Dear Mum and Dad,
I don't know if you will get this, but I am writing anyway. I hope you are all right. How is the war? I guess if you got this you have realized that I am not where I am supposed to be. Something happened to the plane and we crashed. The other boys and I have been stuck on this island ever since.
I think we were all right at first, but things have changed now. When we first arrived here, a boy named Ralph took charge. He called us all together by blowing through a shell. We elected him leader, and he did his best to control us as a society. He chose my choir leader Jack Merridew and me to go with him to search the island. Then he said we should have a signal fire, in case any ship passed by, and appointed Jack's choir to keep it going. But Jack was more interested in hunting for the pigs he discovered on the island. We tried to build shelters, but everyone lost interest and went for a swim instead. Things kept getting worse from then on.
Jack and his hunters became obsessed with the hunt. Ralph's main thought was keeping the fire going. Both were blind to each other's ideas, and the other things around them. However, neither of them could ignore the fact that the littluns, and some older boys, were scared of a "beast" that was in the forest. Ralph's thought was for safety, while Jack wanted to hunt down the beast. I realize now that as Jack was trying to hunt down the beast and kill it, he was actually letting it take control of him.
As I realize that, I realize that I am scared. I am scared of the beast. I am scared because the beast isn't something I can run away from. I, like Ralph, Piggy, Samneric and any of the other boys who have fought the beast, can only avoid the beast for so long. I guess I am writing this more for my own benefit, than in real hopes that it will reach you. I needed to sort my thoughts out, and accept the fact that the beast cannot be fought.
I wonder if you know, Mum and Dad, if you know about the beast. I try to remember, if the beast was in society. I suppose it must have been, because we are all the beast. Whether I see you again or not, if I manage to escape before the beast devours me entirely, I will never be the same again. I don't think anyone can be the same once they know what I know, and it's a sad revelation: Human are evil.
Your son,
Simon
