Lesser People

Lesser People

"Listen, Ah...Joan is it? You're the guide and I'm the customer, which means I'm always right.  Now I want to have a look at this little island. It could be worth quite a bit if it truly is undiscovered. " Robert Frost stared into her eyes in a firm, unyielding gaze.  He was a man used to getting what he wanted. "If you don't," he continued. "As soon as we get back to the resort I'll have them fire you and never use your little charter service again."

Joan's face reddened. "Fine Mr. Frost. We’ll go ashore, but if anything goes wrong, I won’t be held accountable. "

It was a wondrous sight. The island was decorated in colors and smells so rich, it amazed the group that such a place could actually exist. Off the horizon, the sun was just starting to set, painting the sky in vibrant colors.

"This place is a slice of heaven." said Tita. "I must have some of those flowers to take back to my bungalow."

Myra rolled her eyes at the woman. “What an old prude” she said with a smirk, then turned her attention back to Derrick Johnson NFL superstar. "So what do you think? Looks like a nice place for a quickie."  She was being paid very well to keep the star athlete happy and she planned on enjoying her work today.

"I think we should be cautious." said William Jones, speaking for the first time.

"I think we all understand." said Frost.

"What a Jerk." whispered Geoffrey to Joan causing her smile. It was the first time the man had spoken to anyone since boarding.  He had since been preoccupied by a book that seemed more interesting to him than anything else on the face of God's green earth.

"Wait a damn minute. Would you look at that?” shouted William pointing to the sky.

"Yeah. It’s the Sun." said Derrick

"Not that. He prcticaly shouted. “There up in the tree it looks like a -" 

Suddenly the surrounding brush came alive.  An ear-piercing scream ruptured the silence, followed by the sounds of rushing air. The darts hit their marks and each of the off-landers fell into darkness.

Several hours later the group found themselves bound and tied sitting in a small thatch hut

"They’re not going to really kill us. Are they?" asked Tita.

"No." said William "They’re going to sacrifice us to appease their gods.

"And just what makes you such an expert" demanded Frost.

"I'm a history professor and an archeologist. I speak 10 different languages. I admit I can't fully understand everything they're saying, But I do get the most of it. They’re a primitive tribe and they believe that we are some kind of evil beings "

"That's ridiculous." said Joan.

"Nonetheless it's what they believe."

One of the natives approached the hut dressed in little more than a loincloth and began speaking. His indecipherable words were accented with clicks and grunts.  A necklace of bones hung around his neck and clacked with each movement or his arms as he spoke.

William did his best to respond. His words were short and his clicks and grunts sounded more like he was having an asthma attack. However, the native seemed to understand and left after a brief hesitation.

William was deep in thought.

“Well.” Demanded Frost. “What did the Neanderthal say?”
William took his time answering moving from face to face. “It seems they want us to choose which of us is to be sacrificed. If we do this, then they will let the rest of us go. It will prove to them that we are not evil spirits.”

“And if we refuse?” whined Joan

“Then we all die.” said William flatly.

"We need to bust outta here then." chimed Derrick.

"Even if we could break out of here, there's a lot more of them than us."  added Joan her voice high with fear.

"I don't want to die." cried Tita.

Robert Frost turned and faced the group. "Then we do what they want."

All heads turned to him in amazement.

"And just how do we decide something like this. Draw straws?" asked William Incredulously.

"I ain’t drawing no straws. I got good future in the NFL." said Derrick.

"And that's my point." Frost's voice had turned cold though he spoke to the group his eyes fixed on Myra. "We are all important people, for the most part anyway. Accomplished athletes, college professor, pre-med students, and business owner.  Yes, we are all fairly important people with one exception…. Her." he pointed to Myra.

"What?" Wait, I'm important too I'm -"

"You are a prostitute." Said Frost dryly.

All eyes were on her.

"And so what?' Does that make me any less important or human?

"Is that true?" asked Derrick pushing away from her.

“She's the only one here who doesn't matter to the world. None of the lesser people like her do.” added Frost.

"No. Wait." pleaded Myra. Without warning Frost picked up a large rock and slammed it into her skull."

"The decision's been made."


Three days later.

Frost watched the video again. “This is getting old,” he said turning to face the panel of before him. "We've played this game six times, and each time it just gets easier and easier to get away with. Not a single person objected to killing the whore. In fact, they were all relieved. The game is longer fun. Maybe next time we should kill someone of more importance and see what happens.