Reading Between the Lines

by Dreamality

Disclaimer: Lost and all related characters, settings, plots, etc. belong to J.J. Abrams and ABC. I claim no ownership and make no money from this venture.

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Liberty (Jack POV)

"Our lives suck."

While he would never admit it to anyone, Jack did not consider Hurley to be of above average intelligence. He was truly a hard worker with a good heart, but he was lacking in the intellectual department. While he did not exactly consider himself superior to Hurley, Jack did feel that he had a better grasp on reality than the sweet-tempered man.

When he saw the makeshift golf course Jack's first reaction was disbelief. They had just crashed on an island. They needed to focus on surviving, not playing inane games! Didn't Hurley see that? Couldn't he understand?

Then Hurley explained. And Jack listened. And reconsidered his earlier judgment of Hurley.

It took Hurley's unique point of view to open their eyes. Their lives truly did suck, but was it the result of the crash or of their own mindsets that made it so? Was there some rulebook somewhere stating that if one were to crash on a deserted island and miraculously survive one was meant to live a life of utter sucking? After considering it, Jack decided that he was sure there wasn't. Apparently Hurely was in agreement, and he had possessed the foresight to recognize this fact long before the PhD-possessing Jack.

So Jack gripped the seven iron in his hands. He took a deep breath. As he raised the golf club, he felt the tension melt from his shoulder and for just one little instant Jack's mind was free from worry and responsibility. Hurley was right. They needed this release.

That just begged the question: Could Hurley be right about the dinosaurs?

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Solitary (Danielle POV)

"I think you've been alone for too long."

Alone. Yes, I have been alone, more alone than you could ever know. It is more than being the only person on this island. It is more than having no one to talk to for over a decade. It is being lost in the dark void of loss, drowning in grief with no one to save me, being strangled by my own guilt.

Do you know what it's like to kill a loved one? Perhaps you do. Perhaps you understand better than anyone could. Yet you still had hope. You still had a chance of finding her, this Nadia you speak of so tenderly.

I had no hope. I took all hope away the instant my finger touched the trigger. I saw his face as he stared at me, horror-struck, begging me to spare him. Didn't he understand? I couldn't. He had become a danger, not only to himself by to me, our child, and potentially the world should we be rescued. So I closed my eyes to block out the image of his face and tried to ignore his protests. Then the gunshot went off and the impact of the gun sent me flying backwards. I fell onto the ground and lay there for a long while. I could hear the breath leave his lungs and the blood deep out of the wound. I could hear his anguished soul still calling to me, and at that moment I realized how alone I truly was, and would be for the rest of my life.

I had to do it. I had to kill him. And then I was alone. I sentenced myself to solitary confinement. For so many nights I lay awake, looking at the sky and wishing he were here with me to count shooting stars. For so many nights I lay awake, regretting my decision.

Perhaps, sometime during my time alone, I did go crazy. Perhaps I am insane and you have a right to look at me so pityingly.

Yet why do I feel as though I have a stronger grasp on that which we call reality than you ever have?

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Playing the Game

"Pretending to be something I know you're not."

How is it that she sees through him? How can she see beyond the carefully structured façade, the outer wall he so meticulously constructed? It was this way when they were little as well. She saw what he could not.

Sayid wished he didn't have to pretend anymore. He wished he could be free like her, free to stand up against the wickedness and the terror. She was so much stronger than him, he realized as he stared into her defiant eyes, asking her to give in and answer their questions.

Sayid didn't want to pretend. He just wasn't strong enough to stop. And his weakness cost him a piece of his soul.

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To Be Continued…