Ok, the only reason I made it through the Lord of the Flies was because I had to. The only reason why I remembered it was because I was able to transplant Brannon Curtis into the book. A few people I told about it thought it was a good idea, so I plan to write it. This is my first Lord of the Flies piece and the first time Bran has stepped out of the world Alli, Keira and I created for him.
I know, Bran is an Outsiders character and this is posted in the Lord of the Flies section, but hopefully it will be enjoyed or hated by both audiences. Hopefully new readers will catch onto the Branisms.
Dedication: This goes out to Alli and Keira who are always my greatest audience and Best friends all wrapped into one. They were kind enough to give me permission for this craziness, so three cheers for them!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the co-ownership of Brannon Luke Curtis. William G. Golding owns The Lord of the Flies and S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders.
Ok, enough of my blabbering! On with the show!
Bran's POV
You know, I just don't get it. What was the point of cleaning the bathroom? It just got dirty again when people used it. Wouldn't have been easier to just sit back and let the damn room grow mold so that we could put in a claim to the state and go a better house? Hell, I was a D student and I could even figure out ways to commit insurance fraud.
"Darry?" I yelled into the other room "What's our insurance cover?"
"Fire, water and it should cover you," Darry answered, "What did you do?"
"Now, that hurt," I mock-cried, looking back at the bathroom "Nothing! I swear!"
Darry stuck his head around the corner and frowned at me. I smiled back at my own accusing eyes and found no comfort there. How come I got all the good qualities?
"What?" I asked
"You're just standing there. You never just stand there," he answered, "Have you finished with the bathroom?"
"Yes."
He glared at me and I shrugged innocently. He sighed and went back into the kitchen, just leaving me there, completely off the hook! I grinned and looked around for something to do now. The obvious choice was to follow Darry until he was pissed off enough to tell me to go to hell or something. Having a Twin was amusing, especially when he was the one in charge.
I turned to go down the hall, but Darry met me before I could move three feet. I nearly jumped, but I managed to smile at him.
"I know that look," he commented
"It's what you see in the mirror every day."
"That look that says you're going to annoy the hell out of me until I yell at you," Darry answered, ignoring my remark, "Well, not today. I think I have the perfect project for you."
"Project?" My heart sank. Goodbye fun…
"Yeah, I was going through the bookshelf…"
"Books!" I made a cross with the pointer finger of each hand "I don't think so!"
"Will you let me finish?" He asked, impatiently
"Carry on," I answered, still crossing my fingers
"I have a bet for you. You read the book I picked and tell me all about it, to my satisfaction, and you won't have to do dishes for the next two weeks."
"Make it a month and I'll consider it," I answered
"Fine, but if you don't, then you're going to do all the dishes for the next month, deal?"
"What book is it?"
Darry smiled and went down the hall. I followed him, not liking this idea, but if it got me out of dish duty for a month, then I was willing to give anything a try. He walked over to the bookshelf and handed me a book: The Lord of the Flies. I groaned
"Do I have to read this one?" I asked
"It's all about boys alone on an Island," Darry explained "Then it turns into savages and hunts."
"Boring," I said taking the book and flipping to the last page "225 Pages! Are you off your rocker?"
"The one I had picked out was 403 pages, so count yourself lucky Pony dug up this one."
I groaned. My little buddy was not helping me any when he did things like this. He could have found a pop up book or something…this one looked old and boring, and that was just the front cover. I flipped to the Copywriting page and looked for the date. 1954! I wasn't even…well, I was alive, but I couldn't remember twelve years ago all that well. I was only nine.
"You read that and I'll hold up my end. I don't expect you to even get past the first chapter…" Darry was taunting me and I took the bait
"I'll get to at least chapter 5 before I quit!" I snapped, flopping down in the easy chair.
Darry smiled and wished me luck before disappearing into the kitchen. I'd show him! No faith, I swear! Where did he go wrong in life? I can't blame our parents because us three came out all right, but Darry was an odd one.
"I don't hear reading…"
"You aren't supposed to!" I called back and flipped open the book
"Chapter 1 The Sound of the shell… The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon…"
I groaned. This was so boring! What was it with all these old people authors and writing their stories at a snail's pace. No one cares about who was going where and why, but when they get there, then the story can get amusing. I sighed and picked it up again. By the time I was done the first three chapters I was completely lost and bored to tears. I could hear Darry humming in the kitchen, happily. He was so smug. I picked up the book again, determined to get to chapter five if it was the last thing I ever did.
Skipping a page here and there while not really taking in what the fat kid was saying, I made my way through the book. I was already yawning! When I hit chapter five, I stretched out in the chair and put my head back. All this reading could make your eyes tired. I'd finish it in a bit. I'd earned my break and it would only be for a moment anyways…
I the next thing I knew the chair bounced. I thought it was odd, but tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. Then something dinged. That microwave was sure making odd noises… Then I heard it, the one thing totally foreign to my world, the one thing that I would have never expected in the house, the one thing that made me open my eyes…children.
Ok, So Bran has set off on his adventure! I hope to have the next chapter coming up so that everyone knows the method to my madness and this one was short in Tensleep terms. Hope you all enjoyed!
Any comments at all are welcome and flames are accepted.
See ya in the funny papers! Tens
