Speaking of Dinosaurs by High Philip E

Author:High, Philip E. [High, Philip E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780575110519
Publisher: Gateway
Published: 2011-09-29T05:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

ON AN island in the Aegean, Standing opened his eyes slowly and blinked uncomprehendingly at the ceiling.

He made no attempt to move. He was unaware, as yet, that he could move.

It took him an hour to relate himself to his surroundings. Five hours to re-establish his identity and to recall vaguely how he had got here.

The entire night had passed and dawn was breaking before he was, once again, a rational being—

The first thing which struck him was the smell. Not only did the entire cellar reek nauseatingly but he, himself, stank to high heaven.

It was the overwhelming stench which forced him to move, he just couldn’t take it any longer.

He was shocked to discover that he was weak beyond belief. It was nearly noon before he reached the top of the cellar steps. He was gasping for breath but a kind of frantic desperation drove him on. He had to cleanse himself, he had to rid himself of this stink. In his mind it began to assume the proportions of a necessary rite, nothing could be accomplished until he was clean.

On all fours, making frequent stops, he began to crawl towards the sea.

It was mid-afternoon before he made it, his limbs were quivering from fatigue and he was virtually breathless.

He lay down on the warm sand and let the waves wash over his body gratefully.

As time passed, he became aware of increasing strength. Maybe this pilgrimage to the sea had not been entirely an obsession. Maybe the action of the water, the cleansing of immersion had cleared his pores or something.

He certainly felt better and he thought, with wry humour: I’ve certainly got rid of my B.O. I hardly stink at all now.

The journey back to the villa took far less time and once he was able to rise to his feet and stagger a few paces before once again crawling forward.

Once inside, he rifled his reserve store of necessities which he had hidden beneath the floor boards. He was parched with thirst but the smell from the cellar rose and defeated him.

He was compelled to take his sealed bottles of water and cans of preserves outside the building before he could begin.

There he drank two whole bottles of water before his thirst was slaked but his need for food was only moderate.

Before he could consider what to do next, exhaustion hit him and within seconds he was asleep.

It was dawn again before he awoke. He had stretched, yawned, rubbed his eyes and climbed unhurriedly to his feet before he realised that the weakness of the previous day had almost completely vanished.

He ached here and there it was true but, apart from a slight tendency to breathlessness, felt very nearly normal.

He went into the villa and returned with a bar of soap. He’d have to do something about that damn cellar but in the meantime he wanted to make quite sure he was clean himself.

The soap didn’t lather very well in the salt water but the action of washing was a comfort in itself.

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