A/N:Warnings: Contains head cannons about vague characters. If I choose to write the entirety of Lord of the Flies from Simon's point of view, I will change the rating.Hey, guys! This is my first fanfic in a long time. I have been working on a Lord of the Flies project in school, and we have to write some fan fiction for it- so, I figured, why not post it here? This part, which is what I submitted for school, kicks off when the choir is first introduced. This is from Simon's first person point of view, since he is my favorite character, like, ever.
Anyway, this is all that I have written so far; if I get enough reviews and such (or if I just feel like it), I will post more. So, hope you enjoy it!
Merridew shouted at us to stop walking. Everybody outside of the choir was staring at us; I was suddenly conscious of the sweat pouring down my face and the intense, hot feeling all over my body. I was breathing heavily, trying to ignore the tingling sensation in my legs. Being herded like sheep, packed tightly together in the burning sun, was absolutely no help. The sand was in my one shoe, and my other foot was scorching. I felt dizzy. I felt a time coming on but said nothing.
The choir's leader jumped onto a platform of sorts with a blond boy. In the boy's lap was something white; my vision was too blurry to tell exactly what. I could hear Merridew talking to him in his normal stern tone. The two exchanged words. Time sped up and slowed down at the same time.
The blond boy spoke; I could make out the words "join in" and suddenly the altos and trebles began to spread out. I looked around, assessing, and tried to walk. My legs felt heavy and I wobbled. I could only take a few paces before Merridew shouted gibberish at us again. Some of us moaned, and we stepped back in line.
I felt even dizzier now; the pins and needles in my legs would not go away. It instead crawled up my body to my arms, and I felt so hot and exhausted- and I hadn't eaten any of the fruit from before, and-
I blacked out.
The next thing I remembered was waking up with my head propped against a palm tree. Everybody was laughing. As my vision slowly cleared, I could hear the laughter dying down, and the blond boy took names from the choir along with another, shorter, fatter guy. Maurice was still grinning, like always; Roger was in one of his furtive moods. They continued, coming to me last; I smiled at the blond boy and said my name was Simon. He had the size of a wrestler but the eyes of a child; the boy appeared slightly older than me, but he wasn't quite yet a teenager. He replied with his own name: Ralph.
Merridew spoke.
"We've got to decide about being rescued."
Already? We just arrived in this place. We had yet to see any animals, and we had not even climbed the mountain nearby. I thought that we should take the time to look around before just leaving. Not everybody gets so much freedom as to be stranded in the wilderness. Why not take advantage of it?
Stranded in the wilderness. The realization struck me, and immediately conflicting emotions hit me like bricks. We were lost, with no way to contact our families, and we had to fend for ourselves - if there were any grown-ups in or near this place, they would have come when the conch was blown. The feeling of independence was great: we were strong enough to survive without help from adults. It felt powerful to me. And the beauty of the place, too, was something I wanted to explore. Everything was so peaceful here compared to school; I could have time to myself, exploring nature, something that had always fascinated me. But there was the danger of death, of wild creatures; we could even be captured by the reds. And I wasn't all by myself, either, which meant that there was still the looming prospect of being judged and rejected.
There was a buzz. A treble named Henry said something about going home.
Ralph responded with an absent "Shut up," which made me sympathetic with Henry all of a sudden. He held up the white thing that was on his lap - it was a shell, gleaming in the sunlight. It must have been the object that made the noise which summoned us from the forest.
The blond boy continued. "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things." I nodded, more to myself than to anyone else.
"I ought to be chief," Merridew began, advertising himself like he always did, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."
I could reach that note, too, but it was just uncomfortable for me. I guess that he assumed since he was the leader of the choir, he would also lead everyone else. Not that singing C sharp means you're a good leader.
More chatter from all of the boys. Merridew talked loudly over everyone. "Well then, I-"
The head boy hesitated. Roger was moving without warning, and he spoke up.
"Let's have a vote."
"Yeah!" I mumbled. I secretly hoped that Merridew, in all his arrogance and military-style leadership, would not win the election. The blond boy, the one with the attractive face and strong-looking size - he appealed to me. Merridew was the most obvious leader, at least to most of us. I knew him, though; he did not give a care about my health, and he even got mad at me when I fainted a few times. Ralph seemed nicer, at least by a little bit. Merridew sensed this resistance to his claims of being chief that must have come from more boys than just me; he protested, but to no avail. People were shouting for the being with the shell to be chief. Ralph just raised a hand, and the crowd fell quiet.
"All right," the blond boy started, "who wants Jack for chief?"
I was a bit surprised at Ralph calling him Jack. He hated being called by his first name; Merridew thought it was childish. But then the choir leader gave all of us in the choir a death glare, and we knew what it meant. We all raised our hands, a few of us hesitant. I was relieved that it was only the choir who did so.
Ralph again. "Who wants me?"
Every boy outside of the choir raised his hand instantly, except for the fat, short boy. He glanced around through his glasses and begrudgingly raised his as well.
Ralph counted the hands, though it was pointless. There were obviously more boys that wanted him for chief than Merridew.
"I'm chief then," he announced.
I clapped for him. It appeared that he didn't even try to suppress the smile that snuck across his face. Everyone else applauded, too, even the other choir boys. Merridew blushed in shame and stood up, but sat down and gave in. For a moment I felt sorry for him; he had been a leader for so long, and it was his dream.
Ralph looked at our head boy and smiled sympathetically. "The choir belongs to you, of course." I grinned, happy that he at least got to lead a small group. Ralph became perfect all of a sudden; he was intelligent and kind and mature - what I would expect from a chief. But I had just met him. Don't judge until you understand. I was a little upset about Merridew still owning us, but that was outweighed by my happiness for him. I guess I was digging too deep here; no wonder everyone called me batty.
A few suggestions rang out from some boys as to what the choir would be. I could think of nothing.
The newly elected chief waved and everyone was quiet. He spoke: "Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be-" he turned to Merridew- "what do you want them to be?"
The answer was not a big surprise to me, though I didn't like the thought of carrying out the job.
"Hunters."
Merridew and Ralph smiled at each other. A few choir boys nodded; everyone began talking eagerly. Then our head boy stood and turned to us.
"All right, choir. Take off your togs."
I felt as if I was released from something as I got to my feet and threw my cloak onto the grass along with the other altos and trebles. My shirt stuck to me with sweat, and I wiped my forehead. I took a little bit of time to admire the mountain in the near distance.
I saw Ralph and Jack talking out of the corner of my eye. Ralph then held the shell up for everyone to be quiet; he spoke to all of the boys again.
"Listen, everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island. Everybody must stay round here and wait and not go away. Three of us - if we take more we'd all get mixed, and lose each other - three of us will go on an expedition to find out. I'll go, and Jack, and…"
He looked around at the circle of kids. I caught myself having a strong desire to go on exploration with them to see all of the beautiful things. For some reason, my wish was fulfilled as soon as it came to mind.
"And Simon."
I shot up off of my feet; some boys around me giggled. I couldn't help but laugh along a little bit. The fact that Ralph chose me to come along, out of any other boy - it made me giddy with delight, not to mention that I didn't have to explore the unknown by myself, in danger. I nodded at him.
"I'll come."
Ralph was smiling at me. It made me feel special.
"And I-"
Then there was the sudden, loud sound of a stab in the wood; it made me jump and turn my head to the source of the noise. It was Merridew. He had a knife in the bark of a tree; I shuddered at the thought of the escalation of violence, from a chapter chorister to a tree-stabber in seconds. And it stumped me as to why he would do so. But I remained silent, while the boys around me buzzed; the chatter died away.
A fat boy stirred. "I'll come."
Ralph turned to him with a look of some sympathy. "You're no good on a job like this." My mind trailed back to a certain day in school, and my heart went out to him.
The fat boy dejectedly replied, "All the same-"
Merridew interrupted. "We don't want you." He had a flat, straightforward tone. "Three's enough."
I was reminded of yet another specific day at school. The look on the boy's face was something that I was familiar with, and I felt sad for him. It was the look of rejection. I had put that face on more than once.
"I was with him when he found the conch," the fat boy persisted. "I was with him before anyone else."
I assumed that "him" was Ralph; the conch clicked in my mind as the shell. Neither the chief nor Merridew said anything in response, however. They just turned away from the boy with the spectacles and started walking. The noise level from the crowd seemed to crescendo and I shot a glance back at the boy. I felt genuinely sad along with him. But I could either explore the wilderness safely, all the while making friends for what was probably the first time in my life, or stay behind, contradicting what I said I would do, with this short kid who I did not even know the name of. Blinking, I hesitantly spun round to face Merridew and Ralph, who were not even off the platform. I shuffled at a fast pace to catch up with them, my mind still pestering me with images of the boy's expression, but in that moment, for reasons I couldn't pinpoint, I decided to just keep walking.
A/N:
Well, how did you like it? I had a copy of Lord of the Flies next to me the whole time I was writing it, so I can verify that the dialogue is correct. Please leave a review- even one sentence, I don't care! It makes my day when I get reviews. Also, if you have time and/or energy, please give me some tips on how to improve. I adore constructive criticism. And I know for a fact I need it.
Thanks so much!
~TPJ
