Ralph-

I didn't know what to think when I woke up alone in a jungle. I remembered that the plane I was in was flying over water when we crashed so the jungle must be on an island. I also knew that I wasn't alone on the island. There must be other boys. I started to make my way through the creepers and as I was walking I heard someone call out to me. It was a plump boy with glasses named Piggy. He was out of breath but he said that was from his ass-mar. We made our way through the jungle and came out to a beach that extended both ways until it converged with the waves. On the beach I found a big conch shell.

Piggy told me you could blow into it and make a loud noise. After a couple tries, I was successful. It was a great booming sound that must have been heard for miles. Slowly, boys started appearing from the forest. A group of choir boys led by a boy named Jack Merridew appeared.  

After all the boys had gathered, we voted for a Chief. The choir boys voted for Jack but I won the vote. After that, Jack, a choir boy named Simon, and I went to explore the land. On our journey, we climbed to the top of a mountain and confirmed that we were on an island. On our way back to the beach, we found a wild pig and tried to catch it but it got away.

When we got back to camp, I sounded the conch and told the group that we were alone on the island. I then made the rule that you could only talk if you were holding the conch. Then Piggy told us how nobody knew that we had crashed on the island. He said that we might be stuck on the island for a long time. While the group comprehended that, a boy who had a mulberry-colored birthmark stepped forward. He told us about a snakelike "beastie". This made the group quite down a little. Jack said that he was dreaming and was a cry baby.

The next day I had the idea of making a signal fire. We made it on the top of the mountain with dead wood. We used Piggy's specs to light the wood with the sun. Jack said his group would keep the fire going. They caught the forest on fire and Piggy said that the boy with the mulberry-colored birthmark played by the fire and that he is missing now. Just knowing that that happened while I was in charge made me angry at myself.

The next day, Jack went hunting with his makeshift spear. When he got back to came empty handed, Simon and I were working on the huts. I asked Jack to help but al he cared about was catching a pig. I told him that he should've caught a pig with all the time he has been working. He argued that his hunter will soon be successful. I knew that Jack and the hunters were using their hunting as an excuse to not work but I knew that there wasn't much I could do.

Life on the island became just like life at home. There was a daily routine of playing in the morning's cool air and sweet smells. The afternoon brought fading light and nightmares about the "beastie". I was working on the huts with Simon when I saw it. A spec of smoke staking up on the horizon. Then I realized that it was a ship. I looked up at the mountain and was crestfallen when I saw no signal fire. I ran up the hill with piggy behind me but by the time we got to the abandoned fire pit it was to late. Through investigation it turned out that Jack became even more obsessed with hunting a pig that he painted his face with charcoal and clay. He left his post at the fire pit to go into the jungle to hunt with some other choir boys. When they returned I was furious with the fact that that could have been our only chance for rescue. It had been their job to keep the fire going and they had failed. They did return with a pig that they caught, but it wasn't enough to lighten my anger. At that I called a meeting and walked back to the beach. 

At the meeting that night, I told the group how they had failed to follow the rules. They had even neglected to use the designated toilet area. I told them the importance of a signal fire and that it was the difference in being rescued and being dead. I also stressed the importance of building shelters. When I was done I let one of the littluns have the conch. He talked about a nightmare he had. I told him that there was no beast on the island. Then one of the littluns said that he had seen the beast. He said that it might come from the water. This thought terrified the group but Jack told them that he would hunt it down. With that people wandered to their huts for another night of nightmares. 

I was woken up in the early hours of the morning by the twins Eric and Sam. They said that they had seen the beast on the mountain. I called for a meeting at which twins recalled their experiences. We sent out an expedition to hunt down the monster. I allowed Jack to lead the expedition and we headed out with our wooden spears. We came to a small walkway across to a ledge. I was the first over and was slowly followed by the rest of the group. They started to forget why they were on the quest. They started to talk about building forts in the cave but I reminded them that we were looking for the beast.