Hey! Okay, about the electrical problems, the thing is, I live in a place that relies on hydraulic power plants for electricity. The problem is we're in the middle of a drought. The lake that our city uses has dried up. The drought is nearing its end though because it's been drizzling slightly on and off, though I seriously doubt a slight drizzle every few weeks could fill up a lake, fear not though, because I regularly charge my laptop and we have a generator. Other than that, the power outages are getting increasingly erratic. (My theory is this is a ploy to increase the amount on our electricity bills! Dun dun dun! Either that or the world is slowly running out of electricity! Nooooo!)
Anyway…onto Chapter Four! (I just realized…there hasn't been any fluff at all has there)
Disclaimer:
Me: *humming tunelessly*
Big Scary Bouncer: ahem
Me: hehe…
BSB: AHEM!!!
Me: Fine! I don't own Lord of the Flies…*mumbles incoherent insults*
CHAPTER 4: Fluff is a Many Splendored Thing
.:About A Week or Two Later:.
"Ralph, where's Piggy?" Christine asked the fair-haired boy who had just gotten back from picking fruits.
"He's watching the littluns, if you wanted to go spear fishing again, so I suppose you'll have to ask some one else" said Ralph looking down at Christine who was fingering the end of her sleeve thoughtfully.
"…and Simon?"
"I can't seem to find him. What about one of your sisters?"
"Angela is trying to get Victoria to join her in convincing the hunters to let them hunt. The twins have escaped to their own world using fire watch, again. And Sophia has simply, disappeared, which worried me until you told me Simon disappeared too, in which case I have a pretty good idea where they are" Christine finished with a knowing smile.
Throughout all this time, Ralph was getting more and more frustrated at her fiddling with her sleeve. He knew it must have been so hot under that dress.
"Why don't you just tear the sleeves off already?!" he asked
Christine was momentarily shocked by his random out burst, added to that the fact that it was totally out of the topic.
"They keep me warm at night! You know, even though beaches are hot in the morning they are always freezing at night!" she said defensively. Ralph realized she was right; it was very cold at night because of the sea breeze and how it passed over the cold sea water (his father, was, after all, a naval officer).
"Wait here" Ralph left Christine baffled.
A few minutes passed and Ralph returned with a smelly, dirty gray shirt in his hand.
"You can use this; you mentioned before that you're wearing shorts. Then you can keep your dress as a blanket. You should probably wash this shirt first," he said handing her the aforementioned shirt.
"Whose is it?" asked Christine as she took the shirt.
"Mine, but I don't need it"
Ralph and Christine made their way to a stream. Christine dipped the shirt in the water and rubbed it hard. The dirt would not come off no matter how hard she rubbed.
"Ralph hand me those two stones" Christine pointed at two rough stones that were about the size of her palms. She took the stones from Ralph and washed them until there was no more dirt. Then she put the shirt between them and rubbed the stones against each other, underwater.
After a few minutes Ralph became frustrated with just sitting there.
"Here, I'll do it" he took the stones and shirt from Christine and took over washing the shirt.
After a while the dark gray shirt became light gray and it no longer smelled of sweat and old gym socks.
"Now we have to wait for it to dry. In the meantime I'm going to fish. Want to come along?" Christine invited.
"Sure"
They both made their way to the other end of the beach where the waves were strong and crashed powerfully against the jagged rocks. Christine chose a spot where the waves weren't as strong but where the water was deep. She sat at the edge of the rock, laying the wet shirt flat behind her to dry. Ralph chose to sit on another rock near Christine as he watched her.
"Last night, I actually dreamt about spear fishing" she said giggling at herself.
"That obsessed, huh?" asked Ralph and he noticed that she didn't have a spear and pointed this out.
"I dreamt up a way to catch fish easier and cleaner than with a spear." At this, she untied the white bow of her dress that was tied around her waist. She tore it in half from one end to another so that she now had two long thing strips of cloth. Then, she tied the two strips together and handed it to Ralph. She slid off a black hairpin that camouflaged in her dark hair. Ralph watched as her side-bangs fell covering part of her face and barely resisted the urge to brush it away from her pretty face. She deftly bent the pin and Ralph watched her skillful fingers work methodically. One end was sharp and curved so that she now had a hook. Then she twisted the other end into a small full circle and, taking the strip of cloth from Ralph, she tied one end securely onto the hook.
"The only problem is the sinker, I don't have one" admitted Christine, realizing the problem.
"Here" said Ralph and he took a tiny stone and wrapped a section of the cloth around it and tied a knot on top, so that it now hung above the improvised hook.
"Thanks" said Christine. She took the line and dropped the hook into the water. She and Ralph sat in companionable silence waiting for a bite.
"No" said Jack defiantly, he was the leader of the hunters, what he says goes. His word was law. And now a girl had the gall to defy his authority!
"We want in! Just because we're girls doesn't mean we can't catch a pig!" Victoria answered back.
"Yes it does, girls don't hunt, girls stay at home and cook and clean after the men" said Jack echoing his father's words.
"What is this, the medieval times?! Wake up Sir gender-biased-alot, women are starting to prove that we can do whatever the hell men can do"
Jack had to admire the fire in her. She was a worthy foe, and he found that he quite enjoyed the challenge she presented.
"Fine" he said with smirk, "but don't blame me if your pretty dresses get ruined" he was confident that he would have the two of them running away and squealing before they even caught the pig.
"Christine?"
"Yes?" Christine turned to Ralph, who up until now had kept quiet and she had to hold in her laughter at what she saw.
"What?"
"You know, you look like a boy version of Goldilocks right now" Christine giggled a bit.
"Has my hair grown that long?" Ralph looked worried and Christine could not suppress her laughter any longer.
"No, it's just that…when I saw you, the sun was behind your head and it sort of reflected on your hair" said Christine giggling, "and might I say you have very pretty hair, Ralph. Though it's pretty dirty, you might consider washing it"
"Do you like swimming?" asked Ralph out-of-the-blue.
"Who doesn't? My daddy used to call me a 'water baby' because I've loved to swim since I was little. Never could resist the water" she said smiling reminiscently.
"I love swimming, water is in my family. All the men in my family have been a part of the Royal Navy, my dad's a naval officer" he said proudly, "Hey, let's go for a dip in the lagoon" he suggested, having caught by the sudden urge to swim because of their conversation.
"Wait, I want to change out of this dress first"
Ralph watched as she took the still slightly damp shirt and walked into a space in the shadows of the forest. She disappeared but he looked away just in case.
Christine ran back and grabbed his hand laughing as she headed for the lagoon leaving her makeshift fishing line on the rock. Every nerve in Ralph's body seemed to go on overdrive as Christine held his hand and a buzz ran up his arm and down his spine coming from the hand she was holding. He heard her melodic laughter as she let go and cannonballed into the deeper part of the lagoon.
Ralph followed her in diving smoothly into the green water and, grabbing her ankles from underneath, pulled her down. Christine gave a surprised yelp as she went down, but they both resurfaced giggling maniacally. Then, Christine pushed Ralph down, dunking him.
When they resurfaced, Ralph had his arms wrapped around her waist and she had hers around his neck and their giggling subsided. Ralph leaned closer unsure of what he was doing.
Victoria had taken off her dress, but she was wearing a pair of shorts and a spaghetti strapped tank top. She wondered how the hell Angela had managed to talk her into this. She was crouched low, breathing hard and staying as silent as possible.
She could feel sweat trickling down her back and her pulse was like a drum beating incessantly inside of her. She could also feel hungry eyes roaming over her body. She gave an involuntary shudder as she thought of Jack's dark and elusive crony, Roger.
Jack beckoned her and Angela towards him and she approached warily.
Angela had borrowed some random hunters' shirt and she looked dirty and gross. Then Victoria thought again and realized she must look the same. They all looked the same, dirty and gross.
"Check if it's fresh" Jack said, gesturing to a pile of pig droppings on the forest floor. "If it's fresh we-"
"Yeah, I know, we'll follow the direction" said Victoria, irritated that Jack was underestimating her knowledge.
"Well?" he asked cockily, gesturing to the pile of dung.
I'll show him, thought Victoria, and she smirked at Jack and brought her hand close to the manure. She let her hand hover above the mound for a few seconds then swiftly pulled it back.
"It's fresh" she declared.
"You didn't even touch it!" exclaimed Jack.
"I didn't have to, it was warm, and I felt it. Or would you rather touch it, go on, prove me wrong boys" Victoria glared at the hunters, challenging them.
"Fine, let's follow it" said Jack, grudgingly, and he gave Victoria a nod of approval.
"Wow, nice one, Victoria" said Angela with a grin, girls: one, boys: ZERO! She thought, knowing Victoria would be thinking the same.
Christine gently pushed Ralph away. She wouldn't meet his eyes.
Ralph gave an awkward cough and got out of the lagoon. Christine watched him walk away from the edge of the lagoon leaving a trail of droplets behind. She felt awful thinking that she may have really hurt his feelings. A blush crept up to her face as she thought of apologizing. She wasn't mad at him; in fact, Christine acknowledged that maybe just a little bit, she had wanted him to continue. But she couldn't get attached and she couldn't tell him why. She and her sisters agreed not to tell any of the boys the truth: that they didn't belong there.
Ralph turned to Christine and noticed that she was red in the face. He had probably totally embarrassed her. What he did was inappropriate, but holding her and being close to her had felt so good and so right, she must've felt it too. Thinking he couldn't let them stay this way, awkward and afraid to make eye contact, he attempted to lighten the mood.
"Hey, Christine" he said in a low voice.
"Yes, Ralph?" she asked, afraid what he might say.
"CANNONBAAAAAALL!!!" Ralph shouted after getting a running start and jumping into the water, legs tucked tight to his chest.
Christine sputtered and coughed as she surfaced, a large wave had pushed her under and without realizing it, had sent her to the shallower part of the lagoon.
"No fair, I wasn't ready!" she shouted, but she was grinning.
"Lesson number one, Never Let Your Guard Down!" exclaimed Ralph.
"Hey, Lovebirds, mind if we join?" asked a voice and Christine spun around at the familiar voices.
The twins, Oliviananna stood a few feet away with silly grins on their faces.
"We're not 'Lovebirds'" Christine stuttered defensively, and this immediately caught the twins' attention. They raised their eyebrows in question.
"Aren't you two on fire watch?" asked Ralph saving both him and Christine the embarrassment.
"No, it's-"
"-Roger and Robert's turn" said the twins.
Suddenly, Ralph became very quiet and he stood perfectly still.
"What's wrong?" asked Christine.
Tada! Yet another cliffie! Though I'm sure you all know what's going to happen next :D
Well, sorry for the filler-ish chapter, and sorry if it was all cheesy and awkward, I get embarrassed when I write fluff. . (though I have to say, there wasn't much fluff here, fluff tends to speed things up)
Some important stuff did happen, which would eventually lead to Chapter Five though I'm sure you all know about what happens in the next chapter, though hopefully you won't be able to predict the entire chapter.
Well, as I once told my sister: "Drabble and Fluff are my specialties!" which is so sad T.T
Anyway…review please! I feel so sad that I get so few reviews. Every time I check my reviews after a new chapter I go: EPIC FAIL!!! T.T I wonder why I still continue this story…T.T
Well, Thanks for Reading and Please Review,
Madeleine
P.S. Review and Help Spread World Peace and End Starvation!!!
