Story+1

//(The REAL answer to the riddle)// “Fire up the engines! Full steam ahead!” Orders rang through the crisp ocean air. The crew of the //Arcadia// was finally out in the open ocean. Upon hearing the shouts, Logan Perry opened the cabin door and looked out into the sunlight. He took a few steps outside, letting his eyes adjust to the dramatic contrast. Although the waters were rather rough today, Logan stood as easily as any normal man might stand on dry land. He strode over to the railing and leaned over the ship’s side, taking in the vast, open sky and the cool, clear Florida waters, glistening with sunlight. Their voyage had departed from Destin, Florida, and had set out to chart new areas of the Caribbean that had yet to be explored. The crisp breeze of the ocean glided across Logan’s face and through his hair, and he breathed in the familiar scent of the salty water. He could finally bask in the freedom that only the open ocean could offer. “Admiring all the beautiful scenery?” a voice said behind him. Logan smiled and turned around to see Jake Simmons, Logan’s friend and roommate from the University of Phoenix, where they had both studied botany. “Nothing like it,” Logan responded as he gazed admiringly off into the distance. “I never really saw the beauty; blue never was one of my favorite colors,” Jake said, chuckling. Logan smiled again, thinking of the differences between him and the person he was standing next to. Jake had always been more interested in the practical aspect of everything; he had joined this expedition to be one of the few who could say they had sailed into uncharted sectors of the world. Logan simply loved the sea, and saw this journey as a chance to admire the great body of water beneath them, and to possibly unlock some of its mysteries. After admiring the sunset in silence (even Jake could appreciate that), the two friends went down into the cafeteria to eat a quick dinner of brown beans and what looked like a combination of all the unwanted leftovers from yesterday molded into a hockey puck-like patty. Nobody spent very much time in the cafeteria; the food was abysmal, and the smell was just as bad. As Logan climbed up into the bunk bed above Jake, who was already snoring, he stopped to think for a moment. He was excitedly anticipating the crew’s first sighting of an uncharted island, which was expected to be tomorrow afternoon. He fell asleep to the rocking of the waves, reminding himself one last time of how lucky he was to be part of this exploration. Logan was abruptly awakened by a horrible screeching noise. He sat up in bed and covered his ears; the noise was like nothing he had ever heard. It came from all around him, a groaning, high-pitched wail that was so unnerving and disorienting that it seemed like the walls of the room were closing in on him. Wait—he thought as the realization suddenly hit him—the walls //were// closing in. Without a moment’s hesitation, Logan jumped from the bunk, amidst mumbles of sleepy confusion that were quickly turning into alarmed shouts. Jake was already running out the door, and shouted “Hurry up!” back to Logan. Logan sprinted after him. The two of them burst through the cabin doors as the ship groaned and started to crack around them. As they continued to run down the main deck, Logan glanced back and saw a sheer, black cliff getting closer and closer to him. “We’re almost to the end of the boat!” Logan exclaimed in premature triumph; suddenly, the floor gave out from under the two men. Logan shouted in astonishment, finding himself unexpectedly falling through the air. His head connected with a protruding plank as he was falling, and everything went dark. When Logan came to, he first noticed the wetness. Every inch of his clothes was soaked completely through, but he was on dry land. Jake, who was kneeling next to Logan, let out a sigh of relief when Logan opened his eyes. Logan attempted to roll over to see Jake better, but this was met with excruciating pain. He looked down and saw his leg bent at his knee at a very unusual angle. No bone was visible, and there didn’t seem to be any blood, but boy, did it hurt. “Whoa there, don’t try to move around too fast! Looks like your leg’s messed up pretty bad. Still though…it’s nice to have you back, man.” Jake’s expression mirrored his words. He was scared, but reassured now that he wasn’t alone. Logan, realizing his situation, suddenly had hundreds of urgent questions. “Where were the others? What happened to the boat; is it fixable? Why didn’t we see this coming? How will we—” “Hey, listen.” Jake interrupted. “I don’t know anything yet, it’s still dark here, and my first priority was you. I’m going to go looking around the boat for anyone I can find, okay?” Logan offered to help, but as he propped himself upright, he grimaced in pain. Jake forced Logan back down and said, “No, no, you just relax here, I’ll be back soon.” With this, he left Logan staring after him, watching as he continued down the beach. He kept walking, and as he walked further, the gentle slope of the sand began to turn into steep, jagged cliffs. Jake disappeared around a corner, and Logan was left sitting helplessly on the beach. “Logan, wake up!” Jake prodded him awake. Logan awoke with a start; he must have fallen asleep again. It was daytime now, and the sun brought the island to life. The sand had a slight reddish tint, with speckles of occasional black, and it had a very fine, soft texture. The trees were all bright green, and there were even some exotic purple and orange flowers growing further inland. The wind was blowing gently, which was relieving, because even the morning sun beat down on the stranded travelers powerfully. Logan looked around him. He and Jake were still alone, except for a few crates and a pile of blankets. “These were all I could salvage.” Logan looked at Jake, whose expression was defeated. “Everyone’s //dead,// man. Everyone. Except for Oscar here.” He leaned toward the pile of blankets and lifted one to reveal a short, rotund man who was sleeping peacefully. “I found him in the wreckage,” Jake explained. “He…he was the only one with a pulse. He’s still unconscious, though.” Logan looked over at Oscar. No member of the crew had particularly liked Oscar. He wasn’t very personable, and his cooking certainly hadn’t made him famous. Jake, who had come from an upper-class family and who had always been fed well, had a special dislike for Oscar. “What’s in the crates there?” asked Logan. Jake sighed. “There’s just all the bottled water and a few other supplies in there. The whole kitchen storage…well the boat is pretty much destroyed, half of it’s completely gone…and the food was in the ‘gone’ half.” He paused, letting this dire information sink in. “I’ll go explore this island we’re stuck on for the time being. I’ll be back before dark.” Logan flopped back down on his back. They were stuck on an unknown island without a scrap of food. He looked over at Oscar, whose mouth was sagging open as he slept. //Who knows//, Logan thought, //he’s never done anything else right; maybe this is his time to shine//. Jake returned before dark, just like he’d promised. The island was relatively small; it was oval-shaped, and no more than half a mile across at its widest. There was a mini-jungle that took up the center of the island, and a few species of birds and other animals lived in the trees or underground. The cliffs that the boat had crashed into were only lining one side of the island. “How lucky are we, right?” Jake laughed bitterly. “We had to come from THAT side of the island…but there are these huge birds that live in really high nests near the center of the island! They’ve got to be albatrosses, no other bird gets that big…and there must be like 20 or 30 of them. You can see a few more islands from the other shore too, which is cool ‘cause one of them might have some people on—” He stopped abruptly and looked at Oscar. The cook had quickly shut his eyes when he noticed Jake looking at him. “Hey!” Jake shouted, getting up. “Hey Oscar, wake up!” Oscar didn’t move. Jake took a few steps toward him. “I said….WAKE UP!” and with this, Jake kicked Oscar in the gut. Oscar wheezed, and started coughing, clearly awake. Logan was surprised; Jake was angry. “Wha—what were you doing? How long have you been awake?” Jake snapped. “I-I’m s-sorry mis-mistuh Simmons, suh, I’ve-I…I’ve been awake fo’ al-almost the whole t-time since you s-s-saved me, suh…” Oscar said, cowering away from Jake. “Why the heck would you PRETEND to be sleeping?!” Jake said furiously. “I-I was….sc-sc-cared…” mumbled Oscar. “SCARED?!” Jake yelled. “We’re stuck on a deserted island, with nothing to eat, and you’re scared of ME? You could’ve been helping me explore, or at least doing something USEFUL!” Jake moved closer to the cook, and Oscar cringed, expecting to be kicked again. “Shut up, Jake,” Logan said suddenly. “We’re all scared, this isn’t anything like we’ve ever experienced before. But it’s not gonna help shouting at each other. And at least now you’ve got someone who can help you, Jake, unlike me.” Jake took a deep breath, shot Oscar another nasty look, and sat down. “You’re right Logan…we might as well all get a bit of sleep anyway, we need to all save our energy. Unless old Cookie over here has already got enough sleep, that is.” He then grabbed one of Oscar’s blankets and yanked it from beneath him. Oscar yelped, and crawled a few yards away. The three of them quickly fell asleep to the ocean’s omnipresent sounds of advancing and receding waves. Logan woke up to the sound of a myriad of singing birds. He was hungry. He had now gone a day and a half without food. He looked down at his misshapen leg, and grabbed it with both hands. Without thinking, he instantly twisted his leg back into its correct position. Logan first heard the sickening crunch, like two of his bones were rubbing together, and then he felt the pain. His whole leg seared with a white-hot pain; unable to stifle the pain, Logan screamed at the top of his lungs. The scream was so loud that it sent a hush over the island; the birds stopped singing, and even the waves seemed to be quiet for a moment. A minute or so later, Jake came running out of the woods. “Logan! What happened? Are you alright?” Jake ran to Logan’s side and knelt down. “Relax, Jake. I fixed my leg.” Logan gestured toward it with a grimace; he was still breathing heavily. About thirty seconds passed, and Oscar came waddling out of the island’s jungle. He was breathing much heavier than Logan, and he stammered, “L-Logan! I he-heard you y-yell earlier, i-is ev-ev’ything ok-kay?” Before Logan could answer, Jake turned toward Oscar and said “Oh, nice of you to stop by. Logan’s fine, not that you woulda been any help anyway.” He turned back to Logan. “Anyways, we brought some food.” Oscar brought some of the “food” out of the bag around his shoulders. Their bounty turned out to be a couple of roots and leaves. “I’ve never seen them before, but Oscar says they’re edible,” Jake said, as both he and Logan simultaneously took a bite of one of the roots. The root was bitter, and had a horrible aftertaste. The leaves weren’t much better, but it was food, and the three devoured it in no time. Not half an hour had passed, however, until the three of them were all violently throwing up. “I thought you said this crap was edible!” Jake moaned, wiping his mouth. Oscar looked at him apologetically, before turning and vomiting again. As the day ended, the three of them tossed and turned themselves to sleep, with emptier stomachs than any of them could have imagined. “Logan! Logan, wait till you see this!” Logan was awakened by Jake’s voice, which sounded hopeful and excited. Jake was dragging Oscar by his collar, and Oscar was clutching something close to his torso, and his arms and shirt were streaked with blood. “//This// loser here killed a rabbit! And THEN he tried to keep it for himself!” Jake added, giving Oscar a little shake. “But no worries, I saw the blood all over his hands. WE HAVE FOOD!!!” The three decided they weren’t going to simply devour this delicacy; they were going to cook it correctly. After they had successfully skinned the rabbit, Oscar muttered something about getting spices from the ship wreckage, and Logan and Jake decided to build a fire. There was a box of matches in one of the crates that Jake had carried back from the ship, and after he had gathered up some small sticks and leaves, he struck a few. However, everything from the island’s ground was too wet; Jake couldn’t get even the smallest leaf to light with the matches. After about the tenth match, Jake got frustrated and kicked the pile of sticks. “Enough,” Logan said, “Here.” He took out his wallet, which he miraculously still had, because he had always slept with his wallet since some money had been stolen from it on one sailing expedition. He opened it up, and pulled out a dollar bill. While Jake watched, Logan rolled up the dollar, struck a match, and lit the end of the dollar. The dollar produced a considerably larger flame than the match had, and when Logan held it under the small stick structure, a few of the sticks caught fire. Jake whooped with delight, and they mounted the rabbit above the fire. Meanwhile, Oscar had returned with a handful of spices, including a few cloves, a strand of rosemary, and a full bulb of garlic. “Why didn’t you get these before now?” Logan asked Oscar. “Well, I-I di-didn’t think ab-bout it ‘till j-just n-now, act-actu-tually,” Oscar replied. “Di-didn’t think ab-bout it ‘till j-just n-now, didn’t ya?” Jake scoffed mockingly. “Well it doesn’t matter now; spice up this rabbit, I want to EAT!” Oscar then proceeded to add all of his herbs, including a generous amount of something Logan had never seen before, as well as the entire garlic bulb, to the rabbit. Finally, the rabbit was done, and the first bite that slid down Logan’s throat and into his empty stomach felt like the breath of life. It was delicious, and they all agreed they had never tasted something so delectable. Fifteen minutes later, however, Oscar was clutching his side, groaning “I don’t feel so good…” A few minutes later, he threw up. The others soon joined him, and the trio got to experience their most savored meal a second time. “Ugh, Oscar!!” garbled Jake, with a mouthful of regurgitated rabbit, “What did you do?!” Logan joined in. “Yeah! Oscar, what was that spice you put on the rabbit? That long, dark greenish one?” “Th-that one?” He paused to let out some more rabbit. “I…j-just f-f-found it b-by the ot-other herbs on the gr-g-ground…” He stopped talking as he realized what he had done. “WHAT?!” Jake and Logan yelled simultaneously. “Did it ever OCCUR to you that it might be from the ISLAND?” Jake screamed. “Oscar, you IDIOT!” said Logan. “You MORON!” added Jake. “You RITARD!!” roared Logan at the top of his lungs. Oscar was mumbling incoherently. Jake, overcome by fury and insanity due to hunger, crawled over to Oscar and punched him straight in the stomach. Oscar then proceeded to throw up all over Jake’s shirt. Jake let out an earsplitting scream, and writhed around in the sand, throwing up once or twice more. Logan, of course, was trying to direct his vomit as far away from himself as possible, because it was quite painful for him to move, and he wanted his sleeping space to be dry. Once every last bit of their meal had been expelled, the three of them stayed motionless in the sand; none of them had the strength to move. The albatrosses from the island’s jungle began to circle overhead. This was Logan’s first time seeing the albatrosses, and Jake wasn’t lying: they were enormous. Logan was dizzy with hunger, and must have drifted off to sleep watching the circling birds in the sky above him. The next day, none of them had the strength to do anything; the furthest trip anyone made was to the water crate. At least they still had a lot of water. But without food, they wouldn’t be able to survive much longer. Logan awoke the next morning to the only feeling he felt now: hunger. Every morning, it was as if a new chunk was being ripped out of his body, and he felt weaker every second. When he looked inland, the colors and beauty of the island had dulled to a grey, as nothing there held anything of value to him. When he looked out to the ocean, he remembered the times when he thought of that vast blue as freedom; now, it only oppressed him, and was slowly killing him in the most torturous way. The sun was blisteringly hot, and every inch of his exposed skin was sunburned. However, that pain was insignificant compared to the hunger. And all the while, the albatrosses circled the skies, waiting for their prey to die. “Guys…” Logan croaked. “We can’t give up. Maybe there are more rabbits…” Oscar suggested that they eat their dried vomit. Jake threw a handful of sand at him. “If only there was a way to catch those albatross…” Jake thought out loud. They all lied there, contemplating the idea. The ominous birds in the sky had just become a possibility for survival. But how to catch them? “I-I….think I s-saw a n-net ba-back on th-the s-s-ship somewheah,” Oscar said softly. “Maybe th-there’s…somethin’ else th-that could h-help us.” “Alright. We’ve gotta do this. Logan’s right, we can’t give up. Let’s go, Oscar, I guess it’s you and me.”
 * __Albatross Soup__**

Jake approached the boat, with Oscar right behind him. He kicked a rock, which hurt his toe. He looked back, and saw that Oscar had fallen behind again. //Why Oscar,// he thought to himself. //He has got to be the most useless human being in the world. Why couldn’t HE have broken his leg? Or just died? That woulda been even better.// Oscar had finally caught up, and as usual, he was breathing heavily. “Ready to go in?” Jake gestured toward the boat. “Or do you need to catch your breath so you don’t die?” //On second thought,// Jake wondered, //if I just go on, maybe he WILL collapse.// Jake smiled at this thought, and jumped into the boat, as Oscar hurried to keep up. “Alright, so where’s this net?” Jake asked, looking around. “I-it’s th-through theah,” Oscar said, pointing to a doorway. Jake went over and stood in the doorway. There wasn’t any visible net. “This room?” he asked. Oscar came up behind him, and shook his head. “N-no-no, it m-musta been…that one,” Oscar said, gesturing to another doorway. Fuming, Jake walked toward the other doorway. //This is so pointless!// Jake thought. //This guy can’t even remember what room he’s looking for! There probably isn’t even a net on this boat. Oscar’s gone delusional or something. I really can’t see what this guy is good for.// Jake looked into the room. In it, he saw two of his crewmates’ bodies, one on the floor and one still in his bunk. Their hats were on the bedside table, along with a plate and silverware taken from the cafeteria. //And what do you know, no net,// Jake thought angrily to himself. “There’s no net in here EITHER, Oscar,” Jake said in a raised voice. “Th-there is! I sw-sweah…it-it’s uh….just in th-that c-closet over theah,” Oscar said, indicating a small little closet on the far side of the room. Jake strode irritably over to the closet, taking care to step over the bodies. //I can’t believe this…there’s no net in here either! This lousy, pathetic, good-for-nothing—//Jake paused. Because he had just realized one thing the pudgy cook DID have to offer. //Meat.// As he continued to pretend to search the closet, he thought up a plan. //We wouldn’t really be losing anything…Actually, I’d probably be HELPING Logan and myself by doing this…I could say that he…that a part of the ship collapsed on him while we were searching…yeah. And I could cook him up into a stew…there’s a knife right in this room, I could do it right here…Finally, food…Okay, so I’m gonna turn around—// “I-I ne-nevah saw a n-net.” Jake wheeled around to see Oscar right behind him, a knife raised in Oscar’s right hand.

Logan sat on the beach, imagining the albatrosses already cooked, and falling from the sky right into his mouth. Suddenly, a loud wail interrupted his fantasy. Oscar was running toward him, letting out hysterical sobs. His shirt was covered in blood. “Oscar! What happened?!” Logan said, astonished. “Oh-oh mistuh Logan, suh, i-it’s awful! Mistuh Simmons, h-he we-went into the b-boat, and th-then…a-a-a part of th-the boat c-collapsed on h-him, suh! I didn’t know what to do…He’s d-dead, suh, im s-so so-sorry…” and Oscar’s voice melted into more incoherent sobs. Logan was stone-faced. His best friend…was gone. They had been together for so long, it seemed. Now… “It’s okay,” he consoled Oscar. “How did you get all that blood on your shirt?” Oscar hesitated. “I, u-uh…I-I w-w-was….t-t-tr-trying to st-stop th-the b-blood, suh…there w-was so m-much…” “It’s alright,” Logan said bracingly. “It’s gonna be alright…” “Mistuh Logan suh…I d-did f-find the n-net…and I d-do th-think I know a w-way to, u-uh…catch th-the alb-albatross, suh.” Oscar’s tears had stopped. Logan’s mind went blank. Suddenly…suddenly, his best friend’s death was pushed to the back of his mind, as his stomach gave a breathtakingly painful lurch. He had gone five days without food. His mind was thinking now of only self-preservation, and he //needed// food to survive. He turned back to Oscar, with a renewed fire and sense of urgency in his eyes. “Oscar, you really think you can catch the albatross?” Logan asked quietly. “I-I…think I c-can…” Oscar muttered. Logan’s next words were sharp. “How soon?” “I…th-think I c-can go g-get it n-now.” Oscar said. Then, as if in a trance, he stood up, and waddled back toward the boat. Logan watched him go, almost too tired to be hopeful. He lied back down and looked at the birds, yet not a single thought of food crossed his mind. He fell into a reassured sleep, knowing one way or another, his pain was almost gone. “Mistuh L-Logan, suh! I have it! I-I..g-got one, s-suh!” Logan sat up and watched Oscar running towards him. He was clutching a sizeable, bloody chunk of meat in his hands. Logan couldn’t believe his eyes. He refused to believe his eyes. As Oscar got close, however, Logan could smell the blood and the fresh meat, and it almost drove him crazy. Oscar had also brought back a pot, which they filled with water and threw the meat in. There were enough sticks left over from the last fire to be made into another. So, Logan took the sticks, the box of matches, and a $5 bill from his wallet, and before long, there was a crackling fire under the pot. //Now// Logan could //smell// the food. Real food. They were saved; Oscar was a hero! With affection, he watched the man now bustling around the pot, adding herbs and spices to the water. Logan wondered how he ever could have doubted this man; Oscar was the most trustworthy, reliable man he had ever known. The smells coming off the pot were unbelievable; the steam mixed with the air and created this wonderful, exotic flavor, and it took every ounce of restraint Logan had left in him not to jump on the boiling pot as it was. “Be careful not to add any unusual spices this time, okay Oscar?” Logan said, laughing. Oscar laughed too, a high, shy, nervous laugh. Both of them had their eyes and minds fixed upon the pot. It was impossible to see or think of anything else. They were finally so close to real food; it had been five days. Logan’s stomach lurched again impatiently, but he ignored it. Finally, the soup was ready. Oscar divided the portion in two between him and Logan into two smaller bowls he had gotten from the shipwreck, and they both sat down with their food, waiting for it to cool. Logan was content simply smelling the fragrant steam coming off the soup; after this long, he could taste the smell just as easily as he had been able to taste his favorite steak back home. The soup had chunks of meat still floating in the now reddish-brown water, and Logan watched, mesmerized, as they floated in a small circle around his bowl, noticing how similar these patterns were to the ones the albatross used to make in the sky. After the soup had cooled, Logan held the spoon near his lips, waiting. Oscar mirrored his movements. Logan smelled the scent for one last, long breath, and then tilted the spoon back. His dry, dead mouth was suddenly alive again. His tongue was overjoyed to have something to taste again, especially something so delicious and fresh. He chewed the meat slowly, and was amazed at the flavor, thinking it had to be out of this world. It was nothing he had ever tasted before: juicy, tender, and a strong, tangy flavor that was pleasing to his tongue and mouth. He swallowed the meat, and as he did this, he realized he was starving. He was literally starving. He took the bowl and wolfed down all its contents, not even taking time to appreciate the intricacies of that marvelous meat. The bowl was so full, though, that once it was empty, Logan was full. Oscar too was satisfied, and they both lied down on the sand, which didn’t feel so hot anymore, and looked at the sky, which was beginning to look just a little bit bluer. The next few days continued in the same manner. Oscar would bring back a slab of bloody meat, and they would cook it together over the fire that Logan was now burning $20 bills to start. When they ran out of sticks, Oscar would go round some up. The meat was always delicious, yet it always came in different shapes. Logan wondered if Oscar, being the trained chef that he was, was taking different cuts of the bird to see which one tasted the best. There were always a few bones in the soup, and Logan was quite surprised by the size of some. They were very large birds, though, he reminded himself. When Logan asked Oscar why he always came from the direction of the boat when he returned with the meat, Oscar mumbled something about checking to see if there were any more spices. From then on, he emerged from the forest with the meat. “So Oscar, how do you actually catch these birds?” Logan asked one morning, as they were both enjoying Oscar’s catch for the day. “U-uh…n-never m-mi-mind that m-mistuh L-L-Logan, you j-just focus o-on h-he-healin’ that l-leg, theah.” Oscar said, nervously smiling at him. Logan smiled back at him. “Alright,” he agreed, “but why don’t you ever bring back the stuff you use to catch them? And I could help you skin the birds too, you know.” “No-no, y-you c-c-can’t do th-that…” Oscar mumbled. “Why not?” inquired Logan. Oscar paused. “It…i-it’s much easier t-to do e-everything b-by m-myself in….i-in the f-forest, suh…” Logan shrugged and swallowed another spoonful of meat. “Whatever you say, man…thank you, though.” Oscar said nothing, just stared down into his bowl. The next morning, they were awakened not by the chirp of the familiar birds, but by the roar of a speedboat. After confirming that this wasn’t a dream, Logan shouted out in happiness. They were saved! They were going to get off this dreaded island! Oscar woke up, and quickly joined Logan’s shouts of joy. The man who got out of the speedboat was very muscular, and very tan. “Hey guys, settle down now! I’m Jim.” Jim smiled, and Oscar and Logan introduced themselves to this new rescuer. “We all saw the smoke from your fire there, glad you decided to light one of those! I live on an island a couple hours away, and I knew that this island was uninhabited, so I had to come investigate, you see.” Logan listened to all of this, and his only thought was: //We are saved…We are saved.// Before long, Logan and Oscar were comfortably seated in the speedboat, headed for Jim’s island. Jim had a fishing net in the speedboat, and when Logan took the net off and put his arm through it, it became a perfectly-sized crutch. He had some trouble getting into the boat, but he refused help, and was now sitting comfortably with the fishing net next to his side. He smiled and exchanged a blissful look with Oscar. It was because of this talented and proficient man that they had survived that dreaded island. As the speedboat roared to life, the two new friends couldn’t believe their good fortune: they were saved. Logan took his first step out of the speedboat and into a thriving little town. He smiled as he saw houses, cars, and restaurants. “Surprise, surprise,” Logan laughed to himself. “I’m hungry.” He wandered aimlessly into one of the restaurants, Oscar following closely behind. He sat down at a table, ordered a water, and looked at the menu. There were so many items to choose from. Steak, chicken, pasta…but then he saw something that made him laugh out loud. “Check out the special, Oscar,” Logan chuckled, nudging Oscar and pointing at an insert in the menu. //Albatross Soup//…………………………………………………………….$11.99 Logan laughed again. “What do you say, Oscar? Let’s enjoy it one last time, and then put this whole thing behind us for good.” Oscar looked as if he was about to be sick. His eyes had gotten huge when he saw what was on the menu. He gave a short nod to Logan, and then sprinted for the restroom. The waiter approached, and Logan ordered two specials, one for him and one for Oscar. As the waiter left, Logan, thinking of something, pulled out his wallet and looked inside. It was completely empty. Apparently, Oscar was paying for this one. When the waiter returned with two steaming bowls, Oscar still hadn’t returned from the bathroom. Logan decided he didn’t have to wait for Oscar, and looked down at the soup. The soup had a more brownish tint than their makeshift soup on the island had had. It had a similar smell, although there was something missing. There were chunks of meat swirling around in the soup, just like Logan remembered. He lifted one to his mouth, and ate the meat. The flavor was nothing like he had expected. There was no tanginess, only a dull, bland flavor. The meat wasn’t tender, but tough and firm, like a bird of prey’s meat should be. Logan was horribly confused. This couldn’t possibly be the same meat as they had on the island! Then, he stopped chewing and froze, as the realizations hit him one by one, individually and powerfully, each one like a blow from a baseball bat. The bones. The different sizes of the meat. The fact that Oscar never brought back his equipment. The reason Oscar never told him how he caught the albatross. The reason Oscar had always come from the ship with the meat…the place where Jake had been crushed. The reason….the reason why Oscar had learned to catch the albatross the day his best friend had been…murdered. Logan’s expression was blank. However, he felt like he was burning, as if acid was slowly dissolving him from the inside out. He shouted out, but it was no use. He was beyond help now; nothing could erase what he had unknowingly done. His best friend. Logan, staggering to his feet, grabbed a knife from the table and stumbled out into the street, nearly losing his balance about four times. He looked around and saw nothing. Then, he looked up. There, he saw two circling albatross, flying with the clouds in the bright blue sky. Keeping his eyes on the albatross, he took the knife in both hands and plunged it into his heart.
 * __Today’s Special__**