This episode of Hidden Island is brought to you ad-free by Chick-fil-A. Good morning. Good morning! Good morning! Mom, turn it off. Turn off the alarm. Sorry, Jakey, but that's a real parrot. I thought roosters are supposed to wake you up. What's he saying? He's saying good morning. Good morning, Parut. Time to watch the sunrise, apparently. How'd you all sleep? Best wildflower bed ever. Good morning, Moo. Where's Daddy? I heard him get up a little while ago. Let's go find him.
Over here, bud. Through the trees. Oh, it's beautiful. Hey. Morning, fam. You found it. I did? Yes. Colin, look around. What are we looking at? You don't see it? See you up, Mom. This glade is the perfect place to build our new home. Plenty of trees for lumber. We're still close enough to the water source and fruit grows, and we can have access to the beach. It is pretty nice. Mom, could you work your magic up here?
It's hardly magic. But yes, I think we could start construction on a real house here. Yay, a house! Did you hear that, monkeys? They'll be our new neighbors. Just no loud parties. What kind of house are we talking about, Iz? A modest one. We start with one room, but then we can add bedrooms. A kitchen. And a lab where we can use my microscope to examine the plant life and design our garden. Right, Daph? Sure, Emmy. Ow! My foot! What's wrong? Something bit me. Tell him, Moo.
A red ant. He has friends. A lot of friends. Ow! Solanopsis. What? Fire ants. Ow! Stop! Get off! Ow! I didn't notice a mound of... In the dark. It's a colony. Come on, Moo. Up the tree. I can't step on them all. Ow. What do we do? No ants up here. Just monkeys. Good idea, kid. Everybody, climb. That's it, Em. Yeah. Go, Jake. Give me your hand, Jess. Faster, guys. Come on. What took you so long? I was thinking, what about a tree house? Hidden Island, an original audio adventure.
Episode 5. Treehouse. That should do it. Dad, are we sure the fire ants won't come back? Sprinkling the cayenne peppers I found into their hills should make it unlivable. They'll take their show on the road for now, but it's unlikely we've seen the last of them.
all the more reason to build a home in the trees. Right, Mom? I'll admit that when Isabelle and the kids found me in that meadow, I wasn't thinking about where to build our house. I was thinking about what it meant for my family that a rescue party wasn't coming anytime soon. and trying to shake this feeling I'd had from the start. The feeling that on this island, nothing was as it seemed. Colin, what do you think?
What? What was the question? The high winds? Of course. What about them? They blew out our fires on the beach. They're bound to blast through these trees, so we have to plan for a worst-case scenario. But I can't work out the weight-strength ratios. You'll figure it out. I know. Just trying to get you out of your own head. Look at this beautiful place.
Yeah, if you don't notice the fire ants and the volcano and the natural disasters. And look what it's already doing for our kids. Emmy climbed down to the beach and Jake crossed that bridge and Leo... Well, pretty sure he's already an honorary monkey. And you and me? Are we okay? You know, I haven't thought about it until now.
But the last few years, you've been working all over the world. We see each other for a few weeks before you're off again. It was starting to feel like we were... Strangers? But then we found this island. Or it found us. And now we have the chance to discover new things. I do have a lot of questions. Not about the island. About each other. And about ourselves. Of course.
And I was thinking, while we're building the treehouse, I can set up systems to monitor the tides and the winds. If everything lines up, I could maybe send out an unmanned boat. Colin, stop. What is it? I can't do that. I meant it when I said we need to build a real home. Of course. It's only safe. I know you blame yourself for us ending up here. But I can't wake up every morning scanning the horizon for a boat or a plane that isn't coming.
And I don't want the kids to live that way either. So we just... give up? I'm not saying that. I understand you need to cling to that hope, and it's important that someone keeps their eye on it. But me? I'm... project manager and I'm staring at a project waiting to happen. I love me a deadline. So I want us to set one. Two months from now is our 20th wedding anniversary.
What better way to celebrate than by finishing our new home? Two months. That's a long time on this island. But not that long to build us a new home. I need to know you're on board with this. Because this is what our family needs. What I need. Colin? Okay. Two months. I'll go tell the kids. When I first woke up on the island after our lifeboat broke apart, I had this strange feeling like the waves had placed us there.
And everything that followed on the beach, the unpredictable tides, the wind blowing out our fire, the herd of wild horses clearing our path, it's like we had no choice but to keep moving inland. As a scientist, I found it fascinating. As a father, it was worrisome. Where's me and Moo's room? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Jake's right. One step at a time. I thought it's the same giant frog from the beach, Leo. It is. He's my friend. And Moose. Laying leaf frog with an actual frog.
He's not a dog, even though he is the size of a one. You know, it's actually not a bad idea to have a pet that eats large bugs, considering a run-in with the fire ants. Ruggy, sit. Good boy. Hey, Jake. Dad are gonna be busy building the treehouse, and they'll need our help, of course. Yeah. But we should start going to school. I don't think there's a school on this island. I mean, we should make one. Just...
A few hours every day. I can work on lesson plans that incorporate aspects of the island. Dad can help with the science and mom can do math and social studies. You can do computer stuff. Here? So you'll be, like, the principal? Unless you want to be? Maybe we should wait on this. Jake, the more we show Mom and Dad we're responsible, the more responsibilities and freedom they'll give us. Um...
Okay. I can start getting tree stumps for desks. And we can use rocks and slate for chalkboards. Okay, people. Listen up. We've got two months to build the best treehouse ever. We've got a lot of work to do. We sure do. Okay, so we're going to need two teams. Team one, Colin and Jake. There's nothing quite like watching my wife when she had a mission. Find sharp rocks and make them sharper.
And we need to build a ladder and a pulley system for getting our lumber up the tree. Team one, ready for duty. And team two? We're going to find the lumber. It was slow going at first. We had Isabelle's silver hammer. And a few odds and ends we'd recovered from the beach, but everything else we had to make ourselves. How's that, dad? Looks good, kid. Just keep sawing away. And little by little...
It started to come together. Hey, Mom. What is it, Em? Remember we saw all that bamboo growing up by the water? Yeah. We're going to use that to help frame our roof eventually. But bamboo is hollow inside, right? It is. I was thinking... But even as we built... I never stopped thinking about the mystery. I found whatever moments I could to slip away. I mapped the tides, looking for some pattern, some answer to my questions.
How did the islands support so many ecosystems that didn't belong in the South Pacific? Why were the animals so unusual? The islands seem to be cooperating. We had access to food and resources to build shelter. But I couldn't help but wonder what if one day it stopped cooperating. Dad? What's up, Jake? What is that you're putting on the branch? Oh, it's like a makeshift bell. I'm hoping to connect it down on the beach and up high to monitor the wind and the tides. Like a warning bell? Yeah.
Something like that. And while I worked on my secret project, Isabel never stopped working on the treehouse. Waking up with the sun and going until it was too dark to see. It didn't take long before she was ready to test out her work. Okay, everybody. Before we go any further and start with the walls, we need to make sure our floor is sound. How do we do that? Well, it's very complicated. You see, we climb up there and we stand on it.
Very scientific. I know, right? Okay, you heard your mother. Climb and stand. Me first. I'm standing, I'm standing. No, you're jumping. It's... fine. We need to make sure it can handle Leo being Leo. Go ahead, Em. Jake, up you go. Okay, pretty high, huh? Can't wait for those walls. This is like... The best view ever. I lived on a fifth floor walk-up in grad school. Similar vibes. Okay. We're all here. Standing. Feels pretty solid, Mom. It does.
Doesn't it? Froggy? How did he get up here? Come here, Froggy, jump! What's that? The platform. Is? Mom, is it okay? Everybody, jump! Everybody okay? Yeah. I'm good. Sorry, Mom. Branch didn't sustain the full weight, so we need another to... You all right? Yeah. Dad, what's that thing you told me scientists say when an experiment doesn't work? I have not failed.
I've just found 10,000 ways that it won't work. So I guess we found one. Elmo? And we'll probably find a whole lot more in the next two months. But we're going to get this treehouse built. I promise you that. Okay, everyone. Climb down carefully. As we hung on those branches high above the strange island, Isabel made it clear she wasn't giving up on building us a new home. And I... I wasn't giving up on finding a way back to our old one. Okay, everybody. Are we ready? Ready. Ready. Ready.
Okay, then. Three, two, one! Pull the lever, Leo! Go! Nothing happened. Wait! There's a trickle of water coming out of the pipe! Wait for it. Wait for it. Our treehouse has running water. Amazing work, yes. It was Emmy's idea, but we made it happen together. All of us.
No, what are we waiting for? Come on up! We have a hat! Two months to the day that Isabelle set her deadline, the treehouse was ready for us to officially move in. We've seen it before, Mom. We helped build it. A lot had changed in our two months on the island. We went from just surviving to living. We started to fish and cook. We planted a garden in soil that turned out to be incredibly fertile. Look, Dad!
Is that weird? I can't believe it grew so fast. And at this time of year... As expected, Isabelle hit all of the deadlines she set for herself. In less than two months, we had a beautiful home in a tree with bedrooms for each of the kids, a working kitchen, and now even running... I'm going to go out on a limb and say they like it. Get it? Out on a limb? Oh, nice work. On the dad joke or the treehouse? All of it. Colin. Hold that thought. Your alarm bell.
What does that mean? Uh, just an alert for my experiment. I'm gonna head down to the beach. Again? You need help? Nope! Enjoy our new home. I'll be back soon. During those two months we were building the treehouse I never took my eye off the ultimate goal getting us home But I honored Isabel's wish and kept her and the kids out of it
I built a pulley system for getting down and back from the beach so I could privately study the tides and the currents. And while at first they seemed random, almost capricious, I started to see a pattern and I set up my warning bell to alert me when the time was perfect.
Okay, little guy. Time to do your thing. I carved a small sailboat out of cedar wood. She was about the size of a coffee table. Not big enough to carry a person. It was too dangerous out there in the waves anyway. But in the right conditions? I hoped Minnie, named for our home in Minneapolis, was solid enough to get past the shore break and out to open water where she might be seen by a passing ship or wash up on some other island. Let's hope for some good luck, Minnie.
Good luck. Good luck. Arigato, Haruto-kun. I'm going to need it. It was the longest of long shots, like tossing a message in a bottle into the sea. The part of me needed to believe that it could work. Now we wait for the right moment. My family, meanwhile, had made a home here. Amelia even started her island school. Okay, guys. Have a...
Can we take the day off to celebrate the house being finished? Actually, I was thinking we'd start with history today. Great. Do either of you know what today is? No. No? It's Mom and Dad's 20th anniversary. They didn't say anything. I think they forgot. Mom was so into finishing the treehouse, and Dad's been focused on his secret experiments. But you didn't forget. No, I didn't. And that's why we're going to do something special for them. Like what?
We're going to serve them a romantic anniversary meal up on the cliff overlooking the ocean. Yes, I'll climb up and get them coconuts. That's a good plan. I'm going to see if we caught any crabs in the trap. Jake, any ideas? Okay, um... I saw these enormous fireflies near the stream. What if I can bottle them and then they can be the lighting for the dinner? I love that idea. Okay, we have our plan? We'll work on the food and bring the table and chairs up there. And when the sun starts to set...
I'll grab dad from the beach. I'll get mom. And I'll grab the fire flush. I waited all afternoon for the exact moment that the tide was going out. and the waves were low enough that my tiny boat could survive the rocks that took our lifeboat. Bon voyage, Minnie.
Safe journey. The boat did exactly what she was supposed to do. She made it past the first break, and the ocean pulled her out to sea. Come on, Minnie. Go! Go, go, go! What is that? As the beach shook, A huge rogue wave rose up from the ocean and toppled my little boat, smashing her to pieces before it could ever make it out to open water.
Okay, Hemi, why did you bring me here to the edge of this cliff? You gonna push me off? Check out that sunset, huh? Sure. This way, Mommy. Where are you taking me, Leo? Hey, Dad. Look who it is. What's going on here? I asked the same question. Leo even brought me a flower to put in my hair. What do you think, Dad? It's beautiful. It is an incredible sunset. Yeah, that too.
We can't take credit for the sunset, but we did make dinner. For two. I don't believe it. You kids made all this? Fresh fruit salad! Found a couple of crabs lurking in the water pipe today. Boiled them up special for you. Crabs? And for dessert... Coconut chips. Guys, what is all this? We figured you've been so busy you forgot to do anything special for your anniversary.
No, of course I remembered the date. Is it today? It's the nicest anniversary present we've ever gotten. It's very special. Thank you. Jake will be here soon to help set the mood, too. The mood! leave you to it. Let Jake know if you need anything else. Enjoy! Alright. Colin, you don't have to feel bad for forgetting our anniversary. I forgot too.
It's not that. What is it? Two months ago, when we made the plan to build the treehouse, you told me you couldn't spend every day waking up wondering if we were going to get rescued. I remember. And that's the reason... You were able to build our amazing treehouse. But I... I never gave up on our rescue. I never went all in on our life here. You don't think I noticed? How you disappear, conducting your experiments on the beach. You knew. Of course I knew. I'm sorry, Iz, for not...
Fully being here for you and the kids. And now that we've made our home, are you going to keep being half in, half out? I want you to know I love our life here. And I love just... Being with you and the kids. Okay. But is there something else? I haven't just been trying to figure out how to get us rescued. I've been trying to figure out this island.
What do you mean? I mean, part of the reason I've had a really hard time fully accepting this as our home is because there's something not normal about this island. I think... I think it wants something from us. How are you fireflies? You were down here last time. Great. Now I'm gonna let mom and dad down. Again. and he started the school and he had the idea for running water and the anniversary dinner wait did i make a wrong turn haruto do you see fireflies
What am I doing? You just repeat whatever we say. Follow me. Follow me. Okay. Fine. Not like I'm going to get any more lost. Pluto, slow down. Where did you keep Ruto are you in there? What are these markings on the wall? Is that Japanese writing? What's happening? The opening to the cave! GZM Shows. Imagination Amplified. My name is Will Swenson and I play Colin Robinson in Hidden Island. For more great shows, visit gzmshows.com.