“He downloaded the screen saver shortly after downloading the dog. It is a continuing sequence of images, like a silent cartoon feature, in which a man on a desert island performs a series of Robinson Crusoe-like tasks. Some — such as waving at a passing ocean liner — are designed to get him off the island; others are just things he needs to do to survive, trying to catch a fish, for example, or to climb the palm tree growing in the middle of the island to get at a coconut. In none of these endeavours is he successful. Calvin is amazed that the man has lasted so long, almost half a year, given his lack of success at acquiring even the basic necessities of life. The program must take up a huge amount of memory. At the moment, the man is throwing stones at a monkey that has appeared at the top of the coconut tree. The monkey catches the stones and throws them back at the man. Calvin watches this bloodless exchange for a while, then decides to go out for a walk.”

— from “The Man on the Island,” by Wayne Grady