Well, today was the day me and Anya got to see our new house. Because of the island’s size; we had to go by chopper. Apparently we were the lucky ones; the poor builders who made our house were forced to sail to the island and camp out. I thought of the natives; how they perceived me ‘buying’ their island from a government who they had probably never heard of, and building a mansion on what ultimately was their land. I had gone out to see the natives 6 months previously; they seemed nonchalant. But had this huge building now changed their views of their ‘guest’? I hoped for the best.
When Anya first saw the island she was amazed. The small island was mostly covered by dense jungle; although you could just about make out where the native’s settlement was. The cool sunset was a perfect backdrop for the one and only beach on the island. The only thing stopping that side of the island becoming sea was the small cliffs above the beach. Just to the right of these cliffs was my new home. It was magnificent. The private pool was huge, although not filled; so you could make out the Creation of Adam tiled floor (No prizes for what film I was thinking about when Anya and I designed that part!). The tennis court was on a higher level then the pool; not how I had planned. I guess that the uneven surface would have prolonged the time to smooth the whole floor. But we were anxious the most for the interior of the mansion; this is what we had spent most of our time thinking over.
The chopper settled down in the small courtyard just in front of the main doors. I could not wait. I rushed out of the chopper, with Anya fast behind me. I was just arriving to the first step before the door, when my voice was shouted. I looked round; there was a middle aged man who graced a dark blue suit, with a snakish grin on his face. Next to him was a rather rugged looking builder (I assumed from his ragged clothes – So I’m a posh bastid!); also middle aged, but with a face that looked as though he had single handily won a war, but had had his medals stolen from him. We all shook hands; apparently the suit was saying that me and Anya cannot go in to the house until he has marked it as safe. Needless to say the builder was upset that his ‘master piece’ was being deemed imperfect. It was looking increasingly likely that we were going to be camping out this night.
We were shown down to where the builders were camping; not too far from the native settlement. Because of the hot weather the builders had just been sleeping in a small camp (without shelter). They had set up near the native’s settlement because of easy access to a stream. This meant that less space on the boats were used up by bottled water, and more for building supplies; making the job run faster.
The builder who had met as on our arrival (John) introduced as to the head of the native tribe. I was surprised to see that it was a woman. Anya and I were offered sheltered (And more private) quarters. We talked for a time with the tribal leader, and some of the other natives.
The natives were very… Modern. Outside their dwellings looked basic enough, but inside they were quite modern; hell they had a TV! Anya asked how and when they had become more modern; the tribal leader said that their tribe has been visiting the main land for more then 30yrs. The tribal leader told us that they had not been fond of keeping their old ways, and were adapting fast. She told us that they had even taken to giving their children ‘English’ names. Joanne (The head of the tribe) informed us that they grew all their food here, and were simply self sufficient. When I asked about how they acquired their TV, and how they had become to speak so good English. She said that when they first started to visit the main land more often they saw that they could charge people for giving them gifts. This made me stop, and think about what she had said. At first I thought she had just not phrased the sentence properly, or that I had misheard. But she smiled, and asked me:
“How many men have you seen in this settlement not including the builders?” Her smile widened when I looked around rather stupidly.
“Errrr None…” I answered.
“Precisely. This island has some power, or rather a curse. For some reason children who are born here are always girls.”
“Oh right… What all of them?”
“I was told my grandmother that she had never seen a boy born on this island. I have never seen one either.”
