stranger glanced at the bottle out of the corner of his eye and stared for a moment. He then burst out laughing. “You can’t even drink!” he mocked.
“I know,” Sho griped. “But can you?”
Shoulders still quaking from laughter, the stranger looked at the bottle as he replied, “I don’t actually know. I’ve never tried.”
“And you mock me,” Sho grumbled. Taking a quick swig from the bottle, Sho let the liquid warm his insides before holding the bottle by its neck and offering it to the stranger. “Drink,” he muttered.
The stranger’s fingers curled around the bottle tentatively as the wide sleeve of his robes slid down to his elbow, exposing pale luminous skin that seemed to glow under the light of the full moon. The stranger examined the unmarked bottle and sloshed its contents around as he held it up against the moonlight. Taking a cautious whiff of the concoction, the stranger wrinkled his nose and stared at it. Giving Sho a glance, the stranger finally brought the bottle to his lips and drank deeply, swallowing three huge gulps before putting the bottle down.
“You… probably shouldn’t have drunk that much in one go…” Sho muttered, watching the stranger carefully as the alcohol worked its way through his system.
A smile appeared on the stranger’s lips as he leaned back and rested his head against the wall. He chuckled softly and mumbled, “This… feels good.”
“I see you’re enjoying it,” Sho observed, subtly shifting the bottle back towards him. The stranger would probably be pissed with Sho if he had too much and woke up hungover.
“No wonder you seafaring types like drinking so much,” the stranger muttered, now looking at the stars. “It feels so nice… and warm… I wonder what it’s like if I went into the water like this,” he continued as he started to shift towards the edge of the walkway.
“Hey, hey, no,” Sho pulled the stranger back towards him. “I’ve seen enough shipmates walk themselves into the water and drown like that.”
The stranger started giggling as he rolled over. “What a joke, I can’t drown,” he scoffed as if that was the most absurd thing he has ever heard of.
“I don’t care what you think, you’re not going into the water like this,” Sho insisted as he persisted with pulling the stranger in.
With a huff and a resigned smile, the stranger muttered, “Fine, I’ll entertain you.” He sat back up, this time leaning against Sho’s shoulder as he kept his silent gaze fixed on the full moon.
As Sho took another sip from the bottle, the stranger started speaking again. “Y’know, maybe, if you wished hard enough, the sea might bring you that boat you need.”
Sho snorted. “What am I, a three year old?”
“Well, I wished for a companion and you appeared,” the stranger said, his tone aloof.
“Oh,” Sho uttered, suddenly struck by a loss for words at the stranger’s frank statement. “... Could be a coincidence.”
“What about the apples though?” the stranger continued, languidly gesturing his hand towards the barrel in the house.
“Now you’re just making things up,” Sho chuckled, wetting his lips with another drink.
“Well, there’s no harm in trying, is there?” the stranger insisted, sounding slightly dejected.
“You’re right though,” Sho muttered. “No harm in trying.”
The stranger hummed, satisfied with Sho’s answer as he reached for the bottle. Sho handed it to him and the stranger took another long drink from it. The bottle was almost empty now.
Sho was staring at the glistening sea under the moon, lost in his thoughts when the stranger spoke up again. “Hey.”
“Hm?”
“Can I sleep here tonight? I don’t feel like moving much.”
Sho raised his brow, surprised by the stranger’s sudden request. “I… guess… There’s no door stopping you anyway.”
The stranger chuckled. “True,” he muttered.
Sho took one final drink from the bottle before passing it to the stranger. “Here, finish it.”
The stranger took it without hesitation and gulped the remaining alcohol in one go. Staring at the empty bottle, he suddenly said, “Rei.”
Barely having heard what he said, Sho voiced a vague inquiring noise in response. “Huh?”
“My name,” the stranger stated. “Rei.”
Sho shot his eyes over to the stranger, or rather, Rei. “I thought you said you didn’t have a name?”
“I guess it’s been so long since it was last used that I couldn’t recall there and then,” said Rei, his expression unreadable.
“Huh,” Sho muttered. “I guess… you can call me Sho.”
“What a common name,” Rei taunted.
“Take it or leave it.”
Rei chuckled. “I’ll take it, Sho.”
Journal
Day 13
What do you know? A boat actually showed up on the shore this morning. Despite Rei’s claim that there weren’t any seaworthy boats around here, one really did appear. Just that the sails need fixing. Thankfully, I already have the things required for that.
I guess the wishing thing really works? If it does, why won’t the sea just lead a fishing vessel or something with other people here? Just pick us up and leave this island. Honestly, though, I’m starting to wonder if this is some kind of a dream with the way that everything just conveniently falls into place. Or maybe I actually drowned in that storm and this is some version of the afterlife or something. Anyway…
Rei is the name of that stranger. Or, at least he says it is. I don’t know where he stayed before coming up here to this house but it looks like he has every intention to stick around. Although he did disappear for a moment during the day. He came back with more shellfish and crabs. Apparently, he was at the rock pools but I couldn’t see him…? Oh well, I could’ve been too fixated with checking the boat.
Oh, there was a chicken on board that boat too. I guess eggs will be added to the menu. Anyway, we’re almost out of apples. It’s as if that’s all the man eats. Then again, if I all I’ve had to eat was seafood so far, I’d probably do the same. The apples can’t last any longer anyway. Had to get rid of a few rotten ones already. The chicken won’t get sick from eating that, right?
Come to think of it, I had the strangest dream last night. Felt like someone was touching me…
Day 14
So I fixed
