This week's prompt ponders, “What I would invent if I was stuck on an island.”
One of my favorite movies growing up was Swiss Family Robinson. It was all about the idea of living in a huge, fancy tree house. They had levels and running water and a sun roof. Seriously…what kid wouldn’t love that movie?
Well, they had it right. As any good survivalist knows (and I’ve been to survival school) one of the first things you need is shelter.
Most people would probably say the first thing they’d build was a boat. You’re on an island. You want to get off. A boat (or a seaplane) is the best way to do that.
This is true, but anyone who has seen Castaway knows it’s not that easy — especially if your supplies are limited. I imagine learning how to make rope from fronds takes a little bit of practice. It also takes time, during which you’re exposed to the elements and if you’re fair-skinned like me, you’ll burn to a crisp in no time (of course, I’m assuming I’m stuck on a tropical island and not a rock island in the Prince William Sound in Alaska).
Back to my tree house.
How I picture it:
How it would actually look:
Really, this isn’t a bad shelter assuming the weather is temperate and it’s facing the right direction. I would have angled it more to make sure I had a dry spot to protect me from the rain.
After I had a place to sleep, I’d work on gathering fresh water so I didn’t perish of dehydration which would also prevent me from building a boat because I’d be…perished.
As far as food, I’m hoping for an island with mangos and bananas instead of coconuts — maybe some papaya. Is anyone else craving fruit salad all of a sudden?
I’m sure I’m being much too practical for this prompt. Want to see if any authors came up with more whimsical inventions? Click here.