Chapter 13: Not Again!
Ralph was getting used to the rock of the boat. He had his crew cut again, bathed, and nails clipped, but he still didn’t feel completely civilized. He and the other boys had been on the boat for only two days. They were split into two groups, each group getting one cabin. Although they were packed in tightly, Ralph and the other boys loved the real beds instead of the dry crinkling leaves.
Ralph was in a group with Samneric, Maurice, Robert, Wilfred, Stanley, and to his disappointment, Jack. Jack was the only downside of their journey back to England. He had chilled out a little bit after burning down the island almost killing Ralph. His hunters, which were his choir again, still respected him, but respected Ralph even more. All the boys except Jack looked up to Ralph, even those in the other group. Ralph felt like he had control of the group, and he was happy about it.
Over the last two days they had slept, ate, and bathed so that they were almost back to their full health, and close to their original appearance. But they still had their scars from the jungle, and their skin was the darkest thing on the vessel. The sailors were nice to them, by not forcing them to do any of the work yet, and they let them take walks and wander around the ship. Once, the captain let them into his quarters, just so they could have a larger experience of life on a ship. In return, the boys did what the officers told them to do such as getting off the deck, or quieting down when walking around.
Ralph and Samneric were taking a walk on the deck to see the ocean. Suddenly, the ship hit a large rock protruding from the sea. With their speed, the impact was larger than a car running into a bus.
“What was that?” asked Ralph
“I don’t know,” replied the twins at the same time.
A flashing red light appeared and there was a siren wailing throughout the ship. Sailors ran around the ship, obeying orders from the megaphones, placed near the ceiling, around the boat.
“Sounds like they want us back in our cabins Ralph,” said Sam
“I agree,” said Eric
The three of them hurried to the stairs and ran back to their cabin. It was even busier in the narrow corridors of the ship. In front to them, there was a sailor who had tripped over the bump that Ralph couldn’t figure out was there. The sailor was struggling to get up and not get run over by others passing by, at the same time. It didn’t help that one of the higher ranking officers was yelling at him to get up. Ralph and Samneric tried to rush past the complications without getting in the way, but they were pushed up against the wall. They finally got back to their cabin. All the boys watched them stagger through the opening to the room, and asking questions at the same time. They were all there except for Jack.
“Where’s Jack?” asked Maurice. “We thought he was with you.”
“Who cares,” replied Ralph. But Ralph didn’t include his next statement which was ‘Good riddance.’
At that moment, Jack stumbled through the door, looking like he was trampled by a herd of elephants. His hair was a mess and he fell panting into his cot.
“Oh, there you are Jack,” said Maurice. “We were wondering if you had to go to some other spot on the boat, due to the emergency.”
“Nope. I was taking a walk down toward the galley to see if I could get a hint at what was for dinner. Then I heard the alarm, and an officer told me to come back here. I had to fight against the direction of the rushing sailors, and tripped over one the concrete bumps. By the way, does anybody know why those are there in the first place?”
“They’re so that water stays contained in one area if the boat was sinking, I think,” said Wilfred.
They were silent as another announcement over the speakers addressed everyone on the boat. It was something that chilled their bones, and something that no sailor ever wanted to hear.
“Did the captain say ‘Abandon ship,’” asked Robert.
“That’s what I heard,” replied Ralph.
They were silent again as the message repeated itself. They all burst out of the cabin and rushed to the deck as they were instructed to do on the first day. Sailors were jumping over board; swimming to land that was in eyesight. Officers were loading supplies into rowboats, and dropping them down into the water.
“We must have hit some rock that tore apart the hull,” remarked Wilfred, once again showing his boating knowledge.
“Well I guess we should follow along,” said Ralph.
He ran to the nearest rowboat that was about to go down, the others following him. He asked the officer commanding the boat if they could all fit in that boat. The officer indicated that they could get into the next one, as the siren wailed once again. It was another ten minutes until Ralph, Samneric, Robert, Wilfred, Jack, Maurice, and Stanley were in the boat and lowered down into the water. Their communication skills lacking, they didn’t manage to get very far with their oars out of sync. Once they got down the rhythm, the eight of them didn’t make that bad of a team. By following the direction of the swimmers and boaters, they knew where to go. Some of the sailors they passed were almost drowning, too exhausted to go much farther. Ralph wanted to pick some of them up, but Jack pointed out that the rowboat was already as crammed as it was.
They finally reached the small island, with only about thirty of the other sailors there. Most of the supplies made it, but not many of the swimmers did. There were only two more supply boats that made it, and then there were no more. The captain of the ship was already there, and started to give a speech that he was in charge, and they would figure out a way to get off the island. The boys went into a corner. The boys from the other cabin died in the emergency.
“It seems like we’re about to repeat our last three months,” said Ralph.
“I suppose so,” replied Jack
“Oh no!” yelled Samneric in unison. “Not again!”
This time now with more experience, the boys knew what to do. But this time it would also be a different experience. There were now grownups on the island, and to the boys, grownups new how to maintain peace and order, and they just knew things that kids didn’t. This pleased all the boys except for Ralph and Jack, who were still fighting for power. Also with the grownups, came their hand guns, which could be used in more than one way. The captain was now talking about him as the leader, and then multiple sub divisions where there would be another leader of a group that reported to him.
The boys were assigned a group with only the naval officer who had gone onto the island. This pleased Ralph because he knew that the officer didn’t like Jack. Along with the officer in Ralph’s favor, Ralph also thought that he would be able to persuade the officer, into letting him being leader of the boys. The naval officer walked over to the boys where they were now talking among themselves.
“Hey guys. You can call me Jerry for that is my name. The captain has assigned me as your group leader, so I expect all of you to obey orders from me. And I hope you remember that it was me who came to rescue you. If you have any problems, you can talk to me.” The officer finished his speech, and satisfied, walked back over to where the captain was having a meeting with the other leaders. He gave a progress report about everything being well, and the captain said that they had managed to find a radio in one of the supply boats.
“There are a few tasks that shall be assigned on this island,” the captain started to say.
“The first is that we want to be rescued. One group will be in charge of the radio so that we can try and send and receive messages. Another group will be in charge of keeping a signal fire going. And another will be in charge of hunting pig if there are any like the boys said, or gathering food. Is that understood?”
The officers nodded their head in understanding. They reported back to their teams, and things were done around the island. Unlike the boys’ experience, a signal fire was kept, there was order, and nobody got killed. Everything was fine except for the few sailors who had gotten food poisoning and died. This remained for many months.
Jack was not pleased that he was not leader, but was happy that he didn’t have to take care of a tribe. He was also happy that he didn’t have to do as much as he had when they were on their first island, but stilled begged if he could hunt. The captain told him no, and that if he was given a gun to shoot a pig, he would also create other havoc around the island.
The radio started working, and they were eventually found by another ship in the British fleet. After many months of the boys ordeal, they were taken back to see their families. The news about them carried about for almost a year, and then they were forgotten.
Ralph was getting used to the rock of the boat. He had his crew cut again, bathed, and nails clipped, but he still didn’t feel completely civilized. He and the other boys had been on the boat for only two days. They were split into two groups, each group getting one cabin. Although they were packed in tightly, Ralph and the other boys loved the real beds instead of the dry crinkling leaves.
Ralph was in a group with Samneric, Maurice, Robert, Wilfred, Stanley, and to his disappointment, Jack. Jack was the only downside of their journey back to England. He had chilled out a little bit after burning down the island almost killing Ralph. His hunters, which were his choir again, still respected him, but respected Ralph even more. All the boys except Jack looked up to Ralph, even those in the other group. Ralph felt like he had control of the group, and he was happy about it.
Over the last two days they had slept, ate, and bathed so that they were almost back to their full health, and close to their original appearance. But they still had their scars from the jungle, and their skin was the darkest thing on the vessel. The sailors were nice to them, by not forcing them to do any of the work yet, and they let them take walks and wander around the ship. Once, the captain let them into his quarters, just so they could have a larger experience of life on a ship. In return, the boys did what the officers told them to do such as getting off the deck, or quieting down when walking around.
Ralph and Samneric were taking a walk on the deck to see the ocean. Suddenly, the ship hit a large rock protruding from the sea. With their speed, the impact was larger than a car running into a bus.
“What was that?” asked Ralph
“I don’t know,” replied the twins at the same time.
A flashing red light appeared and there was a siren wailing throughout the ship. Sailors ran around the ship, obeying orders from the megaphones, placed near the ceiling, around the boat.
“Sounds like they want us back in our cabins Ralph,” said Sam
“I agree,” said Eric
The three of them hurried to the stairs and ran back to their cabin. It was even busier in the narrow corridors of the ship. In front to them, there was a sailor who had tripped over the bump that Ralph couldn’t figure out was there. The sailor was struggling to get up and not get run over by others passing by, at the same time. It didn’t help that one of the higher ranking officers was yelling at him to get up. Ralph and Samneric tried to rush past the complications without getting in the way, but they were pushed up against the wall. They finally got back to their cabin. All the boys watched them stagger through the opening to the room, and asking questions at the same time. They were all there except for Jack.
“Where’s Jack?” asked Maurice. “We thought he was with you.”
“Who cares,” replied Ralph. But Ralph didn’t include his next statement which was ‘Good riddance.’
At that moment, Jack stumbled through the door, looking like he was trampled by a herd of elephants. His hair was a mess and he fell panting into his cot.
“Oh, there you are Jack,” said Maurice. “We were wondering if you had to go to some other spot on the boat, due to the emergency.”
“Nope. I was taking a walk down toward the galley to see if I could get a hint at what was for dinner. Then I heard the alarm, and an officer told me to come back here. I had to fight against the direction of the rushing sailors, and tripped over one the concrete bumps. By the way, does anybody know why those are there in the first place?”
“They’re so that water stays contained in one area if the boat was sinking, I think,” said Wilfred.
They were silent as another announcement over the speakers addressed everyone on the boat. It was something that chilled their bones, and something that no sailor ever wanted to hear.
“Did the captain say ‘Abandon ship,’” asked Robert.
“That’s what I heard,” replied Ralph.
They were silent again as the message repeated itself. They all burst out of the cabin and rushed to the deck as they were instructed to do on the first day. Sailors were jumping over board; swimming to land that was in eyesight. Officers were loading supplies into rowboats, and dropping them down into the water.
“We must have hit some rock that tore apart the hull,” remarked Wilfred, once again showing his boating knowledge.
“Well I guess we should follow along,” said Ralph.
He ran to the nearest rowboat that was about to go down, the others following him. He asked the officer commanding the boat if they could all fit in that boat. The officer indicated that they could get into the next one, as the siren wailed once again. It was another ten minutes until Ralph, Samneric, Robert, Wilfred, Jack, Maurice, and Stanley were in the boat and lowered down into the water. Their communication skills lacking, they didn’t manage to get very far with their oars out of sync. Once they got down the rhythm, the eight of them didn’t make that bad of a team. By following the direction of the swimmers and boaters, they knew where to go. Some of the sailors they passed were almost drowning, too exhausted to go much farther. Ralph wanted to pick some of them up, but Jack pointed out that the rowboat was already as crammed as it was.
They finally reached the small island, with only about thirty of the other sailors there. Most of the supplies made it, but not many of the swimmers did. There were only two more supply boats that made it, and then there were no more. The captain of the ship was already there, and started to give a speech that he was in charge, and they would figure out a way to get off the island. The boys went into a corner. The boys from the other cabin died in the emergency.
“It seems like we’re about to repeat our last three months,” said Ralph.
“I suppose so,” replied Jack
“Oh no!” yelled Samneric in unison. “Not again!”
This time now with more experience, the boys knew what to do. But this time it would also be a different experience. There were now grownups on the island, and to the boys, grownups new how to maintain peace and order, and they just knew things that kids didn’t. This pleased all the boys except for Ralph and Jack, who were still fighting for power. Also with the grownups, came their hand guns, which could be used in more than one way. The captain was now talking about him as the leader, and then multiple sub divisions where there would be another leader of a group that reported to him.
The boys were assigned a group with only the naval officer who had gone onto the island. This pleased Ralph because he knew that the officer didn’t like Jack. Along with the officer in Ralph’s favor, Ralph also thought that he would be able to persuade the officer, into letting him being leader of the boys. The naval officer walked over to the boys where they were now talking among themselves.
“Hey guys. You can call me Jerry for that is my name. The captain has assigned me as your group leader, so I expect all of you to obey orders from me. And I hope you remember that it was me who came to rescue you. If you have any problems, you can talk to me.” The officer finished his speech, and satisfied, walked back over to where the captain was having a meeting with the other leaders. He gave a progress report about everything being well, and the captain said that they had managed to find a radio in one of the supply boats.
“There are a few tasks that shall be assigned on this island,” the captain started to say.
“The first is that we want to be rescued. One group will be in charge of the radio so that we can try and send and receive messages. Another group will be in charge of keeping a signal fire going. And another will be in charge of hunting pig if there are any like the boys said, or gathering food. Is that understood?”
The officers nodded their head in understanding. They reported back to their teams, and things were done around the island. Unlike the boys’ experience, a signal fire was kept, there was order, and nobody got killed. Everything was fine except for the few sailors who had gotten food poisoning and died. This remained for many months.
Jack was not pleased that he was not leader, but was happy that he didn’t have to take care of a tribe. He was also happy that he didn’t have to do as much as he had when they were on their first island, but stilled begged if he could hunt. The captain told him no, and that if he was given a gun to shoot a pig, he would also create other havoc around the island.
The radio started working, and they were eventually found by another ship in the British fleet. After many months of the boys ordeal, they were taken back to see their families. The news about them carried about for almost a year, and then they were forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment