"Be careful with that thing," I said, following her a few feet behind. "We don't want to antagonize another one of those tree snakes. I'm not sure I could carry you back to the village like you did for me if you get bitten."
"Don't worry about me," Teuila said. "I've acquired a certain degree of immunity. Our people believe that all living things are endowed with supernatural powers—what we call mana. We've learned to live in harmony with our fellow island dwellers. As long as we leave them alone, they shouldn't cause us too much trouble."
"Tell that to the critter who bit me by the waterfall. I don't think he's recognized my mana yet."
"Never fear," Te' chuckled, "Worst-case scenario, I can always resuscitate you with my special potion."
"Mmm, yes," I said, remembering our last kiss. "In that case, bring on all the angry serpents you can find."
As I watched her scamper over the jagged rocks and thick brush lining the trail, I glanced at her soiled feet.
"How can you walk over all this rough terrain in bare feet?" I asked. "I'm wearing heavy hiking shoes, and I'm already feeling sore and all scratched up."
"The soles of our feet get pretty toughened up from all the coarse surfaces we walk on from the moment we're born. Between the sandy beaches, the rocks in the lagoon, and rough brush in the jungle, we soon develop a thick skin to protect us against most obstacles. But if you need to rest for a moment, there's a clearing up ahead where we can stop for a bite to eat."
"I could use a little respite," I nodded, breathing heavily from the steep uphill climb. "I'm a little out of shape from all the lounging around I've been doing since I began my tour of these Pacific islands."
We stopped at a small clearing surrounded by a copse of tall palm trees.
"Are you hungry?" Te' asked.
"I could do with a bite, but we didn't bring anything. What did you have in mind?"
"The island provides everything we need," she said, glancing up toward the canopy of trees. "How about some fresh pineapple?"
I looked up and saw a clump of spiny pods bunched together under the leafy umbrella of long green fronds at the top of the tree.
"I'd love some, but how can we get those down?"
Teuila smiled, as she rubbed the bottom of her feet.
"These tough soles are good for more than just walking over rough surfaces," she said.
She placed her adze on the ground, then approached one of the palm trees and grasped its cracked bark with two hands, placing the soles of her feet in perpendicular positions against the sides of the trunk. She pulled her body toward the trunk and lifted her feet a few inches higher, pointing her knees outward. Then she pressed upward with her legs, taking a higher handhold on the stem. After a series of similar shimmying maneuvers, it didn't take long for her to ascend halfway up the tree.
I shook my head, dumbfounded at how easily she could scale the timber using just her arms and legs. With her legs splayed apart, I could clearly see under her tunic, and my pussy began to water as I watched her buttocks and vulva flexing with each leapfrog up the tree. When she neared the crown, she looked down and called out to me.
"You might want to stand back a bit. I'm going to shake the tree now, which should drop a few pineapples. They're pretty sharp and prickly, so make sure you stay out of the way."
I nodded as I looked up at her, taking a few steps back. As she started shaking her body against the tree, the leaves began rustling and a few seconds
later four or five pineapples plopped to the ground beside me. She descended the tree just as easily as she'd climbed it, and when she got to the bottom, she rubbed the loose bark off her hands then brushed the debris covering the front of her gown.
"Now I see why you native girls wear such thick clothing," I said, pinching her cloth between my fingers. It felt a bit like thin cardboard, though it clung to her curvy figure like a cotton dress.
"The bark of the mulberry tree is like papyrus," she said. "And it's easy to decorate using turmeric dye and volcanic mud. Nothing goes to waste on our island."
I picked up one of the spiny pineapples off the ground and held it in my hand, feeling its heavy weight.
"These look pretty nutritious. But how will we get to the flesh inside?"
"It's simple with the right tools," Teuila said, taking the fruit from my hand.
She placed the husk against the side of the tree, then deftly hacked the two ends off with her sharp adze. Then she chopped the shell in half across the middle and placed the two hollow rings against the trunk and cut each section into two semi-circular crescents. We sat down, leaning our backs against the tree, and bit into the juicy pulp like watermelon pieces. The yellow juice squirted all over my face as I bit into it, running down my chin. I drew the back of my hand across my mouth, then wiped the sticky juice on the blanket of leaves lining the forest floor.
"Be careful there," Teuila said, noticing the juice dribbling down my neck toward my T-shirt. "Or we'll have to do another load of wash."
She rubbed her fingers over my chest just above my cleavage then sucked her fingers into her mouth.