The sun was still at its rising pace when Cleo woke up, freezing as he curled his body inside his shelter. Although he had some blanket he got from the baggage, it was too small to cover his whole body—maybe the blanket belonged to a child? He couldn’t properly sleep last night, as the sound inside the forest kept waking him up. Thus, he decided to stop sleeping and crawl out of his shelter.

The injured monkey was still there beside his shelter, lying on a banana leaf he had reserved for it. Even though it was pitiful, he wouldn’t sleep beside a wild animal. A lot of things could happen if it suddenly woke up.

Standing in front of his shelter, the sky was covered in a dark bluish color, and the strong wind made his whole body shiver. He lingered for a moment, enjoying the surroundings: beautiful scenery and the peaceful sound of waves—a paradise. In normal circumstances, he might consider the island one, but at the moment, he deemed the place more of a prison. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t stop him from returning to his family.

His stomach growled as he enjoyed the peaceful morning. The only food he ate last night was the remaining half of the bread he reserved and a few snacks.

Yesterday was a disaster, as the number of mistakes he made was so large. Thankfully, there were no critical consequences. Wait, no, there was—the sweet potato. He didn’t manage to cook it yesterday because of his stupidity. He was so excited to eat it, but because he forgot to create a fire, he didn’t satisfy his cravings.

Therefore, his goal today was to create a fire and cook himself some sweet potatoes. The only thing he needed was for the sun to rise and illuminate the world around him. However, for now, he must pay attention to his other needs. His bladder was full, and the cold wind was not helping. He must relieve himself right away, or he might wet his pants.

Running to the nearest tree, he relieved all the pressure inside his bladder. As he watched the urine come out of him, a new goal was formed inside his brain. He only had three 8-ounce bottles of water—that wouldn’t last long. He needed to find clean water—the sooner the better—after all, humans couldn’t survive for long without it.

After pissing, the smell of urine attacked his nose. Relieving himself near the place he slept was maybe not the best idea.

Now that was done, he crawled back to his shelter, as the wind was too cold for him to handle.

After a while, the sun finally showed itself. Its warm embrace was a welcome respite against the freezing air. Feeling the rising temperature, Cleo scrabbled out of his warm shelter. Although the sun had not fully risen yet, he could do other activities such as collecting flammable materials, so when the sun reached its peak, the only thing he needed to do was start a fire.

Luckily, he didn’t need to go far, as the beach was full of dry coconut leaves and wood.

A few minutes passed, and he managed to collect quite a lot of flammable materials and stack them all in front of his shelter—like a small mountain. The sun was at its peak, and the materials were ready. Everything was in its place; the only thing he needed to do was create a fire with the mirror.

He ran back to his shelter and came back with the makeup mirror in his hand. Without further ado, he held the mirror near the pile of dry leaves and wood, reflecting the sun’s rays towards it.

One minute…

Two minutes…

Five minutes…

until it reached 10 minutes. The mirror did nothing. He discovered that the light reflected from the mirror wasn’t focused enough to start a fire. It was too wide, and the intensity of the light wasn’t sufficient to produce high enough heat.

"Is starting a fire with a mirror not true? I definitely watched it before, though. Is it edited? What the hell! Why would they lie about something like that?"

Frustrated, he almost threw the mirror against the ground, but luckily, he managed to get a hold of himself. He was hungry and thirsty, so it was understandable for him to become easily frustrated. Calming himself down, he decided to eat the snacks for now, even though they were not very filling, as they were only some cornic and candies.

After eating, he drank a small amount of water from the water bottle. He was still hungry, but his emotions calmed down a bit, so it was still a win. While sitting beside the pile of dry materials, his brain worked on a solution to how he could start a fire. He could probably try a primitive way, but he wasn’t confident he could do it. However, if he didn’t have a choice, he would probably try it as a last resort.

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His stomach growled again, even though he had just eaten. Sighing, he decided to fill his stomach with more water to compensate for the food. He was about to drink from the bottle again when he saw a light reflecting through it. An idea instantly forced its way into his brain. If he couldn’t do it with a mirror, how about the bottled water?

In his excitement, he forgot to drink the water and swiftly began his new idea. Holding the plastic bottle on top of dry leaves, he adjusted it until he saw an intense light reflected through the bottle.

One minute…

Two minutes…

Five minutes…

He was starting to get disheartened, seeing there were no changes. Yet, a sight that could change everything slowly came out of the leaves—a smoke. Yes, the place where he focused the intense light produced a white smoke! It only meant one thing: it worked!

Although it was slow, the important thing was that it worked! Full of hope, he focused all his attention on making the bottled water stay as still as he could. After 10 minutes, a spark finally formed on the dry leaves. Without wasting time, he blew on the small ember as hard as he could, making it shine and produce more heat. He didn’t stop and kept blowing on it, until finally! He did it—a small fire. He created a small fire!

However, before he rejoiced, he carefully placed more dry materials in a small fire, feeding it to make it grow faster. When the fire was big enough, he stood up and released the joy that he held back. He danced, screamed, and complimented himself—overjoyed that he kept going for about 10 minutes before he got tired and slumped back to the ground. But his face wasn’t the face of someone tired, but the face of someone satisfied!

He panted while grinning. In a brief moment, he forgot all the problems he had. It was liberating. But his stomach didn’t let him enjoy the moment for long, as it grumbled due to starvation. Remembering the sweet potatoes, he excitedly ran and took the bag from his shelter.

When he returned, he didn’t even wait and poured all 14 sweet potatoes on the ground, wanting to cook them as soon as possible. Seeing the sweet potatoes, he realized that he had forgotten to wash the dirt away from them. His excitement dropped, and he registered a new task he must do before cooking.

Luckily for him, the sea was within his reach; he could use it for everything—not for drinking, though. Picking up the sweet potatoes, he deposited them back in the bag. After all, bringing them bit by bit to the sea was a waste of time.

He washed the sweet potatoes in a hurry, worried about the fire dying due to the strong blow of wind. After washing, he ran back to his camp—even though his camp was only a few meters away from the sea. Upon his return, he understood that his worry was unnecessary, as the wind didn’t extinguish his fire; rather, it made it stronger.

He was sure the sweet potato would come out delicious from the blazing fire. His heart thumped loudly, imagining himself eating a newly cooked sweet potato. Taking out three sweet potatoes from the bag, he placed them on the periphery of the fire. For the remaining, he would reserve them or maybe plant them so he would have an infinite supply of sweet potatoes. He didn’t need to, though, as he hadn't planned to stay on the island for too long.

While waiting, his mind wandered to the past, recalling a first date he had with his wife. They were still high school students at the time, and the only thing he could afford was street snacks. However, his wife was a strong-headed person and wouldn’t let him suffer. She would always refuse when he offered to pay. Although the food was a mere street food, the memory he made was priceless.

He couldn’t help but miss his wife and daughter; he wished he could give them a warm embrace. Releasing a mouthful of air, he shook his head, forcing the happy memories into the back of his mind. Fortunately, a sweet aroma helped him forget—the sweet potatoes were ready to eat!

In his excitement, he grabbed one, forgetting about the fact that they were still piping hot! The moment his hand landed on the sweet potato, he yelped, took his hand back, and immediately blew on it. Although he got burned, he didn’t let it stop him.

Looking around, he grabbed the nearest small stick to him and used it to take the three sweet potatoes away from the heat. The hated cold wind finally showed its usefulness, as it helped him speed up the cooling time of the sweet potatoes.

A few minutes passed, and he tried to take hold of one of the sweet potatoes again. It was still hot, but passing it back and forth with his hands helped him manage the heat. When he could endure the heat, he split the sweet potato in half. The sweet smell caressed his nostrils, making his mouth salivate and his stomach growl. Swallowing his saliva, he stared at the yellow inside of the sweet potato. When he finally couldn't stop himself, he bit the fluffy meat of the sweet potato. It was still hot, but not enough to burn his tongue. To help with the heat, he continuously blew and released steam from his mouth.

He smiled widely when the sweet taste exploded inside his mouth. Every bite gave him a drop of happiness, as the longing for the taste was finally satisfied! Still, this was only the beginning as he took a bite, and a bite, and another one, devouring the sweet potatoes like a vacuum cleaner.

While eating, the injured monkey woke up, maybe because of the aroma coming from the sweet potato. Seeing the monkey regain consciousness, he raised his guard, prepared for anything it would do. It tried to stand, but it failed; it appeared resting was not enough for it to regain strength. This calmed his heart, as he knew the monkey didn’t have any ability to cause a problem.

When the monkey noticed him, it became cautious and showed its fang as a warning. He didn’t get scared, though; instead, he removed his attention from it and glanced at the sweet potato in his hands. The monkey probably starving; therefore, he picked up another sweet potato and tossed it beside the monkey.

The monkey didn’t touch the sweet potato and stared at it for a while. Even though it was hungry, it still chose caution—an appropriate reaction from a wild animal.

"Come on, eat it. I know you’re hungry, so there's no need to hold yourself back."

The monkey didn’t listen and remained cautious toward him. Seeing his words didn’t have an effect, he ignored it and continued his meal—maybe the monkey needed time or hated being watched.

After a while, he noticed a movement on the periphery of his vision. It seemed the monkey gave in and began to devour the sweet potato.