Journal 1: The Gathering of the Conch

I woke up to the noise of a bird chirping and a sharp pain in my back. My crusty eyes opened slowly as I shivered, realizing the frigid breath blowing against my soggy body. There was a grating of tall, massive trees, a salty ocean by my feet, and a jumble of thoughts swimming through my mind. Wait...where am I.....why am I here? What happened? The last thing I remember was the clamor of screams and cries from boys young and old, all with a pallor look to their faces. For some reason, I couldn't remember why and what we were doing. Where ever it was, I sure didn't like it. I finally got up from my uncomfortable pose that felt like arrows edging into my back. I humbled up, noticing that i was laying upon a bed of sharp pointy rocks jetting up from the grainy sand. Then, I walked a few steps, beginning to speculate about being stranded on what looked like a peninsula or island of some sort. I began to quiver by the thought of being stranded on an island... What if I was the only on, left on this island or whatever it was. Am I the only one? I can't be... there were more people in the vision I had of frightened boys... I began to walk toward the trees, afraid to venture deep enough into them, worrying if some wild animal would eat me. I walked into the mysterious jungle anyways... I'm stranded, it's not like I'm going to live any longer.... I walked deeper and deeper into the darkening forest. I saw a beautiful lagoon, full of life and beauty with tropical birds singing and dancing into the water. I tried to walk away from it but my eyes just couldn't leave the beauty of the fresh, natural scenery that lay before me. I walked vainly to a smooth rock, trying not to upset the birds. Unlike the ones in the park in London, these actually have beauty and a desirable appeal to them but I don't seem to know quite what that is. I slumped and put my head into my clammy hands as the sun started to set...

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and my heart started to thump like a fast tempo drum, banging against the inside of my chest. There was an unmistakable strident noise of what sounded like a trumpet or horn or something. I arose my head from my hands, and looked up at the now rising sun. I stood up with out thinking, flustering the joyful birds. I started to run..... I had no idea where I was going but I just knew I had to run. I heard the trumpet noise again, this time more loud. It seemed closer now. Each step I took, it got louder and louder until I hear the faint voices of boys laughing. I clambered through the vines and what seemed like millions of trees. I could hardly wait to see another living soul. I smiled to myself at the thought of it. I took another leap forward and both pairs of eyes where on me. They grinned and I grinned at them as well with a sense of relief pouring on top of me.
"Hello, I'm Ralph," said the decorous boy holding a shell that gave a sincere smile.
"Hi...Ralph...." I looked over towards him and then toward the bigger boy. I walked over to them and shook their hands, "Do you mind... if I uh... have some of those fruits? I'm famished."
"Sure, go ahead. Help yourself," replied the boy with the conch. I couldn't wait to devour the fresh fruit that the boys gathered. I took the strange red fruit that was foreign to me. I put the fruit up to my chapped lips and bit a juicy bite that was full of rich flavor. I closed my eyes and was loving every second of this. Then, I heard the rustle of trees and bushes moving. I opened my eyes and saw a large crowd of boys, all dressed with dignity. I watched them fill out one by one, out of the forest. Then the "leader" of the group of boys spoke. For some reason, I couldn't comprehend what Ralph and the leader spoke, instead, I just looked off out at the horizon. By the sounds of their voices, it sounded like an indignation of boys. They started to interpose each other until everything went silent. Then everyone started laughing. I didn't know why but I didn't want to be alone so I started to. Something about someone named Piggy...