Chapter 8: Jack's shameful tears : Ralph’s Journal

The Beastie had been spotted! I didn’t actually fully believe in it until I looked it right in the eyes. We all frantically ran away, to reach the bottom of the mountain where the other boys were waiting.

We saw the Beastie! We told everyone, and they suddenly looked frightened and started talking to each other. We run back to the edge of the island so that we can gather a meeting.

When everyone is in their spots, Jack starts talking about how we spotted the Beastie. He doesn’t allow me to say anything. I am forced to sit down and listen to him babble, he makes me sick. Jack starts talking about something that greatly alarms me. I always knew that he was a bad person, but I wasn’t expecting the words that came flying out of his mouth, harsh, rude, and in spite. He told everyone that I was a coward, that I stayed further back when we inched toward the Beastie, and that I was a horrible leader. How I never paunched a pig, how I was friends with Piggy, and how I wasn't at all a prefect. He talked about how he could be a leader, and how great he would be. I couldn’t believe it. He was acting the exact opposite of demure.

Jack casted a vote. Whoever wanted him as leader should raise their hand.

No one raised their hand. I could see the anger building up in Jack’s face, and then it turned into sadness and shame. Tears started to build up in his eyes, and he placed down the conch and starred at everyone. He was going to create his on tribe. He didn’t need us- apparently. He ran as fast as he possibly could, into the forest.

I called out to him, but he only yelled No in response. I knew he would be back though, guilty and sorry.

I start feeling very sad and bad about this. Maybe everything he said was true about me. But no one voted me out. Everyone thought otherwise. Or maybe, they just don’t like Jack at all! I don’t really know what to make of this.

Things start falling apart, I’m always a bit gloomy, and everything seems to be a bit more carefree. A few people went to join Jack- but I wasn’t surprised. I expected more to join later. Piggy tries to cheer me up with his idea: To build a signal fire on the beach! It gets me a bit more pumped, and I want to do it. We start moving down the fire.

*********

Piggy and I are sitting down at the beach, talking about who left with Jack. Neither of us had seen Simon lately- but I didn’t think he was the kind of person to leave us for Jack’s tribe. But Piggy doesn’t seem at all shocked. I just hope Simon is somewhere else besides with Jack, I didn't think he was that demoniac to leave us. Loud, shrieking noises and chants come out of nowhere, as if they were the air. Then Jack and his tribe (which is smaller than I thought) came running towards us and they grabbed some of the burning sticks off of the fire. I am not surprised; they probably don’t know how to make a fire without the specks so they came to steal ours. But what did surprise me is they went for the fire.

I was sure they were heading for the conch, as soon as I saw them- that was what I thought. I’m not quite sure why, I just had a feeling. They announce that anyone can come for the feast they were having tonight, and they might let them, they might not.

Trying to recruit members, I’m sure. I don’t know what will be the future… I frown at the thought of it. There seems to be some sort of taboo surrounding me, and it was to not mess with Jack.

Chapter 6: We'll hunt it down!: Jack's journal

I am lying awake, and the wind is rough. The shelters are becoming less sturdier each day. A wisp of hair intertwines with another as I turn around and lay on my side. I reach and pull them apart, wishing I had a brush. My hair was so long! I rubbed my touch on top of my teeth. I could feel the plaque and dirtiness around it. I wish I had a toothbrush. I wish I had many things, and life here would be much better. I sighed, and embraced the fact that, we won't be getting life's essentials anytime soon. If- at all. I shuddered, and wonder what would happen if we were never to be rescued. I pulled that thought way in the back of my head- and instead thought about Ralph. I won his wanted attention over, fair and square. I showed everyone how much of a heroic and better leader I could be. If only Ralph could see this too, then-
Suddenly Sam and Eric are by my side, shaking Ralph and I. They exclaim they saw the beastie, and it was flying and attacking them, with big eyes and sharp teeth. When they told their story, their arms were flailing everywhere and using examples. I believe them, and I am astonished. We all get up and out, and Ralph hesitates to blow the conch. I don't know exactly why, but I think he doesn't want the beastie to be attracted to it, or maybe he just does not want to rouse everyone up that way.
Once we are all gathered by Sam and Eric running frantically telling everyone the beastie is here, Ralph is waving the conch in the air to let everyone know this is a meeting and he is speaking.
He tells everyone the beastie is real, the littleuns shake and look even more frightened. A few of the older boys seem like they don't believe us, but as the story unwinds, they to, start to shake a bit but not as nearly as much as the littleuns.
Where have I not hunted? I thought, than tell everyone that I haven't been in a little area by these rocks. I suddenly exclaim that we will go hunt the beastie in the morning, when we can see him. As soon as the words come out of my mouth, I become filled with confidence. When I strike the beastie , everyone will elect me as leader and kick Ralph out. Everyone seems to agree, and I don't want Ralph to come along, but he feeds his way into it.

Later on, we start trudging around the island, all of us eager to find the beastie.
Ralph and I are actually agreeing on everything so far, and I'm waiting for us to get mad at each other again. We stop and rest a few times, and we are all fixing our messy hair and getting them out of our face. We reach what seems to be a cave, and we go in.
Simon and I don't like if very much, but Ralph seems to be fine with his surroundings. Simon and I exchange a puzzled look, and we come back out of the cave.
Me and some other boys start pushing off boulders again, once we reached the top of the mountain. We were having a great time, laughing and yelling in triumph. Ralph only stood and watched us, and didn't look very pleased with us, in fact he seemed rather waxy.
He told us he wanted us to focus on more "important"things. So typical of him, after all he wast he one who suggested fun first. I stand in front of the boys and lead them down.

Chapter 7: The beastie buldge: Jack's journal

We kept walking until Ralph started jumping up and down, exclaiming he though he had seen the beast. When he explained what he saw, we all knew it was a boar, not the beastie. I shook my head in shame at him, and he kept going on and on about how he wounded the animal. He seemed so victorious he was making a fool out of himself. No one was very impressed, nothing compared to the admiration I got when I caught the first pig.
I knew from the start, this was mainly to gain back the attention that I had took from him. We all started at Ralph in his happiness, only waiting for him to get over it. The only think he said for a few minutes was "I wounded it!" When none of us cared as much as he thought we did. Well I killed one, and if he wanted the attention that I was receiving, he'd have to kill dozens. Almost everyone was preferring me over Ralph as chief and he just needed to accept the way things were now. Ralph finally calmed down enough to be quiet and move on to chasing the boar. When it was over, we were all excited and thrilled. We were reminding ourselves of the fun we had.
We made a circle and pushed a boy, Robert in the middle. We pretended he was the animal, and we circled in on him and started lightly tapping him with out spears. He made a few playful cries of pain, and then we accidentally hurt him a bit. He cried out with more of an alarmed and bravado sound in his voice, and soon stepped out of the circle.
When it was pretty dark, everyone wanted to rest. We sent Simon back to tell Piggy we'd be back soon. We just had to take care of our poor little Piggy. When Ralph brought up the idea, I had hated him again. I was not sure what to think of him now. When we were out exploring we got a long fine normally, but back at the island we were always mad at each other, yelling, and disagreeing about the ways the island should be ran.
Everyone but me sat down and got into a comfy spot, as if they were ready to sleep.
Ralph brought up a horrible idea, to wait until morning to go see the beastie so we can see it better. He was probably just afraid of it, and it would give him nightmares if he searched in the dark.
I was going up the mountain to look for the beastie- now. If no one was going to come with me, I would be fine with that. Ralph stood up, along with Roger and they decided to come along too. Everyone else seemed very dun with the idea of moving on right now. Many people looked at me imperviously. I didn't think Roger was up for this, but I shrugged and we started climbing.
We were soon sitting on the top of the mountain, and Roger started talking about some sort of "Bulge" in the mountain. What kind of creature bulges? Nothing we knew of. We crawled closer to the bulging area, and then we SAW IT! The moment I looked into it's eyes seemed interminable. It was horrible, with big eyes and teeth! Scrambling back up on our feet, we started to run back to tell the others.

Chapter 5: Maybe the beast is real: Simon's journal
UNFINISHED:: HAVE TO ADD VOCAB WORDS
I hear the conch bellow loudly... another meeting just like Ralph had promised. I looked up at the sky. It was rather dark... we weren't used to late meetings like this. I shrugged and followed the sound of the conch.
When I got there, people were all talking and Ralph seemed to be in deep thought. He was rubbing the conch preciously, and he kept taking in deep breaths. I remembered when he told us we were going to have fun on this island. He did not seem like he had some fun news for us right now. I bit my lip and stepped farther out of the circle.
Well, I was right. When Ralph started talking, he wasn't in a good mood at all. He was yelling at everyone for not helping build the huts, except me. I stayed with him the whole time. He yelled at the hunters, the littleuns, everyone. Everyone was acting in ways that was inappropriate and how we would never act back at school or home. I knew this was because we didn't have anyone to tell us what to do. We had Ralph and Jack ordering us around, but they did not make a big impact on some of us.
Suddenly, Jack grabs the conch and starts yelling at the littleuns for their fear of the beastie. He tells them how the beastie isn't real and how they need to get over their nightmares. One boy announces that he had a bad dream, and he woke up and saw the beastie, which is his proof he was awake. No one but the littleuns believe him. When we ask where he would hide during the daytime when the hunters were hunting, he said in the water. I announce that the beastie might be on e of us, and admit I was out in the forest last night. But I wasn't trying to scare the littleuns! Just trying to go to my special place. Because I can't tell them where I went, Jack doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm trying to frighten them, and he suddenly gets very angry. I think by the time we are done talking, he believes it isn't me. But I'm not to sure. After a while of silence, Jack frowns, and announces he will kill the beast. The hunters yell in excitement, and start dancing about. That makes me shudder. He is so obsessed with killing things now, compared to when we first came he couldn't even slit a pig's neck.
When the assembly is over, Ralph comes down to where Piggy and I are standing. He announces he might quit being leader. Piggy and I try to convince him to stay leader, because he's the best leader there can be and we need him to guide us. I'm not sure if he'll stay leader on not, though. As we huddle to sleep, the littleuns are making fearfull noises in the distance. I worry about them, and if the beastie is real. I think it is. But who?

Chapter 3: A ship! : Piggy's journal.

 

 I lay down on the hot sand, and it feels warm against my belly in a soothing way. I was all alone, which made me very rapt with my thoughts. The little ones are playing around in the sand, laughing. I wish they could be useful, but who was I with asthma laying around wanting them to be helpful? Simon and Ralph were out making huts, and Jack was hunting. The hunters had already returned, but not Jack. I supposed he must have continued on hunting alone. He probably wanted to catch the first pig by himself to brag about, or some other excuse and dismissed the hunters early. The hunters seemed fine that they could take a break- they looked like they were enjoying it as much as I was. 

 I wondered if Jack and Ralph had talked to each other lately in the forest and if they were getting along. They seemed to be good friends when we first crashed, but their relationship seemed to be fading. Now they were arguing more, and Jack wasn't being very nice to me either. He was always calling me Fatty, and it hurt more than when Ralph told everyone that Piggy was my nickname. Even if I told everyone my real name, they would still call me Piggy and Fatty. I don't think anyone understands how much it bothers me. Whenever I speak up, no one listens. No one understands my great ideas, and I think if they would just listen they'd see what great ideas I have and appreciate me more. I sighed, and slowly drifted to sleep.

Chapter 4:

  The next morning, I woke rather abruptly, but I think it was just because of my asthma. I started breathing a bit steadier after a while, and I felt my heart pace slowly become regular. I walk outside to see the little ones whispering and almost in tears about how the beastie came to get them last night. I could only shake my head and wish they'd grow up a bit faster- just to understand the beastie isn't real. When they talk about the beastie, it reminds me of the boy with the mulberry mark and makes me feel guilty. I'm sure a lot of people feel guilty, but I was supposed to take the names. Another thing no one understood. Everyone was just running about- They wouldn't listen! I had a strong compulsion to become more bold, and somehow make everyone listen to what I have to say.

  I go splash some water on my face, very tired. When I turn, a middle age boy is stomping on the little ones sand castle. He seems happy and proud of it, but when he walks away he says a susurration and he has an expression of disappointment but entertained at the same time.  I waddle into the water a bit.  Ralph and Simon come over for a bit, when Ralph suddenly exclaims he’s seen a ship! I stand up on the rock, and I can see the speck of a ship, in the distance. We all run to the fire, Ralph still naked. As soon as we reach the mountain, filled with suspense and eager to be rescued- the fire is out.

 A few steps away was Jack and the hunters, with Sam and Eric holding something carefully.

 We found out that they got a pig. They are all very excited, and Ralph kept telling them they let the fire out. They didn’t understand until we told them there had been a ship, and we could have been rescued. There was a blank look on all of their faces, and they suddenly didn’t look so happy.

  I started to talk, but then Jack punched me in the stomach. I fell on a rock, and the pain surged through me. He growled and punched my head and repeatedly called me Fatty very rudely and blatantly. My specks fell off and I was almost in tears. I started to develop even more of a belligerence toward Jack. Simon kindly picked them up for me and one lens was broken. I told Ralph he would pay, how dare he break one of my lenses. I could barley see- who knows how long we were stuck on this island. I knew I couldn’t handle a messed up vision very long.

   As we trudged down the mountain, Jack started giving out the meat and telling the story of his hunt, all the hunters were talking at once making the story inscrutable. I was very alarmed when he mentioned all the gouts of blood that had been released from the pig. When I asked for a slice he ignored me. He threw a piece at Simon’s foot, and Simon kindly gave it to me.  I know Simon is someone that might actually be listening to me.

  Ralph says he’s going to have another meeting. Now. I knew it was about all the vicissitudes we were encountering... I wasn't sure what to expect from Ralph or the reactions from everyone else.

Chapter two: The trees catch fire: Ralph's journal

I gathered another meeting to announce our discovery. Jack and I helped explain about how we were on a Island. Other boys kept butting in, and I was getting fairly annoyed. I knew that had questions, but we discussed how we were going to do hands up like at school. Obviously, that wasn't going to work for long. I rubbed the shell in my hands. Suddenly, I came up with a brilliant idea. I announced that from now on, whoever was holding the shell was the only one that could talk.

Everyone seemed to agree my idea was great. I sensed a sign of envy in Jack's eye, like he wanted to be the one making the rules. We continue talking about our new lifestyle. Suddenly, Piggy reaches out his hands for the conch. I give it to him, hoping he has a good idea.Piggy states that no one knows that we've crashed here. As hard as it is to admit, I know he's right. Our family thinks that we are heading home... and why would they even look on this island? There are a lot of other places we could have crashed. Jack said all the islands were discovered, but would anyone ever find us? He states we'll be stuck here for probably a long time. Not many people seem to acknowledge this.

A small little boy with a mulberry colored mark on his face looks horrified. He starts talking about a snake-like thing he called a "beastie" that came out at night and scared him. Jack and some others start laughing. They tease him a bit and then settle down. We tell him it was just a nightmare, and there was nothing to be worried about. But I could tell by his expression he didn't believe us. He went on telling us over and over, trying to induce us that there was a beastie. I needed to draw the worries from the child; he was young and was probably dreaming or imagining the "beastie." I thought about what to say, and the conch was passed back to me. I rubbed the smooth and rough edges in my hand, thinking about what Piggy had said. There had to be a way to let others notify we were here. Eager eyes looked up at me, waiting for what I had to say. I started talking, hoping the right words would simply fall into place.

I announced that ships coming bye would not see us. A Fire would work! I said, and then realized the brilliance of my words. The boys all started talking amongst themselves. We decided that the fire needed to be high, so it would be visible on all sides of the island clearly. The boys seemed so excited by the idea, we all went running off, with Piggy shuffling his feet far behind.


We got to a high point on the mountain and start running around gathering wood. I wonder where Piggy is, but I assume he'll show up soon. With his ass-mar it might take him a while to reach us. A while later, Piggy comes up looking exhausted. We still haven't managed to get a fire going, none of us knew a fast way.

Finally, we used Piggy's specks. He wasn't very happy of the idea of us pinching them, but he let us use them after a while. When the fire was up, we were full of ebullience. Jack was constantly telling Piggy to shutup, and was being very errant to the rules of the conch.The fire died down, and made us upset. We quickly and carelessly remade the fire- and it caught onto the trees.

We did a head count, just to be sure we had everyone. We soon realize that the boy with the mark on his face isn't there. We look out at the fire and were rapt. We are all speachless.
I am full of nothing but shame.

Chapter one: Is this an island? Jack's Journal
Once we had finished our meeting gathered by the strange shell, Ralph, Simon and I headed out to explore wherever we are.... an Island? We start walking through the forest.
Ralph stopped to talk to Piggy as Simon and I continued on. There was no way Ralph could let Piggy explore with us. He was not strong enough, and would just slow us down and ruin Everything. I only wanted us three, Simon, Ralph and I. Well, I didn't really want to be here with Ralph after he took the position I was worthy of. I only hoped Simon wouldn't go faint like he often did. Thankfully, Piggy slowly dragged his feet back to where our meeting was held. I had a feeling Ralph may had said some harsh things, but I did not pester him to tell me.
We trudged on, carefully stepping over the small twigs and logs around us.
We barley talked, and when we did it was a few mummers of "Tired?" and the mere response of "Not at all." I knew we were all a bit tired just from the crash, but none of us would ever admit it- but we knew it within ourselves. But after a while, we became great friends.
We reached the edge of the island. I was not that shocked that we were on an island, but it was a little disappointing. The fact that no one may ever look for us here made me shudder. But I could be strong, and soon everyone would see that. Soon everyone would make me leader, not Ralph like they did earlier. The water here was beautiful, the same as the other side of the island. The sand over here was a bit more tow. We all looked around the scar and we spotted a mountain for us to climb. The rocks were slightly pink, and rather rough. We ran over, eager to get on top. I wanted to see the whole view of the island. I had a feeling it was larger than we thought.
As we were climbing, I hoped Simon wouldn't look down. For a boy who went faint, I had a feeling high heights would not make him feel well. The climb up was difficult, I slipped on a few rocks but thankfully did not go falling down the the mountain. The mountain was very steep- which only made it much harder. When I pulled myself up onto the top of the mountain, I was amazed. The sight was more than I had imagined. We stared in awe for a while, it was very incredulous.
We noticed a large rock near us. We had a brilliant idea to push it over! We counted as we heaved the rock- which was much heaver than I had thought. When it finally rolled down the side of the mountain, we were all joyous. A task- completed. I knew there would be much harder ones though. We enjoy a moment of glory and triumph with one and other before we move back down the mountain.
The way down was a lot easier. It was a tad bit less steep, and I didn't come across any rocks that fell when stepped on. At the bottom some of the trees had very large fronds, and Ralph pointed out a pig which was tangled in the vines. Food! I had thought. If I brought this back people might notice what a great leader I am, getting food for us all. I withdrew my knife, ready to attack. I inched closer to the pig, and raised the knife a bit higher.
I hesitated. What was I doing? Making a fool out of myself? I had never seen pig blood before, and had never killed anything but spiders and flies. The pig moved squeamishly about, and Ralph commanded me to hurry and kill it. I could feel myself turning a bit pallor. I had a feeling there was no longer suffusion in my face. The pig untangled itself and ran away oinking loudly. Ralph started telling me how I should have killed it, and I nodded. I had embarrassed myself , but next time I would kill a pig- and I promised to Ralph, Simon- and myself.