Reflection 8: Lord of the Flies

 

Lord of the Flies

People never grow up, that's what I've noticed at least. The games that children engage in just become more life influencing, altering, and impacting. Everything we do as adults is magnified my a hundred fold, with results that never seem to be satisfactory. Yet as we grow older, we see ourselves as superiors to those who came after us, who are younger than us. Maybe we know more, but that doesn't mean we have the right to treat those younger than us as if they know nothing, have nothing to contribute, or let them see how we treat others. We say we have a society that permits all to be equals, but we don't. You can see it in the way children play, and in the Lord of the Flies as the boys set up their own microcosm that reflects our own, our world, our society, and our lives.

This is a mini story based on an excerpt from Lord of the Flies.

Beating, that was all I could hear. The steady pounding of blood in my ears as I run. Nothing else is audible but the rapid pumping of my blood, and the pounding of my heart. My feet slap against the ground, finding footholds within the dense undergrowth. I can see birds take flight, animals scampering away from my rapidly moving form.

"Just a bit further." I pant to myself, visualizing the thicket that lay ahead, a sanctuary. My auburn braid is slowly unraveling as the wind whisks itself through the strands, my green eyes attempt to take in everything around me, looking for the threat, the people, that currently wanted me dead.

Diving into the underbrush, I squirm and crawl under the branches, oblivious to the thorns and branches that scratched my body. My hand is clasped about a stick, a spear in a sense, and with each wriggle I was continuously cursing the weapon that would overall save me from the savages that hunted me.

A shrill scream causes my heart to jump, and my blood to pump faster. I freeze, ears tuned and waiting for another cry that could signify my downfall. A whistle and chirp answers the first cry from afar, a signal I had come to learn meant to circle back, to regroup.

With a sigh of relief, I lean back against the shrubbery, free of my enemies for now. And in the sudden calm that overtook the forest, I can at last breath without fear of being discovered. Who would have thought that my schoolmates, those I had grown up with, would turn on me in an instant as opposed to resolving the problem as we were always taught to in school.

I reflect upon school, the school I attend right now in the year 2056. A time in which simulations were conducted to see how people would react if there was a sudden loss in power, as there had been in several cities. I frown upon this thought, they would simulate my death to me and those around with the simulation just to get data. My fatigued mind though seems to find justice in this, for data aided science, and science shaped our world.

I am jarred from my thoughts as a strange crackling noise alights upon my ears. My nostrils flare at the scent of woodsmoke, and my eyes widen as a spark floats past my nose. I glance about, fearful of what I would discover, yet needing to know all the same.

It is the beginning of a fire. There is no doubt, thick smoke twists through the shrubbery, finding my haven, and infiltrating my nose with a suffocating force. I begin a frantic crawl out of the thicket, fearful of the demon that came after the monster. Fire.

Erupting from the burning verdure, I sprint away from the only section I had known was safe, that the savages couldn't get to me in. Now I am being hunted, I am the deer that we had preyed upon so many times for food. This was not about obtaining food anymore though, it was a game. A game I am done playing.

"There! It's her!" A voice cries, alerting others of my flight. My strides lengthen as I try to outrace the lone hunter and find a new shelter, but to no avail. I slow my pace, coughs rattling my lungs and making my body convulse. The savage behind me, a peer previously known to me as Randal, approaches, spear held high. His red hair no longer glistens in the light, rather it is laced with grime, and intricate mud patterns adorn his face. I turn to face him, lifting the spear I have clung to so desperately throughout the past few days.

I stand with my knees bent, and legs apart, a ready stance for any attack that may come. "Afternoon Randal." I say, attempting to be calm, but my oxygen-deprived voice states otherwise. He snarls, gazing at me with an animalistic hatred and confusion. He raises his spear as well, shoulder going back further as he prepares to throw.

"Randal..." I start, but don't continue. With a sigh I know what is to happen, I can picture it all in my mind. My arm moves without my brain's consent. The spear previously cemented to my left hand is sailing through the air and into Randal's thigh.

"LEORA!!" His curdling scream fractures the calculated calm I have adopted within the past several minutes. "Oh god." My voice comes out in a trembling whisper. The spear protrudes from his skin like an ugly flag. His tanned skin is slowly turning darker as blood gushes from the wound.

"I'm so sorry." I croak, tears already beginning to form in my eyes as I stoop down and take his spear. His eyes widen, not expecting that move. "No.." He whispers, eyes wide, humanity once again in his control. The morals that had fled his mind earlier seemed to have return, but I pay no heed, already scanning the surrounding forestry for any signs of life.

"Leora..." But I'm already gone having heard the voices of several more people coming from my left. Despite the fact that I had just broken my principles, I refused to be caught by the people who had lost their mind within the simulation. These people who had forgotten that we were in a simulation, and not really stranded on an island.

As I run, I can't help but reflect upon a quote by William Golding, one of the only things I could remember from before the island. "Maybe there is a beast, maybe there's only us..." The words fly off my tongue before I can hold them back, and I am scared with this realization.  "No, there must be something..." I murmur to myself, not even understanding what that something may be.

A boom of noise can be heard from behind me, I look over my shoulder, already knowing what it was. It was the voices of anger at seeing a fellow comrade injured by their enemy. All the rage they felt, all of it, is directed at me.

I make my way towards the direction of the mountain, or what I thought was the mountain. After about five minutes of running, I am faced with a wall of smoke and flame. I realize I somehow managed to backtrack, and my route to the mountain is cut off by fire. Pivoting on my heel, I run towards the people I had just run from.

"THERE!" The shout startles me, and I fall. Rising to my feet quickly, I see a group of five people, three boys and two girls, headed my way. They are sprinting fast, not nearly as tired as I. Yet I'm still a good fifty feet ahead. I jog ever so slowly, noticing the group growing, and beginning to fan out. I let them corral me, I can barely feel my feet.

Hooting and chirping noises resound throughout the forest, which had slowly become a beach. We all jogged on white sand now, the group of savages taunting their prey. Speeding up, then slowing down. Throwing spears about the quarry, only for them to fall short. Then it stops, I stop.

"ENOUGH!" I scream with what little voice I have left. "This is it." Everyone freezes in confusion, glancing at me as if I am the insane one. My legs collapse and I kneel on the burning white sand. I gaze out at the immaculate blue ocean.

"End Simulation"

The robotic voices says. But I don't hear, I only gaze out at the ocean as everything else seems to fade from existence. "So beautiful, yet so dangerous."