Day Nine
Totally the best day ever! Greta woke up determined to make that raccoon stop laughing at her! Only when she woke up, there was no raccoon, no bunnies, and the walls were fine. Oh gosh! What had she eaten? Maybe no more salad until she learned a bit more about the plants on the island first.
Feeling very sheepish, Greta got ready for her day. Upstairs, she quickly gathered eggs, and fed the chickens. As she was heading out into the ocean, she remembered the glinty spot she had seen yesterday. Heading towards the spot, she dived down to see if she could figure it out. Boy! Was she surprised.
Who knew all this existed under the water? Maybe her Alien theory was right. Maybe they came and left a bunch of junk behind. Giggling, she thought about all the times her grandfather Henrik had told her one man’s trash was another man’s treasure. She remembered her mom always retorting with, that just makes you a garbage picker, and then the two of them would argue until the cows came home. Wow, she hadn’t thought about her family in awhile. What she wouldn’t give to have her mom set her up with some weird, cheesy-smelling guy again.
Lost in memories, and feeling nostalgic for the good old days, Greta was awakened when a large fish swam past her. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she decided to explore; it was no good living in the past, she needed to survive now. You know, so she could go home someday.
Watching the fish swim for awhile, she decided to catch it. Finally after the slippery sucker had gotten away four times, she managed to wrangle it into her bag. Hitting it with her flipper had helped, but only a little bit. Looking around, Greta spotted the glint again. Following it she found a cave, and… A TREASURE BOX!
Now this was more like it! Greta found thousands of dollars inside, along with a gem, and a painting in a waterproof covering. Oh yeah! Now things could happen. Getting ready to take a look in the cave, she spotted another fish swimming near by. Mm, dinner. Just as Greta managed to catch the fish (starting with the flipper clobbering- ok, may it helped more than a little- things went more smoothly, and faster,) she noticed a large shadow surrounding her.
Shark! When Greta had looked up, her worst nightmare had come true. Just when she found a way to make things a bit easier, she was going to be someone else’s dinner. Wait, all those shark week shows, what did they say? Stay calm, no blood, swim very slowly. Moving, so that it barely felt like she was, Greta started heading up and away from the shark. The cave could wait for another day.
Just when she thought she was about to get away, the shark turned on her. Forget slow! Greta started swimming like her life depended on it, because it did. But it was no use, the shark quickly caught up, and Greta looked like a juicy meal. looking at her impending demise coming towards her, she felt all the rage, frustration, sadness, and tears welling up inside. Letting out a scream like a wounded buffalo on the war path (which disappointingly, no one could hear because it was underwater with no one around; and because it came out in a series of bubbles,) Greta decided to give the shark a thrashing.
Thankful to be on the shore of her lonely island (it had been a close call,) Greta started for home to tend her wounds. Wow, thank goodness some of those salad greens had still been in her bag. After being wounded, she had meant to grab one of the fish and let out for a distraction so she could get away; instead she threw a handful of salad greens. It had been a close call, but the shark took the illusion producing greens worse than she had (she hoped.) Whatever the shark was going through, it looked awful! She almost felt sorry for it, watching it swim away in circles, biting at nothing.
Inside her house, she opened the catalogue, and placed an order for a better bed, a better shower, a counter, and a stove. Jackpot! Feeling lucky, she headed outside and decided to try her luck at fishing again.
Man, she was on a roll today! More jellyfish, and a tuna! She had had no idea that tuna came outside of a can, but there they were! They were kind of ugly, maybe she shouldn’t eat them. Stuffing everything into her mailbox to sell (this thing must be magical, there was never-ending space in it,) she headed downstairs. Blinking in confusion, she noticed the things she had ordered had arrived. How were they doing it!? She had been by the entrance the whole time. Creeped out, but happy, Greta ran to her new bed and flopped down. She’d finally be able to cook real food! Hopefully, her kitchen wouldn’t burn down, it was brand new after all.