Diary of a Deadman
Dear Journal,
I write to you now from an island that I have reasoned is somewhere near the equator in the Atlantic ocean. We crash landed here during the evacuation from England. My auntie told me that I would be safe once I had gotten on the plane. I don't think that we are safe here, especially without my inhaler. I have told the others about my asthma but they don't seem too concerned. I shall now tell you about the others. The first boy I met once I had woken up (I was unconscious after the crash) was Ralph. I was about to introduce myself but he fixated on my terrible nickname as all people my age do. He didn't worry about our predicament until I explained to him that the adults probably don't even know that we're missing, let alone searching for us.
After that we found a way to call the other boys to the beach where we were. Ralph blew a conch shell even better than my friend ever blew his! I wanted to make myself useful while Ralph was calling everyone. I tried to remember each and every person's name as they joined us. After some stragglers showed up Jack's choir marched onto the beach. Jack was the leader of his choir and I must say I admired their discipline. They followed him completely. I was worried that Jack and Ralph were practically going to have a fist fight over leadership but the kids all voted for Ralph (except the choir of course) so it didn't come to that. I agreed with Ralph when he told Jack that rescue was far more important than hunting and killing. After the vote I realized something about our little group. There were only about 30, less than the number we took off with. It hit me then, they were dead. This is life or death this island. It scares me.
Yours Truly,
Theodore Edward Behr Jr.
Dear Journal,
Our efforts to survive on this island have been very effective, so far. We have discovered a way to create fire using my glasses as focusing lenses. I am glad that I am so helpful. No one seems to listen to me on this island except Ralph. Jack and his hunters (previously the choir) successfully killed their first boar today. It was a sow. All I could think about was her baby is probably out there somewhere right now looking for his mother. But he won't find her. She is dead and gone and he will be all alone in the world now. He won't understand why she left him or where she went. Sure, he might be taken in by his aunt and kept safe but he won't ever be happy. I shed a few tears for that sow and her baby but Roger elbowed me in the stomach to shut me up. Right, I was British. British people are strong and brave, we can't forget who we are or else we will turn into those savages that I see on National Geographic.
Yours Truly,
Theodore Edward Behr Jr.
Dear Journal,
It was an accident. That's all it was. It wasn't our fault. He was dirty, covered in branches. It was dark and raining! We couldn't see! We were scared. He looked like an animal. He acted like an animal! It was only self-defense! It doesn't mean anything. Actually it does. We need to get off this island. Simon never hurt anyone but now he's dead. If the adults saw us now, I hardly think they would even recognize us as humans! Let alone British boys. It was just an accident. We aren't capable of murder. We are just lost, scared boys. They didn't mean it. Ralph was in the circle. He saw what they did. He claimed they looked like animals. But we aren't, we are boys. Humans. Civilized people. How could we have stooped so low? And now one of us is dead by our own hand. I don't know if I can live with that.
Yours Truly,
Theodore Edward Behr Jr.