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I've been wandering around the island on my own a lot, thinking about what my next step is going to be, how I'm going to survive through to the end. The competition is getting tough, the food is getting scarce, and the stares are getting cold. I knew I needed to start strategizing better, but I wasn't sure where to go from here until I found the hut.
At first, I felt like I was in a Gilligan's Island rerun. That's the only place I'd seen a witch doctor before now. But there he was, huddled in the corner of his makeshift straw and bamboo shelter, waving palms over the fire and chanting softly.
He spoke enough English that I convinced him I meant him no harm. I think I managed to daze him a little, too, with the light reflecting off my engagement ring.
I told him about the Survivor contest, and explained that I needed to start eliminating my competition. I told him I'd known since the Carol Channing incident that it was just too dangerous to keep her around. He agreed to help me, in exchange for some free TV publicity, and we set a time to meet the next day.
The hardest part of enacting the plan was getting the camera. Ladeeleroy rarely lets it out of her sight. But I told her I'd found some gorgeous flowers growing on the far side of the island and wanted to show them to my wedding florist, so she finally relented and handed it over.
Doc, as he asked me to call him, offered to enchant the camera so that it would actually steal her soul, but I explained to him that I didn't really want her to be hurt. I just wanted the part of her brain that remembered Diary Survivor to be frozen. He took the "magic picture box," sprinkled it with some herbs, and then sat down, cross-legged, and went into some deep, focused trance, never breaking his stare at the camera.
It seemed like hours passed. I didn't dare move or breathe. Finally, he exhaled loudly, stretched and handed me back the camera. "It is done," he proclaimed.
I walked back to camp slowly, trying to remind myself to stay calm. I didn't let myself think about the possibility of the enchantment going wrong. No one would be hurt. I had to believe that.
Ladeeleroy was standing off to the side of her tent when I arrived, impatiently tapping her foot. "Geez, I didn't break it, " I said, sliding open the shutter and taking a deep breath. "Here, see--it still works."
I aimed the camera at her and pressed the button. There was a big flash, and a noise that sounded like Doc's chants resounded in the air. Ladeeleroy's eyes got wide and she sat down in a daze. I walked over, put the camera at her feet and knelt down, concerned. "Ladeeleroy? Are you okay?"
Slowly, her eyes came back into focus. "Yes, I'm fine. But who are you? And why am I here? Damn--did I fall asleep at my desk again? I need to get a new job."
I realized the camera had done its job. Doc's spell had worked. She had no memory of the contest, and no interest in kicking my Survivor ass.
Luckily, she'd made enough noise on her "reentry" into our island world that Meg came out to see what was going on. As Meg led her away, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Everything seemed to have gone according to plan.
Now, what to do about the rest of them...
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