Just Like You

Chapter 12: Trabiaq's invention

“I call it a ‘gun’,” said Trabiaq, holding the curious device in one hand as he closed the door of the workshop behind him with the other.

“What does it do?” Ruyotu asked.

“I’ll show you.” Trabiaq put the gun on the ground and picked up a coconut from the row of more than twenty which had been placed against the outer wall of the workshop for no immediately obvious reason. “Give me a few heartbeats.”

He walked across the small field and placed the coconut on a small, scratched, dented, discoloured and otherwise abused wooden table which he had built many years before. Its construction was so exquisite that it remained sturdy even though its maker, who cared deeply about purpose and hardly at all about condition or appearance, had treated it very badly since the moment he finished applying the last coat of varnish.

All that could be seen beyond the end of the field, and to either side, was the apparently endless ocean which surrounded the Great Land. Trabiaq lived on a long, narrow peninsula at the north of the island, thousands of paces away from anyone else. He enjoyed working on his own, and was happy to avoid contact with other people (except his helpers, who made the long walk from their homes two days out of three) for long periods.

“Essentially it functions in the same way as a bow and arrow,” said Trabiaq on his return, splitting the gun in two and putting a hand in his pocket.

“It doesn’t look like a bow,” said Ruyotu. “And where’s the arrow?”