22 The Footprint

CHAPTER 22 The Footprint One day, during my usual long morning walk, I decided to pick some grapes for raisins. But then, I had a flash of courage. Maybe I'll go make sure my boat is still there, I thought. I'm feeling brave today. So, instead of visiting my summer house, I walked around to the beach where the boat was tied up. When I got there, I found a

man's footprint in the sand. "Oh no!" I exclaimed, "Who could that be? It must be the natives! I don't want them to see me! I don't want them to discover me!" I ran as fast as I could all the way back to camp. I checked over my shoulder again and again as I ran. What if they found me? What would they do to me? After running for almost an hour, I made it back to my fence, jumped up onto my ladder, and pulled it in after me. I tossed and turned in my sleep all that night. There were so many things I just didn't know—was it just one man, or more than one? Would they come for me? If they discovered my boat, they would know I was here! My heart beat very fast. My hands were shaky. I was afraid that everything I had built was about to be destroyed.

Three whole days passed before I even left my camp. And even then, I didn't want to go, but I needed water and my goats needed to be milked. I took a hidden path all the way to my summer house. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, so I spent a

couple of days there trying to calm down. Robinson, I thought to myself, maybe you are over-reacting. Maybe that footprint in the sand belonged to me, and I just didn't notice that I made it. I mustered up all of my courage and walked back to the beach to take another look. The print was still there! When I put my foot next to it, the print was almost twice as big! "It can't be!" I said. I started to shake and sweat all at once. It took me a couple of minutes to gather my thoughts, and then I raced home as fast as I could. I spent another sleepless night thinking about that footprint. In a fit of craziness, I decided to rip all my crops and set my goats free—that way no one would know I was here. Morning dawned. The day was clear and bright. My farm was all still there. I knew then that I didn't need to destroy everything I had built. I just needed to be

careful. Two years passed and I didn't see a soul. No more footprints showed up on the sand. No one came and surprised me in the night. Life carried on as usual.