Tropical Destiny

The merchant seaman was at the stern-rail, unhooking the fish they'd caught on the long-lines trailing behind the ship, when the explosion blew him overboard....

He had shipped aboard on this tramp steamer as a last resort. An American, he'd had to do some fast talking to get a berth on this Uruguayan vessel. But they were short-handed, and needed experienced engine-room hands. He'd used his Texas beer-joint Spanish to get by.

They were carrying a load of tires from Yokohama to São Paulo, Brazil; shipments were hard to come by for this old bucket, and she'd carry few more. The engine-room was a pure mechanical disaster; but he and the Chief Engineer had, by dint and din, kept her running so far....

When he had been able to marshal his senses, he found himself awash in a sea of tires; some charred, most not. Looking around, he finally saw the bow of the steamer slowly slipping beneath the waves. He grabbed a shrink-wrapped truck tire for flotation and considered his few options.

Treading water for a short while, he listened carefully for voices but heard none. Perhaps he was the only survivor! It had been mid-morning when the ship exploded, so he had plenty of daylight left to swim to safety – IF there was any safety to be had....

Fortunately, the seas were not high; although there was about a five-foot swell running, light and variable winds had not built up dangerous waves. He looked around, each time the swell lifted him to its crest, searching for – anything: land, another ship, whatever. Although he was not an officer, and had no knowledge of the ship's course or even its approximate location, he knew they'd been planning to get into the Atlantic and the coast of Brazil via the Panama Canal. Surely, there must be considerable maritime traffic between Japan and the Canal... perhaps his best choice was to try to remain afloat the best he could, and wait to be rescued.

After a few hours had passed, the man began to lose patience, leaving him vulnerable to losing hope. Not a ship, not a plane, not even a bird had he seen! Maybe a more pro-active course would be preferable... the sun was definitely lowering in the sky now; he'd better decide soon.

Returning to his scrutiny of the horizon, and turning himself on his tire, he thought he made out a low gray line barely visible on the surface of the ocean. He began to paddle toward it, leisurely to conserve energy....

The sun continued on its inexorable course down to the horizon, finally dipping below it. The short tropical twilight began to fade. It was at this time that the stress of being shipwrecked, and water deprivation on top of that, started to take their toll on the man. He stopped his paddling, then shortly afterward, slipped into unconsciousness.

He awakened the next morning; the sun had risen again, and bore down on the man unmercifully. Shaking his head to clear it, he looked around and discovered that the land he'd seen the day before was much closer! If only he could reach it! Redoubling his efforts, he struck out with renewed vigor for the looming shore.

Somewhere around mid-day, he reached the shallows near the island. It was not large - but it was land! Soon, he was able to touch bottom with his feet. Forsaking his tire, he struggled ashore.

Wandering the island, beginning to be desperate for water, he finally found a freshet in the rocks. Reminding himself to drink slowly or he'd get sick, he slaked his thirst. He had the idea of getting some rocks and spelling "HELP!" on the sand where he'd crawled ashore. He found several about six inches in size and carried them back to the beach. When he was about to break through the vegetation, he suddenly saw nearly-naked men busily collecting the tires that had washed ashore. Instinctively, he ducked back into the trees – and bumped into the girl!

He started, saying, "Sorry!" then realized she didn't understand English. By now over his shock, he let his eyes wander over her body, clad only in a loincloth. She had round, perfectly proportioned copper-hued breasts, each crowned with a chestnut nipple, which was quite perked. Her slim waist beneath flared outward to generous hips, then tapered down to luscious legs. But her eyes! Slightly slanted and almond-tinted, they looked at him unblinkingly, over a wide mouth with full ochre lips. Unconsciously, as he stared at her, his hand went over his fly, and began to rub gently.

She saw his action and smiled; she had previously seen the bulge develop in his trousers as he not-too-casually scrutinized her. Not being burdened with Western moral scruples, she approached the idea of sex with a healthy interest – and it surely seemed she was interested in HIM!

Smiling the universal smile of friendship, she strode right up to him and rubbed the front of his trousers, now decidedly tented. He wasted NO time in divesting himself of them, and faced her flagrantly erect, yet unbelieving of his extraordinary good fortune!

Bending slightly forward, he traced the outline of one of her nipples with his finger, then kissed it lightly, then the other. She reached between his legs and began to stroke his cock longingly. Pressing her against a nearby palm tree, he kissed her deeply, marveling at the sweetness of her mouth. Their kiss grew more passionate and frenetic; he reached down and began sensually to knead her round, firm cheeks as his lancing tongue darted into her mouth, probing, rasping her smaller tongue with its roughness. He elevated her and, flexing his hips downward, placed his cock at the back of her slit, then rocked his pelvis up and thrust it into her. She cried out in sudden pain, then raised her legs, wrapping them around his waist as she felt his cock ram home deep within her. Their kiss remained, remarkably, unbroken as he fucked straight up into her with runaway passion, driven on by the little ululations emanating from her throat....

A star of pure tropical heat flared to life in their loins, then consumed them totally as their shared climax blew them away. After pumping her full, he took her weight entirely on himself and, moving her away from the tree, laid her down, gently, on some fallen leaves. It was then, and only then, that he became aware of all those gathered around them. Their cries shocked him out of the reverie of his completion, and hers. They both jumped up, alarmed.

A stocky man about forty pushed himself toward them, gesticulating wildly and smiling. He stopped and placed an arm over each of the two lovers. From his body-language and the approving expressions of those gathered around, the seaman, who spoke no Pidgin, much less Pidgin French (which the islanders were speaking), gathered that he was being congratulated as the Hetman's new son-in-law!

Strong, happy hands grasped the two and raised them high onto the shoulders of the members of the party, carrying them lurchingly toward the group's village. When they arrived, they were set down and presented with half-coconuts filled with a sweet, pungent liquid similar to mead. The unmistakable scent of roasting pig filled the air. A man wearing ceremonial garb, no doubt the village "seer", broke through the ring of revelers and, in a very businesslike manner, inspected the seaman's now-flaccid cock, then inserted his finger into the girl and sniffed it deeply. Then he threw up his arms and cheered, pronouncing their union true and complete!

The man knew, at that moment, that his life had forevermore changed, and that he was bound to this girl, whom he knew only in the most elemental way possible. He took a deep breath, then kissed her again, both resignment and hope flowing through the kiss. Loud cheering and much back-slapping accompanied this sign of acceptance. A clutch of girls, most even younger than the new "bride" gathered around her and strung garlands of flowery vines over her. The wedding party then began in earnest! In sequence, the men of the village came to the seaman and spoke liltingly (if unintelligibly) to him, then bowed, smiled and made way for the next.

After the festivities had ended, she led him to their hut, where he took her to wife again, this time in a much more relaxed setting. When he had jetted his come into her welcoming womb, gasping, she held him tightly and cried sweet tears.

Neither had any way of knowing - or could even imagine - that his last night of debauchery in the waterfront joints of Japan had come with a price, and that he was now HIV-positive...