Read Online The Other Side of Nowhere by Stephen Johnston - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen Johnston
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if expecting to see a rescue plane appear at any moment. ‘I hope so. You think we have time for a swim?’
‘Sure,’ I said.
Without warning she pushed me so hard I rolled over onto the sand just as she sprang to her feet ‘Race you!’
George stripped down to her bikini and raced towards the water. Wrestling with my shirt as I ran, I only just managed to grab her as she was about to dive in. She squealed as the force of my tackle pushed us both under and as we surfaced a school of tiny baitfish darted out of our way.
We splashed and dived and bombed and laughed our way along the shoreline and then floated back with the current. I watched the way she glided through the water effortlessly, how the sun made her wet skin glisten. She stood up in the water to retie her hair and flashed me a wide smile. She really was stunningly pretty. I felt a familiar sensation, which always ended with me having to remind myself she was my cousin and if I was being truthful, I wished she wasn’t.
I could have happily hung out with her all day, just the two of us. So when Matt and Nick finally appeared on the beach I felt a little annoyed. As soon as he spotted us, Matt raced into the water, and Nick plonked himself down on the sand.
The three of us mucked around for a bit, splashing each other and bodysurfing waves. At one point, Matt swam up behind me and said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve found a warm spot.’
I splashed him in his goofy face, and happened to catch a glimpse of Nick, sitting alone on the beach as I did so. With a departing wave over my shoulder, I waded ashore and headed over to him.
Walking up the beach, I started to feel uneasy again. The vision of Nick drifting away was still fixed in my head. He was sitting, flicking sand with a stick. He didn’t look up as I sat down beside him. Nick was not super easy to talk to in the mornings at the best of times, but he seemed even more stand-offish than normal.
‘How’s the shoulder?’ I said, after a moment’s silence.
‘Not bad,’ he replied, with a non-committal shrug.
I picked up a stick and started to break it into smaller pieces. ‘Water’s nice. You should have a swim.’
‘Yeah, maybe later,’ he said without enthusiasm. ‘How’s George?’
‘She’s good. I guess we were pretty lucky, huh?’
Nick nodded absently. Even though part of me felt like this was a pretty typical ‘new day’ type conversation with Nick, something was different. He was avoiding talking to me, I was sure of it. All of a sudden I felt all tongue-tied, like I was trying to start a conversation with a stranger. It was a welcome distraction when Matt came bounding over and sprayed us both with a shower of water, like a dog after a bath.
‘This is unreal,’ he said slashing the air with a piece of driftwood. ‘I’m Robinson Caruso!’
‘Crusoe, idiot. Robinson Crusoe ,’ I said, smearing water off my face.
Matt ignored me and speared his stick into a fat clump of seaweed. ‘What’s for breakfast?’ he asked. ‘I’m starving.’
‘Why don’t you catch us a fish, Caruso?’
‘Yeah, that’d be cool! Bet I could, too,’ he replied, lifting the seaweed into the air on the end of the stick. ‘Or maybe a wild pig? D’you reckon there are pigs on the island?’
‘Ah …’ I began.
‘Hey!’ Matt said, suddenly with manic enthusiasm. ‘I saw this show once, where this plane crashes into a mountain and they have, like, no food at all. So they’re hungry, right? Like starving hungry actually. You know, after a few days of eating just bugs and stuff … So, guess what? Guess what they did?’ he looked at both Nick and me, excitedly. ‘They ate each other.’
‘Who’s eating each other?’ asked George, sitting down beside me.
I threw a piece of broken stick at Matt, which he ducked easily. ‘Caruso boy, there’s not enough hunger in the universe for me to ever eat your stinking feet.’
‘As if,’ Matt said, waving his seaweed stick into my face.
‘Sure,’ I said.
Without warning she pushed me so hard I rolled over onto the sand just as she sprang to her feet ‘Race you!’
George stripped down to her bikini and raced towards the water. Wrestling with my shirt as I ran, I only just managed to grab her as she was about to dive in. She squealed as the force of my tackle pushed us both under and as we surfaced a school of tiny baitfish darted out of our way.
We splashed and dived and bombed and laughed our way along the shoreline and then floated back with the current. I watched the way she glided through the water effortlessly, how the sun made her wet skin glisten. She stood up in the water to retie her hair and flashed me a wide smile. She really was stunningly pretty. I felt a familiar sensation, which always ended with me having to remind myself she was my cousin and if I was being truthful, I wished she wasn’t.
I could have happily hung out with her all day, just the two of us. So when Matt and Nick finally appeared on the beach I felt a little annoyed. As soon as he spotted us, Matt raced into the water, and Nick plonked himself down on the sand.
The three of us mucked around for a bit, splashing each other and bodysurfing waves. At one point, Matt swam up behind me and said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve found a warm spot.’
I splashed him in his goofy face, and happened to catch a glimpse of Nick, sitting alone on the beach as I did so. With a departing wave over my shoulder, I waded ashore and headed over to him.
Walking up the beach, I started to feel uneasy again. The vision of Nick drifting away was still fixed in my head. He was sitting, flicking sand with a stick. He didn’t look up as I sat down beside him. Nick was not super easy to talk to in the mornings at the best of times, but he seemed even more stand-offish than normal.
‘How’s the shoulder?’ I said, after a moment’s silence.
‘Not bad,’ he replied, with a non-committal shrug.
I picked up a stick and started to break it into smaller pieces. ‘Water’s nice. You should have a swim.’
‘Yeah, maybe later,’ he said without enthusiasm. ‘How’s George?’
‘She’s good. I guess we were pretty lucky, huh?’
Nick nodded absently. Even though part of me felt like this was a pretty typical ‘new day’ type conversation with Nick, something was different. He was avoiding talking to me, I was sure of it. All of a sudden I felt all tongue-tied, like I was trying to start a conversation with a stranger. It was a welcome distraction when Matt came bounding over and sprayed us both with a shower of water, like a dog after a bath.
‘This is unreal,’ he said slashing the air with a piece of driftwood. ‘I’m Robinson Caruso!’
‘Crusoe, idiot. Robinson Crusoe ,’ I said, smearing water off my face.
Matt ignored me and speared his stick into a fat clump of seaweed. ‘What’s for breakfast?’ he asked. ‘I’m starving.’
‘Why don’t you catch us a fish, Caruso?’
‘Yeah, that’d be cool! Bet I could, too,’ he replied, lifting the seaweed into the air on the end of the stick. ‘Or maybe a wild pig? D’you reckon there are pigs on the island?’
‘Ah …’ I began.
‘Hey!’ Matt said, suddenly with manic enthusiasm. ‘I saw this show once, where this plane crashes into a mountain and they have, like, no food at all. So they’re hungry, right? Like starving hungry actually. You know, after a few days of eating just bugs and stuff … So, guess what? Guess what they did?’ he looked at both Nick and me, excitedly. ‘They ate each other.’
‘Who’s eating each other?’ asked George, sitting down beside me.
I threw a piece of broken stick at Matt, which he ducked easily. ‘Caruso boy, there’s not enough hunger in the universe for me to ever eat your stinking feet.’
‘As if,’ Matt said, waving his seaweed stick into my face.
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