Last Man standing / part 4/draft 1

Last Man standing/ part 4/ draft 1

fiction
edward w pritchard

" Our Hell is where we find ourselves"
ed pritchard, the Cynics apothecary- 2013

see part 1, 2 and 3- Last man standing 


Note- Shackleton stories are a compilation of facts, and more than some amount of fiction -author

part 4

 West is dead. Frank West who was temporary leader has given up the ghost. He succumbed to the cold, the  poor water, the futility of life and he shriveled up and he died. He wasted away and died of spirit, died of soul, and died of hip and thigh. Now there are three. Myself, Ed Laufter and Nord, the sailor.

Nord is going crazy, from the isolation I suppose. He believes Laufter is evil, I can't understand his bemoanings to figure out why Laufter is supposed to be evil; but as much as Nord believes that Shackleton is good and will triumph and rescue us here in Antarctica, Nord believes that Laufter is evil and has plans to doom us all. I mentioned Nord's accusations to Laufter and he doesn't take it serious or personal. "We are all under a tremendous amount of stress, ravings are common in such situations" he says. Laufter  recommends that Nord assume the duties as our cook, constantly keeping the fire going will distract Nord from his fears and will help him to survive. We must improvise as necessary to save a life.

In my opinion no man on our crew, of the original five men left here under the boat to wait for rescue or of the men who went with Shackleton to find the whaling station have done more to try to keep us alive than Ed Laufter. His motives I don't know nor do I care, he works constantly to improve our situation and unlike Shackleton he is here with us, everyday in this place sharing our sorrows.  

Thinking about it, about Laufter, it is strange. Laufter  never shows if he is cold, never shows if he is tired and seldom complains about anything. It's odd I suppose. Still he more than once has helped me to survive here and given me reason to get back to my home. 

A few years ago Shackleton was obsessed with which explorer had went furthest South. Meanwhile  Amundsen found the pole and Robert Scott lost himself and four men to death exploring Antarctica. I can understand Shackleton's original obsessions but why is he still that way now? After the Pole was conquered. And, why did I follow him here?
end part 4