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October 08, 2002 So, today was my first day on the island. I was, admittedly, pretty nervous, I mean, here I was being flown away to the middle of nowhere, to camp out with twelve perfect strangers. When I told Dr. Fuller that I would be needing the time off of work, he turned as white as a sheet. 'You need -how- much time off?' After I revived him with smelling salts, and promised to come back to work as soon as I got kicked off, he agreed to give me the time. I really am going to miss everyone there. I won't know what to do with myself not working there seven days a week. So, anyway, back to the island. It was beautiful, the ocean, the sand, the trees, although it was a bit muggy. The back pack I had put my more important stuff in was begining to rub my shoulders raw, so I stopped sight seeing, and went to find where we were supposed to set up. I came upon a clearing where two women were already deep in conversation. I walked up quietly, not really being sure of myself, and wait for a point in their conversation to interrupt. I find that one of the women is telling a joke, and I can't help but laugh, which alerts them to my presence. The joke-teller turns to me with a smile, and extends her hand, 'Hi, I'm Loudwoman, and this is Magpie." I shake their hands, and find my fear slowly melting away. These people aren't hiding horns or fangs, and I have no reason to fear them. I introduce myself, and shift awkwardly from foot to foot. Magpie notices my discomfort and shakes her head at me, telling me to stop standing there like an idiot, and to put my bags down, and make myself at home. As I am setting up, Loudwoman tells me that they sent the men into the woods to get some wood to start a fire, and that I would meet them shortly. About ten minutes later, three men come out of the grove of trees, each with wood bundled under their arms. "Oh, a knew arrival huh?" The speaker throws his wood into a pile, brushing off his hands, and introduces himself as Kinetix. Suddenly he looks at me, and cocks his head to the side, "I don't know if you know this or not, but your bag is...uh..well, it's moving.." ] Oops. I quickly turn around, and open my back pack the rest of the way, pulling out a small black kitten. "His name it Twitch," I say to the pairs of disbelieving eyes starting at me. I kind of laugh and shrug, "my luxury item." One of the other men looks at me, shaking his head and extending his hand, "You must be Heather." I took his hand, nodding. "I'm Matt. Twitch catches sight of something, and promply jumps out of my arms to go exploaring. As I turn to go chase after the little trouble maker, a woman comes into the clearing. When she catches sight of us, she smiles. "You guys have no idea how glad I am to be here. I get a few blessed weeks of not worrying about my kids, or my business. Just some serious relaxation.. or, well..competetion." We all laugh a little bit, although I think a lot of us are looking at this as a bit of a break from our 'real lives.' We all assume correctly that the woman is Alternamommy. The third man, who I had since found out was Scud, started trying to organize the wood for the campfire, and get a fire started. The rest of us kind of looked around, for it was still light outside. Scud looked up and smiled, "I'm starving, and I don't intend to eat my food raw." My stomach growled, as if to agree whole heartedly. Alternamommy, using her improvation skills brought on by years of parenting, manages to find some things to use as plates. As we are setting up for our little meal, two women come out of the woods, one holding my little kitten. "Someone lose this little guy?" I grab the struggling little black kitten, and place him in the tent, after lecturing him of course. Gingerbug, the one who had found my little escape artist, laughed as I finished my lecture, placing her luggage next to mine. Angeline, is meanwhile shaking her head as she puts her suitcase down. "I left JD at home, alone, to finish moving us in, I am afraid to see what the apartment will be like when I get back." We all laughed, telling her that at least she would have Krispy Kreme to help her through. That seemed to settle her nerves a bit. As dusk began to settle, we all sat around the camp fire, waiting for the final arrivals to get in. As if they were sensing our impatience, the last four contestants arrived on a little motor boat. Ms. M looked a bit frazzled as she started telling us about the driver of the small motor boat, and how he showed up at the docks two hours late. Raw plopped down beside me, her hair slightly out of wack, "Yeah, and, after making us wait forever, he drives like a maniac. I am surprised he didn't kill us all." Chromemm , and July finished Ms. M's story, by telling us how the driver then too them to the wrong island. We all decided that they deserved first dibs on dinner. As dinner was passed around the now blazing camp fire, we told funny stories about our lives, and we all began to relax. Tonight, we unanimously decided, we were not competitors, but new friends. <-//->
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