Hanging off a tree was Sawyer, shirtless and parallel to the jungle ground which was now speckled with mangoes - orange and green.
A frog perched on a branch unseen. It saw the dews of sweat clinging onto the man.
Sawyer heard some soft footsteps on the moist vegetation of the jungle.
"I see you've found more mangoes," Kate said, with a bunch of bananas over her shoulder.
He landed beside her with a whomp, "and you bananas," he packed the fruits into a bag.
Charlie and Ana Lucia came trudging towards them, each with a bag of papayas "who has gone bananas?"
Sawyer turned his head to look at him "no one."
"Everyone's picking fruits, what is it, Fruit Fest?" Ana Lucia said. When all she got was blank stares, she continued walking, "whatever."
Kate plopped the bananas down at the communal food area.
"Careful there Freckles, don't want 'em to get bruised."
Sawyer proceeded to painstakingly stack his mangoes into what appeared to be a wonky pyramid.
Kate picked out the black string that was looped over a banana and sat down when she saw the pendent.
The cold water smoothed itself over the wet sand and occasionally over sun-warmed sand.
Ana Lucia slowed down from running, looking to see where Aaron was. She could hear his cries. She swallowed and frowned when she saw him in his crib, with Charlie asleep on the sand beside it. She jogged over, and was about to give him a kick as a wake up call when she saw that he was on his side, in a fetal position, holding on to the edge of his jacket.
She turned to the baby. "Hey, what're you crying for, huh?" his crying subsided by a fraction as he rolled over to the left and used his hands to push himself into a sitting position. He clenched his hands around the bars. When she smoothed his hair, he straightened his arms and tilted his head back to get a better look at this stranger. He made a little funny baby noise and reached his arms out to Ana Lucia who smiled. She looked down at his little fists, clenching and unclenching, wanting her to carry him.
more to come