"When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" ... Jenna Rossity calls these words out to the jungle, imagining she's on stage somewhere, a packed house full of playgoers seated before her, all of them captivated and listening ....
"When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
That will be ere the set of sun.
Where ... is the place?
Upon the heath.
There it is, to meet with Sir Macbeth."A graduate of SoCal University who majored in English while minoring in Theater, Jenna Rossity's recall of Shakespeare is flawless. As she busy-bodies to the pounding surf on Day Four of her new stranded existence, she can't help but call out the opening lines to Act 1, Scene 1 of
Macbeth, her favorite Shakespeare drama. As she does so, she acts the voices of each of the three witches, with wicked and varied aplomb.
"I come, Graymalkin! she shrieks in a gritty voice as she pretends to be Witch #1, while a gull lands nearby, trying to crack open some sort of mollusk.
"Paddock calls!" ... Witch #2's voice is higher-pitched and nasal, Jenna decides.
"Anon, anon, begone! begone!" ... The third and final witch, who speaks with a tone as wicked as Jenna can muster.
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air..."This semester, Jenna was right in the middle of analyzing
Macbeth for English 201, with her seventh grade students. And though the votes hadn't all been cast yet, it was looking as though Macbeth might even become this year's Spring Play. Well, it would either be Macbeth, or yet another mediocre rendition of
Oklahoma. Godspell had already been voted down by the majority of staff as being too much of a 'hippy shebang', and the one teacher who suggested
Spring Awakening had almost gotten his head cut off, after Jenna informed those who had shown up for the latest PTA meeting of the controversy
Spring Awakening was supposed to contain. "Just think of the Victorian Era equivalent of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Might be okay in front of a college audience, but not here at Torrance Middle!" she had complained.
Back to reality. Eventually, it was time to come back down to it. Still marooned, and still no rescue in sight! To quell her fears, Jenna decides to make another trip into the island's interior. This time, she takes a different path, and finds herself located on the island's northern section. She determines her location by using shadows on the ground, just like she had taught some kids when she was a Den Mother for Girl Scouts.
This time, she locates a beach with a breath-taking waterfall, a hundred feet high does its top crest over the cliff up above. This is the sort of waterfall which is always pictured in tropical travel brochures.
But there's not just a waterfall to gaze upon ...
Yes! A shipwreck, and one which seems to be from an era long ago. She wonders if there's any treasure aboard this large, beached vessel.
But this seems not to be so. Other than a Captain's Log which records bad weather and massive waves (sounds familiar, Jenna thinks), there is no long lost treasure to behold. Gah! Jenna chides herself for such foolish fantasies.
"A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap," she continues Macbeth, now deep into its third scene.
"And munch'd, and munch'd, and munch'd:--
'Give me,' quoth I:
'Aroint thee, witch!' the rump-fed ox-bred cries...." ... her voice both fierce and sad.
Much later in the afternoon, she finds another path which leads to yet another portion of the island.
By the time she gets to where she's going, it is dark. The air is getting cooler. And again, there's nobody else in sight.
But Jenna thinks she sees something, far in the distance. Can it be...
... Can it be ... another island??
"Till then, enough. Come, friends!" Jenna calls out to salty waves, mocking King Macbeth's Scottish male voice, finishing Scene III to imaginary applause. She takes a bow as the tide pulls inward. Already, she feels some excitement. Not just to delve into Scene IV (which she's thinking of starting tomorrow) but also, if there's a second island, the chances that the rest of her party might just be over there is something to look forward to. Maybe they survived!
She decides she'll stay here for the night. Stay, and hopefully get a better look in the morning, when the sun arises.
This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 9 2021, 12:44 AM