Evelyn stretched her arms and legs, her toes burrowing into the sand. It was another warm day on the Island, the sand was already hot. The young woman was not sure how long it had been since the plane crash; it was at least a month. She had never imagined that her research trip to the Australian Outback would end in tragedy. She didn't mind not being back home, there was nothing for her there, except nagging professors wondering when she was going to complete her master's thesis. It was just all so pointless, many people had died; only a handful survived. Evelyn had a feeling that there would be more deaths and soon. Standing to her feet, she grabbed her messenger bag and went to her morning appointment.

Fate had a funny sense of humor, Evelyn thought. It threw the most random people together on the Island. There was an artist, a soldier, a non-English speaking couple, a rock star; plenty of people could shoot a gun, a conman, a convict, a doctor…and many more. It was interesting to watch as people paired up and became friends or lovers. Evelyn hadn't really joined a specific group; she was friendly with everyone and helped out when asked. She thought it would be easier to keep to her self, because at first she had figured they would be rescued soon. But now she was starting to reconsider.

The Island itself was strange. There were noises that came from the jungle that did not sound human or animal. People reported seeing and hearing a monster. Evelyn herself saw black puffs of smoke popping up in the jungle, but it never bothered her. There was an odd French woman that would appear every now and then, claiming there were other people in the Island that were infected with a virus or disease. A polar bear was shot and killed. Everything seemed too unreal…like they were characters in a novel.

Evelyn found Rose sitting on a driftwood log along the beach. They had started coming early in the morning, sitting on a log and staring out at the blue ocean. They would not say much to each other, but just enjoyed the company. Evelyn was the only one who knew Rose's battle with cancer and how she believed it was no longer plaguing her body. Evelyn didn't question the woman's adamant belief.

"Good Morning, Evie." Rose said with a smile. She was the only one to call Evelyn by that nickname. The young grad student returned the smile and sat next to the woman. They sat in silence for many moments before Rose spoke what was on her mind.

"Why do you choose to come and sit with me every day when you could spend time with all the other young people?" She turned to study the young woman.

Evelyn shrugged. "I don't know, I believe I have more in common with you than the other survivors."

"That's not the point Evie, you need to socialize more with the others. Who knows how long we will be on this Island and you won't survive if I am the only one you depend on."

Evelyn looked distressed by Rose's admonishment. "I talk to others."

"Walt and Vincent don't count. Honey, I am not condemning you. I think you would be a good asset to the think tank. You have a lot of experience that the others don't have."

"What good would a grad student, studying archaic storytelling be able to add?" Evelyn challenged.

"Well I'm sure you know a lot of interesting stories, which could help morale. Does any of what is going on remind you of a novel or folktale you studied?"

"Not completely, bits and pieces, but if we aren't careful we could become a real life "Lord of the Flies"." Evelyn answered. She did agree with what Rose was telling her, but she did not want to admit it to herself. She even had similar thoughts herself in the past couple of days. The two women entered into a companionable silence, once again.

"Do you think the raft will make it to another ship or boat?" Evelyn asked.

"For the sake of everyone else…I hope so." Rose answered with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"You don't want to leave, do you?" Evelyn said with some surprise.

"I don't think the Island will let us leave. We all have a purpose."

"On the Island or in life?" Evelyn asked the wise woman the question that seemed to plague everyone at some point in their life.

"Both." With that simple answer the woman smiled at Evelyn and stood slowly to her feet. Their morning meeting was over.

Evelyn stood to her feet and looked down to the main part of the beach. Charlie was sitting next to Claire with Aaron in his arms. Boone and Locke were headed into the jungle, off on another excursion. Jack and Kate were talking adamantly on the edge of the jungle; a golf club was in Jack's hand. In the opposite direction, Michael, Sawyer, and Jin were working on the raft that was the hope of all the survivors. Who should she go join? Everyone looked busy and occupied. Adjusting her bag on her shoulder she went towards the raft. As she started to cut into the jungle, someone called out to her.

"Hey, Carrots! Care to give us hand?" Sawyer asked.

Evelyn stopped mid-stride and looked at the southerner. If she had a penny for every time someone called her Carrots, she would not need to go to graduate school. A brief smile touched her lips as she thought of Anne Shirley breaking a slate over Gilbert Blythe's head for calling her "Carrots". Evelyn quickly erased the smile from her face and gave Sawyer a stern look.

"Carrots are orange, not red; James." She said turning on her heels and marching into the jungle. She could hear Michael chuckling behind her.

"I don't think she likes you much." Michael smiled, "And who's James?"

Sawyer ignored the question and continued with his work, his mind replaying his encounter with the red head. How did she know his real name? Why was she always going into the jungle with that bag? He smirked to himself when he realized he had absolutely no reason not to keep calling her Carrots.

Evelyn went further into the jungle, mentally kicking herself the entire way. How was she going to make new friends if she was going to be rude? But Sawyer had been just as rude…How could she call him James, he probably didn't want people to know his real name. She had always thought she was horrible at making friends; perhaps she had always been right. Evelyn opened her messenger bag and took out a thick blue book. She ran her fingers over the embossed title Outlander. Books had been her faithful friends for years and they hadn't let her down once. She sat against a tree, opened the book to a random page and began reading. Evelyn had read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon too many times to count she could pick up the story at any point. She settled herself in for a day of reading. She'd worry about making friends some other time.

As the light grew dim, closing yet another day on the Island, Evelyn stood to her feet and brushed off the back of her pants before replacing her book. After reading about the courage of Clare and Jamie she decided that tonight she would go and socialize with the rest of the survivors. It couldn't be that hard, she would just sit with them and eat her dinner. She didn't have to speak with them, just hang around them and maybe they would speak with her. There was more confidence in her gait as she went back to the beach.

The survivors were gathering around various campfires, to tell stories of the day's adventures. Evelyn spied an opens spot between Hurley and Shannon; Shannon looked like the last person she wanted to sit next to was Hurley. Sayid sat next to Shannon; he had an arm around her waist and was leaning against her shoulder. Charlie and Claire were sitting opposite Sayid and Shannon. Taking a deep breath Evelyn approached the group.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She asked just above a whisper, keeping her eyes to the ground.

"Sure thing." Hurley responded to the question with a warm smile. Evelyn looked him in the eye and returned the smile. Feeling more confident she took a seat in between Hurley and Shannon. The rest of the group smiled at her approach.

"Evelyn, right?" Sayid asked. She nodded.

Everyone continued with their conversations before Evelyn had arrived.

"So…what brings you to these parts?" Hurley asked turning to Evelyn. She looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.

"A plane crash." Hurley chuckled as a smile lit up his cherubic face. "That's a good one. I like that." The other's turned back to Evelyn smiling at her response.

"What do you do all day?" Shannon asked, making polite conversation.

Evelyn was about to answer when Jack, Kate and Sawyer joined them around the fire. Jack and Kate were carrying food.

"Looks like we got one more." Jack gave Evelyn a nod.

"I hope I am not intruding." Evelyn directed her eyes to the ground.

"Of course not." Kate handed her a piece of fruit. Evelyn bit into the mango, the sweet juices tickled her tongue. As she looked up she noticed that Sawyer was staring at her intently beneath a furrowed brow. She could feel heat rising up her neck and into her cheeks. She hoped no one else noticed, or if they did, thought is was because of the fire. She took another bit of her mango, determined not to let Sawyer's eyes bother her.

"So…"Hurley began again. "What were you doing in Australia?"

Evelyn swallowed. "I was researching aboriginal folktales. I am a grad student at small liberal college on the east coast."

"I guess that would mean you know a lot of stories and whatever." Hurley surmised. Evelyn nodded as she took another bite.

"Could you…tell us one?" Evelyn smiled at the thoughtful way Hurley spoke.

"I guess. Do you want to hear and Australian folktale or another culture?" She asked the group, avoiding Sawyer.

"Whatever you want." Jack suggested.

Evelyn thought for a moment about what would be the best story to tell in this situation. She decided to tell an American short story, The Yellow Wallpaper. As she told the story she became more animated, almost acting out the part of the disturbed young wife. During her ministrations she caught Sawyer's eye and the amused look in his face. When she was finished she returned to her seat. Everyone was silent. Evelyn watched the faces around her, some of them looked lost in thought and Claire and Hurley had a stricken look on their faces.

"Maybe I should have chosen something more uplifting." The young storyteller broke the smile.

"It was good. I would enjoy hearing more stories. It gives us something to think about besides all this." Sayid spoke motioning to the Island.

Sawyer stood to his feet and stretched. "Good job, Carrots." He came over to her and smiled down at her. When he was sure he had her full attention he bent down and whispered into her ear. "Welcome to the club…" He straightened up and walked away. The flush in Evelyn's cheeks intensified.

Much to Evelyn's relief the rest of the group seemed to ignore Sawyer's comment and started talking about the story. A smile eased itself across Evelyn's lips as she listened to everyone's opinion. It really wasn't that hard to make friends. An idea came to her as she listened to the discussion. Reaching into her shoulder bag Evelyn expected to remove Outlander, instead she pulled out her collection of The Chronicles of Narnia. She opened the bag wider, the blue book was missing.

"He took my book." Evelyn said under her breath.