Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Roob'n Dreams (08/04/09)
The one where I get LOST...
--- ---
Her long blonde hair danced like strands of godrays under the ocean waves. Her skin was pale and cold like the depths. Her eyelids were heavy, her lungs hardened, and her heart burned. Was she dead? She continued to ask herself the question, all she could think to do, as she floated helplessly in the chilled embrace of limbo. When she finally opened her eyes, the stinging saltwater let her know she was alive. And that gave her a surge of hope, a sliver of fight. The rest of the invigoration came from the thought that she must find James. She had lost him, but she could beat the fear of breathlessness out of her mind and kick her legs determinedly to swim upwards.
She could see a light up there. Somewhere up there, she would find breath again. She would find James. After long arduous seconds of adrenaline-filled strokes, her head broke the surface of the water. She gasped for air, and panicked briefly, when the fierce white light met her tired eyes. But she quickly realized that it wasn't the white flash caused by the bomb. It was the generous sun, come from behind some clouds to warm her tear-stained face. As she bobbed above the ocean waves, Juliet breathed again, and cried freely. She was alive, and she would find James again.
--- ---
I couldn't stop looking at her. Not only was the woman mysterious, her shivering form drenching the towel that was wrapping her, but she was beautiful as well. Ocean water still dripped from her blonde hair, her bright blue eyes darted back and forth across the inside of the submarine, and her pouty lips were as wordless as the quiet depths of the sea. After she had told us her name, she had spoken nothing more.
No one on the sub knew where she had come from. No one could explain how a woman could find herself floating so far out at sea, alive. Then again, there were a lot of things about this trip that no one could explain. I was still racking my brains for ideas that could solve the mystery of the beautiful castaway when one of the submarine's crew began to sedate the passengers again. Soon, we would reach the island. I adjusted my khaki Dharma jumpsuit and made myself comfortable for the nap that would come. As I began to lose consciousness, the shivering woman's eyes met my gaze; and I fell asleep, wondering if I would ever see Juliet again.
--- ---
When we arrived at the island, I was pleased to see that Juliet was still with us. She was dry, and less jittery. There was still a look of concern on her face, but she seemed a lot more calm than before. A little too calm, I would say, because the rest of us were still feeling queasy from the sedatives that we got in the submarine. Juliet didn't seem drowsy at all.
Apparently, she received special treatment. This was further confirmed when a man driving a small golf cart drove up to the submarine dock to pick her up. The rest of us were meant to cram inside a blue van with the Dharma Initiative logo on it. Just before I stepped inside the van, I turned to glance at Juliet again. Our eyes met once more, this time, like they did in the submarine. For some reason, it felt as if I hadn't been the only one stealing glances in the other's direction.
I hesitated to get inside the van, and this led her to approach me, leaving the man in the golf cart to wait. "Hi Juliet", I said, betraying my secret of hoping that she wanted to talk to me.
"Hello", she said back, "What's your name?"
"I'm-", but I never got to finish my sentence. The man in the golf cart interrupted, in annoyed tones, "He can come with us, Juliet. We have to go!"
Juliet nodded towards the golf cart, then walked away from me. She didn't turn to check up on me, but her confidence was right. I followed.
The man in the golf cart was a short, balding, middle-aged man with pale skin and beady eyes. He had a soothing voice, albeit a sharp tongue. "You choose the best of times to socialize and make new friends, Juliet", the man driving the golf cart said, with obvious sarcasm.
"I didn't know one had to wait for specific times to be friendly, Ben", Juliet responded.
"Sometimes specific times is all we have left to go by", Ben muttered, and the golf cart sped off.
--- ---
We rode silently for a while, the golf cart following a dirt path away from the coast and towards the grassy hills inside of the island. I had to break the silence to ask some questions, "Why didn't we follow the Dharma van? Are we going somewhere different?"
"Yes, Ben, where ARE we going?", added Juliet.
"We are going to find your friends, Juliet", was Ben's cool and collected reply, "Your real friends. Whatever it is that the 'smoke monster' is playing at, it means we can't trust anyone. Everyone can be not who they say they are. I can't even trust MYSELF!"
"So, who are we looking for?", Juliet asked.
"We're looking for Jack", Ben said, matter-of-factly.
"Wait, what? Jack-who?", I had to intervene, "And what are you talking about, you can't trust yourself?? And you can trust Jack??"
"Yes, actually, Jack is the only one we CAN trust", said Ben.
"Why?", Juliet asked.
At that very moment, the golf cart's two-way radio came to life. After a quick second of static, a female voice was heard to say, "Ben? Did you pick up the package?"
I could immediately see that Juliet was as stunned as I. The voice coming from the walkie-talkie was from Juliet herself!!
"We can trust Jack", Ben said, coolly, "Because Jack's the only one that's the only Jack on the island."
"Ben... Ben!", the walkie-Juliet continued.
Ben picked up the radio, and spoke into it, "Yes, dear, I have the package. As a matter of fact, you just startled the heck outta the package."
After a short silence, and a few glares at Ben from Juliet, the radio spoke again, "Tell me the passcode Ben."
Ben slowed down the golf cart, then let it come to a complete halt. He picked up the radio, and moved it near his mouth, but did not speak into it.
"Ben, please tell me", the Juliet through the radio insisted, "If you are the Ben I know, you must tell me the passcode, now!"
Ben sighed, put the walkie-talkie down, and turned off the radio. "Well, that was fun while it lasted", he said, with a grin on his face, "Hang on to something!" Then, he sped the cart off the dirt path and into a patch of jungle!
"What are you doing?!", I cried out, "Shouldn't we stay on the road?!"
Ben almost chuckled when he said, "Son, where we're going, we don't need roads!"
Juliet laughed, and replied, "This is a golf cart, Ben. It would have sounded out much better if you had said that while driving a DeLorean."
"Don't look at me!", Ben snapped back, "Apparently, that Cuse and Lindelof guys are BttF fans..."
And suddenly, Ben had to slam on the brakes. The jungle foliage had opened up into a clearing, and a large white slab of a wall stood before us in front of the golf cart. The wall had a small entrance hatch with a Dharma Initiative logo of a swan on it.
"There's only one way to save us from this time, THIS time!", said Ben, as he looked up at the hatch entrance. "And, oh!", he turned to me, and added, "Make sure you get rid of that jumpsuit, kid. I'm sure her boyfriend will not like seeing it!"
Juliet rolled her eyes at the comment made about her, as I quickly began to take off my Dharma Initiative jumpsuit, to remain in my civilian clothes.
"Is... Jack... your boyfriend?", I asked Juliet.
She hesitated, then gave me a warm smile before responding, "If I'm right about this particular moment in time, it's a bit complicated."
Her eyes followed my Dharma jumpsuit as I placed it on the seat of the golf cart, beside me. Her smile threatened to fade away, but it stayed. As Juliet kept looking at it, I read the name that was tagged onto it for the very first time. It said: LaFleur.
"It's time to go", said Ben, and he led us away from the golf cart, and to the hatch of the Swan station.
When Ben opened the hatch... I woke up.
-Roob'n
The one where I get LOST...
--- ---
Her long blonde hair danced like strands of godrays under the ocean waves. Her skin was pale and cold like the depths. Her eyelids were heavy, her lungs hardened, and her heart burned. Was she dead? She continued to ask herself the question, all she could think to do, as she floated helplessly in the chilled embrace of limbo. When she finally opened her eyes, the stinging saltwater let her know she was alive. And that gave her a surge of hope, a sliver of fight. The rest of the invigoration came from the thought that she must find James. She had lost him, but she could beat the fear of breathlessness out of her mind and kick her legs determinedly to swim upwards.
She could see a light up there. Somewhere up there, she would find breath again. She would find James. After long arduous seconds of adrenaline-filled strokes, her head broke the surface of the water. She gasped for air, and panicked briefly, when the fierce white light met her tired eyes. But she quickly realized that it wasn't the white flash caused by the bomb. It was the generous sun, come from behind some clouds to warm her tear-stained face. As she bobbed above the ocean waves, Juliet breathed again, and cried freely. She was alive, and she would find James again.
--- ---
I couldn't stop looking at her. Not only was the woman mysterious, her shivering form drenching the towel that was wrapping her, but she was beautiful as well. Ocean water still dripped from her blonde hair, her bright blue eyes darted back and forth across the inside of the submarine, and her pouty lips were as wordless as the quiet depths of the sea. After she had told us her name, she had spoken nothing more.
No one on the sub knew where she had come from. No one could explain how a woman could find herself floating so far out at sea, alive. Then again, there were a lot of things about this trip that no one could explain. I was still racking my brains for ideas that could solve the mystery of the beautiful castaway when one of the submarine's crew began to sedate the passengers again. Soon, we would reach the island. I adjusted my khaki Dharma jumpsuit and made myself comfortable for the nap that would come. As I began to lose consciousness, the shivering woman's eyes met my gaze; and I fell asleep, wondering if I would ever see Juliet again.
--- ---
When we arrived at the island, I was pleased to see that Juliet was still with us. She was dry, and less jittery. There was still a look of concern on her face, but she seemed a lot more calm than before. A little too calm, I would say, because the rest of us were still feeling queasy from the sedatives that we got in the submarine. Juliet didn't seem drowsy at all.
Apparently, she received special treatment. This was further confirmed when a man driving a small golf cart drove up to the submarine dock to pick her up. The rest of us were meant to cram inside a blue van with the Dharma Initiative logo on it. Just before I stepped inside the van, I turned to glance at Juliet again. Our eyes met once more, this time, like they did in the submarine. For some reason, it felt as if I hadn't been the only one stealing glances in the other's direction.
I hesitated to get inside the van, and this led her to approach me, leaving the man in the golf cart to wait. "Hi Juliet", I said, betraying my secret of hoping that she wanted to talk to me.
"Hello", she said back, "What's your name?"
"I'm-", but I never got to finish my sentence. The man in the golf cart interrupted, in annoyed tones, "He can come with us, Juliet. We have to go!"
Juliet nodded towards the golf cart, then walked away from me. She didn't turn to check up on me, but her confidence was right. I followed.
The man in the golf cart was a short, balding, middle-aged man with pale skin and beady eyes. He had a soothing voice, albeit a sharp tongue. "You choose the best of times to socialize and make new friends, Juliet", the man driving the golf cart said, with obvious sarcasm.
"I didn't know one had to wait for specific times to be friendly, Ben", Juliet responded.
"Sometimes specific times is all we have left to go by", Ben muttered, and the golf cart sped off.
--- ---
We rode silently for a while, the golf cart following a dirt path away from the coast and towards the grassy hills inside of the island. I had to break the silence to ask some questions, "Why didn't we follow the Dharma van? Are we going somewhere different?"
"Yes, Ben, where ARE we going?", added Juliet.
"We are going to find your friends, Juliet", was Ben's cool and collected reply, "Your real friends. Whatever it is that the 'smoke monster' is playing at, it means we can't trust anyone. Everyone can be not who they say they are. I can't even trust MYSELF!"
"So, who are we looking for?", Juliet asked.
"We're looking for Jack", Ben said, matter-of-factly.
"Wait, what? Jack-who?", I had to intervene, "And what are you talking about, you can't trust yourself?? And you can trust Jack??"
"Yes, actually, Jack is the only one we CAN trust", said Ben.
"Why?", Juliet asked.
At that very moment, the golf cart's two-way radio came to life. After a quick second of static, a female voice was heard to say, "Ben? Did you pick up the package?"
I could immediately see that Juliet was as stunned as I. The voice coming from the walkie-talkie was from Juliet herself!!
"We can trust Jack", Ben said, coolly, "Because Jack's the only one that's the only Jack on the island."
"Ben... Ben!", the walkie-Juliet continued.
Ben picked up the radio, and spoke into it, "Yes, dear, I have the package. As a matter of fact, you just startled the heck outta the package."
After a short silence, and a few glares at Ben from Juliet, the radio spoke again, "Tell me the passcode Ben."
Ben slowed down the golf cart, then let it come to a complete halt. He picked up the radio, and moved it near his mouth, but did not speak into it.
"Ben, please tell me", the Juliet through the radio insisted, "If you are the Ben I know, you must tell me the passcode, now!"
Ben sighed, put the walkie-talkie down, and turned off the radio. "Well, that was fun while it lasted", he said, with a grin on his face, "Hang on to something!" Then, he sped the cart off the dirt path and into a patch of jungle!
"What are you doing?!", I cried out, "Shouldn't we stay on the road?!"
Ben almost chuckled when he said, "Son, where we're going, we don't need roads!"
Juliet laughed, and replied, "This is a golf cart, Ben. It would have sounded out much better if you had said that while driving a DeLorean."
"Don't look at me!", Ben snapped back, "Apparently, that Cuse and Lindelof guys are BttF fans..."
And suddenly, Ben had to slam on the brakes. The jungle foliage had opened up into a clearing, and a large white slab of a wall stood before us in front of the golf cart. The wall had a small entrance hatch with a Dharma Initiative logo of a swan on it.
"There's only one way to save us from this time, THIS time!", said Ben, as he looked up at the hatch entrance. "And, oh!", he turned to me, and added, "Make sure you get rid of that jumpsuit, kid. I'm sure her boyfriend will not like seeing it!"
Juliet rolled her eyes at the comment made about her, as I quickly began to take off my Dharma Initiative jumpsuit, to remain in my civilian clothes.
"Is... Jack... your boyfriend?", I asked Juliet.
She hesitated, then gave me a warm smile before responding, "If I'm right about this particular moment in time, it's a bit complicated."
Her eyes followed my Dharma jumpsuit as I placed it on the seat of the golf cart, beside me. Her smile threatened to fade away, but it stayed. As Juliet kept looking at it, I read the name that was tagged onto it for the very first time. It said: LaFleur.
"It's time to go", said Ben, and he led us away from the golf cart, and to the hatch of the Swan station.
When Ben opened the hatch... I woke up.
-Roob'n
