Justine McNulty
Prof. Bea Opengart
Creative Writing
3 December 2009
God Doesn't Know How Long We've Been Here, John
The Life of Benjamin Linus (Lost)
Waves rumble and roll across the shore.
My ears feel as if they are filled with cotton.
Muffled, churning grumbles vibrate down to my eardrums.
How many years as it been without the constant murmur of water vibrating in my chest?
A baby girl, eyes as green as the jungle leaves.
Brown curls frame her porcelain face.
Rosy cheeks, tiny upturned nose.
My stomach churns as her peach colored lips
contort into a sour frown.
Shrieking sobs babble French at the star filled sky.
Dark mechanical tunnels filled with pipes and steam.
Angry, frightened eyes peer from behind steel bars.
I feel my lips move, my breath is calm and slow.
My eyes are fixed as my throat begins to tighten.
Ignorant screams constantly being slung.
Claws stretch and reach to catch my arms.
Her green eyes are older now, spilling over with hatred and contempt.
My mind always stays fixed as the ocean waves purr and simmer.
Her eyes are the blue sea spray, her hair the golden sand.
She smiles with ease, holds herself with such poise.
Dare to let our fingers touch. Her hand twitches away.
I see the rage simmering behind her furrowed brow.
A modest spread.
Ham glazed with a brown sugar shell.
Olive oil and rosemary encrusted vegetables.
Red wine blossoming from a crystal stem.
We sit at either end.
Her shoulders are square and tight, lips thin and pressed.
Sea spray eyes dull and cold.
Begging will get you nowhere in this place.
I have been groveling for years now.
The silence splinters painfully in my ears.
A drunken slur of mushy curses,
dribble down the graying stubble of his chin.
Tears snake along the creases around his dull brown eyes.
Murderer, he babbles.
You filthy, heartless murderer.
You killed her, you know that.
Don't you?
She died because of you.
She died so you could live.
A man stands amidst the trees, eyes dark and ageless.
I was only a child then, stumbling blindly through the seamy jungle.
Did you see her, here?
Can you see it too, Benjamin?
My glasses slip to the edge of my nose as I raise my chin to look at him.
My lip is quivering and I can't stop it.
I feel my kneed buckle.
Take me with you.
Please, God, take me with you.