"Lord of the Flies" One-shots

Ralph

A/N: Ralph and the cottage with the ponies. Thanks to Dohn_Jeacon for the suggestion! Enjoy!

(P.S.: I'm making Ralph about 4 or 5 years old in this one-shot because the book said that after this house Ralph had been sent off to school and considering the youngest boys on the plane in the book were aged around 6 years old, I would guess that children start school around 5 or 6 years old. So, yeah).

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The cottage was dark, empty, silent. It should have been. It was late at night and everyone who lived in the cottage was asleep.

Everyone...except the small boy who was softly tip-toeing into the kitchen.

Ralph knew that he should be asleep -- he had been told multiple times not to stay up too late -- but after tossing and turning for several minutes, he had decided to sneak out of bed. He had somehow successfully sneaked into the kitchen undetected, and now he continued his silent tread, moving to the counter running along one of the kitchen's walls.

On top of the counter was a jar that he knew contained cubes of sugar. He carefully removed the jar's lid, quietly setting it down on the counter top. He took out two sugar cubes and held them in his hand as he left the kitchen, making his way to the back door.

Ralph opened the door as quietly as he could, trying his best not to wake his parents and get caught. This wasn't the first time he had sneaked out at night, and he had been caught before. It hadn't been a fun experience. He was more careful in his future endeavors to not get caught. And so as he stepped into the dark outdoors, he slowly and quietly closed the door behind him.

As he walked to the garden, he felt the soft grass under his bare feet. The cool night air ruffled his curly blond hair, and aside from the sound of the rustling trees, everything was silent. Although the darkness surrounded him, he was not afraid. He could see the ponies grazing just beyond the garden wall. Closest to the wall was a pony that was entirely white. It's coat was white, and it had a white, flowing mane and a white tail. He loved the pony because it let him feed it and sometimes even pet it.

Ralph reached the garden and stepped carefully around flowers and other plants, making sure that he didn't step on any of them. When he reached the garden wall, the white pony was watching him. He reached out a hand to pet it, and it let him, staying still as he ran his small fingers up and down it's muzzle.

"I have a treat for you," Ralph said quietly, opening up his other hand, where the two sugar cubes rested on his palm. The pony leaned its head down to Ralph's outstretched hand, and Ralph giggled as it licked the sugar cubes off of it.

"I like you," Ralph said. "We're going to be friends, okay?"

The pony didn't respond, but in his mind Ralph knew that it agreed with him. When it had finished eating the sugar cubes, the pony lowered its head and sniffed Ralph's clothes, searching for more food.

"I don't have any more!" Ralph exclaimed, giggling. The pony nudged him and he lost his balance, letting out a short scream as he fell backwards onto the dirt.

"That wasn't nice!" he exclaimed, quickly getting back onto his feet. He made a move to approach the pony again, but already it was turning to leave.

"Wait!" he called after it, running to the garden wall. As he watched the pony walk away, he yelled, "Come back! You're my friend! Why are you going away?"

The pony did not look back at him, and instead it continued walking. Ralph knew it was unwise to try to climb over the garden wall, so all he could do was watch as his new friend left him, fading further and further into the distance.

"I thought we were friends," Ralph whimpered. Tears filled his eyes as he continued to watch the pony. When he could no longer see it through the darkness, he turned around and began slowly and solemnly walking back to the cottage.

Ralph opened the door slowly and quietly, as he had before, but when he entered the house, he saw his mother standing a few feet away, her arms crossed, wearing a stern look on her face. Ralph closed the door behind him, then stood still, looking down at the floor. He had been caught. Again.

"Ralph."

When he heard his mother's voice he looked up at her.

"I saw you outside," she continued. She walked over to him and knelt down in front of him.

"What have I said about going outside at night?" she asked. Ralph looked down again and replied in a soft voice,

"I'm not supposed to."

"Nighttime is for sleeping," his mother said. "You should have been in bed, but you weren't, were you?"

"No," Ralph replied.

"But you're going to go to sleep now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Ralph's mother stood up, then she leaned down and lifted Ralph up and held him. He rested his head on her shoulder as she began making her way to his bedroom, and by the time they got there, he was getting tired. His mother lowered him down onto his bed and he yawned, rubbing his eyes. As he laid down, his mother pulled a blanket over his body, then she knelt down in front of the bed.

"I don't want you to keep sneaking out of bed at night," she said. "You need to be asleep. And I especially don't want you to go outside at night. It might not be safe."

"Okay Mummy," Ralph replied. His mother smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead, then whispered,

"Goodnight, darling."

"Goodnight," Ralph whispered back. His mother stood up, Ralph watched her as she left the room, turning off the light as she did.

When he fell asleep that night, he dreamed of the pony. He dreamed that it came back. He dreamed that he was able to feed it again. He dreamed that Mummy and Daddy let him keep it.

It was the best dream he ever had.

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A/N: I hope you liked this one-shot! I'm sorry it took so long. More one-shots coming soon. And if you still want to make a suggestion you can, but you don't have to. :)