Here & Now
By GrungeGiRL
Disclaimer: No, I do not own any of the characters from Lord Of The Flies, they belong to William Golding. And sometimes I wonder how he'd deal with them if they were real.
Summary: While the boys are on the island, they discover a time machine which takes them to the present. What does it have in store for them? Read on ...
Prologue
''You gimme the conch!''
''No, I'm allowed to speak!''
''Shut up, you fat pig!''
''At least my rules are more civilised than you and your stupid hunting!''
Ralph sighed, as he sat down on the gritty surface underneath. Jack and Piggy were fighting over the conch. Again. And really, he didn't understand why - this was his assembly he called, this was his conch and plus, he was The Chief. He had been voted, as the others saw Ralph as a figure of authority in a distinctive way, with his fair-haired good looks and his use of the shell. But now it seemed that it was always Jack or Piggy who felt they needed to speak.
And what they had to say wasn't as important as his words. Jack would brag about how he was such a good hunter and if there is a beast we'll kill him because we can do anything, can't we? As for Piggy, it would be about how we should all relax and stop acting like kids or savages! It had been going on for weeks now, and Ralph was getting rather sick of it. He wished something new could be heard ...
''You're acting like a child!''
''Sod off, you daft lummox! You can't even blow the conch!''
''My asthma - ''
''Sucks to your ass-mar!''
Jack and Piggy then collided and had started on each other. The crowd of kids surrounding them started to cheer, even the littluns. But Samneric rushed to separate the pair, however, for the sake of starting anymore fights.
''You shouldn't be doing that - ''
'' - it'll just make you batty - ''
'' - and you've been going at this - ''
'' - for weeks.''
The two boys gave each other one last glare, then headed off in opposite directions. Jack, brushing back his long, tousled scarlet hair, muttered, ''Sod him! I'll show him who's a child!'' Irritation boiled up inside of him. He didn't see why Ralph was so soft on Fatty. All he ever did was sit and moan about everyone's behaviour, when he could be doing something more useful.
And it had been going on for weeks. Fatty wasn't too friendly with manual work, so he would just lay there on his backside and moan how everyone was wasting their time. And Ralph seemed to think he had a point! ''Well,'' Jack grumbled to himself, ''let's see who makes the biggest point now.''
He trotted into the jungle, determined to find the meatiest creature he could find. To impress Ralph. He just imagined it - the beast that had been the news on everyone's lips for a while and him would meet up. It would be disgusting - a large, pig-like creature, slimy, dark and repulsive, with maggots and worms dripping out its nose. Eagle eyes and a slit mouth, containing daggers for teeth, ready for the bloodthirsty taste ...
Kill the beast!
And Jack, well, he would use his spear and try to stick his spear up the beasts' genitals, where blood would occur, but no death. The beast would be too mighty for that! He would need to take out his knife.
Cut his throat!
Then he would place the knife across its throat, and slit it, ever so deeply. And when the beast roared in pain, he would lick the blood off his hands - and the beast's throat. But enough blood spurring from its neck wouldn't be enough.
Spill his blood!
Sharper, sharper ... up its genitals ... and slurp the blood pouring down from there ... but of course, not even that would slaughter something so powerful ...
Do him in!
He would have to call the others, wouldn't he? Even Piggy. But a fat lot of good he would be. He'd probably just sit and cry. He was pathetic and weak - he didn't even attempt to work! How could Ralph think of someone so useless such a strong mind! Okay, forget Piggy then ... he'd have Roger, his closest friend from the choir, two spears. And perhaps Ralph too, as he at least seemed to have a strange attraction about him ...
''Ooof! My bum!''
Jack had tripped over something, landing onto his backside. As he looked around, he was shocked at how far he had gone - the jungle was darkened by towering, provoking palm trees eyeing him, silently mouthing, ''Go away, you're not safe,'' with their movement. He sighed and tried to get up, but he ended up tripping over again. Then he looked down at the soil, beneath his feet.
Wires.
He was confused - how on earth did they get there? Weren't abandoned islands not
supposed to have electricity? Hey, wait - were they going to be saved? Was this the wires of some kind of automated plane coming to contact them? Or perhaps wires of a signal, to point the places of lost visitors to a ferry, so they would get saved?
Jack followed the wires, closely. As the sky got darker and the trees caved in deeper, he began to feel uneasy. Maybe this was some kind of lair that the beast had planned out? Well he knew what to do if it was the beast, but what if no one came in time when he called? And what if it was much more complicated that he thought? And what if the beast was ...
''Owww! Oooh, owww! M'head!''
Jack had gone face to face, with what seemed like a metal elevator. Small, electronic beeping noises were bumping and tutting from inside, and it seemed to be abandoned. Jack decided to closely peak inside.
There were the usual buttons ''Go'' and ''Stop'' and a control showing how fast or slow it could be. But then there were years written on the leavers - 1900 - 1910, 1910 - 1920, and so on. Jack continued to look up until he saw the year 2000 - 2010. He gaped with shock. What kind of machine was this? Should he tell the others?
Nah ... what would they know? As he observed the machine in delight and curiosity, he began to realise what this was.
A time machine.
