The tribe had gathered inside the jungle for another assembly, which is strange considering that it is the middle of the night, and Lola usually holds assemblies during the day when the children are not tired and sleepy. Unsurprisingly, the kids still felt sleepy as some of them yawned, and their eyelids looked baggy due to lack of sleep. Apparently, the children did not get enough sleep because of the US air drill that occurred earlier that night, producing loud explosions and eerie thunder sounds that exploded through the night sky and kept the children awake for hours as a result. Most youngsters even began complaining about having to wake up for the second time after finally going to sleep as soon as the drill ceased, but they can't argue with the chief. If the chief announces another assembly, even if it's midnight, then they are obliged to attend that assembly without question.
As the children sat down on logs, large stones, or the dirt-filled ground, Lola stood in front of her tribe, as if she was on stage, holding the conch and waiting for her tribe to quiet down so she could speak. Winston is standing a few feet away from his princess to the left, waiting for her to speak. Charlotte and Petey stood next to the beauty queen to her right, still terror-struck by their encounter with the alleged beast. The young, first-grade couple wanted to stay as close to their chief as possible, believing that she would protect them if the beast unexpectedly attacked the tribe. The rest of the tribe are still irked about waking up during the middle of the night after getting only an hour of sleep. Those two irksome scaredy cats better have a good reason for waking the entire tribe and convincing their chief to hold an assembly at midnight. A fireplace, located between the tribe and the chief, is built to provide light to the assembly. No one wants to attend an assembly without light.
"Why are we holding the assembly right now?!" Gus complained.
"After finally getting some sleep after the loud ass air battle, we have to wake up an hour later for another assembly!" added Lucas.
"Well, Charlotte and Petey better have a good reason for screaming like crazy people!" exclaimed Chinah.
"I hate it when people disturb my beauty sleep, and for a stupid reason," Jackie stated disgustingly.
"Ugh! I want to go back to sleep," Skippy complained.
The chief and assistant chief grew tired from hearing the endless, same, old complaints from their restless tribe. Seconds passed, and the complaints still rage on. Eventually, Winston snapped and placed his index finger and thumb in his lips and blows, releasing a loud whistle that echoed through the forest. The children all covered their ears to block out the loud, painful whistle. The birds, who were formally asleep, were suddenly awakened by the loud, echoic whistle, causing them to fly into the dark sky in a swarm, chirping and cawing. The wild pigs and their piglets began squealing and running around, freaking out over the sudden loud whistle that they never heard before.
As the kids are finally silent, Winston ceases to whistle.
"QUIET!" he shouted. "The assembly is now in session, so pay attention to your chief!"
As told, the children all faced their attention towards Lola, wondering what the chief had to say.
"I know what you're all thinking. Chief, why are we holding an assembly in the middle of the night? I know you guys are tired and want to go back to sleep, especially the very loud air drill that kept us awake for hours, but please hold on for a bit longer. Charlotte and Petey here have something important to say," Lola's voice turned sarcastic as she mentioned the names of the biter and the glue eater.
Lola then gives the conch to Charlotte and Petey. They share the conch by holding the conch between them with one of their hands. Petey is holding the large shell with his left hand, and Charlotte is holding it with her right. After hesitating for a bit, they finally spoke:
"We saw the beast! We saw it sleeping on the trees!"
"It was big!" exclaimed Petey.
"And fat!" added Charlotte.
"And furry!"
"It has claws!"
"Because we heard it ripping something!"
"It was so heavy it broke through the branches!"
"We thought it woke from the fall, so we ran back to camp!"
"We didn't know if it saw us!"
"So we ran away just in case!"
"It was the beast, we tell you! The beast!"
The entire tribe groaned in annoyance after hearing Charlotte and Petey's testimonial story. They were forced to attend this late-night assembly just to hear some little kids' crappy story about some monster from their very own imaginations supposedly almost trying to eat them?! The tribe once again became angrily restless as not only was this assembly a complete waste of their time, but their sleep cycle was interrupted for nothing.
"Seriously?! We woke up in the middle of the night just to hear some dumb little kids' story of a monster that doesn't even exist?!" Marcus shouted in anger, his tone turning to mockery as he says "dumb little kids' story of a monster."
"Ugh. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous," Jackie uttered in disgust.
"This the worst interruption of my beauty sleep ever!" Chinah complained.
"Stupides petits enfants. (Stupid little kids.)" Claudette muttered to herself.
"That is so absurd!" stated Lisa.
"Such species doesn't exist! There's no proof!" added David.
The biter and the glue eater felt mocked as their fellow tribe children hurled insults and criticisms at them. They held their heads down, tears forming in their eyes. The only group that weren't angry were the first graders. Being gullible and naive, they believed in their two classmates' story about the beast and began to feel scared. They fear that the beast was watching them behind the bushes and is ready to attack them at any moment, so they took a few steps away from the bushes just in case. The only first graders that didn't fall for the beast nonsense are Lisa, David, and Greg because...well...they're smart. They'll question or disprove anything that sounded unscientific, pseudoscientific, scientifically impossible, or just flat-out nonsensical.
Aside from the now-terrified first graders, the only child that is not complaining or insulting the supposed victims of the alleged beast is Lana. The tomboy just sat on the log looking like she just witnessed some poltergeist activity. She did not move a single muscle, nor did she attempt to scratch the itch she is feeling on her nose. Lana is absolutely petrified. Not feeling any emotions but of absolute shock.
Lola suddenly blew the conch, creating a loud yet enjoyable trumpet sound that echoed throughout the jungle, once again scaring and disturbing the animals. Again, everyone's attention is on the princess.
"I know, I know," the pageant queen resumed. "It's the most stupid and ridiculous story you've all ever heard, and you are all angry over waking up in the middle of the night just to hear such story. I'm as angry as you all are, but I have to hold this assembly so I can calm things down, or in this case, assure these kids," she points at Charlotte and Petey, "that there is no such thing as a beast and they mistaken something else for a beast. Possibly an animal that wouldn't hurt a fly. And as chief, I have to maintain law and order."
"Good! Tell those crybabies that there is no such thing as a beast!" Mike demanded.
"Mike! I have the conch, so I'm the only one who's supposed to talk!" Lola scolded.
"I saw the beast!" Lana suddenly shouted, snapping out of her aghast state and standing up from the log. The children all gave Lana weird looks, some of them startled, others surprised by Lana's sudden shout.
Lola grew pestered. "Lana, what did I just say?! I have the conch, so only I can talk!"
"Then give me the conch! I wanna say something!"
Lola grumbled. She walks over to her tomboyish twin and hands her the conch.
"I saw the beast! And I have proof!" Lana told the tribe. Instead of complaining from irritation the children began whispering amongst one another, still skeptical about the beast being real, yet wondering what evidence Lana obtains to prove the existence of the beast. Only Lisa, David, Greg were unfazed by Lana's sudden announcement, still being the truly skeptical ones.
As the whispering settled down, Lana resumes speaking, "Do you wanna know what I have? Well, I'm about to show it." After a short pause. "I have this!"
Lana holds up what appears to be a huge claw from some sort of animal. This incited gasps from the entire assembly. Even the former skeptics, including Lola herself, are shocked to see actual evidence of the existence of the alleged beast. The nerdy kids, however, are still unimpressed.
"Shocking, right? I found this while we were exploring the island!"
Lola snatches the conch away from Lana. "What part of the island did you explore?" she asked curiously.
"The part behind the mountain," replied Lana. "A place where I like to call...Castle Rock, because the rock structures look like towers of a castle."
"May I see that conch, please?" Lisa spoke, appearing by her twin older sisters. Lana hands her younger, smarter sibling the conch.
"This is completely and absolutely absurd," stated Lisa. "There is no such thing as the beast, and the claw Lana currently obtains possibly belongs to a large species of predator. Possibly from a tiger or a lion. Speaking of which, may I see the claw, please?"
Lana hands Lisa the claw. The young nerd scrutinizes every single detail of the claw from its pointy end to the smoothness of the claw. After a few moments of inspection, Lisa spoke again.
"Intriguing. The claw seems to be too large to belong to a tiger, lion, or a bird of prey. From my knowledge, it is probable that it may belong to the megatherium. Street name: giant ground sloth, the mammalian species that lived from the Pliocene Epoch to the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, roughly 10,000 to 5 million years ago. However, there's no way it can survive the end of the ice age towards the present day. In other words, it's extinct. It's no longer around. It's dead."
"Told you we were telling the truth!" claimed Charlotte and Petey. "We saw the beast!"
"So it is from the beast! The beast is real!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"Charlotte and Petey were right! The beast is real!" Skippy shouted.
The tribe suddenly grew fearful as all of them, with the exception of Lisa and the Miller brothers, now believe there is a beast lurking in the jungle.
Lola snatches the conch from Lisa and blows on it, silencing the tribe.
"Everybody calm down! Like what Lisa said, there is no such thing as the beast. Though I do agree that the claw is too big to belong to any predator or an extinct animal, it must belong to a harmless animal. I just know it! Look, if it calms you down a bit I'll go with the hunters to check out Castle Rock to prove that the beast doesn't exist. With all that said, I declare this assembly to be over!"
And with that, the children stood up and headed back to their huts to return to sleep.