A Fish Out of Water: Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Wild Island

 

It was an ordinary bright, warm and sunny autumn morning in Sulani, and the Ka'aukai family was just starting their daily routine. Leimomi and Kapena were washing their cereal bowls after finishing breakfast, Keoni and Hokulani were still sitting at the dining table eating breakfast, and Malie had just gotten herself a bowl of cereal and was on her way to the dining table. Keoni finished eating his breakfast cereal at about the same time Hokulani did, and as she went off to wash her bowl in the kitchen sink, Leimomi picked up Keoni's bowl off of the tray of his high chair, carried it to the kitchen sink, and washed it as soon as Hokulani was done using the sink. When Leimomi was finished washing the bowl, she returned to Keoni's high chair, picked her grandson up in her arms and carried him to the bathroom for his bath. Keoni had a grand time splashing around in the water, and he was brimming with energy by the time bathtime was over. Leimomi, on the other hand, returned to her bedroom to take a nap as soon as she had finished bathing the toddler.

Keoni was feeling so energetic he just had to dance right there in the middle of the bathroom, but eventually Malie came in and interrupted his boogie session. "Keoni, dear, I'm glad you're having fun, but could you go dance somewhere else, please? I have to shower now. Auntie Hokulani will watch you until I'm done."

Keoni left the bathroom and spent some time hanging out with his aunt until Malie was done with her shower. Then Hokulani went to take her turn in the shower, and Keoni went into the master bedroom to say good morning to Beach Bear. Kapena was already in the bedroom, asleep on top of the covers on his and Malie's bed. As Keoni toddled across his room towards his beloved teddy, Keoni felt like he was finally getting the hang of walking. When he was finally standing in front of Beach Bear, Keoni whispered "Goo' mowning. I have to be quiet because Daddy's taking a nap ovew thewe. Daddy's wort is vewwy hawd, and he needs his west."

After checking in with Beach Bear, Keoni went over to his stacking blocks and looked at the shapes on the blocks for a few minutes. Then he heard the siren song of the potty calling him, so he went into the bathroom. While he was in there, he thought he heard some splashing sounds coming from the beach outside, so as soon as he was done with the potty, he went outside to see what was going on. After climbing down the front stairs, he turned around the corner to see Malie splashing in the tub of sudsy water again. Keoni figured his mother must really enjoy splashing in that water, since she did it a lot, but he couldn't quite understand the appeal of splashing in a small tub of water all the time when the great big lagoon was right there.

Leimomi walked through the front door, awake from her nap and ready to face the rest of the day. "There you are, Keoni," she said cheerfully. "Why don't we make a sand sculpture together?"

"Dat sounds fun, Gwamma!"

Leimomi knelt down on the beach, and Keoni helped her form a big mound of sand and shape it into a shark with a gnome's face inside its mouth. Meanwhile, Malie finished washing the laundry and hung it out to dry on the clothesline. When they were done, Hokulani and Kapena came out of the house. "I was just telling Kapena that I picked up another odd job taking photographs on Mua Pel'am," Hokulani explained. "And since no one else has anything 'more important' to do today," she continued, giving her brother-in-law a dirty look, "we can all take a little excursion to Mua Pel'am if you want to."

"And it would be a nice change of pace for me fish somewhere other than Ohan'ali Town's lagoon for a change," Kapena commented. "As you all know, I haven't been able to go fishing out near Mua Pel'am since Keoni came into our lives."

Malie paused for a moment, thinking. "Well, I suppose Keoni is old enough now that it would be good for him to see a little bit of the world outside Ohan'ali Town..."

"It sounds like a trip to Mua Pel'am for the day is just what the doctor ordered for everyone, then," Leimomi concluded. "What are we waiting for?"

One boat ride later, Keoni and the rest of his family were standing on a patch of sand surrounded by untamed greenery, with some really neat wreckage from an old boat just off to one side. Kapena went towards the shore to examine the nearby waters, while Hokulani headed out to find a good spot to take her photos, and Leimomi went to find the nearest public bathroom stall.

"Well, Keoni," Malie said, "this is Mua Pel'am. Nobody lives on this island, so in the past it was sometimes called 'Sulani's hidden gem,' but it's seen better days. I hope you like visiting here anyway."

"I do wike it, Mommy! Fanks for da twip!" Keoni reached up towards Malie, and she knelt down and gave him a hug.

Meanwhile, Hokulani went further down the beach, and found a spot with a nice view of the ocean and some great volcanic rocks. She got her phone out and snapped a picture.

 

Meanwhile, back at the landlocked shipwreck, Keoni spied a flock of seagulls on the beach, and he toddled off towards the birds with Malie following close behind. When Keoni got near to the gulls, he rushed towards them and tried to pet one of them, but instead of letting themselves be petted, they all flew away. Keoni was a little bit disappointed that he hadn't gotten to pet a seagull, but seeing them all take off into the air in a flurry of feathers was a fun surprise!

"Keoni," Malie cautioned the toddler, "seagulls are wild animals. You can watch them from a distance, but don't touch them."

While Keoni had been trying to play with the gulls, Hokulani swam out to a nearby sandbar, hoping to get a good photo of Mua Pel'am's picturesque waterfall. When she arrived at the sandbar, she noticed that someone had built a small shack at the edge of the ocean, and had set up a wind turbine and a solar panel further away from the water, apparently to provide electricity to the shack. "That's strange," Hokulani commented to no one in particular, "I thought nobody lived in this area. Oh, wait, I remember now, there was that weird hermit soldier guy -- I think his name was Ikaika Koa or something like that -- the dish around town was that he'd set up camp somewhere out here near Mua Pel'am. This must be where he lives. Well, I hope he doesn't mind me stopping by the corner of his sandbar for half a minute just to get one teensy little pic of the waterfall."

"Mission accomplished," Hokulani said proudly, still thinking out loud. "Just gotta print these bad boys out and mail them to the client, and I'll be one step closer to stardom. Better message the others to let them know I'm done -- they probably want to get the kiddo back to the safety of home by now."

Meanwhile, Keoni was watching Kapena do that thing with the long stick and the even longer string dangling into the ocean. Then something under the water started pulling on the string! Kapena pulled back on the stick and yanked a fish right out of the water! Keoni thought that sure looked like an effective way to meet new fishie friends.

But Keoni also thought that going into the water himself to meet the fish would be a good way to make new fishie friends. He changed into his swim diaper and water wings, waded into the shallows, sat down and started splashing away under the watchful eyes of Malie and Kapena.

However, eventually Malie waded into the shadows to pick the toddler up. "Come on, Keoni. I just got a message from Aunt Hokulani, and she says she's done taking photos. It's time to go home." With that, Malie carried Keoni away while Keoni looked longingly back at the shore.

By the time the family arrived back home, Keoni was exhausted from his adventures, so he went to take a nap. When Keoni woke up, Kapena was there waiting for him. "Son, it's time we started working on your education. I'm going to teach you numbers." Kapena went out to the hallway outside the master bedroom and knelt down on the floor. Keoni sat down on the floor across from him, and Kapena showed the toddler a flash card with a big white curvy line on it. "What number is this?"

Keoni craned his neck around, trying to see the the back of the card, but Kapena kept the answer hidden. "Um, fwee?" Keoni answered tentatively.

"No, Keoni," Kapena sighed. "It's six. Apparently, when it comes to your education, we have a long way to go..."

By the time Kapena finished the flash cards session, Keoni's tummy was telling him it was time for dinner. Hokulani picked Keoni up and set him down in his high chair, where a bowl of peas was waiting for him. Keoni ate his peas while the rest of the family went to the fridge, grabbed bowls of leftover fruit salad, sat down at the table and ate their dinners. After Keoni finished his peas, Leimomi picked him up and carried him to his bed, tucked him in and told him a bedtime story about a little fish who managed to outwit a hungry shark. Keoni enjoyed the story, but he liked grandma Leimomi's stories about the ancient warriors of Sulani fighting to protect their homes from plundering pirates or from the merfolk who lived under the sea even more. Still, such exciting tales would only have gotten the toddler too revved up for bedtime. Before long, Keoni drifted off to sleep.