Simon came running into the village.
"High Priestess! There's a body on Fire Mountain!! Come quick!!" he cried.
I groggily awoke, dreading the coming day. Beside my bed, Celebrinor was already up and almost out the doorway – there was no door. I got up quickly, not willing to let him beat me out to Simon. I snagged the conch on my way out.
"What did you say, Simon?" I asked.
"There's a dead body on Fire Mountain."
"Good for you, Simon. That's not important. Bug off."
Simon left, looking dejected. As I watched him exit the village, I saw that two more huts had been put up over the last few days. 'Good,' I thought.
******************************************************
Jack walked along the beach towards Castle Rock. His people followed him, walking in a somewhat straight line. Jack may have been thinking about the large pile of rocks, surrounded by trees, with a hole in the side facing the island. It was this that was called Castle Rock. Inside this 'castle' of his, Jack had built up a small pile of wood for a fire, and also an area to go piss in. Jack wanted to do something to draw my people away from my leadership.
******************************************************
Lately, I had been hearing some rumors about Jack holding a great big feast, and was inviting all who would come. Knowing the things that I do, I decided not to forbid my people from going, because by doing so they would just want to go even more. An idea hit me (not literally). 'What if,' I thought, 'I held a party of my own, bigger and better than Jack's. ... No, that won't work. They will still go to Jack's party, whether or not I've got something better.' I resolved to go to his party and see what happened.
When Seal and I got to the party, Jack had already brought in some game and cooked it over his fire. We were each given a piece of pork to eat. (At home, I would never have been able to do this, mostly because my parents kept kosher – and pork is definitely not kosher.) I ate it. When everyone was done, Jack stood up.
"Let's do the dance," he said.
"What's the dance?" I asked Seal.
"It's that "Kill the pig. Cut his throat" thing," he told me.
"Oh."
Jack and his pals formed a ring, with Robert playing the part of the pig again. After a while though, he joined the ring. Now they chanted around an empty circle, jabbing at an imaginary pig from time to time. Suddenly, Simon stumbled into the circle.
"It's the beast," someone cried.
Their chant rose is fervor and pitch. "Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Kill the beast. Cut his throat." They began to jab wildly at the "beast". Running this way and that, Simon tried to escape the chanting ring of savages. They hemmed him in, poking at him with their sharpened spears. Simon broke the circle, and ran for the forest.
Simon reached the cove. Sitting on the sand he put his head in between his knees. The dead body floated out to sea with the tide.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----
I slept. And while I slept, I dreamed. At first the dreams were innocent, about stupid things like getting grounded or seeing an old enemy. But then they got worse. I started dreaming about the island, about what had happened since we got here.
*fade out*
I sat on a log at the party watching the dance. Simon broke through the tree line and into the revolving circle of savages. Their chant rose in pitch and fervor. They began to stab at Simon, making contact most of the time. Frightened and enraged, Simon wildly tried to escape the circle. Then, fatally wounded, Simon broke the circle and ran off. The next morning, I went down to the beach. I saw a bunch of shells, and a pair of glasses that could only be Simon's. They had killed him.
*fade in*
I woke suddenly, trying to shake the dream out of my head. No matter how hard I try, I still cannot get that image out of my head. The others can't either, and we have all become unusually quiet.
******************************************************
That night, we moved the fire down into the center of our village. Most people had become too scared of the night to want to guard the fire on Fire Mountain. I set two boys to guard it – Ben and Sam. They obviously weren't doing a good job, because Jack and two of his hunters managed to steal most of our fire, and they also took some kid's glasses called Piggy. Piggy was a bigun, and one of the more sensible, but I couldn't have cared less about his glasses. What I did care about, however, was the fire.
"High Priestess! There's a body on Fire Mountain!! Come quick!!" he cried.
I groggily awoke, dreading the coming day. Beside my bed, Celebrinor was already up and almost out the doorway – there was no door. I got up quickly, not willing to let him beat me out to Simon. I snagged the conch on my way out.
"What did you say, Simon?" I asked.
"There's a dead body on Fire Mountain."
"Good for you, Simon. That's not important. Bug off."
Simon left, looking dejected. As I watched him exit the village, I saw that two more huts had been put up over the last few days. 'Good,' I thought.
******************************************************
Jack walked along the beach towards Castle Rock. His people followed him, walking in a somewhat straight line. Jack may have been thinking about the large pile of rocks, surrounded by trees, with a hole in the side facing the island. It was this that was called Castle Rock. Inside this 'castle' of his, Jack had built up a small pile of wood for a fire, and also an area to go piss in. Jack wanted to do something to draw my people away from my leadership.
******************************************************
Lately, I had been hearing some rumors about Jack holding a great big feast, and was inviting all who would come. Knowing the things that I do, I decided not to forbid my people from going, because by doing so they would just want to go even more. An idea hit me (not literally). 'What if,' I thought, 'I held a party of my own, bigger and better than Jack's. ... No, that won't work. They will still go to Jack's party, whether or not I've got something better.' I resolved to go to his party and see what happened.
When Seal and I got to the party, Jack had already brought in some game and cooked it over his fire. We were each given a piece of pork to eat. (At home, I would never have been able to do this, mostly because my parents kept kosher – and pork is definitely not kosher.) I ate it. When everyone was done, Jack stood up.
"Let's do the dance," he said.
"What's the dance?" I asked Seal.
"It's that "Kill the pig. Cut his throat" thing," he told me.
"Oh."
Jack and his pals formed a ring, with Robert playing the part of the pig again. After a while though, he joined the ring. Now they chanted around an empty circle, jabbing at an imaginary pig from time to time. Suddenly, Simon stumbled into the circle.
"It's the beast," someone cried.
Their chant rose is fervor and pitch. "Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Kill the beast. Cut his throat." They began to jab wildly at the "beast". Running this way and that, Simon tried to escape the chanting ring of savages. They hemmed him in, poking at him with their sharpened spears. Simon broke the circle, and ran for the forest.
Simon reached the cove. Sitting on the sand he put his head in between his knees. The dead body floated out to sea with the tide.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----
I slept. And while I slept, I dreamed. At first the dreams were innocent, about stupid things like getting grounded or seeing an old enemy. But then they got worse. I started dreaming about the island, about what had happened since we got here.
*fade out*
I sat on a log at the party watching the dance. Simon broke through the tree line and into the revolving circle of savages. Their chant rose in pitch and fervor. They began to stab at Simon, making contact most of the time. Frightened and enraged, Simon wildly tried to escape the circle. Then, fatally wounded, Simon broke the circle and ran off. The next morning, I went down to the beach. I saw a bunch of shells, and a pair of glasses that could only be Simon's. They had killed him.
*fade in*
I woke suddenly, trying to shake the dream out of my head. No matter how hard I try, I still cannot get that image out of my head. The others can't either, and we have all become unusually quiet.
******************************************************
That night, we moved the fire down into the center of our village. Most people had become too scared of the night to want to guard the fire on Fire Mountain. I set two boys to guard it – Ben and Sam. They obviously weren't doing a good job, because Jack and two of his hunters managed to steal most of our fire, and they also took some kid's glasses called Piggy. Piggy was a bigun, and one of the more sensible, but I couldn't have cared less about his glasses. What I did care about, however, was the fire.