane crashes into the sea, with only Neil and a Marine surviving. They're swept over a reef and deposited in the lagoon of a deserted island. As they work together to survive in the hopes of being rescued, mutual respect warms into friendship. But Neil's feelings grow deeper, and he keeps them hidden from his companion. How would the Marine react if he knew the feelings Neil harbors for him? Can what they share in isolation carry over if -- or when -- they're rescued?

Marooned with a Marine

I took the club, and the slate knife, as well as the pack—to put any fruit in.


I did not find other fruit, though I found more plantain trees, but I found something else.


I was attracted by curious smell to a viscous liquid oozing down the trunk of a palm tree from a kind of wound higher up, near the leaves—caused perhaps by a climbing animal or bird.


I touched the liquid with a fingertip, and smelled it. It smelled sweet. So, I tasted it.


Immediately the idea came to me, of tapping these palm trees the way they tap maple trees in Canada—to make maple syrup. The idea was attractive because a bit of this stuff would liven up any meal that involved plantain and breadfruit.


I had brought with me a hollowed-out half coconut shell, and some of the tough para cord from the survival kit—just in case. Now I realized that I could, with the use of these items and some leaves, build a catch basin for the sweet palm sap.


Chapter 19