He hadn't taken the necklace, nor had he uncovered the face of the corpse. But the white and plump hand clutching it had a blue ring, two letters engraved into the stone. "NJ". Initials maybe?
    He opened the small notebook he found on his way back, while dragging along the rubbish he had picked. The diary held the same initials. NJ standing for Nicholas Jordan,the owner of the diary. Pages covered with neat handwriting, the letters now barely readable due to the ink spreading.
     Marcello wanted to read it. He wanted to know the Dead Man's story. He opened the diary and let it dry under the scorching sun. Then he set to work on tying the bamboos together tightly with ropes and securing it's firmness with strings. By the time he was finished planting all the bamboos in the place, planting it and binding it with the soil around the edges with water and rock, the sky hinted that it was afternoon already and evening was just a few joys away.
      Living on the island gave Marcello the ability to predict the time and date, tracing back to the day in Lorient. He didn't know the date but he did know that it was during May or June that he had left and it was most probably a Monday. 12 days, excluding his first day meant that it was a Saturday. This time of the year meant that it was going to be hot and long, with shorter nights. He had nothing to worry about, there was still about an hour or two left for the sun to set.
         He had already made the structure and all that was left was the door and roof. He hadn't decided to make a thatched roof, his hut required something stronger. He took the sheets of metal and went away clanking on it with a hammer, smoothening and sloping it. After a lot of coconut milk, noise, sweaty hours, he finished it. He climbed up, placing it in its area, securing it with the metal nails he had made. It wasn't perfect, but it was all he was capable of.
        By this time, the sun was low on the horizon, almost setting. Worry engulfing him, Marcello rushed to smoothen a long piece of metal for the door. He hadn't gotten enough time or flawless skill so the door had to be fixed without a hinge and door knob. It had to be opened with a kick and closed with a push. It was firm not in no way was it nice or homely. The hut seemed better, after rearranging the bed and the table. He hid his clothes under the bed after changing into dark blue pajamas and a salmon colored shirt.He put the diary, the pages, his ink bottle,the candles on the table top. He stocked up the water bottles at the far end?tong them to the bed stand with a rope. He had to shove his canvas at the edge,at the most protected side. He covered it with a clothe. Beside him, under his pillow were the brushes.
        All the work throughout the day had worn him out, made him growling hungry. He made a huge fire, putting one of the pots he brought from home over the fire; he dropped a few tomatoes and one potato. He cleaned the fish in the sea water whole the pot boiled,softening the vegetables. He then put the pot on the ground, peeling the skin off the potato and smashing it. Adding a bit of salt, he created mashed potatoes. He brought out a hard yet small stick from the coast and drove it through the fish, putting one tomato on either side of the fish. Then he bar-be-qued the fish and tomatoes over the fire.
      It was a feast like no other. Good food after a long long time. In no time, he wolfed it down. It wasn't the best dinner, but it was all he could manage at the time and it felt like pure bliss to his aching stomach.
      He went to bed, disappointment and hope blended in his bloodstream. He had managed his sheltet and food but it still wasn't enough. He still needed a lot of things to bring his life back on track. He had a long day and 16 more days to go in this island. His mind wandered back to the dead body he had seen in the Abandoned Basin. No one deserved to die like that. Today it was this man lying there, tomorrow or might even be him.
          The hope of survival was slowly fading but he held on tightly to the threads left,stringing him to sanity.

(PS. Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was quite a short and unimportant one but do read on, cause this is about to get interesting. Vote and comment below to keep me updated on your thoughts. )