Cleo stared at Duk in disbelief. "I didn’t know you could do that. Why didn’t you tell me that sooner? I should have avoided wasting my energy."
"You didn’t ask me. That’s why I ask you if you want my help," Duk replied while tilting his head.
Duk was so innocent that he didn’t want to get ahead of himself; maybe he didn’t want to undermine him. There were a lot of things he didn’t know about the little bear, so he should make a habit of asking him about anything—for example, his retractable claw.
"I thought you don’t hunt for your food? Isn’t claw used for reaping the flesh of your prey? And isn’t it a little too sharp?"
"No, I don’t hurt other beings! I have claws because we often use them for fruit like this one you’re trying to open. Also, they’re sharp due to the hardness of some fruit in my Realm; this green fruit can’t even compare to them." Duk explained in a hurry; it seemed he didn’t want him to think he used his claw for something cruel.
"Ok, ok, I’m sorry for doubting you. It’s just shocking to see something sharp like that coming out to a creature like you, you know." He raised both of his hands, not wanting to escalate things any further. "And also, I think your claws are amazing! With them, we can solve our food problem for days! I’m fortunate to have you with me!"
Duk started to squirm; he seemed embarrassed at all the praise he gave him.
Remembering to appreciate Duk was perhaps one of the best decisions he made on the island. Though he didn’t want to do it all the time, he didn’t want to feel like he was controlling him. After all, he did appreciate Duk's presence.
"Let’s taste the white meat inside the coconut," he suggested to Duk, as he wanted to change the topic.
"Ok!" Duk raised its paw, like a child.
When he picked up the sliced coconut, he observed the clean cut that Duk made. His claws were sure sharp, as the cut was so smooth that it looked like it was cut by a machine—perhaps the machine couldn’t even do it.
Even though Duk managed to cut it in half, the coconut water was regrettably wasted, as it was spilled when Duk cut it without knowing what was inside. Well, there was no point in thinking of something useless; he should focus on what he could gain.
Looking inside the coconut, he smelled the freshness coming from it. The coconut meat was thick and juicy, while its whiteness encouraged him to take a bite. While enjoying the new scent, Duk asked him as he too picked up the other half.
"Do we eat the whole thing?"
"No, what’s the point of cutting it in half if we’re going to eat the whole thing?" He said, a bit baffled at Duk’s words. "Watch me, okay."
Looking around, he searched his surroundings for something he could use as a spoon. Coincidentally, there were a lot of clamshells on the beach; he could use them as they were hard and somewhat flat. He never paid attention to them before, but he didn’t know they would be useful to him one day—that was why it was important not to devalue things easily.
When he grabbed the flat shell, he didn’t waste time and used it to scoop coconut meat in a smooth motion. After the white meat was scooped, he stared at it for a bit and swallowed his saliva, then finally put it inside his mouth.
The juicy coconut meat spread from every tastebud he had. It was sweet like the sweet potato, but at the same time very different, as the sweetness of the coconut was more on the fresh side, like he was eating something for summer, satisfying his hunger and thirst at the same time. Having a variety of food was sure a good thing!
Witnessing him, Duk also grabbed one of the shells and copied what he did.
"Wow! It's good!" Duk exclaimed in surprise. "I didn’t expect it to be this delicious! When I saw the bland appearance, I thought it would be tasteless!"
"Why, your Realm didn’t have this kind of fruit?" He asked, curious about Duk’s world.
"I don’t know, but most of the time, fruits that lack color in my Realm have a bland taste; that’s why I never expect them to have such rich flavor."
"So, after seeing this place, how will you compare it to your world?"
"Uhm… My Realm is a beautiful place, full of colors and life. I don’t want to say bad things about your world, but if I am given a choice where to spend the rest of my life, I will choose my Realm without a second thought."
"Then why did you leave and travel here?"
"I want to taste all kinds of plants in different Realms, and at the same time expand the variety of seeds I can create. But the true reason is because my Realm needs Life Force to survive. Without it, all life will slowly die."
"I don’t understand, why the need for Life Force? Could the Spirit Plane previously produce their Life Force? Because if not, how come an important element like that lacks such a place? For example, air, just think about it; we humans, or whatever you call us, will not survive this long if our world doesn’t produce its air. Our species evolved around what the world provides us, but how come your world didn’t? Is there some history that changed the Spirit Plane?"
"I don’t know; there’s a lot of things I don’t know about the Spirit Plane and how it is connected to the Mortal Realm. I’m too young to know about certain things, and I don’t think I’m qualified to know them," Duk uttered. He seemed sad about it.
Seeing Duk’s mood change, he appeared to hit a sensitive topic, and because he didn’t want to make Duk uncomfortable, he stopped asking, at least for now.
"Don’t worry, someday, when the time is right, you will know important things too. You just have to wait for it and be ready," he advised, even though he too wasn’t sure of what would happen in the future. "Finish the coconut and follow me. I will collect all the coconuts that scatter the beach."
He walked away from Duk, giving him time to think for himself.
Walking closer to the shelter, the fire was almost extinguished. He didn’t want it to die yet, so he tossed a few dry materials inside.
Recalling all the coconuts he saw when he went for a walk, he could probably collect 12–15 coconuts. That should last them for two to three days. He didn’t leave to collect the coconuts yet, as he wasn’t in a hurry. What he wanted to do right now was think of a solution for his water problem. Although coconut water could replace it for the time being, what about in the future? He wanted to solve it as soon as possible, as he didn’t want to have something in mind, especially when he started meditating. As Duk said, he must clear his mind from any distractions.
By the time he was done eating all the white stuff in the coconut, he was already sitting beside the campfire, staring at the fire in deep thought. He was about to throw away the empty coconut when an idea came to him. Could he use the coconut as a tool to boil the water? However, he found the idea stupid, as the coconut was a flammable material—it was just going to burn before it could boil any water. Well, there was nothing to lose if he tried.
Taking out the plastic bottle with river water from the bag, he poured some of the contents into the half-coconut. Now, all he must do was to find a place to set the coconut; it needed to be in a place with good enough heat but not too much to burn it.
As he scrutinized the campfire surroundings, he didn’t see a good place to put the coconut. Maybe he should place some big stones near the fire as a place to set it. With that thought, he immediately implemented it with haste.
After a few minutes, he managed to place multiple stones around the fire, which made it look more like a campfire. With that done, he placed the coconut with water on top of one of the stones. He had a good feeling about the experiment—maybe the idea wasn’t too stupid after all.
It didn’t even take two minutes before the green shell of the coconut caught on fire. He sighed, as it was a failure to think he believed in the idea. Even though the coconut was burning, he didn’t do anything and watched it while the fire devoured it. But then, after a few more minutes, he noticed something.
The coconut had two parts of protection: the outer shell and the inner shell. The outer shell was made of some kind of fiber, while the inner shell was made from some kind of wood, an entirely different material. What he grasped was that while the outer shell easily caught fire, the inner shell was different; it endured the fire pretty well. Perhaps there was still hope for the idea.
Around 5 minutes, the water finally boiled. Although the experiment wasn’t successful, it also wasn’t an entire failure, as he managed to boil the water. Grabbing two small sticks, he lifted the blackened coconut and moved it away from the fire. The water was still hot, so he needed to wait for it to cool down before he could drink it.
While the water was cooling down, he analyzed what he could do to have a different outcome. He couldn’t use the inner shell of the coconut anymore, as it looked like it would turn to ash if he left it in the fire for another minute. But if not for the other shell, the inner shell of the coconut could have survived the fire a little longer. What would happen if he removed the outer shell before placing it in the fire? Could it have a better outcome?
Amid his contemplation, Duk walked closer to him.
"What are you doing? Is it another delicious food?" Duk asked, curious about his action.
"Oh, your back," He replied, waking up from his deep thought. "No, it’s not food, but it is as important as food is. That’s why I need to find a way to solve it. Anyway, where did you put the coconut shell?"
"You mean the hard thing? I ate it; I was curious about its taste, so I couldn’t control myself. Don’t worry, I don’t recommend it; it’s not delicious."
He put his palm on his face, as he couldn’t believe Duk. Sighing, he changed the topic, as he couldn’t bring it back anymore.
"Help me gather all the coconuts in the surroundings."
"Got It!"
The coconut gathering took about 20 to 30 minutes; he didn’t realize that there were a lot of them, and some didn’t have an outer shell, so he collected them too. By the time they stopped, they had already gathered 25 of them, with or without outer shells combined.
While they were resting beside the extinguished fire—as he forgot about it while gathering—the monkey stared at them with its lazy eyes. The monkey sure was comfortable.
"Hey, lazy monkey, help us gather wood," he said to the monkey lying on its banana leaf bed.
The monkey glanced at him and ignored him, like he was some random stranger calling out to it. Was this the feeling of having a rebellious child? He just wished his daughter—Rebecca—didn’t become like the monkey in the future. Just the thought of his cute child rebelling gave him a shiver on his back.
