Hiya! So, I've been told that Simon was a little out of character in the last chapter he was in. I've tried to write him a little more in character this time, but he'll still be a little out of character because he's a modern day teen ager in my story instead of a ten year old in the sixties. Hope you like it!
Jack's POV
I wake up at the crack of dawn to go hunting. When I crawl, I see Leah. She's sleeping, snoring softly, her head resting on her open book. I smile, walk over, and kneel beside her.
"Leah, rise and shine" I whisper, shaking her shoulders gently. She groans.
"Go away!" she says, shoving my face with her hand. I laugh. I lift her up and carry her like a baby.
"Got to stay in the shelter sleepy head." Leah wriggles and fusses and smacks me in the face again.
"Put me down Jack!" she shrieks. I set her down in the shelter.
"There. Ya happy?" she grins widely, her eyes squinted and her nose crinkled.
"Extremely" Leah flops down and immediately falls asleep. I chuckle softly as I go to wake the hunters.
Leah's POV
The book the Lord of the Flies is a weird one. Even weirder is how similar it is to our current situation.
1. The names of the boys: Piggy, Ralph, Simon, Roger, Samneric, Jack Merridew, etc. Those are the names of my fellow castaways.
2. The descriptions of the characters match the appearances the boys to a tee.
3. The boys ridiculing Piggy.
4. Piggy's idea for the sundial.
5. The chief Ralph
6. The choir boys/hunters.
7. Simon disappearing constantly.
Frankly, the similarities are really creeping me out. If I find one more detail, I'll be 100% confident that the boys from the book are the boys on the island with me (that or I'm crazy.)
I crawl out from the shelter and see Ralph and arguing with Jack over who know what.
8. The rivalry between Jack and Ralph.
I decide to disregard that insignificant little fact. The two boys are glaring resentfully at one another. They're so similar, yet so different. They both have strong faces, broad chests, muscular (but not too muscular) arms, bright, infectious smiles. But where as Ralph possesses pure, heavenly beauty, Jack glows with a mischievous, wicked nature, embodying the wild spirit of all humanity. Looking on with a dark, sullen face that can only be described as demonic is Roger. The hatred in his eyes when he notices me sends a shiver of fear up my spine and makes me want to crawl under a rock. The boys see me watching them argue, shoot each other one last furious glare, and part ways. I go fishing with Piggy once again, but we don't stay as ling this time. We leave after about an hour and begin to work on our sundial. While Piggy searches for a place that will give the sundial the largest amount of direct sunlight, I scramble through the woods, picking up branch after branch in search of the perfect center for our sundial. I eventually find a nice thick branch that's straight down the middle. I hack off the extra branches and jam it deep into the sandy earth. We pile wet sand and rocks around it until we are satisfied with it's sturdiness. We mark numbers 1-12 in a circle around the branch and look over our work one last time. Piggy and I start back for camp.
"I'm going to look around a bit okay?" Piggy looks uneasy, but he says okay and that he'll tell Ralph.
I stumble through brambles, bushes, and clumps of vine. The branches and "creepers" get thicker the deeper into the jungle I go and reach out to claw at me. I move faster and faster through the surrounding blackness, wishing I had stayed with Piggy. I see streaks of light up ahead and leap out from the grasp of the monstrous jungle. I hit something hard. It gasps.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry!" I apologize.
"God Leah, you scared the crap out of me!" Simon says.
"Sorry, I was just exploring a bit and I got a little freaked out."
"It's fine. What are you doing out here by yourself?" he asks.
"I could ask you the same question" I retort.
"There's this place I found out in the jungle. I was just heading out there." he explains.
"Oh, sorry, I'll get out of your way then." I start heading back.
"You shouldn't be out here by yourself. Do you want to come with?" Simon asks. I'm surprised.
"Are you sure? You don't have to show it to me if you don't want to. I don't want to intrude" Simon smiles.
"It's fine. I wanted to show it to you at some point anyway. Come on!" he guides me through the jungle, going through a lit easier than I had been moments before. We finally come to a stop.
"Tada!" behind him is the most beautiful meadow I've ever seen. Wildflowers grow in patches on the forest floor, a rainbow of vibrant color. Sunlight peaks through the leafy foliage of the treetops above. Colorful butterflies dance through the streams of light.
"It's… amazing" I say in awed respect. "How did you find it?" Simon shrugs.
"I was just wandering around one day and here it was!"
"I definitely see why you disappear here every day." He smiles.
"It's so peaceful. It reminds me of home. My mom loved flowers. Every spring, she grew the most amazing gardens. Our family had picnics in the garden whenever the weather was nice. Coming here makes me feel less homesick." I sit there quietly, imagining Simon healthy, well-fed, happy, laughing with his family. I feel like I'm forgetting something. "What do you miss the most about home?" Simon asks.
"I miss my family. My sister was leaving for college in two weeks. Bradley University. I had a little brother, Ty, he was the same age as the littluns. Me and my sister used to chase him around the house nonstop. It seemed like he was on a never ending sugar rush." Simon smiles and nods understandingly. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Yea, I had a twin sister, Ally. She went to another school, a boarding school. I really miss her and my parents" We sit and talk for a while before Simon remembers that everyone thinks I'm by myself and is probably getting worried. Sadly, we have to leave. When we walk into the camp, Piggy and Ralph look relieved.
"Thank God, you had me worried for a second there." Ralph sighs. Simon laughs.
"Don't worry, I found her."
"What? Did ya think the 'beastie' was gonna get me?" Ralph blushes a little bit.
"No. But the hunters are still out there." he says.
"And the hunters have resorted to cannibalism? What a shame." I reply in false solemnity. Simon chuckles.
"No, but they could have hit you by mistake. Piggy tells us.
"Well they didn't. Thanks for the concern, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, Simon was there" I reason. Ralph and Piggy sigh.
"Just don't wander off on your own anymore okay?" Ralph says. I hold up the first three fingers on my right hand.
"Scout's honor" I promise. They look at me doubtfully. "What? I was a girl scout. Once. When I was like five." The boys roll their eyes at me and go off in separate directions. I sit down on a log beside Ralph. It's too cold to go swimming and there's nothing to do. This day should be real fun.
After dinner I watch the littluns. Jack comes and talks to me for a little while. He seems just as happy about my expedition as Ralph did.
"You shouldn't be wandering around on your own. What if you got hurt, or lost?" he demands.
"But I didn't! And I ran into Simon. I wasn't alone." I tell him. He doesn't look convinced.
"You were counting on Simon to protect you?" he asks in disbelief. I shrug.
"He's out there everyday and he's never gotten hurt.
"And that's a wonder in itself. The kid's weak, skin and bones. He misses every other meal when he's in the jungle."
"Jack you don't have to worry. I was being careful and obviously I haven't been made into the 'beast's' dessert. I'm fine." He doesn't seem happy, but he calms down a bit.
"Just please don't do that again." He pleads. I smile
"I won't," Jack smiles back and leaves. I put the littluns in bed soon after. Once they're asleep, I go out and sit on one of the logs encircling the fire. I pull out Lord of the Flies and begin reading. I find another similarity.
's meadow.
"How's the book?" Jack takes a seat on the log next to me.
"Okay. Some of the characters are real jerks though. And there aren't any girls. Other than that they kind of remind me of you guys."
"Oh yea? How so?" Jack , the main characters' descriptions match you, Ralph, Simon, Samneric, Piggy, and Roger." he looks interested.
"Really? What else?"
"They're stuck on an island. Their chief's name is Ralph and looks just like our chief Ralph. There's a bunch of younger kids they call the littluns. There's a chubby boy they call Piggy and no one knows or cares what his real name is. There are hunters that used to be choir boys, There's a 'beastie'" I list.
"That's a lot." Jack looks mildly surprised.
"Oh, and the names of the boys are Ralph, Simon. Maurice, Piggy, Bill, Samneric, who are twins, Peter, Percival, Henry, Roger, and Jack Merridew."
"Maybe it is us" Jack jokes.
"Haha very funny"
"No, I'm serious. Maybe the author's, like, psychic or something and foresaw everything that will happen to us. Well, except for you." He looks serious.
"I hope not!" I exclaim. Jack looks confused.
"Why?" he asks.
"I'm only on chapter two, but you'd have to be an idiot not to see that Jack Merridew is the bad guy. Isn't Merridew your last name?" he nods. "The guys psychotic." he grins mischievously.
"Maybe I am the bad guy." he replies
"Shut up," I say, slapping him on the arm. He laughs.
"You never know, I could turn into a raving psychopath"
"You better not!"
"Aw, are you scared Leah?" he asks, grinning wickedly. I humph indignantly.
"Me? Scared? Never." I state simply. He smirks.
"So, according to the Lord of the Flies what am I going to do that's so bad?'
"So far all 'you've' done is let the fire go out when a plane was flying overhead." Jack whistles.
"Gosh, you're right Leah. I am awful. They should just lock me up now." he replies sarcastically, holding his arms out as if waiting for handcuffs.
"Shut up!" he just smirks more.
"So who's my henchman?" he asks.
"Your what?"
"my henchman." Jack repeats. "Every bad guy has a crony. Who's mine?"
"Ah, that would be your faithful lapdog Roger. Lord of the Flies resident sadist."
"Resident what?"
"Sadist. He gets a sick kick out of hurting other people." I explain.
"Lovely." Jack replies. "Why am I not surprised?" I laugh. Then I pretend to think about it.
"Gee, I wonder." He smiles. We sit in silence a while.
'I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier." He apologizes.
"It's fine. I thought it was cute that you were worried about me." I tell him. He turns red for a second.
"Me? Nah that's Ralph you're thinking of. Practically gave the poor guy a heart attack" he says.
"Really? And how would you know? You were out hunting all day"
"I'm telepathic. Psychic like our buddy…" he peeks at the cover of Lord of the Flies. "William Golding.
"Uh-huh. Yea right."
"I am!" Jack insists. I laugh. "Not fallin' for it huh?" he shrugs. "Worth a shot." I smirk.
"Ri-i-i-ight" I say.
"I better head to bed. I'd hate to be falling asleep during a hunt." He says.
"Oh, okay. G'nite" I say. Jack waves.
"Good night." I feel slightly disappointed as I watch him disappear into the shelter, but I brush it off as wishing for company.
Any thoughts? Was it great, good, horrible? I'd love to hear what you think so please review!