Hell in Our Paradise

Chapter 3

10th August 1990

I woke to the sound of Captain Benson having a violent coughing fit. I sat up to see Simon comforting the poor man. Simon made eye contact with me and I smiled a sympathetic smile, Simon gladly returned it. I felt bad for the both of them, the Captain was barely even human anymore and Simon wouldn't leave the man alone incase anything happened; he was stuck at his side all day. Standing up I stretched my limbs and yawned, it was pretty early for me to wake up, but the sun was beating down on the island, making it excessively hot. I took my skirt and blazer off, folding them and placing them on the bright, powdered crystal sand. I tied my hair up loosely with my scrunchie that had managed to survive the whole catastrophe. We had built the shelters a few days ago, it was pretty hard but I had to say mine turned out best of all, maybe I was slightly biased though. Everyone had to share as we didn't have enough resources for one each; they were pretty cosy and comfortable for being made out of leaves and twigs. Exiting the makeshift bedroom I had to share with Annabelle, I then jogged over to the others, needing to eat some breakfast.

"Morning sleepy head." Annabelle greeted me.
"Morning Annie." My eyes scanned the boys surrounding me.
"Morning boys." I smiled. through my words.
"Good morning Lay." Ralph grinned at me.
"Morning Layla." Roger muttered, a slight smile rested on his lips.
"Hey Lay." Maurice chimed in. The rest of the boys muttered their morning to me as I sat down.
"Good morning dear." the hushed breath was hot on my ear, it surprised me but I didn't flinch; I was used to being shocked at this point.
"Morning Merridew. You always sneak up on people first thing?" I questioned, slightly laughing as I turned to look at him. A smirk appeared on his soft lips and he chuckled. He handed me 3 bananas and sat himself beside me, digging into his own fruit. His gesture made me smile, and I began to eat my fuel for the morning.

I had made many friends already, Ralph and I were pretty close, we were a hilarious duo. Me and Simon had also grown very close over the past few days, we always had meaningful and deep conversations, I could go to him for anything. Despite him being younger and a lot smaller than me, he made me feel safe, with his words. He was wise, kind and so pure, honestly one of my best friends now. We spent a lot of time watching over Captain Benson, as Si refused to leave him alone, that's just the person he was, always looking out for others. Then there was Roger and Maurice, Maurice was easily the funniest person on the island, after me of course. He could make you laugh in any situation. And if you looked past Roger's scary front, and really got to know him, he was a good laugh too. He was also pretty kind, surprisingly. Although they both liked to bully the littluns, which I very much disagreed with, I loved them more or less. And of course I had become a mother figure, along with Annabelle, to the youngers of the group. I had a soft spot especially for Percy, I couldn't help it he was just too cute.
Oh and I cant forget the twins, I tried to help them with their pranks and mischief as much as I could just so I wouldn't be on the receiving end of them. They often wanted to pick on the littluns but I'd convince them to prank the older boys as I felt protective of my little brothers.

After finishing my breakfast, which of course left me dissatisfied and still hungry, Ralph called another meeting.
"Too many people are off having fun and not doing their jobs! We need to be stricter, have punishments and stuff for the bo- people who aren't doing their bit." Some of the older boys laughed at his seriousness, but I agreed with what he was saying. He carried on with his, slightly dramatic, inspirational speech; half way through a littlun came to me with a sad face. I pouted at his sad look and asked what was wrong, he signalled for me to come down to his level so he could whisper it to me, and I did just that.
"What're you going to do about the snake thing?" He mumbled into my ear. This had caught the attention of Ralph and the other boys who had then turned to face us.
"What's he saying?"
"Something about a snake, he saw it in the trees?" All of the boys glanced around at each other, each one as confused as the next.
"A beastie he says" some of the older boys sniggered at this but many grew slightly fearful, you could see it in there eyes. Jack stepped forward.
"Well if there is a beastie, we'll hunt it, we'll kill it. You're safe don't worry." He cooed. I smiled at the boys kind words, who would've thought deep down Jack Merridew really did have a heart.