Piggy began going through the group counting the boys. I was actually quite
amazed at how long they sat still without an authority figure around. They
stayed put for a good two minutes before running away to play. The little
ones just ran straight towards the water, taking off their clothes as they
ran. The older ones dispersed into groups of three or four. They went
searching for food and water. Some of them went swimming or exploring the
forest. Piggy looked exasperated.
"How am I ever going to count them now?"
"You may need some help," I said.
"You think," his voice was rather sarcastic.
"Well, if you're going to be rude about it, I won't help you."
"However are you going to help me count?"
"Well, let's see. All of the littler boys are swimming, so I'll count them and try to keep them together for the time being. You can go find the older boys."
"Why do you get to count the young'uns?"
"Last time I checked, you weren't the one who had to climb up ten feet in your dress shoes," Okay, so I was being a little snotty, but I was so tired.
Piggy nodded his head in agreement and headed towards the jungle. I took of my shoes and placed them by the big rock we had gathered all beside. Dreading having to go into the water, I called to the boys and asked them to come out of the water for a couple of minutes. They, of course, being boys, ignored me. I crept up to the water and stuck my toes in. The temperature was very refreshing. I lifted my ankle length skirt up to my knees and waded into the water. Luckily I was much taller than the other boys were, because I was not going any deeper into the water. I would not hike my skirt up any higher than I had it right now. I counted the same number I had estimated. There were exactly twelve boys whose age range was from six to eight. The boys began splashing water. I ran out of the water as quickly as possible to avoid being hit with a renegade splash.
I sat at the edge of the water, watching the "little'uns", as Piggy called them, play. It was amazing how they could forget that there were no adults with us and just be kids without being completely scared. They were so carefree. I kept a watch out for Piggy as well. I wondered how many boys he had found so far. I wished for a clock. I had never realized how important meal times were until there wasn't a way to keep track of them. A boy had just emerged from the water and was heading towards the forest. He had bright red hair, brilliant green eyes and a milky complexion that had been sunburned from the sun's rays. The most noticeable thing about him was that half his face was covered in a purplish birthmark and the rest of his face was covered in freckles.
"Oy, what's your name." I asked him.
"Lucas," he said in a very timid voice.
"Where are you going, Lucas?"
"I'm hungry," he whimpered.
"Then wait here for a second," I turned my attention to the other eleven boys in the water, "Is anybody other than Lucas here hungry?"
All the boys started responding.
"Well, come on out of the water then and dry of and put on some clothes." The boys rushed out of the water, threw on their clothes and headed towards the jungle.
"Hold on a second," Everyone halted, "Everyone, get a partner and stand beside them." It took them three seconds to do so. "Alright, now I want everybody to learn their buddy's name. DO NOT leave your buddy. Has everyone done that? Good, now everybody, follow me."
Trailing in two lines, the boys followed me into the jungle. They seemed to be very anxious and never ventured very far. The deeper we went into the trees the more skittish they became. Luckily, we found a coconut tree with coconuts surround it on the ground. Each boy picked up a coconut and we went back to the beach. At the beach, I had the boys play a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose" to occupy them while I scoured the beach for a wedge-like rock and a flat rock. I found what I wanted in no time flat. The boys were still playing, when I laid the first coconut atop of the flat rock. I hit the coconut's hard outer shell with the wedge-like rock with as much force as I could possibly muster. Luckily, with my first hit, the rock became lodged in the coconut. I hit the wedge-like rock against the flat one. I had to repeat this about ten times before the coconut would break. The boys were really excited when they saw it break. They immediately stopped playing their game and came over to get their lunch. Using the wedged rock, I scraped the coconut's side and gave each boy a hunk of its meat. The boy that had sat beside me on the plane was especially grateful. Apparently, only three coconuts were needed to fill us up.
I turned and looked towards the mountain. I saw three shadows emerging from the shadows of the trees. I thought that I was imagining things, but Ralph wandered over to a shaded spot among the trees and lifted the pinkish shell to his lips. The sound that resonated from it was that of a trumpet. Boys began emerging from the trees and water immediately. Even the littler boys wandered over to where Ralph, Jack and Simon were standing, still holding onto their hunks of coconut. I noticed each one of them stayed close to their buddy. I smiled and wandered towards the littler ones. When I reached the area, they were all sitting down, sharing a log amongst them.
I stood by Ralph, "Did you find anything out?"
"No, there's no one on the island, no boats around and there aren't any adults with us,"
"So, basically, you guys have just confirmed our worse fears. Am I right?"
"Shut up, woman," Jack snapped, "What did you do today?"
"For your information, I helped Piggy count the boys here, I looked after the younger boys, and I found food. Now can you say the same?"
"All you did were your jobs, woman, nothing extra."
"First of all, my name is Margaret, not woman. Second of all, you're the hunter right? So you brought back meat did you?"
"No, but we did find out that there are pigs, and I almost killed one, but..."
"Oh, let me guess, you chickened out at the last minute right," Simon nodded his head at me behind Jack's back. I patted Jack on the shoulder, "It's okay, it happens to the best of us."
"I said shut up, woman!" I rolled my eyes and sat down on a log beside the younger boys, very close to Ralph. Ralph was looking at all the boys. He seemed very puzzled by something. Then Piggy emerged from the jungle, scratched from head to toe from branches. He stood beside me.
"Did you count all the boys?" I murmured.
"No, did you count all the little ones?"
"I think so. They've been with me all day. Why don't you count them now?"
Ralph cleared his throat.
"Boys," he began, "and girl, Jack, Simon and I have found out that no one lives here on the island. There are pigs and fruit for food. Also, there is a waterhole just down into the bush. We still need containers for the water, but we know we can bathe and drink. Does anyone have ideas on how we can carry the water?"
Everyone began talking over one and another.
"Okay," Ralph started speaking again, "We need a rule about who can talk and who can't. I think we should do this like we did in school. You need to put up your hand and then I'll give you the conch. Everyone else has to listen to whoever is holding the conch. Okay?"
I immediately stuck up my hand. Ralph handed me the conch. "I really like Ralph's idea, that way we'll all be able to hear each other's ideas. Now about carrying the water, I think we should use coconut shells. They're almost like bowls and they'll work perfectly."
"Alright," Ralph said, "That's one thing settled. Now, in order to be rescued by my daddy, we need to build a fire on top of the mountain. Does anybody have any other ideas?"
"What about the beastie?" One of the small boys spoke up.
"What beastie?" Ralph looked incredulous.
The little ones pushed Lucas forward but he would not speak. I suggested giving him the conch, but he still didn't talk. Piggy made a move to lean in close to him, but I got there first. He started whispering something into my ear. He finally stopped.
"He says there is like a snake-beast on the island. It's really long and big. He says it comes at night and it'll come back tonight."
"It's just in his dreams," Jack sneered.
Lucas' eyes began to tear up and he started whispering in my ear again. "He says it isn't. And I noticed all of these guys are worried once we go into the forest." I motioned to the little ones sitting at my feet.
"Trust me, it's just in his dreams. Now, more importantly, what about the fire?" Ralph intervened.
"Yeah, let's go build a fire," Jack yelled, getting the other boys excited.
"How am I ever going to count them now?"
"You may need some help," I said.
"You think," his voice was rather sarcastic.
"Well, if you're going to be rude about it, I won't help you."
"However are you going to help me count?"
"Well, let's see. All of the littler boys are swimming, so I'll count them and try to keep them together for the time being. You can go find the older boys."
"Why do you get to count the young'uns?"
"Last time I checked, you weren't the one who had to climb up ten feet in your dress shoes," Okay, so I was being a little snotty, but I was so tired.
Piggy nodded his head in agreement and headed towards the jungle. I took of my shoes and placed them by the big rock we had gathered all beside. Dreading having to go into the water, I called to the boys and asked them to come out of the water for a couple of minutes. They, of course, being boys, ignored me. I crept up to the water and stuck my toes in. The temperature was very refreshing. I lifted my ankle length skirt up to my knees and waded into the water. Luckily I was much taller than the other boys were, because I was not going any deeper into the water. I would not hike my skirt up any higher than I had it right now. I counted the same number I had estimated. There were exactly twelve boys whose age range was from six to eight. The boys began splashing water. I ran out of the water as quickly as possible to avoid being hit with a renegade splash.
I sat at the edge of the water, watching the "little'uns", as Piggy called them, play. It was amazing how they could forget that there were no adults with us and just be kids without being completely scared. They were so carefree. I kept a watch out for Piggy as well. I wondered how many boys he had found so far. I wished for a clock. I had never realized how important meal times were until there wasn't a way to keep track of them. A boy had just emerged from the water and was heading towards the forest. He had bright red hair, brilliant green eyes and a milky complexion that had been sunburned from the sun's rays. The most noticeable thing about him was that half his face was covered in a purplish birthmark and the rest of his face was covered in freckles.
"Oy, what's your name." I asked him.
"Lucas," he said in a very timid voice.
"Where are you going, Lucas?"
"I'm hungry," he whimpered.
"Then wait here for a second," I turned my attention to the other eleven boys in the water, "Is anybody other than Lucas here hungry?"
All the boys started responding.
"Well, come on out of the water then and dry of and put on some clothes." The boys rushed out of the water, threw on their clothes and headed towards the jungle.
"Hold on a second," Everyone halted, "Everyone, get a partner and stand beside them." It took them three seconds to do so. "Alright, now I want everybody to learn their buddy's name. DO NOT leave your buddy. Has everyone done that? Good, now everybody, follow me."
Trailing in two lines, the boys followed me into the jungle. They seemed to be very anxious and never ventured very far. The deeper we went into the trees the more skittish they became. Luckily, we found a coconut tree with coconuts surround it on the ground. Each boy picked up a coconut and we went back to the beach. At the beach, I had the boys play a game of "Duck, Duck, Goose" to occupy them while I scoured the beach for a wedge-like rock and a flat rock. I found what I wanted in no time flat. The boys were still playing, when I laid the first coconut atop of the flat rock. I hit the coconut's hard outer shell with the wedge-like rock with as much force as I could possibly muster. Luckily, with my first hit, the rock became lodged in the coconut. I hit the wedge-like rock against the flat one. I had to repeat this about ten times before the coconut would break. The boys were really excited when they saw it break. They immediately stopped playing their game and came over to get their lunch. Using the wedged rock, I scraped the coconut's side and gave each boy a hunk of its meat. The boy that had sat beside me on the plane was especially grateful. Apparently, only three coconuts were needed to fill us up.
I turned and looked towards the mountain. I saw three shadows emerging from the shadows of the trees. I thought that I was imagining things, but Ralph wandered over to a shaded spot among the trees and lifted the pinkish shell to his lips. The sound that resonated from it was that of a trumpet. Boys began emerging from the trees and water immediately. Even the littler boys wandered over to where Ralph, Jack and Simon were standing, still holding onto their hunks of coconut. I noticed each one of them stayed close to their buddy. I smiled and wandered towards the littler ones. When I reached the area, they were all sitting down, sharing a log amongst them.
I stood by Ralph, "Did you find anything out?"
"No, there's no one on the island, no boats around and there aren't any adults with us,"
"So, basically, you guys have just confirmed our worse fears. Am I right?"
"Shut up, woman," Jack snapped, "What did you do today?"
"For your information, I helped Piggy count the boys here, I looked after the younger boys, and I found food. Now can you say the same?"
"All you did were your jobs, woman, nothing extra."
"First of all, my name is Margaret, not woman. Second of all, you're the hunter right? So you brought back meat did you?"
"No, but we did find out that there are pigs, and I almost killed one, but..."
"Oh, let me guess, you chickened out at the last minute right," Simon nodded his head at me behind Jack's back. I patted Jack on the shoulder, "It's okay, it happens to the best of us."
"I said shut up, woman!" I rolled my eyes and sat down on a log beside the younger boys, very close to Ralph. Ralph was looking at all the boys. He seemed very puzzled by something. Then Piggy emerged from the jungle, scratched from head to toe from branches. He stood beside me.
"Did you count all the boys?" I murmured.
"No, did you count all the little ones?"
"I think so. They've been with me all day. Why don't you count them now?"
Ralph cleared his throat.
"Boys," he began, "and girl, Jack, Simon and I have found out that no one lives here on the island. There are pigs and fruit for food. Also, there is a waterhole just down into the bush. We still need containers for the water, but we know we can bathe and drink. Does anyone have ideas on how we can carry the water?"
Everyone began talking over one and another.
"Okay," Ralph started speaking again, "We need a rule about who can talk and who can't. I think we should do this like we did in school. You need to put up your hand and then I'll give you the conch. Everyone else has to listen to whoever is holding the conch. Okay?"
I immediately stuck up my hand. Ralph handed me the conch. "I really like Ralph's idea, that way we'll all be able to hear each other's ideas. Now about carrying the water, I think we should use coconut shells. They're almost like bowls and they'll work perfectly."
"Alright," Ralph said, "That's one thing settled. Now, in order to be rescued by my daddy, we need to build a fire on top of the mountain. Does anybody have any other ideas?"
"What about the beastie?" One of the small boys spoke up.
"What beastie?" Ralph looked incredulous.
The little ones pushed Lucas forward but he would not speak. I suggested giving him the conch, but he still didn't talk. Piggy made a move to lean in close to him, but I got there first. He started whispering something into my ear. He finally stopped.
"He says there is like a snake-beast on the island. It's really long and big. He says it comes at night and it'll come back tonight."
"It's just in his dreams," Jack sneered.
Lucas' eyes began to tear up and he started whispering in my ear again. "He says it isn't. And I noticed all of these guys are worried once we go into the forest." I motioned to the little ones sitting at my feet.
"Trust me, it's just in his dreams. Now, more importantly, what about the fire?" Ralph intervened.
"Yeah, let's go build a fire," Jack yelled, getting the other boys excited.