Dharma Days: Return to the island
Episode 1.1 "The One and Only"
December, 2nd, 2009 (Day 1)
The sun began to rise as he lied there motionless and still, until the salty water of the sea rose up over the dock of the Pala ferry and splashed Dom in the face. He awoke quiet and out of breath as if the terrible occurrence had happened only minutes ago, his eyes focused and squinted at the bright light of the sun and a figure appeared in the distance on the beach.
Dom slowly tried to stand on his feet, but was too weak. The man still standing on the beach appeared hefty with long curly brown hair, and had a strange smile on his face. Dom had almost gotten to his feet when he collapsed to his knees, his muscles weak and his throat was dry, he attempted to shout for help "Hel…" but he couldn't finish, the hefty man turned around and vanished into the thickness of the jungle.
The trees began to sway and the clouds grew nearer and nearer, a drop of rain landed on his forehead and in a sudden fury it began to poor. Dom held up his weak and trembling hands to hold as much water as he could, he would have swallowed a gallon of water if his hands allowed it. His strength slowly returned to him as he stood tall and made his way towards the beach quiet and confused.
The fire was finally lit after hours of trying and the sun was nearly down, thoughts swirled in Dom's head, who was that man on the beach, why was this happening to me? And my family was what if there…, He stopped and didn't want to think of that last one, imagining of it almost brought him to tears as he huddled around the fire. A gust of wind burrowed through the trees as they began to sway relentlessly, just then a sound began to lurk out of the jungle.
Dom began to notice aloud rapid talking as if 50 people were whispering from the trees, as he turned to the jungle in panic the whispering grew more intense, the incoherent babbling made no sense to him. He stumbled for the largest rock he could find, "who's there" Dom shouted aggressively "Come out" Suddenly the whispering came to a halt, the beach grew quiet and the wind slowed, the branches and leaves departed as a man stepped half way out of the jungle.
It wasn't the same man from before this was different man he thought, his skin was dark and his eyes were empty. Dom leaned back nearly ready to throw the rock, the man slowly raised a finger to his lips "Shhhh". His empty eyes stared directly at Dom's as he slowly walked backwards and disappeared into the jungle.
What is going on thought Dom who contemplated that maybe he had somehow ended up in the twilight zone? The man couldn't be too far, he rushed into the jungle not thinking of the consequence he may face after he caught up with the man, branches poked and cut him as he rushed through the thickness breathing abnormally his heart raced and his ears heard all the life of the jungle. Dom stopped in his tracks after his saw the man standing still no more than 15 feet in front of him, the jungle got quiet as he slowly approached the motionless man "Who are you" said a obviously frightened Dom, right then the ground beneath him gave way as he landed in a large hole in the ground.
His back was the first thing to hit the ground, as he rolled over to his stomach with the wind completely knocked out of him, his eyes and jaw both clenched, the sound of footsteps threw Dom's mind away from the pain as he looked up to see several men above him, his eyes particularly focused on the one man who had the gun, they began to pull a large tarp over the trap hole "We got him" said the man with the facial scars.
Dom scrambled to his feet and charged the wall of the dirt hole "Let me out of here" he shouted, the man above continued to point the gun at him as they stared off until the hole was covered, "This isn't right" Dom screamed furiously.
Flashback
The boat sailed over clear water, as it had done for several days since it left port in Santa Cruz. Dom began to scroll through several pages of college sites, he had wanted to go to Columbia but didn't know when to tell his father but hadn't a clue of how he would react. Peter strolled up to the top deck with a beer in hand and kissed his wife Amanda who was steering the boat in her favorite sun dress, the sky was a clear crescent blue without a cloud in sight as peter walked over to his son.
"Hey son what are you doing? Wondered peter in a positive manner, Dom had thought of ways to make the next words to come out of his mouth easier on his father but hadn't come up with anything clever "Uhm, well I was actually looking at which college I wanted to attend". Peter looked away from his son in distain "why do you want leave us" peter uttered the same words to Dom's older brother a couple years ago, he continued to move away from his son as if he were ashamed.
"Dad, why do you have to be this way, I have a life and I don't want to waste it" Said Dom who truly believed in his words but knew his father did not. "You think I'm wasting your life? The world out there is dangerous son, I'm protecting you" Dom raced over to his father in aggravation and shouted "you call this protecting me, you drag us all out to sea for weeks at a time, you've practically brainwashed Hal into thinking if he had left something bad would happen to you and mom".
Peter appeared visibly upset by what his son had said and didn't want to continue "I'm not going to have this conversation with you" as he began to walk towards the stern Amanda had noticed storm clouds rolling in from across the sea "Maybe I want to have it" said Dom who stood firm and restless, Peter ignored this and approached his wife who looked shaken, "Peter look a storm" said Amanda who starred vigilant.
Peter recognized the ominous and large storm clouds in the distance as it drew near, he feared for his family's safety "Dom go downstairs with your brother" Dom stayed and did not acknowledge his father "Now!" shouted a furious peter who's eyes showed the seriousness of his words. He had no choice but to listen "This isn't right dad" he said with animosity as he headed below deck.
Present
The tarp was moved by the man with the facial scars, the man with the gun climbed his way down into the hole with Dom, "What's your name" said the man with the gun. Dom moved towards the wall of the ditch very quiet and did not reply, the man with the gun grew anxious and angry as he repeated his question "I said what is your name" as he pulled back the trigger and shot the ground as to get some response from Him, "Stop, stop…my name is Dominic Withrow" thrusting out both his arms as if to surrender.
"Ok now Dominic, how did you get here" The man remained a steady finger on the trigger, still pointing at Dominic intending on killing him if he moved. His eyes fixated on the man's gun "I was on a boat, there was a storm and I woke up not too far from here" With his shaking hand Dom pointed to the direction he came from " There's a dock that way, if you let me out of here I'll show you it".
The man with the facial scars shouted "He's lying, kill him Emanuel" Emanuel looked behind and upwards to the other man "Fletch, Shut up now" With Emanuel now not looking Dom took his chances and charged him, they both quickly hit the dirt wall as Emanuel dropped the gun, Both throwing punches not knowing where they would land.
The upper hand fell to Dom who picked up Emanuel's gun, he held it with inexperience and doubt, but forcefully shouted to Fletch "Now get me out of this hole, or I shoot him". Fletch quickly grabbed the rope and lowered it down to Dom, he grabbed hold while pointing it at anyone he thought may attack him. Dom breathed a sigh of relief once he was out, all the while pointing the gun at fletch "Who are you people and why did you trap me in a hole" he said in a curious and demanding tone.
Fletch jumped at the question "you know dam well why" the exhausted looking women standing just behind him grabbed Fletch by the shoulder "Fletch that isn't him" she said in a very quiet and relieved way. Fletch jerked his shoulder away from her touch "Stay out of this Sarah" he yelled, The man standing behind Sarah Advanced aggressively towards Fletch's face "Don't you talk to her like that" Fletch eagerly stuck his face closer to the man's "What are you going to do about it Morris".
The tension grew thick, as Dom who still held the gun was nearly forgotten, an older man collectedly pushed the two away from each other "You both need to stop, Fletch I believe Sarah is right this kid can't be the person were looking for, she said he was older" recounted the older man in a calm voice, Dom began to lower his gun.
A wave of remembrance and relief washed over all the members of their group. the older man approached Dom "My names Nolan Graysmith kid, you don't have to worry, this was all a big misunderstanding" Dom finally lowered his guard as Nolan pointed to the dirt hole that Emanuel still stood anxiously in "Get Emanuel out of there" Morris grabbed the rope and lowered it down to him as Fletch helped pull Emanuel up "Good now let's all head back to camp" said Nolan.
Emanuel strode over to Dom who still held his gun, he looked him in the eyes grabbed his gun and looked away in some kind of remorse. Fletch angrily rushed his way through the jungle as everyone began their short trek through the jungle.
Dom cautiously tailed along not far behind the group, Nolan looked back towards Dom "Don't worry everything will be alright" as he flashed a quick smile and continued through jungle.
Flashback
The storm had started to rock the boat back and forth rapidly, Hal and Dom had waited for their father to steer them into the clear but the storm was everywhere, it didn't seem to end.
Hal sits in a chair with a blanket covering his legs, as Dom lies in his bed looking through the small window below deck."Dad told me what you said" says Hal as he looks in Dom's direction in distaste. "yea and what's that "Dom tosses to his other side to look at Hal," That you want to leave and never come back" Hal waits in nervousness and anger to hear his brothers response "maybe I do " Says Dom not knowing if he really believes he should, he stands up and quickly heads up the stairs.
"Well maybe it's for the best if you leave as soon as possible, we don't need you anyways" Remarks Hal with seriousness and anger in his voice as Dom exits the cabin not looking back.
Peter at the wheel notices larger waves in the distance as Dom approaches his mother "We've never been in a storm this bad before" Amanda trying to hold back her fear and contain it replies "Don't worry everything will be alright" As she's looks at her son, suddenly a wave hammers the bottom of the ship sending it tilting almost completely over, the sudden shift sends Dominic over the side of the boat as he viciously hits the water.
Peter and Amanda notice their son fall overboard into the sea "Dominic!" Shouts a terrified Peter and Amanda, Peter run for the life preserver and toss it out to his son. Dom struggles to stay above the waves as he reaches the life preserver, knowing he could be engulfed by the abundant waves at any second.
The boat is soon dragged swift and clear from Dom's sight, but he still shouts for his father who he hopes is still alive, "Daad!" he screams.
Present
Nolan had informed Dom of how they had gotten to the island and why they had traps set up to catch someone, Dom couldn't believe that there was someone out there in the jungle who had taken a women named Caroline the wife of Fletch, And that the person is still out there and could come back at anytime.
Dom walked over to the Jet, its left wing had snapped off in midair and laid about 100 feet down the beach, the landing had only killed one of the people on board, and the co pilot, Nolan stood behind Dom as he overlooked the plane "Their names were Chuck Zimmerman and Harold Heffernan".
Dom looked behind him to see Nolan who was teary eyed and softly speaking, he had noticed a good deal about Nolan the most noticeable was his voice it came off peaceful and strong like a leaders "Chuck was a good man, a great business partner and my best friend for the past 40 years, see you don't really know a person until they full open up to you, and in those last moments as he died in my arms he showed true bravery, and I'm grateful for that last moment".
Nolan patted Dom's shoulder and strolled off calmly towards his tent, Dom had wondered why Nolan had been so open with him, and he had never really experienced that kind of emotional bonding with someone.
He had nearly finish building his tent with the supplies Nolan had given him, when he noticed fletch starring at him, he knew the others believed he had something to do with Caroline's disappearance with the exception of Nolan and maybe Emanuel, but Dom didn't care. Emanuel staggered over to Dom as he grinded his teeth in nervousness "Look, I'm sorry about earlier, these past 14 days haven't been easy for us, and with meeting you it only added to the stress".
Emanuel seemed sincere in his apology, he looked worn down, but it didn't seem to bother him, it's as if he had been through this kind of thing before. They both shared quick smiles "its ok, I understand, I have a lot I'm dealing with right now too" said Dom as he reached out his hand and shook Emanuel's.
"Hey where's the guy who lured me into the trap I haven't seen him" said Dom curiously "What are you talking about; you walked right into it yourself?" Emanuel had a slight laugh thinking that Dom was hallucinating as he walked back towards his tent.
Dom was nearly asleep when he heard something coming from a distance, he looked out past the other tents-everyone had been fast asleep, he pushed his hair back and grabbed a torch from the fire, the noise got louder as he walked down the beach, as Dom had gotten closer he could see Emanuel and a man in a white coat fighting, the man had begun to beat Emanuel into the sand punching him over and over again until Emanuel went limb.
Dom rushed the white coated man, as he tackled him into the sand he threw a punch but the man evaded it, the man violently launched Dom off of him with all his strength hitting him in the face twice and finally kicking him in the gut.
In spite of everything Dom had done the man had left him at a halt and in pain on the ground, only for Dom to watch an unconscious Emanuel be dragged out into the jungle, the man didn't seem to notice that Dom had picked a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket, as he laid there the only thing Dom could make out of the man was a patch on his coat, it looked like a…Swan.
Bio: Dillon Connolly has been a Long time lost Fan since the show premiered; He is an Aspiring writer and is looking to make his mark. He hopes to one day become an author to share with everyone his gift of storytelling. His favorite TV shows include Supernatural, Dexter and it's always sunny in Philadelphia.