Chapter 6

May 19^th 2043

I woke up this morning confused by the gentle rocking of my pod and by the fact it was late. I didn't understand why one of my friends hadn't woken me earlier. When I remembered we had to abandon ship and that I was alone on the planet's surface, I started crying again. I hope and pray I'll see them again. It hurts thinking I might not.

When I finally did get out of bed, it was with a groan. I hurt all over. A nice long shower helped but I'd rather have bath. And one of Lou's massages. I would love a massage right now! Heck! I'd love just seeing Lou right now.

The chutes were dry, so after breakfast, I spent some time vacuum bagging them after disconnecting and winding a couple miles of cords. A tiny hand-held vacuum might not be the ideal vacuum to use but it did help. After I had them all vacuum bagged, I stuffed them and the cords back in their storage bags. I figure they should be safe enough there for now.

After lunch, I scouted around a little but not too far. I found a couple ... I don't know if they're fruits or nuts. One is a blue fruit that tastes like an orange. The other looks like a coconut but it tastes like chocolate. I made sure to test them with the food analyzer first before I tried them. I'm not that dumb. If there's any good news, beyond that they're edible, it's that I still have a source of chocolate.

I had soup and salad for lunch. Then I spent some time trying to assemble my pod's crane/winch thing. It was stored in a cabinet, on the right side of the deck, just outside of the door. It's supposed to be used for bringing in fishing nets and traps. Not very big ones of course. The net is only about ten feet or so and the buoys are inflatable. The traps are all collapsible. The fishing gear the pod came with really doesn't take up much space. I could probably stuff it all into my backpack if I had to. They're located in an outside cabinet because it's easier to store them there close to where they'd be needed rather than inside and being tripped over.

Anyway, I was getting it assembled because I figure it'll be the only way I can get my plane out of my pod and onto land. I'm planning to try it out tomorrow and fly around to get a look at the area. I know I won't get as good a look at the area by air. I'll still have to do plenty of looking around on foot but at least this way I might get a clue about which way to look, as well as possible routes I can drive my pod to get there.

I've also been collecting driftwood. I'm planning to cook over the fire again tonight. It was kind of fun last night, now that I think about it. I just wish the others were here to enjoy it with me.