Pelican

Sorry I didn't get this posted this morning but I ran out of time.

It looks innocent, the mound of broken coral pieces shoved up by the waves, but try to walk across it and you find out different. The stuff rolls and slides, never firm, never stable. Jack clambered up toward the blue Caribbean sky arcing cloudless overhead. He felt undignified and awkward which made him angry that Manning was forcing him into this island-wide scavenger hunt. He got to the top, flushing a pelican as he did, and stood up staggering a bit on the shifting coral rubble and looked around. Nothing. No Manning, no merchandise, no further instructions. Oh wait, something was fluttering stuck to a piece of driftwood. Jack slipped and stumbled over to grab the paper before the ever-present tradewinds blew it to kingdom come. Not just yet, was written on it. "Damn him." Jack crumpled the paper and threw it--into the wind, so it blew back in his face. He caught it and shoved it into his pocket, looking around sure that Manning was somewhere nearby, laughing.

--Barbara