Presence of a Ghost
Ralph started to speak, but Jack ignored the mumble and turned his head in disgust. The silent words blew across the cabin of the boat where Ralph, Jack, and Percival slept. The rescue had been too much for Percival too bear, and for the last 2 days all he did was lay in bed and sleep. Jack and Ralph also had not taken the rescue well. Jack knew Ralph was a threat to him getting away a free boy. Ralph was going to tell the truth about Piggy and Simon. Jack could see it in his eyes.
Just then the officer walked in. The boys now knew him as William. In his spare time, he would tell them about his adventures in the Queen’s Royal Navy. Jack could not care less about the stories, and passed his day outside of their cabin, while all the littluns would listen intently to the amazing accounts of battles at sea.
“Lights off, “ yelled a naval officer, his voice echoing throughout the ship as complete darkness absorbed it.
Early morning had arrived.
“Ralph, Jack’s gone!” whispered Percival.
“To where?”
“I don’t know. What should I do?”
“Nothing. Go back to sleep.”
“Okay, Ralph. See you in the morning.”
“See you.”
Ralph, stumbling around the dark cabin. finally reached the door. As he opened the door he heard a faint noise coming from a bunk. “No, No, not the beast.” The low murmur of Percival's dry, croaky voice left the cabin in a sense of shock, as the horrid memories of their previous life on the island flowed back to Ralph. Percival, as always, was having dreams.
As Ralph approached the main deck, he saw the dark silhouette of Jack, in the rising morning sun. Jack ran past Ralph, not noticing the figure that had just appeared from below deck.
“Jack” whispered Ralph.
The silhouetted figure stopped for a moment, then moved towards the rail.
“Jack,” Ralph almost yelled.
But the strong wind suffocated the words that came from Ralph’s mouth. Ralph jumped on the deck and followed Jack to the rail. Jack turned, half stunned for a moment by the sight of Ralph.
“Oh, hi” he said as the wind subsided into a low hum.
“What you doing up so early?” asked Ralph.
“Just getting some fresh air.”
“Hey look, it’s William!” said Jack
Ralph turned too late to realize his mistake. As he turned back, he no longer saw Jack, just the chipping white paint of the rail, and the long expanse of ocean that lay ahead. “Jack!” yelled Ralph, but the wind stole his words, and the loud splash of Jack’s body hitting the water.
For the next few days it was Ralph’s turn to stay in bed all day. William had made a point of staying with Ralph as much as possible. After William had left, Percival stayed and tried to comfort Ralph.
“It's okay, Ralph”
“What's okay, Percival?”
“Never mind”
“No, tell me!” Ralph's voice had escalated to one of annoyance and anger.
“Nothing!”
“You'd better tell me or I'll bash you in!”
“You sound just like Jack!”
“What, I will kill you!” Ralph muttered shortly before he left the room.
William, the Naval officer, hearing the fight, reached the door as Ralph was leaving.
“What’s wrong?”
“Percival is just upset about Jack,” replied Ralph
“Oh, well, we all are”
“ Yes, aren’t we”
With that Ralph turned his back and strode away from the naval officer.
Not only Ralph, but everyone on the ship was shaken from Jacks death. They had not been able to retrieve Jack’s body, and therefore had continued on to their destination. The usual sounds of the boys’ games and laughter had not been heard for a few days and everyone seemed to be haunted by the thought of what had happened. Only, the survivors of the island felt the worst. They felt bad about what happened to Piggy and Simon, but were happy that the secret of their deaths died with Jack.
“Ralph!” called William. He had caught up to Ralph who was walking on the main deck.
“What’s wrong, I noticed you have taken Jack’s death very seriously”
“I’m fine, nothing is wrong”
“Are you sure?”
“Yah. Thanks though”
“Okay, see you later”
William went behind a machine gun on deck, where a fellow officer stood.
“Hey Richard” he said
“Yah”
“I want you to keep an eye on Ralph”
“Okay, which one is he?”
“That one over there, see him”
“Yah, I’ll keep an eye on him”
“Thanks, I’m worried about him”
Richard walked over to Ralph trying to start a conversation.
“Hey!” said Richard
“Oh, Hi” Ralph turned facing Richard. Suddenly Ralph raised his hand and pointed.
Hey look, it’s Jack!” said Ralph
Richard turned too late to realize his mistake. As he turned back, he no longer saw Ralph, just the chipping white paint of the rail, and the long expanse of ocean that lay ahead, for miles and miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment