It all started when I turned that key and saw my life flash before my eyes. Wait, no, that's not what it was. I went back, into my past, and I tried to change things but I couldn't. And that woman, that old woman who sold me a ring I never used, she seemed to know so much. Things she couldn't have known. And she told me I couldn't change things.

Well, I was never one for obeying orders. I saw Charlie Pace die, I saw him electrocuted and I saw him drown, and I kept him alive both times. I changed things, and for now he's still alive. I can't help thinking, as I live my life here on the beach, that maybe I can save him, once and for all.

And whenever I do, I think back to the old woman and she's telling me that I can't change his fate, or anyone else's.

The day everything changed started as a very ordinary day on the beach. I woke up – I'm still getting used to sleeping for longer than 108 minutes at a time – got some fruit for breakfast, worked on my shelter, made a few improvements. In the afternoon I sat down to rest, and I ended up falling asleep in the warm sunshine.

I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and my eyes flew open. I saw a small boy with brown skin and dark hair standing next to me.

"Who are you?"

The boy smiled, but didn't answer, and instead started to walk away.

"Wait!"

He stopped and turned back to me, beckoning to me to follow him.

"Is this a dream?"

He nodded, smiling broadly, and beckoned to me again. I got to my feet and hurried after him. He led me towards the jungle, disappearing into a mass of foliage. I hesitated for a moment, then I saw a small brown hand emerge from the leaves, grasp my hand, and pull me in after him. I stumbled forward, pushing branches away with my free hand, so it came as quite a shock when I found myself not in the middle of a jungle but standing on a busy street in a city that looked a lot like New York. I felt a soft tug at my hand, and when I looked down I saw the little boy walking away from me. He paused quickly, and turned back to smile at me once again. Then he pointed at something behind me, and disappeared into the crowd. I turned to see what he had been pointing at, and the first thing I saw was a Japanese man with glasses who appeared to be carrying a sword across his back. He smiled, a broad cheerful grin, and said in heavily-accented English "Do you know the Cheerleader?" before moving away. Then I looked around, and saw that most of people around me had disappeared, leaving only a few standing alone or in small groups. A blonde woman and a small boy with dark curly hair, a man dressed as a police officer, a man in a smart business suit standing with a younger man in hospital scrubs. A pretty teenage girl in a cheerleader's outfit and a man in a paint-spattered artist's smock.

Save the cheerleader…

I heard the whisper, but I couldn't work out where it was coming from. It… echoed… around me, then I heard the rest of the phrase.

…save the world

I saw the young man in scrubs, the Japanese man and the artist walk over to the girl in the cheerleader's outfit, and I watched them guide her away in safety. Then, the other people started to turn and walk away in silence. I looked around, tried to talk to someone, but no-one could hear me. I saw the little brown-skinned boy appear once more, but this time he went straight to a tall Indian man, and they walked away together – though the boy turned and waved at me before he disappeared.

Eventually, I was left alone on a deserted city street. I searched for someone – anyone – who could tell me what was going on. Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder, and when I turned I saw the Japanese man smiling up at me again.

"Hello. Um… who are you?"

"My name is Hiro Nakamura. I was sent to America with a mission. And now, I must pass on a message. Please, what is your name?"

"Uh…Hume. Desmond Hume. What message, what mission?"

"You are Desmond Hume? This is good, this is very good, the message is for you, sir."

"What message?"

"It is very short. The message is "Save the junkie, and you can save them all." Do you understand that, Mr Hume?"

"I don't know… is there anything else?"

"That is all. But do not fear. I was given a similar mission, to save the Cheerleader. I am sure that if you can save the Junkie, whoever they are, you will succeed."

"Uh.. I really don't know what's happening…"

"I have to go now, but remember – Save the junkie, save the world. It is most important."

Then the little Japanese man disappeared, walking away from me just as the other people had. And then, I turned once more, and saw the jungle behind me. I took a deep breath, and pushed through the branches and leaves. Then I felt a branch hit the back of my head, and I woke up back, lying on the sand near my shelter. I sat up, and rubbed my eyes, and found that I still had those words drifting through my mind…save the junkie, save the world.

I spent most of the day thinking over what I'd seen. I suppose anyone else would have written the experience off as a dream, but I know better. I don't know what happened, and I don't know how it happened, but I know it's important. I spent so long thinking about those six words, staring out to sea and trying to make some sense of it all.

When it started to get dark, Claire came over with some fruit, holding the baby on her hip. She put the food down and sat down on the sand next to me.

"Desmond? Are you all right?"

"What? Oh, Claire…" I looked down at the sand and saw the fruit she'd brought. "You brought food… thanks."

"I noticed you've been sitting here most of the day, I thought you could do with something to eat."

"Yea, I've had a lot to think about."

"Do you feel like talking about it?"

"I don't think it would make sense to you. It barely makes sense to me."
"Well, if you need someone to talk to, you know where my tent is."

"I might take you up on that."

Claire got up then, and headed back to her tent where Charlie was waiting. I watched her walk over to him, watched her put Aaron down in his crib, watched her kiss Charlie on the cheek as they sat down to eat together.

Then I remembered… Charlie had been a heroin addict, hadn't he? In one of our talks, Claire had told me all about it. She'd been so worried about him after he found those statues full of the stuff in the jungle, she said.

Save the junkie, save them all. Well, Charlie was the only person on the island who could possibly be described as a junkie. So if saving everyone else – Claire and her little son, Hurley, Rose and the others who lived on the beach – meant saving Charlie, then Charlie had to be saved.

I smiled then, remembering what the old woman had told me about not being able to change things. I knew in that moment, that she was wrong. I knew what I had to do.

Save the junkie, save the world.