the island 2004
Day 1
This is the account of Scott Stagliano. If you have found this, I am dead. I am, or was, a senior at Wildwood Catholic High School in North Wildwood, New Jersey. My sociology class was on a trip to South America to study Brazilian culture when our plane malfunctioned and crashed into the ocean somewhere. We were the only ones who survived the crash.
The rafts inflated and we floated for three days to what seems to be a deserted island, living only on salted peanuts and kosher dinners. What we have seen of the island so far, luckily, is very fertile and there is a very clean freshwater lake. There seem to be several types of fruit and several species of birds native to this island. Trees are also plentiful. There hasn’t been a sign of civilization yet, but we are still looking. All of our luggage went down with the plane, so all we have is what was on our body at the time of the crash. Two students, Calvin Jordan and Charles Cummings, are the only ones with watches, ergo, are the only ones with a connection to the rest of the world; time. Megan Popper was the only one who still has her cellular phone, but the battery is dead. It probably won’t matter, because many of us believe that we will be found. Our first step toward being found will be to create a signal fire.
We have not yet established a leader because our teacher, Salvatore Zuccarello, was injured in the crash. As it seems now, either Jeff Mitchell, Kevin McGarry, or Cory Saucier will take control. We have been doing our best to nurse Mr. Zuccarello back to health, but it may take a while.
We are beginning to establish individual roles for a temporary “community”. I am writing because I can. I have a few notebooks and pens that I managed to keep dry. Over the next few days, we will be working on the fire.
Day 5
Steve Long has a lighter on him that still works, but we decided against creating a beacon fire until we are certain that the flames won’t engulf the entire island. We also needed to create some form of axe or tool which we could use to chop down trees and build shelters. Frank Weiss managed to create a hatchet from a few rocks and tree branches. Jeff and Kevin both agreed that our first priority should be to cut down trees for firewood and lumber. Cory, on the other hand, disagreed and said that it would be more important to have a social gathering of some kind because many of the girls were getting depressed. After about ten minutes of discussion, Jeff, Kevin, and Cory unanimously agreed that everyone would split up into groups. There would be a scouting team, to survey the island and to create a map, a cutting team, to cut down trees with the tools Frank created and to create a clearing in the woods, and an organization team, to create a list of everyone on the island, collect fruit and berries, and organize a bonfire in the clearing.
The scouting team consisted of myself (because I had paper and pen), Charles Cummings (so we would know what time to meet back at the clearing), Frank Weiss (for protection), Kate Flounders, Maria Dal Santo, Kevin McGarry, Joe Maloy, and Bridget Sykes. It took us about four hours to walk around the island and scale the hill at the center of the island. We met back at the clearing at 7:00 pm. We kept a steady pace the whole day, and managed to create a map of the whole island.
Meanwhile, the cutting team, which included Chris Gillin-Schwartz, Tom Hillegass, Steve Long, and Jeff Mitchell, cut down a good portion of trees by the lake and cleared out a pathway to the clearing from the beach. The trees are being used as firewood and for shelters.
Cory Saucier and many of the remaining women, who were not sick, injured, or depressed, gather food and carry wood to the clearing for the bonfire. There are also many who are sick and injured, and some who are simply depressed. Tara Walsh, Vicki Dever, Julia Grassi, Elizabeth Appleyard, and Mr. Zuccarello were all injured from the crash. Many of the girls, including Kim Cannon, Meghan Protasi, Krista Purcell, Gabrielle Lugas, and Megan Popper are sick with depression. Grace Boswell, Katie Moore, and Rosemarie Miller volunteered to take care of them to the best of their ability. Mr. Zuccarello has shown a lot of progress and many of us hope he can soon take control of the island and start up a stable society.
Tonight, we used Steve’s lighter to spark the bonfire and everyone, despite our seemingly hopeless situation, enjoyed the festivities and marveled at the gigantic fire we had created. Our new civilization has begun.
Day 54
We truly have come a long way. Mr. Zuccarello has taken leadership and has been running what is becoming a respectable society. We have created very stable shelters, thanks to the tools created by Frank. To ensure a good food supply, we have created farms with impressive irrigation systems, and our weapons technology is advancing all the time. We have even managed to create some projectile weapons like spears, slingshots, and bows. We have designated farmers and hunters. Many of the men are hunters and the women take care of the garden work. I’m a pretty good show with the bow, if I do say so myself. I manage to nab a couple more birds than most of the other guys every day. We even have organized town meetings periodically.
We have other roles in the community too. Some people cook, some clean the bunks, some make reports to Mr. Zuccarello about the status and work ethic of everyone on the island. We don’t work for money. We work to better the community, and every few days, if we complete our work well, we have a bonfire. With an exception of a few individuals, people are beginning to adjust to life on the island. Most of our clothes have worn out, so many of us wear the “bare minimum”, which wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for all the hair.
There are a few things I’ve noticed which are beginning to concern me. First of all, Jeff seems to be thinking separate from the others and is beginning to talk about what things would be like if he were in charge. I may just be paranoid, but I am beginning to worry about him. Secondly, one of the lifeboats from the airplane has disappeared from the shelter where we keep them. This isn’t really a huge problem because they are deflated, but I’m afraid that maybe someone is repairing them and may try to escape. Well, if they do, I wish them Godspeed. The final problem is that Gabrielle has been acting very strange lately. She never has truly adjusted to the new society and she misses her boyfriend very much. I fear the worst.
Day 63
There was a huge storm three days ago. Many of the homes were destroyed and much of the food supply as well. This presents a huge problem because we are going to have to play a lot of catch-up in order to rebuild, which means twice the work for about half the food. I think Jeff has been waiting for this chance for a long time to speak out against Mr. Zuccarello, and at the meeting tonight he found a lot of followers in this desperate time. He claimed that if he were in charge, the food would be more protected than anything else, people would be free to do the jobs they wanted to do, rather than what they were assigned, and that he would recognize that everyone would be entitled to a voice. Since most of us have not eaten in days, many others rose up with Jeff in protest. Jeff and Mr. Zuccarello were in heated debate for a long time before finally, Jeff declared in his anger that he was leaving the society to start a tribe of his own, where the members were free to do what they pleased. I was astonished to see so many people agree with him. Things cooled down a little bit and Jeff apologized to Mr. Zuccarello but insisted that he would still be starting his own tribe. He simply requested that the two tribes could share or barter resources and if Jeff’s society could have one of the “timekeepers” as they were called (Calvin and Charlie). However Mr. Zuccarello insisted that the “firebringer” (Steve) belonged to him. Jeff agreed. I’m still not sure how good of an idea this is. Jeff’s tribe consists of Jeff, Calvin (the timekeeper), Erica Hickman, Chris Gillin-Schwartz, Kevin McGarry, Ashley Sullivan, Tara Walsh, Megan Popper, Cory Saucier, Frank Weiss, and Tom Hillegass. Even worse than the tribe splitting up, several members have gone missing; Jessie Paul, Nicole Mason, Stephanie Laird, Katie Moore, and Rosemarie Miller have all disappeared.
Day 72
We had a wave of death since my last entry. Gabrielle Lugas was found, hanging from a rope in her cottage, and she left a note that said she missed her boyfriend too much to go on living without him. On top of that, Jessie, Nicole, Stephanie, Katie, and Rosemarie washed up on the shore yesterday with the missing life raft.
As far as intertribal relations go, things have been going very smoothly, but I have a feeling that Jeff may be up to no good. I sometimes get the feeling that he and frank have been mass producing weapons and collecting boulders. Mr. Zuccarello refuses to believe that Jeff would make an attack on him, but many of the people believe that it could be possible. We have been on this island a long time, and it has altered our consciousness. I think this experience has definitely taken its toll on Jeff’s mind, but somehow, he is still in charge. Mr. Zuccarello still seems to think that the society can work out, but it seems another person joins “Jeff-Topia” every other day.
Day 80
It is true what many of us believed. Jeff ordered and attack on our society and a battle raged for an hour. Mr. Zuccerello, Joe Maloy, and our timekeeper, Calvin were all killed and the rest of our tribe has been enslaved by Jeff. Cory made an attempt to rise up against him, but he was quickly killed by Tom. Jeff treats us terribly and the only ones truly loyal to him are Kevin, Chris, and Tom. The rest of us have been formulating a plan to rise up against them and do our best to create a peaceful community with the few people that would be left.
Day ?
We fought bravely, and succeeded in our mission to dethrone Jeff, but at the expense of everyone except Steve Long, Meghan Protasi, Maria DalSanto, and myself. Charlie was killed, and his watch destroyed, so none of us know what time or day it is. During the last battle, Jeff torched the entire island. Our food supply is just about gone, and since all the trees burned down, it looks like this is just about the end. None of us have the will to live, and pretty soon, we will probably be complete savages, eating raw fish and birds, and maybe even each other. We will, in our animalistic state, eventually start mating, and bring new life into this desolate world we have created for ourselves. Hopefully a storm will come soon and just finish us off. It seems Utopia is impossible after all…
This is the account of Scott Stagliano. If you have found this, I am dead. I am, or was, a senior at Wildwood Catholic High School in North Wildwood, New Jersey. My sociology class was on a trip to South America to study Brazilian culture when our plane malfunctioned and crashed into the ocean somewhere. We were the only ones who survived the crash.
The rafts inflated and we floated for three days to what seems to be a deserted island, living only on salted peanuts and kosher dinners. What we have seen of the island so far, luckily, is very fertile and there is a very clean freshwater lake. There seem to be several types of fruit and several species of birds native to this island. Trees are also plentiful. There hasn’t been a sign of civilization yet, but we are still looking. All of our luggage went down with the plane, so all we have is what was on our body at the time of the crash. Two students, Calvin Jordan and Charles Cummings, are the only ones with watches, ergo, are the only ones with a connection to the rest of the world; time. Megan Popper was the only one who still has her cellular phone, but the battery is dead. It probably won’t matter, because many of us believe that we will be found. Our first step toward being found will be to create a signal fire.
We have not yet established a leader because our teacher, Salvatore Zuccarello, was injured in the crash. As it seems now, either Jeff Mitchell, Kevin McGarry, or Cory Saucier will take control. We have been doing our best to nurse Mr. Zuccarello back to health, but it may take a while.
We are beginning to establish individual roles for a temporary “community”. I am writing because I can. I have a few notebooks and pens that I managed to keep dry. Over the next few days, we will be working on the fire.
Day 5
Steve Long has a lighter on him that still works, but we decided against creating a beacon fire until we are certain that the flames won’t engulf the entire island. We also needed to create some form of axe or tool which we could use to chop down trees and build shelters. Frank Weiss managed to create a hatchet from a few rocks and tree branches. Jeff and Kevin both agreed that our first priority should be to cut down trees for firewood and lumber. Cory, on the other hand, disagreed and said that it would be more important to have a social gathering of some kind because many of the girls were getting depressed. After about ten minutes of discussion, Jeff, Kevin, and Cory unanimously agreed that everyone would split up into groups. There would be a scouting team, to survey the island and to create a map, a cutting team, to cut down trees with the tools Frank created and to create a clearing in the woods, and an organization team, to create a list of everyone on the island, collect fruit and berries, and organize a bonfire in the clearing.
The scouting team consisted of myself (because I had paper and pen), Charles Cummings (so we would know what time to meet back at the clearing), Frank Weiss (for protection), Kate Flounders, Maria Dal Santo, Kevin McGarry, Joe Maloy, and Bridget Sykes. It took us about four hours to walk around the island and scale the hill at the center of the island. We met back at the clearing at 7:00 pm. We kept a steady pace the whole day, and managed to create a map of the whole island.
Meanwhile, the cutting team, which included Chris Gillin-Schwartz, Tom Hillegass, Steve Long, and Jeff Mitchell, cut down a good portion of trees by the lake and cleared out a pathway to the clearing from the beach. The trees are being used as firewood and for shelters.
Cory Saucier and many of the remaining women, who were not sick, injured, or depressed, gather food and carry wood to the clearing for the bonfire. There are also many who are sick and injured, and some who are simply depressed. Tara Walsh, Vicki Dever, Julia Grassi, Elizabeth Appleyard, and Mr. Zuccarello were all injured from the crash. Many of the girls, including Kim Cannon, Meghan Protasi, Krista Purcell, Gabrielle Lugas, and Megan Popper are sick with depression. Grace Boswell, Katie Moore, and Rosemarie Miller volunteered to take care of them to the best of their ability. Mr. Zuccarello has shown a lot of progress and many of us hope he can soon take control of the island and start up a stable society.
Tonight, we used Steve’s lighter to spark the bonfire and everyone, despite our seemingly hopeless situation, enjoyed the festivities and marveled at the gigantic fire we had created. Our new civilization has begun.
Day 54
We truly have come a long way. Mr. Zuccarello has taken leadership and has been running what is becoming a respectable society. We have created very stable shelters, thanks to the tools created by Frank. To ensure a good food supply, we have created farms with impressive irrigation systems, and our weapons technology is advancing all the time. We have even managed to create some projectile weapons like spears, slingshots, and bows. We have designated farmers and hunters. Many of the men are hunters and the women take care of the garden work. I’m a pretty good show with the bow, if I do say so myself. I manage to nab a couple more birds than most of the other guys every day. We even have organized town meetings periodically.
We have other roles in the community too. Some people cook, some clean the bunks, some make reports to Mr. Zuccarello about the status and work ethic of everyone on the island. We don’t work for money. We work to better the community, and every few days, if we complete our work well, we have a bonfire. With an exception of a few individuals, people are beginning to adjust to life on the island. Most of our clothes have worn out, so many of us wear the “bare minimum”, which wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for all the hair.
There are a few things I’ve noticed which are beginning to concern me. First of all, Jeff seems to be thinking separate from the others and is beginning to talk about what things would be like if he were in charge. I may just be paranoid, but I am beginning to worry about him. Secondly, one of the lifeboats from the airplane has disappeared from the shelter where we keep them. This isn’t really a huge problem because they are deflated, but I’m afraid that maybe someone is repairing them and may try to escape. Well, if they do, I wish them Godspeed. The final problem is that Gabrielle has been acting very strange lately. She never has truly adjusted to the new society and she misses her boyfriend very much. I fear the worst.
Day 63
There was a huge storm three days ago. Many of the homes were destroyed and much of the food supply as well. This presents a huge problem because we are going to have to play a lot of catch-up in order to rebuild, which means twice the work for about half the food. I think Jeff has been waiting for this chance for a long time to speak out against Mr. Zuccarello, and at the meeting tonight he found a lot of followers in this desperate time. He claimed that if he were in charge, the food would be more protected than anything else, people would be free to do the jobs they wanted to do, rather than what they were assigned, and that he would recognize that everyone would be entitled to a voice. Since most of us have not eaten in days, many others rose up with Jeff in protest. Jeff and Mr. Zuccarello were in heated debate for a long time before finally, Jeff declared in his anger that he was leaving the society to start a tribe of his own, where the members were free to do what they pleased. I was astonished to see so many people agree with him. Things cooled down a little bit and Jeff apologized to Mr. Zuccarello but insisted that he would still be starting his own tribe. He simply requested that the two tribes could share or barter resources and if Jeff’s society could have one of the “timekeepers” as they were called (Calvin and Charlie). However Mr. Zuccarello insisted that the “firebringer” (Steve) belonged to him. Jeff agreed. I’m still not sure how good of an idea this is. Jeff’s tribe consists of Jeff, Calvin (the timekeeper), Erica Hickman, Chris Gillin-Schwartz, Kevin McGarry, Ashley Sullivan, Tara Walsh, Megan Popper, Cory Saucier, Frank Weiss, and Tom Hillegass. Even worse than the tribe splitting up, several members have gone missing; Jessie Paul, Nicole Mason, Stephanie Laird, Katie Moore, and Rosemarie Miller have all disappeared.
Day 72
We had a wave of death since my last entry. Gabrielle Lugas was found, hanging from a rope in her cottage, and she left a note that said she missed her boyfriend too much to go on living without him. On top of that, Jessie, Nicole, Stephanie, Katie, and Rosemarie washed up on the shore yesterday with the missing life raft.
As far as intertribal relations go, things have been going very smoothly, but I have a feeling that Jeff may be up to no good. I sometimes get the feeling that he and frank have been mass producing weapons and collecting boulders. Mr. Zuccarello refuses to believe that Jeff would make an attack on him, but many of the people believe that it could be possible. We have been on this island a long time, and it has altered our consciousness. I think this experience has definitely taken its toll on Jeff’s mind, but somehow, he is still in charge. Mr. Zuccarello still seems to think that the society can work out, but it seems another person joins “Jeff-Topia” every other day.
Day 80
It is true what many of us believed. Jeff ordered and attack on our society and a battle raged for an hour. Mr. Zuccerello, Joe Maloy, and our timekeeper, Calvin were all killed and the rest of our tribe has been enslaved by Jeff. Cory made an attempt to rise up against him, but he was quickly killed by Tom. Jeff treats us terribly and the only ones truly loyal to him are Kevin, Chris, and Tom. The rest of us have been formulating a plan to rise up against them and do our best to create a peaceful community with the few people that would be left.
Day ?
We fought bravely, and succeeded in our mission to dethrone Jeff, but at the expense of everyone except Steve Long, Meghan Protasi, Maria DalSanto, and myself. Charlie was killed, and his watch destroyed, so none of us know what time or day it is. During the last battle, Jeff torched the entire island. Our food supply is just about gone, and since all the trees burned down, it looks like this is just about the end. None of us have the will to live, and pretty soon, we will probably be complete savages, eating raw fish and birds, and maybe even each other. We will, in our animalistic state, eventually start mating, and bring new life into this desolate world we have created for ourselves. Hopefully a storm will come soon and just finish us off. It seems Utopia is impossible after all…
posted by stag. at 6:47:00 PM
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