Marooned with a Marine by Gordon Phillips

Author:Gordon Phillips [Phillips, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-08-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6: Revelations

The return journey was hotter than the outward one, and we consumed a lot of the fresh water we had gotten at the stream as well as removing our shirts and undershirts. As the Marine was ahead of me, this state of undress was most welcome, though distracting enough that I nearly fell several times. We might have worried about our consumption of the water, but neither of us did, feeling exultant about our successful venture. The stream, after all, while fairly distant, was not going anywhere.

We washed the oysters in the lagoon, and then opened them with our jackknives and ate them raw. This took some nerve on my part, since it was my understanding that not only were they raw, but actually alive as well

My companion went first, taking one onto his tongue. When he swallowed, he motioned toward me. “Wait a few minutes—to see if there’s any adverse reaction.”

In the end I did partake, but had fewer than the Marine, who seemed really to like them. I based my meal more on the fruit. To make this more palatable, I had gone to my palm taps and emptied the contents of both into the water bag—letting it mix with the water that was left.

When I opened the bag during the dinner, however, I was taken aback.

“It’s gone off,” I said, sniffing the opening.

My companion took it and sniffed as well.

“It smells a little—like alcohol.” He took a sip. “Tastes like it as well.”

“I guess the sugar in the sap fermented,” I said. “I wonder if it’s still okay to drink.”

The Marine nodded, and took another, longer sip from the bag. “I’ll let you know.”

When he had had almost half of the bag’s contents, I asked if I could have the bag. Grinning, he handed it over—with a show of reluctance.

“I feel,” he murmured, “slightly—good.”

I drank some of the mixture, and tasted the alcohol. After a minute or too, I began to feel good as well.

We shared the remainder, and both agreeing that there was some amount of inebriation.

“Or maybe it’s the oysters,” the Marine said.

“What it are you referring to?” I asked.

He frowned at me. “That I feel good.” He considered and then murmured. “Real good.”

I suppressed a wide grin. “Oh, yeah,” I said, feigning simple curiosity. “Good—how?”

The Marine, catching my tone, stared at me.

Deciding to continue my pulling of his leg, I smiled innocently and shrugged.

“Well,” I said, not looking at him, “you know that oysters have long been considered aphrodisiacs—you know, increasing the sex drive. There are stories of famous lovers eating them before going out on the prowl.”

“Considered,” the Marine repeated. “But is it true? Is there any evidence that they have an effect?”

I hesitated, then nodded. “Of course.”

I was not actually lying. The evidence I was referring to was the effect of believing that oysters were aphrodisiacs. One of the most consistent findings of psychological studies is that there is on average a twenty percent placebo effect in any trial—that is, when a non-active substance has, unknowing to the subject, replaced the active ingredient.

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