Journal Entry (Author's point of view)

Chapter 13: Leaving the Beast Behind:
The waves crashed along the sides of the naval ship, constantly splashing water into Ralph’s face. Ralph stood on the deck of the boat while leaning against the side.
“What’s wrong, Ralph?” asked Percival. He was so in shock of being rescued he couldn’t speak. Percival waited for an answer, when he realized there wasn’t one he went to where Johnny and Wilfred were. A while later Ralph was still leaning as before, when Samneric spotted him.

“What’s wrong, Ralph?” Samneric asked at the same time. That was the fifth time someone asked him that. So Ralph gave up on his plan of being mute and decided to give a truthful answer.
“I feel bad about leaving Bill, Roger and Jack,” Ralph muttered.
“But they,” Sam started “chose to stay behind,” Eric finished.
“I know. But when they saw the naval officer, they were the only three to run back into the jungle, who knows what will happen to them,” Ralph sighed.
“They tried,” – “to kill you,” Samneric said confused.
“I know, but now they are on that island forever. You listened to them and told the naval officer that six had died. You counted them as well.”
“We’re sorry, Ralph,” – “That’s what they wanted,” Samneric hung their heads and walked away gloomily. Ralph looked at the island, which was the size of a small rock now, and saw there was no smoke coming from it and the flames had disappeared. He could have sworn he could hear ululating in the distance but he blocked the thought form his mind. Each day went by the same way; eat breakfast, stare at water, eat lunch, stare at water and feel increasingly guilty, eat dinner, go to bed. Ralph realized that he probably had more food in two days on the ship than he had his whole time on the island. The other boys on the ship seemed to not notice that Jack, Bill and Roger were not there or they just didn’t care.

Ralph shook his head in amazement that so many traumas had happened in so little time. He thought of Simon and Piggy’s deaths, the death of the boy with the birthmark, the beastie and, mostly, that he was nearly killed himself. The wait to arrive back in England seemed impossibly long, but finally the time came when they arrived at the docks. Samneric stayed close by Ralph as all of the children scurried off the ship’s loading platform in hopes of seeing their parents.

“They’re not here yet. We must tell them that we've arrived and then you can all go home,” The naval officer announced.
“Get back onto the ship so no one gets lost!” He was running, now, after the littluns who were disobeying. When everyone was back inside of the boat, the naval officer did a head count. He stopped in his tracks when he reached me. He stared at my face for a few long seconds when he asked Ralph a question.
“Who are your parents, boy?”
“Well, my dad’s in the navy and...,” Ralph was interrupted.
“I think I know your dad, you look a lot like him. Is his name,” He whispered a name in Ralph’s ear.Ralph’s face suddenly lit up and he nodded his head with excitement.

“You stay with me, okay? I’ll bring you home. Your father is a good friend of mine, I was going to meet him later,” he said. Ralph was shocked, he had no idea that his dad was home. All of the children's parents appeared with a huge smile as the kids ran into their arms. Ralph, Samneric and the naval officer stayed until the sun turned a bright orange. Samneric looked very sad, their parents had not come yet. The officer looked over at Samneric.
“What are your names?” He asked them.
“I'm Sam,” - “n' I'm Eric,” they said with their heads hanging.
“I must have forgotten to get your parent's number,” the officer said.
“They don't have a telephone number,” they said unanimously. The officer looked confused.
“You can just,” - “take us to the school,” they said.
“Well, what's your address? I'll take you there,” he offered.
“We live at the school,” they said. The officer looked even more confused and so did Ralph. They had never told anyone on the island this; at least that’s what Ralph thought. Ralph was the first to speak.
“What do you mean?”
“The school took us in because,” – “our parents sent us there so that they could live somewhere else.” There was a moment of silence, then the officer awkwardly left. Ralph didn’t know what to say either. Samneric decided to wait on the ship until the naval officer came back to take them home. The officer walked onto the platform out from the boat with Samneric while he was holding his keys.

“Okay, I will take Sam and Eric back to the school and Ralph, will come with me to your house,” he said as he walked over to his small black vehicle. We jumped into the car and the officer turned the keys to start the car. The air filled with black smoke coming form the exhaust, which covered the windows so that the outside was not visible. The car ride seemed strange because they were just seeing civilization and society again. They were away so long that they were unfamiliar to it all. Samneric left the car with the officer and walked to the front door where a tall man, their headmaster, opened the door and ushered them inside.
Ralph sat in the car for what seemed like hours because he was alone and being kept waiting from seeing his dad. Finally,a butler opened the door for the officer who quickly waved goodbye to Samneric and walked back to the front gate.
Ralph sat up straighter when the officer opened his door and started the car again. When they came to a cross road, the officer to speak to Ralph.

“By the way, I’m Jack,” Ralph cringed at the name but said nothing. The ride to Ralph's house was quiet.
“Lagoon Ave, here it is,” Jack announced as he rounded the corner to Ralph’s street. Ralph counted the house addresses until Jack screeched the car to a stop in front of 332. This was the nicest, richest part of the city, where every house looked the same. They stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door. Ralph reached out and knocked on the oak door. A tall, blond haired woman opened the door. At first she only saw Jack.
“Ah hello, it’s good to see you Jack.” She said with an incredibly sad tone to her voice. She stepped out onto the porch. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open when she saw that Ralph, her son, was standing behind Jack.
“Hullo Mum,” Ralph said. She grabbed Ralph and held him in her arms for a very long time.
“You’re back!” she yelled when she let go of him.
“Yes mum, I’m back.” She pulled them both inside and screamed as she pulled the door shut.
“Edward, you get down here!” She called up the stairs.
Loud footsteps ran down the stairs. Ralph's father walked next to his mother. He spotted Ralph and gasped.
“Ralph!” He walked briskly toward Ralph and gave him an awkward hug. His father didn’t usually show emotion. They sat for dinner and ate as Ralph told every part of his life on the island, not including his horrifying experiences. He thought about Jack, Bill and Roger but erased the thought and went back to telling his story to his loving parents.