Rogue Wave
As all Shalampaxians know, a rogue wave struck our island yesterday. Not only did it wash over our plateau, but the wave reached right up to the third floor of our building.
Fortunately, our bullet-proof windows and the building’s waterproofing held, so there was no water damage. However, the building shook so much when the wave hit that the contents of many cupboards and shelves ended up on the floor. The result was a lot of broken dishes.
Until The Shalampax Department Store is able to get a new supply of tableware, many people will have to share plates and glasses during meals. Or they can eat directly off the table and drink from the bottle.
There was an upside to this rogue wave. Hundreds of fish were beached on the top of our plateau. In addition, a humpback whale was wedged between two palm trees.
As soon as the winds died down enough to make it safe enough to do so, a number of people ran outside and scooped up the fish, which they took back to their kitchens.
The Shalampax Grocery Store staked a claim to the whale. Employees of the store are in the process of butchering the whale. Some cuts of whale meat are already available in the store.
Thanks to the rogue wave, there should be some fine seafood-eating in Shalampax for many days to come.
Hmm…I thought that whales were mostly blubber.
This is the kind of fishing I could enjoy – just go out and pick them up. Beats that boring sitting by the river holding a fishing pole thing my father insisted we do. Have you considered putting up fishing nets between the palm trees for such occasions to increase the catch?
@David: Shows you what you know. True there is a lot of blubber, which can be boiled down into whale oil, but there are also copious quantities of delicious cuts of whale steak to be had.
Yeah, I can’t say I have much use for the usual fishing expeditions. They’re too much work and too boring. Better to let the fish come to you. The fishing nets sound like a good idea. We often have waves wash up over our shore, just not usually as high as that one. The only problem I see is I don’t think the nets would last long in our weather–but it’s worth a try.
All I can think of is the Television show “Deadliest Catch” where they talk about rogue waves hitting the crab boats in the middle of the Bering Sea. I’m sure that the crab fisherman would hope that a decent catch would land on their boat instead of nearly capsizing it.
@Chris (AKA: CaJoh): Of course the crab fishermen don’t have the advantage that we have, namely that we are on a very solid island in a very solid building. All we had to do was wait for the weather to subside and then go out and collect the catch.