“….and when I ran out of razors I had to use sharpened
toothbrushes to kill my prey.’
Sid didn’t entirely believe Great Uncle Malcolm’s tales of
when he was the sole mutineer on a cargo ship headed for Malacca, and was put
ashore on the unmapped island of Krakapu somewhere in the Indian Ocean.
‘How come you had so many toothbrushes?’ he asked.
Great Uncle Malcolm looked at Sid with an
‘isn’t-that-obvious’ expression on his face. ‘Well, of course I had an inkling
that I’d be marooned, so I stole all my fellow’s toothbrushes the night before.
Knew they’d come in handy for something.’
‘But…but, aren’t toothbrushes made of plastic? How could you
sharpen one?’
‘Made of wood in those days, my boy, ‘ said Great Uncle
Malcolm dismissively. ‘All made of wood. Even the bristles.’
Something was still not right. Aha! ‘How did you sharpen them
if you’d run out of razors?’ That, thought Sid, was the clincher. There could
be no return for Great Uncle Malcolm now.
‘Clever boy. You see, laid out my last dead rat’s intestines
to dry in the sun – like catgut they were – then used the thread to whittle the
toothbrush handle. Got to have your wits about you when you’re marooned on a
desert island, you know.’
Hmm. ‘What year did you say this was, Uncle?’
‘Well, yes, it would be 19…er..let’s see now, 1924, I
reckon. Or thereabouts.’
Sid slid away and googled Krakapu. Great Uncle Malcolm
didn’t know what Google was and only used the family laptop to rest his mug of
coffee on. ‘Krakapu, uninhabited island discovered and mapped in 1750 by the great explorer of
the Indian Ocean Lord Sir Captain Stanley Blitherington-Smethers.’
Just as I thought, muttered Sid. But he could hear Great Uncle
Malcolm chuckling to himself in the room next door and didn’t have the heart to
tell him. Instead, he googled ‘wooden toothbrush’. Just in case.
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