JACK THE KING (Lord of the Flies reimagined)

Part 1- RALPH, PIGGY, A GIRL, AND A CONCH

The teenage boy Ralph, who had only recently turned 13,  walked along the sandy beach, the hot sun beating down on him. He was so hot that he had to tear his shirt off, revealing a strong, muscular body that he was extremely proud of. Hours of hard work in the gym had achieved this!

Ralph was still feeling a little bit confused and dazed, trying to get his head around what had just happened. One minute he was sitting reading his book ''Jake's Punishment'' by Riley Jones the next the plane was crashing, and all the kids who were on board, mostly boys but a few girls too. had been screaming in terror. Some had knelt down and prayed, others just screamed and tried to protect themselves. 

It was 2023, the world was suffering from deadly viruses, natural disasters were abundant, drought and famine, and world war 3 had broken out. It started when Russia invaded Ukraine and next China invaded Taiwan and Great Britain invaded the Republic of Ireland! Poland invaded Romania. Then India invaded Pakistan. Then Brazil invaded Venezuela and that was it, the world went crazy! All the kids on board had been flying to New Zealand to escape world war 3 because Australia and New Zealand somehow had escaped the war.

Ralph was hot, tired, and sweating like crazy. He found some shade under the palm trees and sat down to rest. He was thirsty and needed a drink, he realized he would need to search for freshwater as seawater was no good for drinking.  He wondered about the other kids on board, had any of them survived, or was he the sole survivor? Suddenly a cold shiver of panic began to overcome Ralph. What if he was all alone here? Would he be found? Were there people nearby?

Then he was startled by a voice calling out to him

''Hey you, boy. Do you hear me? I was shouting out to you for ages and you didn't reply''

Ralph looked to see where the voice was coming from, it was one of the two girls he had seen on the plane, the only two girls on a plane full of boys. She was pretty with long blonde hair and looked about the same age as him.

She arrived, panting and out of breath, alongside him and sat down beside him.

''Didn't you hear me?'' she scolded him ''I was calling to you for ages''

Ralph shrugged ''I'm sorry, I was in a world of my own, trying to figure out where the hell we might be and the shock of it all''

''Do you know if anyone else survived?'' the girl said ''my sister Jenny was sitting with me on the plane but when we crashed we were separated and I couldn't find her''

Ralph shook his head ''I have no idea if anyone else survived'' he said sadly ''maybe we're the only two''

''Well the poor pilot died'' the girl said with sorrow

''How do you know?''

''I saw him drowning, he cried out saying he couldn't swim. I tried to help him but what could I do? A young girl like me can't pull a grown man out of the sea, and he was a large man at that. I think I heard some other kids screaming and drowning but I was too focused on swimming to shore to take much notice'' 

''I really need a drink'' Ralph said suddenly, keen to change the subject, death always freaked him out ''let's go and see if we can find freshwater''

''Yes I agree'' the girl said     

They got up and started walking

''What is your name anyway?'' Ralph asked the girl

''I'm Dani, short for Danielle'' the girl replied ''I never liked being called Danielle, I prefer Dani''

Ralph noticed that although Dani was feminine in many ways she also had some masculine qualities, a little bit tomboyish

''Well I'm Ralph'' he told her ''I wish I could say I'm pleased to meet you but...well... I am pleased to meet you but I'm not too thrilled about the circumstances. I wish we were meeting in a different way''

''Yes, of course, I feel the same way. But, Ralph, I am convinced that we can figure all this out and solve everything. First, we should find water and then try to find the others, I must try to find my sister. We can't be the only survivors''    

Ralph had already made up his mind that he liked Dani, she was cool. Dani liked Ralph too but she wouldn't show it much yet

Ralph began to walk in the sea, the water was warm and tiny fish swam around and nibbled his toes, it felt nice

''I wonder if the sea here is safe to swim in?'' he said ''I mean I hope there are no deadly creatures here, like sharks or piranha''

Then Ralph spotted something interesting, a large shell in the water

''Hey, Dani, look at this!'' he cried and picked it up ''What a beautiful shell it is!''

''Oh it's called a conch'' Dani said ''I've seen one before, you can blow into it and it makes a sound like a horn''

''Really?'' Ralph was excited ''Maybe we can blow into it and see if any of the others hear it, we may be able to draw their attention and gather everyone together''

''Yes, good idea. Ralph, I like a boy who can use his brain'' Dani said with a smile 

''Shall I blow into it or do you want to?'' Ralph asked Dani

''You found it and it was your idea, I think you should blow into it''

''Ok I will'' and Ralph took a deep breath and blew into the shell making a loud sound

They waited for anyone to come. After a while, a very fat boy wearing glasses came running out of the trees. It was apparent that the boy had wasted no time getting stuck into whatever food he could lay his hands on, he came out clutching handfuls of fruit, nuts, mushrooms, and god only knew what else  

''I heard the horn!'' he declared ''Are you calling a meeting? Did anyone else survive? Oh my, Auntie will be awfully worried about me you know!''

''We don't know if anyone else survived yet'' Ralph said ''we are calling a meeting to find out''

''Are you hungry?'' the fat boy asked them ''I have plenty of food here if you want any''

''Are you completely sure everything is safe to eat?'' Dani asked ''we do not want to be poisoned''

''Oh yes believe me I know. My Auntie took me camping in the forest and taught me everything about what is safe to eat and what isn't'' the fat boy said with pride

Ralph took a break from blowing the conch to take some of the boy's food. Dani was still unsure but took some too

''I hope some of the others answer the call soon'' Ralph said ''It would be awful if everyone else was dead and only us three survived''

''Well I just hope that no one calls me by my nickname'' the fat boy said with concern while stuffing more fruit in his mouth ''that would be awful''

Ralph and Dani were curious

''What is your nickname?'' they asked

The boy went bright red in the face and bowed his head ''Well I don't know if I should say or not'' he said shyly

''Oh go on please please, we are very curious''

''Well if I tell you you must promise not to laugh''

''Ok we promise, go on tell us''

''Ok well, my nickname is Piggy...well because I am fat you know?''

Ralph and Dani broke their promise and started laughing

Now poor Piggy was indignant ''Hey you promised not to laugh!'' he said angrily

''Oh Piggy I'm sorry but it is funny'' Dani said

''It surely is not funny, I was bullied at school every day, they taunted me with names like Piggy and fatty, I cried every day and my Auntie came to the school and threatened them, she said ''if you don't  put a stop to it I will sue the ass of the lot of you'' and she meant it too!''    

''Well it's time to blow the conch again'' Ralph said and started to blow it again