The Final Good-bye
The naval officer turned around to give the children a moment to gather themselves, as the remaining youths slowly filtered through the burning jungle onto the cruiser. Ralph watched each of the walk past, bewildered that mere minutes ago they had been chasing him through that hellish inferno, bent on spilling his blood. The words still echoed hauntingly through his mind.
"Kill the pig! Spill here blood! Cut her throat!"
Each of the boys passed with a shamed face and downcast eyes, none of them could meet his gaze. He watched the jungle burn, feeding his vile memories into that furnace, letting the savagery and beast within him burn amongst the wilting creepers. It reminded him sickly of the pictures in a leather bound book in his father's study, Dante's Inferno. As the last of the boys filtered past, a timid voice pulled out of his reverie.
"Hey Ralph...I don't know what happened. It's like, it's like I was the beast, I felt like I had fangs and claws and I wanted to kill..." The words trailed off. Ralph could not remember this child's name. He asked him who he was.
"Peter," the child said "my name is Peter" the child said quickly, he seemed anxious to change the topic, but it was clear he had to say something.
"I guess it's over now...there was a lot we could have done different...I think this is just the way people are, we only want what we can see and feel. We could taste and touch the pig, but rescue seemed so far away, like the dream of a littlun. Jack just gave us what we wanted, so it isn't your fault. This was a god island, you were right. I think it was us who were bad... but now it's over"
Ralph continued to stare at flaming creepers.
"I guess I just wanted to say... you were a good chief. You couldn't have done anything better." With those words the sandy-haired boy turned and boarded the boat.
"It's time to go lad. Time to leave this behind us." The naval officer beckoned.
Slowly Ralph turned, taking in the stark contrast between the fiery jungle island and the cool blue waves. He turned his back on the smoldering remains of the island. He mumbled the words to as if trying to truly convince himself. Whatever it is that caused them to act as such, would surely not be left behind on the island.
"It's all behind us..."
With that he aloofly walked onto the ship, his mind was clearly elsewhere.
"It's all over..."
The naval officer turned around to give the children a moment to gather themselves, as the remaining youths slowly filtered through the burning jungle onto the cruiser. Ralph watched each of the walk past, bewildered that mere minutes ago they had been chasing him through that hellish inferno, bent on spilling his blood. The words still echoed hauntingly through his mind.
"Kill the pig! Spill here blood! Cut her throat!"
Each of the boys passed with a shamed face and downcast eyes, none of them could meet his gaze. He watched the jungle burn, feeding his vile memories into that furnace, letting the savagery and beast within him burn amongst the wilting creepers. It reminded him sickly of the pictures in a leather bound book in his father's study, Dante's Inferno. As the last of the boys filtered past, a timid voice pulled out of his reverie.
"Hey Ralph...I don't know what happened. It's like, it's like I was the beast, I felt like I had fangs and claws and I wanted to kill..." The words trailed off. Ralph could not remember this child's name. He asked him who he was.
"Peter," the child said "my name is Peter" the child said quickly, he seemed anxious to change the topic, but it was clear he had to say something.
"I guess it's over now...there was a lot we could have done different...I think this is just the way people are, we only want what we can see and feel. We could taste and touch the pig, but rescue seemed so far away, like the dream of a littlun. Jack just gave us what we wanted, so it isn't your fault. This was a god island, you were right. I think it was us who were bad... but now it's over"
Ralph continued to stare at flaming creepers.
"I guess I just wanted to say... you were a good chief. You couldn't have done anything better." With those words the sandy-haired boy turned and boarded the boat.
"It's time to go lad. Time to leave this behind us." The naval officer beckoned.
Slowly Ralph turned, taking in the stark contrast between the fiery jungle island and the cool blue waves. He turned his back on the smoldering remains of the island. He mumbled the words to as if trying to truly convince himself. Whatever it is that caused them to act as such, would surely not be left behind on the island.
"It's all behind us..."
With that he aloofly walked onto the ship, his mind was clearly elsewhere.
"It's all over..."