Memories of Hope

Chapter 6: Cue the Sun

Hope followed the bullet with her eyes as it crossed in front of the wall of photographs. She strained her eyes to try and see the pictures inside the frames, but they were blurred and unrecognisable. The room hurtled past at breakneck speed, as the bullet tore towards the woman. The metal hit its target, and finally came the familiar sound of the gunshot as she fell to the ground.

Hope sat bolt upright as a new sound filled her ears. The woman's scream froze Hope's blood in her veins, and she felt tears streaming from her eyes and her heart pounding in her chest. As she sat crying, Hope realised that she had never heard the scream in the dream before, yet it sounded chillingly familiar.

Charlie grabbed her shoulder, and shook her with surprising force. Hope looked up and focussed her eyes, taking in the people crowded around her. Jack was forcing his way through the small crowd, but Hope could only see the small dark eyes of Walt, her fishing partner, as he was pulled closer to his protecting dad.

"…okay?" Hope registered Jack's voice. "Are you okay? Hope? Hope? Are you okay? Look at me."

Hope lifted her eyes to look straight into the Doctor's, and finally her vision became clear.

She gave herself a shake, and tried to clear the image of the woman's body from her mind. "I'm okay." She said in a scratchy voice she almost didn't recognise. "I'm okay, its okay."

Hope gave a small smile and looked at the faces crowded around her. Hurley, Charlie, Jack, Walt – the whole crowd that lived at the caves – all looking concerned and a little scared themselves.

"Just a bad dream," Hope explained, watching their faces relax as she wiped away tears. "It's okay, it was just a nightmare. I'm fine, really."

Jack looked closely at her face and took control of the situation. "It's okay, everybody. Just give her some room. Don't worry, she's fine. No injuries, just a little scare, right?" the last part he directed to Hope, and she nodded her agreement.

"Right." She smiled around at the faces familiar to her. "I'm fine."

The crowd dispersed slowly, all preparing for the day in their own ways. Hope noticed the sun beginning to rise, and Jack, who sat down beside her.

"How you doin'?" he asked seriously. "Is it the same dream again?"

Hope nodded, "I can't seem to get rid of it. It's still pretty vague, but I keep getting more and more of the story. I don't know what to do to get rid of it."

Jack collected her pencils and charcoal, putting them neatly back into the tin, and lifted the notebook from the floor of the caves.

"Lucky you never let go of these, the tin hit the ground and woke the rest of us." He paused, watching her intently, "You don't have to do this by yourself, you know. We can help you."

"'We' can help, or 'I' can help, Doctor Jack?" Hope smiled.

Jack smiled back at her, wondering if she knew that she wasn't the only one on the island haunted by the past.

"Boone thinks that writing it all down will help." She said, "He says that I was a writer before – he saw me on the plane."

Jack looked thoughtful, "It's a good idea. Psychologists have people write things down all the time. I really hope it helps you. Maybe after you get all of this out of your head and onto some paper, the rest of your memories will come back with a lot less trouble."

"So you really think my dream is a memory?" Hope had already considered this herself, and wasn't sure how she felt about the possibility.

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Maybe I'll give it a try today," she suggested, "unless you all need me for something."

Jack knew the answer she was looking for, "No, its fine. Go and write, if that's what you need to do. We can do without you for a little while."

Hope smiled, and the pair stood slowly. She gave him a quick hug for his help, took her notebook and tin from his hands, and strode off towards the beach with a purpose.

With the sound of the woman's scream still echoing in her mind, Hope sat on the white sand of the beach to write. She opened her tin but, instead of a pen, lifted out a stick of charcoal. She started to sketch the woman, lying peacefully on the floor, looking as though she had fallen asleep there.

Boone wandered over as she was finishing the picture, smiling broadly as he saw her using his gift.

"Wow," he said appreciatively, looking over her shoulder at the page. "You're quite the artist."

"Thanks." Hope smiled, looking up at him. "It's my dream. I don't really know what to make of it, though."

"What do you mean?" Boone frowned a little, looking back at the drawing.

"I mean, I don't really know what it is. It's a woman, but I don't know her."

"Well I know her," Boone laughed.

"Really?" Hope stood up quickly to face him, and they both looked closely at the picture. "Who is she?"

Boone laughed again, unable to believe that Hope could not recognise the face of her own sketch.

"Sun."

"What?"

"Sun." Boone explained with a puzzled smile. "It's Sun – the Asian lady at the caves. You know, Sun."

Hope looked wide-eyed at the sleeping woman on the page, recognising at last the face that had haunted her mind for days and days.

"Oh my God…" she stood breathless looking at the page, as Boone started to look concerned, "You're right. It's Sun. She's Sun."