author's note. Written for the "Night" prompt at TuesdayNovember's LotF Writing Challenge forum. This is incredibly late, I know, but I was preoccupied with writing 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo. (If anyone's curious, I ended up writing 51,000. ;D) In any case, here I am. With a Roger fic. Oh yes.
disclaimer. It is probably pretty clear that I don't own Lord of the Flies.
the house that jack built
For this night, in which so much cried out,
in which animals called and tore each other's flesh,
is it not for us dark, uncharted? And yet:
what outside is slowly dawning—they call it day—
do we find that any more familiar?
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Östliches Taglied
In the daytime, the island is quiet. Of course, there are the sounds of children milling about, sometimes an argument, and the rustling of Jack and the hunters' march through the forest in search of their prey. Roger has no interest in these things. They occupy his imagination for only moments before slipping away.
But night on the island is full to the brim with wailing and fear, which coat his senses like the richest honey and linger on even after silence falls once more. For it is in the night that the beast speaks to them all, whispers enticingly in their ears. When they turn around to find the speaker, there is nothing to be found but the oppressive, humid darkness that clings to the skin and does not let go.
The others scream when the beast comes for them, scream and thrash around as if they could fight It off. Roger knows better. He stays quiet, and he listens. He's smarter than the others, It tells him, stronger than them. He can do anything he wants to them, and he knows what he wants to do. Simon is not the only one awake in the darkness; Roger is there too. (In truth, it is neither of them that causes the littluns to wake up screaming from nightmarish visions of animal screeches and serpents in the trees.)
He loves the forest with its shadows and tall trees, full of noise. He listens to it, and in return, it listens back.
Simon used to listen to the forest too, but Roger thinks it said different things to him, because he's dead now. He died screaming something about a dead man on the hill (said Simple Simon to the pieman). If only Simon had done what It told him to do, Roger is certain It wouldn't have let him die. The other boys fear the beast, but if they listen, no harm will come to them. Jack tells them that It was in Simon and Piggy, but Roger knows better. He knows that Simon and Piggy simply did not listen. That was their mistake.
Across the island, Ralph trembles with fear in his sleep. They'll come for him next.
Castle Rock nearly shakes with sobs in the night. (This is the house that Jack built.) The chief sleeps soundly, impassive to their cries. (This is the boy who killed the pigs that lived near the house that Jack built.) In the distance, the forest whispers words of wisdom. (These are the woods that sheltered the boy who killed the pigs that lived near the house that Jack built.)
Roger smiles and listens.