“I mean the way things are. They dream. You can hear ’em. Have you been awake at night?”..“They talk and scream. The littluns. Even some of the others. As if—” “As if it wasn’t a good island.” Astonished at the interruption, they looked up at Simon’s serious face.“As if,” said Simon, “the beastie, the beastie or the snake-thing, was real. Remember?” The two older boys flinched when they heard the shameful syllable. Snakes were not mentioned now, were not mentionable.