Escape

As all the boys began gathering around the man, the few that were weeping began to calm down. It was either the rising feeling of embarrassment that caused them to stop or the fact that Jack was the first to stop. The man stood tall with a curling mustache and light blond hair on the top of his head that swirled in every different direction until it lost sight under his tight, blue hat. Decorated with different badges, his jacket fit tightly around his waist which made some of the boys believe that the stern look on his face was because he was being strangled by his clothing.

Two other men in row boats pulled up to the shore, walking up to the first man exchanging quick words and then observing all the boys slowly with their eyes. A look of almost disgust crossed their faces as the turned away and walked back towards the row boats, pushing them into the low waves.

“Well boys, your little adventure is at its end. We need the youngest of you to get in the boat with Mr.Tomson over there,” He pointed his hand towards the man farthest to the left, “The other third of you will go with Mr.Smith,” He pointed his hand towards the man in the middle boat “And the rest of you will come with me. But before we get you boys back home, let’s clean you up a bit so not to show shame to the British name.”

Mr.Tomson pulled out a black bag from out of the boat. He began on the littluns, wrapping white bandage tape around their small cuts and cleaning the dirt out with what looked like water. They all wailed in pain as the man pored it into their open, infected wounds, tears flowing down their face like the sweat that ran down their brow what seemed like years ago. When the man finally got to both Ralph and Jack, he first looked up at their faces. Ralph had almost an astonished look, his eyes not moving from the boat in the distance, the little puffs of smoke rising from it as if they were angles. This look was quickly removed when the germ killing water was dribbled onto his legs covered from top to bottom with cuts and splinters which had been rotting and cooking over the last couple of days.

When this happened to Jack, there was no response. His face stayed in the same “state of shock” look and his eyes still looked as if they were going to burst open with tears. He glanced quickly over at Ralph but then looked back down at his feet which were covered in blood. The man wrapped his arms up with adhesive bandages and taped them tight. The blood began to seep through. Red was covering white. The red had taken over the white.
All of the boys began getting on their assigned boats. The first boat to leave was the one with the youngest on it, followed by the one with the small out of kids that’s names were lost along with piggy. The boat that took the longest to leave was the one with the eldest. Jack could barely take a step closer towards the boat. Ralph, already sitting inside glared at him as he inched closer.

“Hurry it up already!” He shouted.
“I…” Jack’s lips were dry, sticking together. He took another step.
“We haven’t got all day!”
“Come on Jackie!”
“The boat is waiting-“
“The boat-“
“Home!”

All the children waiting inside the boat began yelling for him. His eyes scanned them with fear, as if they were wild savage animals. Off in the distance the large trim cruiser let out a honk as a huge puff of smoke rose from it. This startled Jack back into his wits. His slow steps became faster until he was finally sitting inside the boat, behind Ralph who refused to make eye contact with him.

As the boat began to sail away from the island, a jolt of panic filled his eyes. He began letting out wild shrieks and cries, squeals and coughs. The tall man did not look back at him as he was already in far too much disgust to bare anymore. Jack began unraveling the bandages around his arms until they were balled up in his hands.

“The beast! The beast! Why won’t you leave?!” He cried out as he began stuffing his mouth with the bandages. All the other boys watched him in almost disbelieve. What once was their brave leader had been turned into a tearing lunatic. He pushed the bandages farther and farther down his throat until he began making choking noises. These noises ended as his body crashed with the slivery blue surface.

The officer was suddenly shaken from his trance and turned his head backwards to see the struggling image in the water. The figure thrashed and spun around in the water, its bright red face contrasting with the blue tinted water. The officer pushed all the other boys out of the way and grabbed Jack by his arm, tugging him out of the water and back onto the floor of the wood row boat. Thrusting his hand into Jack’s mouth, he pulled the now pink bandages out and Jack began coughing up water and blood and tears. Jack’s last attempt at safety from the beast failed.

The last row boat pulled up to the trim cruiser and the boys were pulled out by many different men. With terrified faces they all watched as the island, their island was lost in the distance. Ralph looked back to see Jack, his eyes moving quickly around, darting from one figured to the next like a cornered animal.