Chapter One

STRAWBERRY SAND

Mon. June 20th

Bonjour Meme,

I couldn't wait to tell you, but there wasn't light. I'm happier than I've ever been. I woke to a grand miracle, a rattling amazement; sometime in the dark, Me' Loss attacked my face, sparing no area of my face with her tongue. Once I got her calm, and her tongue out of my face, she curled beside me, and we slept the remainder of the dark. It was peaceful under the driftwood shelter I built, warm and dry from a coastal rain storm that thundered all night.

Many of the larger pieces of driftwood were light enough to move and I laid them over a wide cavity in the earth, and then I covered the larger pieces with smaller pieces. The shelter is large enough to crawl inside, and out of the rainfall, and even large enough for Me' Loss. I was worried, and hoping she would show herself during the dark. It rained all night.

This morning the sky is hidden behind endless clouds as far as I can see. I think I'm going to die from double pneumonia. I walked as far as I could walk yesterday, without shoes. It's not all beach and sand, but jagged cliffs and mountains which are impossible to climb over. I found a patch of strawberries, and I named the place Strawberry Sand, so now I'm not as lost.

If I don't die from pneumonia, I'll die from starvation, we don't have any food. I won't be able to write at night as I did before because it gets real dark here. So I'll just sleep early.

Until we talk again, sleep well, meme.