Idriss opened his mouth.
With a resolute expression, he explained that there would be little time for socializing once we got on the island and absolutely no time for pleasantries. He suggested that we all introduce ourselves now to get it out of the way. His hand scraped across the edge of a granite counter for emphasis, so over the braying of overly-nice people asking whether he was ok, I turned to my partner and asked for her name.
"Jasmyn," she replied.
Her cocoa skin was oddly familiar to me, and I wondered where I had read about her character before. I introduced myself as J, and we began to discuss the theater. But, just as we were coming across the subject of whether "Death of a Salesman" or "Waiting for Godot" was more earth-shattering in its portrayal of monotonous living without a denouement, Idriss called out across the balcony for whether anyone objected to writing their memoirs later so that everyone could read them and instead listening up for about twenty seconds. Needless to say, we agreed.
"We are going to be docking at Point de Dictionaire - and yes, the French did claim this section of the island. There will be relatively few people who will understand English, and you will have to buddy up with someone so that you don't get lost. I don't want anyone losing their limbs to wandering Venus flytraps or something." Idriss paused. I refrained from pointing out that we were going to an island in the Indian ocean and that Venus flyraps were only harmful to flies.
"During your stay at Point de Dictionaire, you will be advised to look into some of their research laboratories or etymology workshops - they're quite fascinating from what I've heard. Anyway, don't stay out too late and report back to the main camp before eleven."
Now Idriss had finished talking, and everyone could see a sliver of green fertile trees pressing against the lapping waves. We were all fairly hungry and tired, and Jasmyn decided that we should partner up because she liked me well enough - I agreed more out of resignation than enthusiasm.
Traveling in JDishia - The Healing Process. I'm not sure whether The Healing Process as a title signifies anything yet, but I'll get back to you on it.
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