Chapter Five - Beast from Water

I called an assembly. I wanted to talk about the water in the coco-nuts, the lavatory rocks, the shelters and the fire, but my main point was about the fear. Ever since that littlun asked about the beast everyone has been on edge. I talked about the first four topics on my list and I let the others decide on the fear. Jack said that there was no beast, but that if you're scared you should just deal with, while Piggy said that we shouldn't be scared, there's no beast so there's no reason to be scared, unless we start getting scared of people. One of the littluns stepped forwards and took the conch. He said that he had been dreaming about the creepers in the forest, but woke up. He was outside and he saw something horrid moving through the trees. Simon had been wandering around outside in the middle of the night! What a queer boy. I told him not to do it again, we had enough things scaring the littluns as it was. After the first littlun another was forced forwards. He would not say his name for a while and when he did, it  was his entire name plus his address. Then he started crying and the other littluns joined in until Maurice made them laugh. Jack then spoke against the rules, which would make my job as chief harder at the next assembly as the others will have noticed. He asked the littlun what he knew about the beast and the littlun said that it lived in the water.Most boys thought it was a stupid idea, but I could see it bothered them. Simon stood and took the conch. He hypothesized that maybe there was a beast, but it wasn't a real touchable living thing, but rather a beast that was inside the boys, in their head. I can't believe he would believe there was a beast, although he is quite strange. Then of course the others changed what he had said into ghosts. We had to vote as it was getting late so we voted whether or not there were ghosts. Some actually thought there might be ghosts! Piggy stole the conch from me and started saying how he didn't believe in no ghosts. Jack got mad and tried to take the conch. I got mad and tried to defend Piggy, Jack told me that I was a bad chief and that the rules were stupid. The rules are all we've got, if they're gone we're all doomed to become savages.Then they all ran off to dance and chant on the beach about how they would kill the beast if ever they found it. I sat in the assembly area with Simon and Piggy. I knew that if I blew the conch and they didn't come, that would be it, we would be cavemen for the rest of our lives. Piggy and Simon both think that I should continue being chief, but if they don't even listen to me what's the point? Piggy also says that Jack hates me. He says that he's jealous that I'm chief and he's not. I don't know if I believe him yet. If only there were grown-ups, they would know what to do, they would make sure the fire was lit at all times, they would make sure there was water and shelters and they would make sure everything was clean and proper. They would know how to get us home.