Coronavirus Lockdown Day Ten – Some thoughts from Chairman Mao

Following the unfortunate parrot shooting, Man March and I have this day made our way around the headland where the wreck of my ship, or what lies left of it, sits broken upon the reef.
The captain’s lifeless body – once strapped firmly to the aft-mast, has long been consigned to the deep and even the soggy remnants of the ship’s dog have been consumed by that unforgiving Pacific Ocean. I think his name was Rufus – the dog, not the captain and certainly not the ocean, but I am not entirely sure.

Shipwrecks naturally have a habit of emptying both the mind and - dare I say it, the bladder. But unless you once experience them first hand, most of you my good readers, might doubt this as a fact and attribute my scribbles to some delusion brought on by some pandemic panic or other.

Nonetheless, Man March and I today combed the foreshore in the hope of finding more in the way of handy tools and provisions with which to enhance our chances of survival. Perhaps some oranges, even a grapefruit or some more of that splendid salted pemmican might lie amongst the seaweed. A crate of corned beef or some rusty but intact tins of spam or even the ships supply of dog-food would be a welcome find since at least in the absence of fresh produce, these sodden treasures might tide us over until we can build a fresh ship or perchance a wooden raft with which to make our escape from this island hell.

But, I must report that there was nothing even remotely edible amongst the surf except a waterlogged copy of The Haynes Repair Manual of the Lancaster Bomber and a waterproofed first edition (unsigned) of The Thoughts of Chairman Mao. But, of course, neither Man nor I can survive for long on words alone!

The Haynes manual was largely unreadable apart from the frontispiece since the pages had largely become stuck together in what WW2 bomber crews – those who survived - often described as ‘a bad show’ or ‘a mix-up over Flushing’. The cover, or what remained of it, recorded that with just a few spanners and a hammer, most folk of an engineering disposition should be more than capable of keeping a Lancaster bomber operational and fully capable of bombing the majority of major European capitals during night hours.

The long dead Mao’s treatise on how to be a decent communist was however much more enlightening. On page 67 for example, he enthuses about how the Chinese nation have long imbued  the spirit to fight the enemy to the last drop of blood and have the undoubted determination to recover lost territory no matter the odds!

Here, for what its worth is a short extract from his epistle:

‘ 江山如此多娇，引无数英雄竞折腰。惜秦皇汉武，略输文采；唐宗宋祖，稍逊风骚。一代天骄，成吉思汗，只识弯弓射大雕。俱往矣，数风流人物，还看今朝。’

Man March and I are now inspired and are intent on escape at whatever cost!

Duncan Harley is a writer and extreme  blogger living in the Garioch. His books are available from Amazon. Just search for Duncan Harley in the Amazon search box. Signed copies are available @ Inverurie Whisky Shop