The Aftermath

That was the last entry on Simon's laptop. According to the surviving boys, that was the night Simon was killed in a frenzy by the other boys around the campfire. Shortly after Simon's death, the boys were rescued by a passing Naval ship, and the only reason they'd been seen was because they had accidentally set the whole island on fire. Simon's laptop was recovered and returned to his parents. They decided to publish his story, and here we are now. Simon's body was never recovered, along with the bodies of Piggy and the little boy with the mulberry birthmark.

The Lord of the Flies

I snuck away earlier and went to my hollow, I didn't get anything to drink before I left, and I was really thirsty. It was so quiet, so beautiful, and then Jack and his hunters showed up chasing a sow. They killed it right in the middle of the clearing, cut her throat, gutted her, decapitated her, and then stuck her head on a spear as an offering to the beast. The flies were quick to show up, covering the guts and swarming the face until it was all black. I came out of my hideout, and I swear that the head began to tell me things; it told me that I should run back to the group, but the head didn't stop there. It told me I was just a silly little boy, told me how everyone thinks I'm crazy, and asked if I was afraid. The Lord of the Flies also confirmed what I'd already believed, that the beast was really just us, was only inside of us. It threatened me, it got angry at me, and then my thirst overtook me and I fell into an episode; I hit the ground and my nose began to bleed.
I wasn't scared as it was all happening, but when I woke, I needed some answers: If the beast is only us, then what did the boys see on the mountain? Was it just my imagination? And what is happening down on the beach? I was beginning to get scared of what was on the mountain, but I had to know what was going on up there, and set everyone straight.
I climbed to the top of the mountain and I found the thing that had scared the boys, I found the thing they had so foolishly named the beast; it was a man. A dead man, but a man nonetheless. The flesh had rotted away from his nose and around his empty eye sockets, the lips were gone and I could see all of his teeth exposed to the elements. Then I found the reason that the figure seemed to sit up and look around and then sink again - the man had a parachute attached to him, and the lines were the only thing still holding the body together, as the lines were tangled in the rocks. The smell was awful, and I couldn't have felt sorrier for the poor man. How terrible a death to be smashed against rocks and left there, nobody know who or what you were, where you were, or even knowing that you were dead. I hope he didn't suffer and that his death was quick and painless.
I have to go now, his broken body is still up on the mountain, and I need to take him to the others so that they know what I discovered. I can hear them down by the beach, there must be a celebration going on at Jack's camp, I can't see Ralph's fire, so maybe he's there too. I really hope that this can help reunite the rest of the boys, and I really can't wait to finally get a drink of water.

Gift for the Darkness

Sam 'n Eric woke everybody up a few mornings ago; they were hollering about seeing the beast on the hill while they were on fire watch. It sat up and looked at them, then as they ran away, it chased them down the hill and almost got Sam - or so they say. It seems a little far out to be true. Ralph called for a search party and set out to find out where the "beast" lived, since it seemed so unlikely that it would've gone back up on top of the mountain. We thought it might live at Castle Rock, since that's the only place on the island that Jack hadn't explored, but it wasn't there. That's not much of a surprise. We decided to head onto the mountaintop to check and see if it might still be up there; we stopped to eat before we headed up the pig-run trail. After a while of just sitting there, Ralph started looking upset. I thought he was thinking about home because he was staring off into the horizon. I told him that he'd get back home alright, that he would make it off the island ok and find his way back. I don't think he believed me, but I know I'm right, I just have to be right.
While we were on the pig track we ran into a boar, but we lost it in the shrubbery, and then Jack started up this wild game where Robert was the pig and we pretended to kill him. Except, he actually go hurt, and Jack almost really killed him. That was scary to witness-to be a part of. After that, we decided to continue, but we had left Piggy all alone back at the platform with the littluns, so I went back through the forest to find him and tell him the group wasn't going to be back until after sunset. When the group got back, Ralph, Roger, and Jack were all telling everyone how they had gone to the top of the mountain and had seen the beast for themselves. It was horrible and terrifying and it sat up and looked at them. They ran down the mountain and found the rest of us, right after that they called a meeting. Ralph and Jack got into a fight and Jack called for a re-vote on chief. Nobody would vote for Jack, so he left. I think that it could be a good thing, but I also think it's going to be a bad thing more than it'll be good. Most of the boys went missing, all except for Piggy, Samneric, and I have gone with Jack. I feel bad for Ralph, we're all he's got left.

Beastly

Sorry it's been a while, I've been helping Ralph a lot with building huts and keeping the fire going, there hasn't really been any time to write. There was a ship today. We could see the smoke from the island, but they couldn’t see us; Jack let the signal fire go out. He decided to take everyone hunting and the ship sailed by without even knowing we were here. Is this how it’s always going to be? Is Jack always going to disobey Ralph and let every bit of our hope slowly sail away bit by bit? Ralph was pretty upset, so were the rest of us who knew what the ship sailing away really meant. That was home, that was safety, and that was our hope for survival and rescue. Jack bribed most everyone over though with his insincere apology – and meat. He finally killed a pig; so that must make everything better, right? He got into a fight with Piggy and wouldn’t give him any meat; he tried to justify it by telling him he didn’t hunt so he couldn’t have any, but Ralph and I didn’t hunt and he gave us both some meat. So I gave my meat to Piggy, I felt bad for him, but they laughed at me. I still gave it to Piggy, but I made Jack angry with me, which was ridiculous. He has no right to starve anyone. He threw more of the pig’s meat at me, and that must’ve been the last straw for Ralph. He called a meeting.

He wanted to get everyone back together, we’ve been drifting apart and Jack hasn’t been helping any. Ralph asked about the shelters, about who actually helped build them, and it really only came down to him and I. Then they brought up the beast again. A littlun thought he saw it when he woke up in the night, but that was just me. I was going to the hollow and apparently he saw me moving in the bushes. I felt bad for scaring Phil, he didn’t know any better. I don’t really believe in the beast, but I did speak up; I think there could be a real beast on the island, but I think it might just be us. Nobody believed me, they thought I was nuts. The meeting broke up really bad; Jack said the rules don’t matter, Ralph said that the rules are the only thing we have, and I think he’s wrong. We still have our hope: in the fire, in each other, in Piggy’s glasses, in the conch, in every day that passes, we can still hope.
Ralph was thinking about not being chief anymore, but I told him he needs to stay chief. He’s the best of all of us to do the job, he’s the only person that can be chief and actually cares about what the rest of us have to say. Jack doesn’t care, he’d just tell us all what to do and if we didn’t obey he’d hurt us or something. There isn’t much we can do though, he’s bribed over most of the tribe, and if it ever comes down to it, I don’t think many people would stay with Ralph, even though that’s the best thing for them to do.

Candle-Buds

I went to the hollow today. I snuck away while Jack and Ralph were bickering about Jack's obsession to kill a pig; he hasn't stopped talking about it since that first day when he let that piglet go. I found a mat of creepers that created a little hollow spot, it's hidden from the outside, and it's a really beautiful place to be at night. There's this flower that opens up at night and fills the air with it's perfume. It's a really beautiful place, it's the only place on the island where I can really get away and think. I wish I had a place like this back home, it truly is a wonderful little spot. It's tucked away from everybody and everything, I think that's why I like it the most.

Ralph's been building huts, and Jack won't stop hunting. He's starting to slack off on keeping the fire going. He promised Ralph the first day we were here was that his hunters would keep the fire going as well, all they need to do is keep the smoke in the sky. Jack doesn't want to listen to Ralph, that's becoming more apparent; their bickering today had an edge to it, Jack is still mad because Ralph was elected chief and he wasn't. Jack is going to do something, I just know it. I know Jack Merridew, and he isn't just going to let something like that go - it's just not in his nature. He was choir director before we got here, I don't really think anybody wanted him to be, but there was no one brave enough (or stupid enough) to oppose him. It might be ok, but the likelihood of that being true is pretty weak.

Day 1

The Sound of the Shell

This is bad, this is very, very bad. The school was evacuated today and they loaded all the choir boys onto a plane with some of the other boys in the school, we didn't know where we were going, but before we could land safely anywhere, something happened and we fell onto an island in the ocean. It was terrifying, there was a storm and rain and wind and part of the plane got swept out in the storm; I think some boys didn't make it out. Piggy says that we were attacked, he looked out a window and saw the other part of the plane was on fire. Piggy is one of the other boys here on the island. Ralph - that's another boy here - called us all with his conch. It's a very pretty cream shell he found when we landed here, he blows into one end and a loud booming sound comes out the end; all the choir boys could hear it clearly down the other side of the beach.

When we heard it, Jack Merridew was trying to climb the mountain to see if here was water all around, he thought it was a trumpet, so he assembled us all in our lines to march. It was so hot! and he made us march down the beach with the blazing sun on us in our black caps and robes. When we finally found the boy who summoned us - Ralph - Jack still wouldn't let us sit down. Then I fainted. I couldn't help it, but he let the choir go immediately after that and the boys from the choir helped me over to the shade. It was pretty embarrassing, but it's nothing new I guess.
From there I listened to their squabble about how there weren't any grownups, taking names, and then about electing a chief. Ralph won the vote, he does have the conch after all. I'm glad Ralph one the vote though, everyone wanted him to be chief, but he looks like he's a lot nicer than Jack, hopefully he won't be as mean as Jack. Jack elected the choir boys as hunters for as long as we're on the island, I guess I'm ok with that, but the thought of killing another living creature just isn't very appealing to me. Then Ralph elected Jack and I to go with him on an expedition to find out what this island was all about, we weren't even sure if this was an island. We walked a long way and found a trail that wound around crags and boulders, all the way to the top of the mountain. As we climbed, right before we reached the top, we came across a beautiful hollow in the side of the mountain. There were butterflies and blue flowers all hidden underneath the forest canopy. I'll have to go back there, it's a really calm, beautiful place.
When we reached the top, we found out that we were right and that it was in fact, an island; which wasn't surprising. On our way back down to the group, we found a pig tangled in the creepers and Jack was going to kill it with his knife, but he let it get away. He told us he was looking for a place to stab it, but he was lying. He didn't want to kill a living thing as much as we didn't want to see it. Honestly, I'm glad he didn't kill the pig, I wouldn't have wanted to see that. We told the group of our findings and they were excited to hear that we could live here and have fun all the time, that there was meat and fruit and Jack was going to help us to learn to hunt - if you ask me, it seems a little too good to be true. A littlun with a mulberry birthmark on his face told us he'd seen a beast. I don't believe it, but Ralph set everyone straight. He said how there could never be a beast on such a small island because it couldn't ever survive, you only get beasts like that in places like Africa.

Then Ralph came up with a brilliant idea to build a signal fire so we could signal a ship if they sailed by, everyone got excited and raced to the top of the mountain. They didn't know how to start the fire, so they stole Piggy's glasses from him, they should've asked, he would've given them to them. They ended up setting the whole mountain on fire, and Piggy got upset and started yelling how nobody listens to him but then he started having his asth-mar and asked us where the mulberry boy was. He'd been playing in the creepers under the mountain when the fire broke out. He hasn't come back yet...I don't think he will.
I found my laptop today and I've decided to write whenever I can, just incase something bad happens, I want to make sure that if we're ever found, they know what really happened on this island. I wonder if anyone's looking for us? It's getting dark and everyone's sleeping, I better go now.