Ralph ran as fast as he could, but he knew his strength was running out. The ground seemed to sink under his feet. His legs seemed getting weaker and softer as he ran, as if they could no longer bear his weight. His heart, racing faster than he was, was not able to supply his body with sufficient blood, nor were his nostrils or mouth able to take in enough air into his lungs. His throat was hurt from the vigorous inhaling and exhaling and that it tasted like blood. He heard things, but he wasn’t sure whether it was his heartbeat or the footsteps of his chasers. He didn’t dare not to stop, because he was afraid that if he stopped for a second to rest, his deadly chasers or the fire would catch up to him, yet his feet were failing him. In other words, he felt death.
He ran into the deepest part of the forest, hoping that the dampness of the trees would keep the fire out for a while. The trees did seem to slow down the fire. Ralph stopped by a tree, gasped for breath and stole a quick look at his temporary “safety house”.
If I wasn’t on the run, I might like this place. Ralph thought to himself. Indeed, if it were all quiet, this place would seem to be safe and peaceful. But the flickering sound of the flames reminded Ralph again of his current danger. The flames were drawing near, so he turned around and started fleeing again.
For the next five minutes, Ralph didn’t know how he managed to get through the deep forest and still out run the fire and his chasers. He tripped over the roots, rocks and ivies, he knew his knees were bleeding from the constant falling, his bare body and face bleeding from the cuts of branches as he ran. Right now, running was the lone meaning of his life.
Suddenly the forest cleared away, a small plot of bare ground suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Ralph screamed at the sight.
The air was the stomach-sickening smell of decay. In the middle of the bare ground stood a stick. On top of the stick was a decaying pig head. The flies must had eaten away most of it since it was almost a skull. Ralph felt like throwing up, but he couldn’t help but stare at the pig head. The pig head stared back, and its mouth opened to a sarcastic grin. As if its empty stare and the puzzling grin were the witch’s charm to freeze the prey, Ralph felt as if he was nailed to the ground and couldn’t move a muscle. He just realized that he was covered with sweat, but he didn’t know if it was from the running or it was the cold sweat from fear.
The smile of the Lord of the Flies grew larger.
“What are you laughing at?” Ralph finally managed to speak.
“You.” The voice was hollow, just like the stare.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. You think you can get away by running, don’t you?”
Ralph just stared.
“This is an island. It you keep running you will just run into the sea.”
“......”
“You really think that you can run away from them? You think that you can live as long as you can outrun them, don’t you? Ha, ha.” The Lord of the Flies let out a short laugh. “You silly child.”
Ralph remained silent.
“You’re just like him.”
“Who?”
“That child with coarse hair.”
“Simon.....”
“Yes. You’re just like him. You believe in order. You think you can hide from it, the savagery, or even stop it. Look what happened to him.”
“Stop......” Ralph whispered.
“And look what is happening to you now. Do you have any place to hide?”
“Stop......”
“Your hiding place just got burned down, didn’t it? You silly child. You are going to die.”
“Stop!”
“This is not your civilized world. Here laws and orders that are made by man don’t work! Here only natural laws work, and natural laws said only the strong live, and the weak die!”
“Stop!” Ralph screamed.
“You are weaker than they are. This is a world where the strong eats the weak! Strong live, weak die! You must die, they are going to kill you......”
“Enough, STOP!” Ralph suddenly broke the spell, thrusting forward to strike the pig head. The head fell to the ground and bounced. The jaw and the skull broke up and stopped several feet apart from each other. Ralph stood right in between them. The skull and the jaw seemed as it would close at anytime and swallow him.
He felt helpless and wanted to cry.
He heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around, he saw Roger’s stick was right in his face. He ducked the deadly blow. But Roger didn’t give up; he kept attacking, each blow was merciless.
For a split second, Ralph made eye contact with Roger, but what was in Roger’s eyes was inhumane.
I am going to die! The thought flashed in Ralph’s mind and he froze in horror. It was actually a small delay in action, but it was long enough for Roger’s stick to reach his shoulder and send him to ground. He rolled, crawled on the ground to dodge and block the strike, but he was always one step late. Each times the stick made contact with his body, he screamed as loudly as he could. Out the corner of his eyes he saw several other hunters coming up with their sticks. He knew his end had come. He was about to give up.
Help! He screamed in his heart as he endured the blows and rolled on the ground. Help, somebody! Anybody!
“No one is going to help you now,” another voice said in his mind. “You must be stronger than they are to live.”
“This is a world where the strong eats the weak.” The voice of the Lord of the Flies echoed in his mind. He realized he was clutching on to the stick that the pig head was attached to.
A stick sharpened on both ends.
“The strong live, the weak die!”
“DIE!!!” Ralph let out a hysterical scream, plucked out the stick and struck back.
Blood spurted on his face, all his fear and confusion had melted away at the sight of blood.
The rest of the hunters stared at Ralph’s bloodstained face with fear as if he was a monster. But he didn’t seem to care. With a sneer, he licked some blood from his lips and spoke in a hollow voice: “You are all going to die, because I am stronger than all of you.” Then he charged at them. The air on the island was filled with smell of blood and burning flesh. The space was filled with the screams of those who were about to die. It was dreadful and pitiful enough to scare away the devil.
Black clouds slowly covered the sky. A storm had put out the fire. The pig head that used to rest on the bare ground was washed into the deep forest. It would never be found again. On top of the Castle rock, stood a boy with a stick sharpened on both ends in his hand. He was covered in red. He tilted his head toward the sky, letting the rain wash away the blood from his face and body, his own and the blood of the others. He wore a puzzling grin on his face, but the water on his face wasn’t just rain.
“It was just us all along......”
Home
Julia's blabber time:
Yikes! Don't ask me how did I get this crazy idea in my head. This is the first and only thing came into my mind when the English teacher asked to write a new ending. Then I talked to my friend about it, he just rolled his eyes and said:"Geez, you watched too much RK! But this might work." So I went on and wrote it down. The outcome was the same as I expected. I got penalized terribly for the grammar, but praised for the idea. Although I did get several shot of concern. I hope that he didn't regard me as the hotokiri. Really, I am allied with Kenshin.
Well, 'nough said. To those who don't know about LOTF(lord of the flies) or RK(Rurouni Kenshin). LOTF is a Nobel Prize winner novel about how a bunch of boys changed from civilized citizens to savages. It was the word savage that had inspired me (Savage-nature-natural law). It is the kind of novel that I would never read if it wasn't a textbook.RK is my favourite manga series and anime. It's about how and why a ruthless assassin turned into a kind wanderer. This is on my "must-read" list. Fusing these two together? Ironic, isn't it?