Entry Four

4

Dear Diary,

Today I told my hunters my idea to paint our faces for hunting. I explained to Roger that I don't think the pigs smell me, but they see me. With painted faces we could look like something else. I painted one cheek and eye-socket white, then rubbed red over the other half of my face and slashed a black bar of charcoal across from my right ear to my left jaw. I looked at my reflection in astonishment and jumped to my feet. I felt liberated from shame and self-consciousness. I danced around with Bill and the twins as the mask compelled us.

Later, I reached the top of the mountain where Ralph, Piggy, and Simon where. The twins were  behind me holding the carcass of our pig. The hunters began to tell the story of killing it. Ralph ruined everyone's excitement when he said that I let the fire go out.  I was irritated by his irrelevance but because I was so happy, I didn't let it worry me. I continued to talk about the pig and then Ralph, who had not moved, repeated himself, making me uneasy.  Then Ralph informed me that while the fire was out, a ship had passed.  He and Piggy both addressed me about it, saying that we could have gone home.  Piggy irritated me, so I stuck my fist in his stomach and smacked is head, knocking his glasses off. They broke on one side and that made Piggy even madder. I mimicked his whines, earning laughs from the hunters. Finally, I apologized about the fire and the hunters buzzed of admiration at my handsome behavior. The hunters then waited for Ralph's expected response that did not come. He simply said to light the fire. 

By the time we had finished building the pile, the link between Ralph and I had snapped. We cooked the fire and distributed the meat to everyone except Piggy. When Piggy asked for some, I told him that he didn't hunt. He pointed out that Ralph and Simon didn't either, then Simon passed his meat to Piggy. I threw more meat at Simon. 

Finally, Maurice changed the subject to the pig and the hunters and I told the story, even re-enacting some parts.

Putting my paint on