Donny’s Dive Shop in the Philippines celebrates its anniversary on an uninhabited island.

Plenty of San Miguel Pilsen. Everyone’s having a good time sharing sea stories.

Donny has come face-to-face with great whites, overcame the bends, and battled a jealous husband, but never experienced the excruciating pain after stepping on  a sea urchin.

Standard recommendations: Yank out the spines with a tweezer. Submerge foot in HOT water. Repeat. Apply shaving cream.

Francesca whispers a back-up plan.

“Do what?”

“It’s the only way.”

“You want my help, Donny?”

A sneer, “Fuck you, Manny.”

Everyone laughs.

Remedy: Down three beers. Find a tree. Repeat often.

Don Robishaw’s characters are based upon archetypes or stereotypes he’s met while on the road. He likes to write poetry and gritty fictional tales — of men and women from various backgrounds — that may have sprouted from a seed, from his past. Don’s well-traveled, using various ways and means: Sailor, Peace Corps Volunteer, bartender, hitchhiker, world traveler, college professor, and circus roustabout. Visit his Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/donrobe1/.