I had been in the jungle for five days after escaping from the prison camp and was living on rainwater and fruits that I recognised
My grey prison uniform was in tatters and I had been bitten a number of times and the poisons along with my malnutrition were weakening me
Late in the afternoon of this fifth day I occasioned a beach right on the edge of the steaming jungle
The sand was white and the sea was uncontaminated
Tears began to well in my sunken eyes as I walked in the shallows
A crab ran in front of me but I was too weak to catch it
Would you like a cigarette you look like that you could use one
I turned and was faced by a native girl in a loin cloth carrying a short spear
Two dead fish hung from its point
I do not smoke but thanks all the same
I have Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut in my boat would you like a bar as I am trying to cut my sugar intake down?
Yes the chocolate would be most welcome
The girl handed me her spear and ran into the sea
I looked at the dead fish
One winked at me
I am faking it and waiting until madam has her back turned then I am going to make a dash for it
You have been run through by a spear
Yes that is a problem
We are a beach some metres from the sea
Another problem but they are not insurmountable
The girl returned from the sea and handed me a bar of Fruit and Nut chocolate
See I have kept it dry I hate salt in my chocolate
I ate the confectionary with greed whilst the native girl touched my chest
Why do you have a butterfly on your chest?
Because my nickname is Papillion
It that why they locked you up
No it was political
What is your real name?
Henri
Mine is Rima
The native girl stayed with me for a further two days tending my wounds and feeding me
The talking fish was our first meal
It is far, far better thing I do than I have ever done; it is a far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known
These were the last worlds of the fish as I placed it on the grill
They still brings tears to my eyes
The day after Rima left two guards found me and ordered me back to the camp at gunpoint
I killed them both with Rima’s spear and for the next week ate both of them dipped in lemon
I was stronger
My diseases faded as did my sores
Rima never returned and I have lived on this beach for the last twenty-five years surviving on a diet of talking fish and prison guards
One day in a distant land someone will write a book about me and perhaps an adventurer will come searching for me
But until that day arrives I will continue to write short stories of how I escaped from that dreadful prison camp and have made this wonderful beach my home