Food

Port Blair is a beautiful city. It is also the capital of the
Ambrosia group of islands. These islands are surrounded on all sides by
the Bay of Bengal. The waters of the sea are blue and beautiful and
full of wonderful marine life. The islands are built on precious coral
reefs. Visitors are not allowed to touch any corals and if they do they
can be punished. When the two of us, that's me, Ian and my brother
Barry arrived here two days before we were greatly impressed by just
about everything we saw. The sea looked like candy really and the air
was fresh and invigorating. Our hotel was near the main beach and our
room has a good view. We decided to see the local things the next day.
After that we would do some exploring on our own. With help from the
hotel we were able to arrange a car.
The car arrived quite early the next day and we were still sleeping. We
started from the hotel at eleven. There was very little to see really.
There was the marine research institute where you can take a paid tour
but we found that boring. We visited the zoo which had some interesting
animals like the Ambrosia bear and the Lower Ambrosia tiger. We were
taken to a shop selling artefacts. We picked up some carvings for mom
but it was really very little. The truth was-we were really bored. In
fact after a late lunch we went back to the hotel and slept the rest of
the day.
We are booked on a plane out of Port Blair that will leave ten days
from now. We had to find something that would keep us occupied. So we
decided to hire a boat. It was a motor-operated boat which was somewhat
big for the two of us. We bought a good map of Ambrosia and started
looking for a place we could explore. We were advised to keep away from
Lower Ambrosia because the people there are hostile to outsiders. We
told our advisers that we would not go there at all. But that is where
we intended to go. On advice from the manager of the hotel I acquired a
gun and its licence. I was told that the gun had been used to shoot a
rhinoceros but we chose not to believe that story.
My brother and I set off in the boat next day at the break of dawn. It
was a clear day and we rode easily towards Lower Ambrosia for nearly
half of the day. Then, the rain started. The sky became quite dark and
it began to rain quite heavily. The shower developed into a storm and
soon we were being tossed by the raging waves. We both felt that we
could capsize any moment. Suddenly lightning struck the boat and all
became dark before my eyes.
When I opened my eyes again I was in a strange place. We were among
people wearing garments made of grass. Their dwellings were of mud and
covered with leaves. Luckily one of them knew a little English probably
picked up from radio. From him I gathered that we were in a very remote
part of Lower Ambrosia. This island was called Monster Island by the
locals. Why such a name I asked them. At first, they looked at each
other and asked the children to leave. When the little ones had left
they began to speak. A monster lived on this island they said. This
monster had to be supplied with one human being every evening which it
then ate. If it was a child two of them would be consumed. If the
monster were not given its food it would destroy everything they had
including all their lives. They also added that this monster had come
to the island in a boat many years before.
I had a little talk with Barry. We decided that we should take a look
at this abominable monster and determine our course of action. The
islanders refused to tell us where the monster stayed so we had to find
him ourselves. We did not have to go very far though. The island itself
was very small. You could cross it in twenty minutes and still have a
lot of energy left. We went to the beach and from a cave just above the
beach we heard a mighty roar. And then the monster came out.
Well, it was a dragon. The Komodo dragon which is the world's biggest
lizard. It is said that the Komodo dragon can skin a mighty water
buffalo in five minutes. It is also known to eat humans when it wants
to. The simple people of the island had no metals, no machines.
Naturally, they found the dragon fearsome and its powers lethal. But I
had a gun and knew how to use it. Well, I pointed my gun at the massive
Komodo dragon staring directly at me and took aim. I shot thrice and
all three bullets pierced the forehead of the animal. It fell dead
instantly. Before going back to the villagers we found the remains of a
boat which may have brought the Komodo dragon or its parents to Monster
Island.