Lord of the Flies Epilogue

The night watchman called lights out at ten o’clock as usual. The doors locked, and the pale light of the moon shone through Ralph’s room. In the room stood a sink, toilet, and a small cot. The room was padded. The door had a glass window that reflected fluorescent light into the room. One window on the opposite side of the room let in the natural light of the moon. The combination of the artificial and natural light created a faint glimmer upon the mirror that hung above the sink.

Ralph sat on the floor as he always had after he and the other boys had been saved nearly two years ago. The war had ended in a stale mate with both sides realizing neither could win. Moscow, London, Washington D.C., Paris, and Berlin had all been obliterated. Leaving only a ghostly set of ruins, the only evidence any of them had ever existed.

Ralph’s face was stuck in a blank daze. He hadn’t spoken since he was rescued. The other boys had been released into the public, though after heavy examination.

A flicker of light caught Ralph’s eye. He paid it no heed. Again. Somewhere deep in his mind he sensed something familiar, though to which alignment he was not sure. He stepped up and discovered the source of the light. It was only the mirror, but a feeling of fear suddenly sent chills into his bowels.

“Ralph.”
Ralph spun around and almost fainted.
“Ralph, please.”
It was Piggy’s voice.
“Come to the mirror. Please.”

Ralph cautiously stepped toward the mirror and the light grew ever more bright with each step. Ralph was three feet away from the mirror now and the light faded into a silhouette of Piggy’s face. It became clearer and again

Piggy’s voice sounded.
“Ralph, I, I lost my glasses”
“It will be alright Piggy”
“No, no it won’t Ralph”
“Yes, it will Piggy, it will all be alright”
“I miss my auntie Ralph, I, I want to go home”
“I know Piggy, I do too.”
“I’m scared Ralph. We didn’t know.”
“We didn’t know what?”
“It was Simon”

Ralph flushed as he heard that name. He hadn’t thought about Simon, or any of the horrible things that had happened on the island in a long time. In fact he had never thought about much at all. The past two years had been nothing except sitting, eating, and sleeping. Every now and then he would be examined by the doctor and put back into his little room.

“Ralph?”
Tears were trickling down Ralph’s face.
“Yes, Piggy?”
“I never told you my real name”
“Why not Piggy?”
“That’s not my name Ralph. You know that! And you told them…”
“I’m sorry Piggy! I’m sorry! I didn’t know!”

Piggy’s eyes were welling up with tears, which seemed to penetrate the glass.

“They hate me Ralph. The hate me!”
“But, but, they didn’t understand! They-“
“We need sense. We need to stop acting like a bunch of kids!”
“Piggy, please. Stop trying”
“I can’t Ralph! I need to fix this! Blow the conch!”
“The conch is gone Piggy. It, it broke when…”
“When what Ralph?”
“When they-“
“When they what Ralph? What happened!”
“When…”
“Tell me!”

Ralph noticed the tears coming from the mirror now, and realized he was crying uncontrollably.

“When you-“
“Please Ralph…”
“When you fell…”
Ralph felt a hot jab in his chest as if his heart were about to explode.

“I fell…”
“I, I…”
“You let me fall!”
“No Piggy!”
“You let me die. You let me lose my glasses!”
“No Piggy, I didn’t! Honest!”
“Yes you did! You did!”
“Piggy please! Please!”
“I’m going now Ralph.”

The image a Piggy slowly began to fade to the black silhouette from whence the image came. Ralph was shivering uncontrollable and stood in a puddle of his sweat and tears. He slowly sank down into a heap of wet, weeping flesh.

“Please Piggy, don’t go. I miss you Piggy. I need to know Piggy…”

Ralph wept for another half an hour and uttered his last words before the everlasting pain was washed away into his subconscious once again.

“What was your name?”