Disclaimer: I do not own Lost.
Chapter 7
It was Daniel's eighteenth birthday, but it didn't really matter to him. He had a presentation due the next day for school, so that was his main focus. He had never been good in front of large groups of people, so presentations made him extremely nervous. He had already gotten his gifts from his mother, and he had no other family members, so he was not expecting anything else. He was interrupted from his work by his mother entering his room.
"Daniel" she said in her prominent accent. Even after living in America all this time, she had not lost it. It was one of the many things that separated him from everyone else in his neighborhood.
"Hi, mom. Is this important? Because…I've got this presentation tomorrow" he spoke exasperatedly.
"Actually, it is" Eloise Hawking replied. It shocked Daniel, and he put down his work and turned to look at her. "I have something else for you"
"Can it wait?" Daniel asked, attempting to return to his work.
"No" Mrs. Hawking sighed and continued. "When you were five, a man came to visit me while you were at school. I had seen him once before, when I was a teenager. Twenty-five years had passed, yet he had not aged a day. The first time I saw him, he told me that he was from the future. I didn't believe him then. I believed him the second time I saw him, though. He gave me something, and told me to give it to you on your 18th birthday. I took the object, but I debated about giving it to you for years. Eventually, I realized that you were supposed to receive it. That is why he wanted me to give it to you" She paused in her story to hand him a journal. "This is what he gave me. He said there's a letter in there for you. Hopefully it will give you answers"
Daniel stared at the book in his hands, and didn't even notice when his mother left the room. Once his curiosity got the best of him, he opened it and a folded piece of paper fell out. He opened it, and the first thing he noticed was it was written in his own handwriting.
Daniel,
I'm not supposed to do this, but I don't care about the rules pertaining to time travel anymore. I am you, only I am eleven years older than you are now. The journal you have just received is mine. I wrote it throughout my lifetime. It has a variety of information in it: my experiments, things that happened to me, and people that are important to me. I cannot change my past, but I may be able to indirectly change someone's future. I've already attempted to change what became my biggest regret. I think I succeeded, but I am not sure. If I haven't, then it's up to you. My biggest regret is simple to understand, I believe. A few months ago, I met a woman named Charlotte Lewis. She's beautiful, intelligent, sarcastic, friendly, funny, helpful, and tough. She is fiercely independent, and stubborn. I fell in love with her. I met her on an expedition. I am sure your mother told you about time travel. That is what killed her. The place where we traveled to, an island, is a place where normal rules do not apply. Something happened, and it caused the island or the people on it to travel through time. I'm not sure which. Charlotte died because of this, from what appeared to be a brain aneurysm. She was only twenty-five. I go more in-depth about this in the journal, but I feel you should know the basics. I promised her I'd save her, that nothing would happen to her. I failed her, and I refuse to let it happen again. When I found myself in 1979, I realized that I could change everything. I hope I succeeded.
Daniel was obviously confused about the letter. Despite his confusion, he pushed aside his homework, opened the journal, and began to read. He read the journal practically nonstop, and was barely aware of anything happening around him when he could not read it. His head was swimming with everything he had discovered. There were places where the writing was faded, including a point where he could no longer read what he assumed were rather important numbers, if the lines underneath them were any indication. He realized that he must wait to find out, though. He was still skeptical about time travel, but the journal did make him believe that it could be possible.
Four Years Later
Daniel had just gotten a teaching position as a physics professor at Oxford University, but already his colleagues knew about his feelings on time travel, and they treated him cautiously, as if he was strange. He was used to it, though. He had been treated that way for years. Although he would be teaching at Oxford, he would also be working on his doctorate. His mother had traveled to England with him, but settled in a different area.
He had been there for only a couple weeks, and while he was running late for a class that he was supposed to teach, he literally ran into a girl.
"I'm …so - -so sorry" he stuttered because he was so nervous. "Are - -are you okay?"
"I'm fine" the girl replied in a clear British accent, standing up. He took a good look at her. She couldn't have been more than seventeen. She had red hair, and clear blue eyes. She was also wearing a necklace that looked like the one that was described in the journal. His heart skipped a beat. Could this be Charlotte? He almost didn't notice when she continued speaking. "Maybe this is a clue saying I shouldn't go to school here, if random people will run me over"
"Despite what you may think, that doesn't…happen very of - -often here" Daniel smiled.
"Still, maybe I should think this place through more" she replied, dusting off her jacket.
Daniel was thinking of something else to say, when a woman came rushing over. "Charlotte, where were you? You were right behind me, and then you disappeared" Daniel felt a sense of elation. The girl's name was Charlotte.
Charlotte muttered something in what sounded like Latin, rolled her eyes, and looked at her mother. "I'm fine, mum. I tripped, and this man helped me up. That's all" she insisted in an annoyed tone of voice. Daniel looked at the woman, and he realized that the girl had to be Charlotte. The mother looked just as she was described in the journal.
Charlotte's mother looked at Daniel, and then did a double take, as if he had looked vaguely familiar to her. She studied him, and then shook her head. "We've got to get going, Charlotte. We're supposed to meet up with your father and sisters soon"
"Can you give me a minute?" Charlotte asked.
Her mother sighed. "Fine. I'll be waiting over there"
Once she was far enough away, Daniel spoke. "Why didn't you tell her I ran into you?"
"It wasn't important. Besides, I like making her think I'm a klutz. Her disappointed face makes me want to laugh" Charlotte replied, and she began to play with her necklace. "I've got to get going, but it was nice talking to you"
"Bye. Maybe - -Maybe I'll see you around" Daniel looked at his watch. Even though he was going to show up almost fifteen minutes late, he was in a surprisingly good mood. He met the girl that he would eventually fall in love with. This was his first indication that the writer of the journal was telling the truth. Now, he just had to wait and see what else would come his way.
