The Lord of the Flies
Epilogue
Written by the Sin Hunter Alchemist
Disclaimer: The book Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding. This epilogue is not part of the original story and is in no way part of Golding's vision …at least, as far as anyone knows. SHA will be in no way profiting from this past the 30 points extra credit she hopes to receive and reviews from any friend and fan that reads this. In that way, she is profiting, seeing as reviews are the fuel that feeds a young authors' fires in the fan fiction world. SHA hopes that seeing as she does not receive money from this, that she won't get sued for copyright infringement. Here's hoping.
fan fiction- a fictional account written by a fan of a show, movie, book, or video game to explore themes and ideas that will not or cannot be explored via the originating medium; also written fan fiction, also called fanfic
note on the above- I'm sure you all know what fanfiction is, but I got bored, so, deal with it.
The lobby was silent compared to the constant sounds of the island. Ralph sat between a paintless Bill and who might have been Eric, if the excessive bruising around his face was any indication. The officer had led them all to the showers once on the cruiser, and now they all sat clean, combed, and waiting in the lobby of the main land English port-base. They even had fresh clothing, all too big for such small boys. But they were clean and that was good enough for them all.
Ralph had spent a lot of time after his shower studying the strange faces around him, trying to remember if these were really the boys he had met all that time ago after the crash. He couldn't remember that far back, and he didn't really try to. Thoughts of the first days brought back memories he wasn't ready to think back on. Images flashed through his mind when he did think back, like the initial meeting of Piggy, the first blowing of the conch, the boys that seemed to crawl out from every direction, the march of boys all in black, and the one that fainted on arrival.
They had all been questioned after the cleansing. Most of the boys could remember enough to tell them their name and where they were from, a few could even remember the flight that they had been on. The littluns weren't as fortunate. Many had started saying their name, and forgotten were to go from there, much like Percival had on the island. Some couldn't even remember their full given name.
Now, a man dressed in the same crisp uniform as the original officer entered the lobby. His sleek black shoes clipped harshly in the stillness of the room, drawing the attention of all present.
"We've found the plane roster for your flight," he announced to the boys, his face not betraying his emotions. "seeing as only half of you could give us full names, we've contacted all the schools. They will be informing your parents as soon as possible. You should all be home by nightfall."
He waited for a moment, looking expectant. When he got no reaction, he nodded and marched off.
The twins turned to each other then, whispering phrases between themselves. Ralph wasn't completely sure of what they said, wasn't completely listening, but what he did hear were fragments, finished dutifully by the one that hadn't started it. It was exactly what they had done on the island. They went back and forth like this for awhile, their inaudible murmurs being the only noise in the lobby, until one hissed something to the other, the one who might have been Eric. He, in turn, hissed back, though neither seemed very put off by any of it, and the two lapsed into silence.
"Ralph!"
In the silence, the whisper sounded almost like a shout. Ralph turned to the twin beside him, blinking dumbly.
"Sam and I was wondering-" said the one beside him in a hushed tone, confirming Ralph's earlier suspicions.
"-wondering if you were excited-" the other, Sam, continued.
"-about finally being rescued."
Ralph looked at them both, studying them. Dimly, he was aware that some of the other boys too were waiting for him to answer.
"This is what I wanted the whole time," he said, eyes traveling over the slouching figures around him. "This is what we all wanted, right?"
A few muttered affirmatives reached him, along with some nods.
"We just had to wait it out," he continued, voice rising above a whisper. "We just had to wait long enough for them to find us. Just had to keep the fire going. We should have been able to do that much, without-"
The accusation died in his throat. Now was not the time to point fingers. Now should be a time of happiness. They were a group of young boys, just rescued from a deserted island- they had more right that anyone to be ecstatic! But Ralph couldn't bring himself to get excited, none of the boys could.
The twins didn't seem to be bound by the same ideals as Ralph.
"We should have been able-"
"-to go on without hurting each other."
Roger glowered at this, but sank deeper into his chair. With the loss of power came the old furtiveness. No one looked in his direction.
Jack, either not sensing the turmoil in the room or ignoring it, huffed loudly.
"We're back on the mainland," he said arrogantly. "And not because of your fire, Ralph. Your fires never lasted very long."
Their eyes met, and Ralph couldn't help wondering what had happened once more. How could things fall so far apart?
"As long as there was a fire," Ralph said, not hindered by the bite in Jack's words, "it doesn't matte who it came from. If we could have kept it going from the start then Simon and Piggy-"
This time Ralph was not cut off by his own limits, but by the shrill cry of a woman.
"Where is he! Where is he!"
A woman with pale brown hair came rushing into the lobby followed by a much slower, more composed officer.
"Percival," she cried, searching the faces of the haggard boys. Spotting the mouse-colored boy, she flung herself at him. "Percival!"
The littlun broke into sobs on his mother's blouse.
"Hush, hush now!" she whispered into his hair, not paying any attention to all the eyes on them. She may have even forgotten they were there. "Everything's alright now."
Percival continued his crying, though he had settled into rather mild sniffles at her reassurances. He muttered something that vaguely sounded like "-didn't remember", but, again, she quieted him.
"It doesn't matter now. All that matters is you're alright."
The officer led the two away and the lobby fell silent again.
The twins broke into an excited chatter again, but this time, they weren't the only owns to break the stillness. Many of the littluns started jabbering to each other, most likely not even listening to what anyone else was saying.
Just like the last time, when the twins' conversation came to an end they both turned to Ralph.
"Hey, Ralph, you-"
"-think we'll ever-"
They shifted uneasily, suddenly unsure of their question. Sam, ever the dutiful one, spoke up after a moment.
"-see each other again?"
The room returned to silence. This time, every boy looked to Ralph, interested in what he'd say, maybe needing to hear the answer. Jack, irritated that once again everyone turned to Ralph, snorted. He intended to voice his annoyance.
"Why do you ask Ralph all the questions?" he demanded, scowling.
The twins frowned at him.
"Because, Ralph's nice-
"-and we like him."
"He's the one that said-
"-all we needed was-
"-the fire."
"He said-"
"-that the smoke would-"
"-get us rescued."
"And it did."
Jack continued scowling but said nothing more. He, like all the other boys, was interested in Ralph's answer, albeit reluctantly so.
"Well, Ralph, will we?"
Ralph thought this over as the boys waited, and it was the first month on the island all over again. A fair boy was the looked to chief once more, and ages were forgotten. The only difference now was there was no sensible friend to sit next to him and no unusual boy to encourage hope.
"We've been through a lot," Ralph said at length, deciding this would be safe. "Together. We know each other as good as we would an old friend. I think…"
Here he faltered. By now, Piggy would have said something completely appropriate and genus, and the boys would have moved on, none liking the idea of Piggy being right. But he always had been.
"If we want to stay in touch, we can send letters to each other."
The boys were silent a moment longer before talk broke out again. The twins seemed to have accepted this answer and were currently beaming at their chief.
Bill, for once not a follower, became the voice of reason.
"Can we all remember our letter address?"
Ralph didn't miss a beat though.
"I'll give you all my address, and once you get home, you all can mail me and I'll send out all the addresses once I get them all."
"I'll get a pen and paper!"
Bill disappeared through the doorway the officer had led Percival and his mother through minutes before.
"What if we don't want to stay in touch?"
It was Roger that spoke this time, surprising everyone. It seemed like they really had digressed back to the initial meeting.
Feeling strangely prepared for this, Ralph answered him.
"That's your choice. But I still think you should send out your letter address, or at least take mine so the choice is still out there."
Unable to argue with that without drawing more attention to himself, Roger nodded and stayed quiet.
The next few hours passed relatively peacefully. Everyone took Ralph's address, and he in turn received the few remembered- one from Maurice, Wilfred, Robert, and, amazingly enough, Roger. The rest all promised to send theirs to Ralph immediately- at least, the biguns did- though Jack didn't use that many words.
Shortly after the letter address exchanges, three more extremely relieved families arrived. From then on, one after another showed up until the only ones left were Ralph, Sam, Eric, and Roger.
The twins and Ralph were currently enraptured in explaining exactly what their first actions at home would be. Roger gifted them with a muttered fragment every now and then, but otherwise kept his distance mentally. He now sat next to Ralph, much closer than his former far corner.
Due to their concentration on what they were discussing, no one noticed the man and woman walk into the lobby. This may also be thee reason that their yelling startled the four so badly.
"What do you mean! These can't be the only boys left!"
The officer didn't even blink, although a sympathetic look tried to cross his face.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but these are the only boys not taken home by their parents yet."
"But my sons not here!"
"Sir, after questioning the rescued boys, we've been led to believe three boys died on the island."
"Died?"
The woman looked ready to faint or scream. Somehow, she found her voice.
"Simon was only eleven," she reasoned, voice lining hysterical. "Eleven-year-olds do not die."
The officer continued to try and reason with her, but reason cannot reach a grieving mother. Eventually, he turned to the boys.
"Was the name of one of the boys who died Simon?"
Pale and guilty, Ralph looked at the ground. Beside him the twins did the same thing. Roger turned away, and the other's knew he did not want to confront this yet. They didn't either. None of them were ready.
"Why aren't you answering?" the woman demanded trembling. "Tell him Simon's not dead! Tell him!"
The boys continued their silence, but this was answer enough. Horrified, the woman leaned against her husband. Tremors racked her slight for,. Quiet trails of salt and water ran down her cheeks.
Quickly, the officer led them out of the room.
"Should we have told-"
"-how it happened?"
Thought was not needed to answer this question.
"No."
Roger, Sam, and Eric looked at him, confused. Ralph, feeling more chief than he ever had on the island, stared forward and sat up straight.
"It's enough that he's dead, don't you think? Why should she have to know it's our own fault?"
The back of a dark head met him on the left, duo anxious looks to the right.
"We didn't have anything-"
"-to do with that, Ralph."
"Sam and I weren't-"
"-even in the circle."
Ralph nodded absently. Excuses made none of them feel any better, they all knew that. The twins knew that even if they said this, they would still feel responsible. There was only one person not to blame for what happened.
"It wasn't Simon's fault."
The conversation died then, a morbid aura flowing around the four. Every now and again, a door would open in the distance, and either Sam or Eric would perk up, staring longingly at the doorway.
After another hour or so, Ralph noticed something unusual. Whenever one of the twins would perk up, Roger would sink lower in his chair. His eyes stayed fixed to the doorway at all times, but not in the same fashion as the twins. He wore a reprehensive countenance and would flinch if ever a door was slammed.
Ralph stared at the dark boy for a while longer before figuring it out.
Roger sat waiting for someone, a woman he had never met.
Knowing this, the fair boy wasn't surprised when Roger tensed up beside him, nor by the almost inaudible sound he made in his throat, when another woman walked through the open lobby door.
"Mum!"
"Mother!"
Sam and Eric were out of their seats and across the lobby before their mother could even recognize them.
"Eric! Sam!"
The three collided in the center of the room, murmurs of love and thankfulness being shared between them. The sight was very welcome after the last event to happen in the, now, almost empty lobby.
And then, with a quick good-bye to each boy, Sam, Eric, and their mother left. The departing three were all in much higher spirits than they had been in for an extremely long amount of time.
Ralph and Roger weren't though. The silence started from the reminder of Simon continued.
Night was fast approaching. The two left sat next to each other, but did not acknowledge one another.
Ralph, knowing the topic must be breeched sooner or later, finally spoke up, but did not look at Roger.
"Piggy's aunt ought to be here soon."
Roger didn't respond for several long minutes. When he did, Ralph wasn't sure what to expect.
"Are you going to tell?"
He thought about it for a while. While he knew Roger would say something like this, he still wasn't too sure of the answer. Eventually, he realized what his only option was.
"No."
Again, they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Roger seemed surprised, if not relieved, at the response. He had not expected this to be treated just like Simon's murder, though he wouldn't question it.
The wall clock chimed nine times- almost a full hour after Sam and Eric were taken home.
"Are you sorry?"
This time, Roger never responded. Ralph did not push the question, did not want to hear the answer.
When the officer entered the room next, the fair boy felt his throat constrict. Nothing had ever, or would ever again, look anywhere near as beautiful as the woman following him through the door way right now.
"Mum…" he heard a voice breath out. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized it was him.
His mother, who had been hit by the same paralysis he had, broke from her trance at that single word. A moment later, both found themselves embracing someplace between the chairs and the hall.
"Mum, I-"
He tried to finish his thought, but found his lungs not allowing it. His mother just held him tighter. Ralph felt a wetness on the top of his head where his mother had buried her face. The same wetness trailed down his face.
"Darling, darling Ralph," she murmured, rocking them back and forth. "My wonderful, only child."
The officer began to lead them out then, as he had done with all the other reunited families.
At the doorway, Ralph glanced back. There, all by himself now, sat Roger, staring at the retreating figures.
Not sure of what to say, or if he should say anything at all, he lifted a hand in a sort of mock wave. Dark eyes widened, but Ralph didn't wait for his response. It didn't matter, for the moment, he was blinded by his old naiveté.
The officer led them down a long hallway that ended with another lobby. Across from where they stood were grand steel doors, but what else could be expected of a navy base? The doors were pulled open for the two and they stepped out into the cool night air, the coldest Ralph had been in months.
A taxi was parked in the street outside of the military gates, its gears shifting as the two approached. The boy was ushered into the back seat immediately, and soon they were on their way.
"Oh, Ralph, I've missed you so much," his mother said softly, pulling him close.
Ralph nodded his agreement, leaning against her. His initial excitement was waning as he remembered his transgressions, as he remembered his loss. That moment of euphoria was over, replaced with his new, dark outlook.
"Ralph, you are alright now, aren't you?"
He thought on this, as he had so many other things today. This morning he was running for his life through a thick, tropic forest, away from the fire he had so held onto, away from the boys he had once led.
"No, I don't think I am."