Free The Escapist by Madoc Fox Page B

rights, the children were actually reinforcing the tyranny.  Nothing Oscar did was changing it.  So demoralised were the children that they could not even cling to the last spark of resistance, clearly paraded in front of them by Oscar and Piggy.  If anything they were collaborators in the effort to stamp the spark out, Oscar thought bitterly.  In this light the scene outside the toilets became clear.  Anyone affiliated with him was instantly punished; Edmund was reinforcing the notion that the Oscar and others who opposed him were the cause of such misfortune.
    Yet Oscar couldn’t help but feel that he at least was fortunate, given the circumstances.  His previous experiences had given him a hardened disposition that helped steel him against the things the gang were doing.  And despite his disapproval of the ‘troublemaker’ status he had somehow acquired, it was proving to be a useful shield.  Yet Piggy was not so fortunate.  Not only was he a more vulnerable character to begin with but he had been on good terms with many of the children who now shunned them, so he felt the loss more keenly.  Worse still, given his role as instigator of Edmund’s public humiliation Piggy found himself the focus of sustained attention from Edmund’s gang, often returning to bed with bruises, cuts and sores from the day’s encounters.  One bully, Gregg, seemed to shadow him everywhere for potential beating opportunities.
    Despite every reassurance on Oscar’s part and encouragement in getting through the minefield of daily torments the gang dished out, Oscar could only look on helplessly as Piggy slowly succumbed.  Oscar watched as the essence of Piggy’s character gradually drained away so that the once upbeat joker began to hollow, wasting slowly until only the husk of the previous boy remained.  For every blow he received and conversation he was shunned from, a piece of his being was chiselled away.
    It was difficult for Oscar to console his once beaming companion and having seen the braveness exhibited on his behalf, he longed to repay the debt.  More so since he had previously counted Piggy so harshly as an irritating acquaintance, rather than grasping the true friendship he had been offering all along.  Oscar racked his mind for a way to help him, yet this was not a situation he had any familiarity with.  With no possessions of real value or even advice other than to keep your head down it was difficult to find a way to help the boy.  Yet Oscar resolved to do something before it was too late.  There must be a way, if only he could think of it.
    Several weeks had passed since the confrontation outside the workshop.  It was night time, and most of the children were spending what little time they could grasp, quietly socialising before a new day would start afresh, stretching before them in all its tedious monotony.  Oscar pulled himself upright on his bunk, leaning down to watch Piggy as he threw himself listlessly onto the bedding.  Piggy had only just returned from the canteen but could not be coerced into much of a conversation.  Sighing, he eventually turned his back on Oscar, muttering vaguely about an ‘early night’.
    Oscar leaned back into his less than soft pillow, yet he could not help but feel angry.  The past few weeks had been unusually busy and his emotions were running riot.  He would have to keep himself in check from now on - practice cold calculation and trust no one, except for Piggy of course.  From the corner of his eye Oscar watched Edmund and his gang mildly tormenting two younger children.  The boys were new to the Institute and the gang had demanded that the boys undertake a ‘welcome’ initiation. 
    Edmund and Flynn held one boy aloft by his ankles, while Gregg and another of the gang, Teddy did likewise to the second.  They appeared to be treating it as a competition, waiting to see whose head would turn reddest by the time ‘lights out’ was called.  The remainder of