Chapter two

By: Amee Eliza

"Ben your bride is ready." Tom poked his head in his regular old jolly way.

Ben tightened his tie. It was rose pink and his tie was black and spiffy. Ben frowned at his reflection in the mirror and leaned against the wall.

It was his sole support now.

This was a dream. This was not suppose to happen. Juliet, love him? This was a joke!

But the blonde haired fertility doctor was his alone. She loved him and he loved her.

All there past seemed to be forgotten by each other but they both remembered. Ben remembered her affair with Goodwin and her infatuation with Jack. This all hurt him but he never told. Juliet remembered how she had accused him of killing Goodwin and how he wouldn't let her off the island. She knew now why he couldn't let her slip away.

Ben had seen the future and call it crazy but it was true. He knew she was "suppose" to stay on the island. Ben was glad things ended the way they did. He was glad Jack was gone and the castaways free.

But some stood their ground and insisted to stay on the island. They were now members of the group. John stayed (which didn't surprise Ben), Sawyer (the rebel did deserve a new life didn't he), and Rose and Bernard.

They loved the island. All in different measurements and degrees.

John understood this nostalgia of the island more than anyone.

Sawyer was good natured and determined. Ben knew he could count on him.

Rose and Bernard helped with the children Zack and Emma and Bernard even commented that he might help Ben with his "bad teeth."

This was too serene. Was the sun really shining with so warmth and life? Or would it fall down suddenly like Dorothy's house in The wizard of oz?

Ben knew Juliet and him still had a lot to speak of. He knew a marriage must have clear communication and that love must be imparted to each other.

But he was so afraid. So scared. His heart raced. He didn't know how to be a good husband. What if he wasn't good enough for her?

The kiss was also a dread. He had never kissed a girl. He never admitted it to anyone but his friend Annie. She did not laugh or torment him about this fact. But understood his decision to not be revealing with his emotions.

His heart hurt. Was this how a man was suppose to feel on his wedding day?'

The room was still. The over sheet was Christmas green but the covers were mottled.

He stared at it and smiled. Then shivered.

The lamps were set in their places on the drawers and bed stand. A copy of Of mice and men lay on the bed.

He remembered when Lennie grew scared he could not think and killed things and somehow Ben understood his woe. The world was such a cold place. To live there was only one joy as Steinbeck said again and again: to be with other people. To share lives together in joy, tumult, sorrow, rage, love, hate, loss, redemption. It all was not so bland but a deep hole that sucked many to the deep. Like a rip current pulling children out further into the waters. Murky sea waters where who knows what creeps.

He remembered well what it was to be small and helpless. He had eaten the dust and he had eaten the cake in his life. Rodger was gone and Ben regarded it with glacial feelings. They tortured him but he didn't notice. He had put them on so many times they had grown in him, like a coat put on again and again in stormy weather.

Would there ever be a calm?

"Ben get your butt out there." John squealed.

He noticed Ben's face was towards the wall.

"Having a nice conversation?" John broke in through the silence with good humor.

Ben shivered.

"Coming." He said like there was a frog in his throat.

He came down the island and he looked at the faces. Some smiled and some looked around at the breeze's blowing of the palms.

It was a sunny day and the white gazebo looked happy.

The sea was heard and then she came.

I will love you always.


Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed. And if you couldn't tell I was trying really hard to dig deep into the mind of Ben. I love "Of mice and Men." Tell me what you think brotha!