Richard Starkey: yes of course you know how much Charlie loves LOTR. hee i had to put something like that in the story :) Jack weirds me out in the show (if that's even a phrase) so i make him weird other people out here lol

Sharpsnout: lol yes thanks i did the walking hurt but it was cool to see everything cause everything is cool. lol i'm glad you liked it yeah i wish he would do that too sometimes i'll picture Merry with a beard like Charlie's when im watching LOTR or Charlie with curly hair and the shortness of Merry when Lost is on :)

October Sky: thanks i am glad you like it and thanks also for the constructive stuff i think i wanted the flashbacks to go like the ones in the show do, but they're kinda confusing to read on paper and it's easier to just see them on screen. lol and im glad you liked the Hurley/Charlie thing and the Charlie/LOTR thing, too :)

It's nighttime now. Most have forgotten about the incident earlier in the day.

But not everyone.

Jake lies awake in a tent that he and Ari share, staring at the flimsy tarp ceiling. His nerves are shot; he's always on edge now, even more than he was before, if that's possible.

He can't figure out why they would do that. They must have a lot of time on their hands. Why would they take all that time and effort to make his mom out of whatever it was she was made of? Jack wouldn't let him near her. Because he's Jack.

Ari's asleep. He always seems to be. He loves to sleep. Always has. He got kicked off the baseball team one year because he slept in too much and missed too many practices. Jake ended up quitting, anyway.

Jake wishes that Ari were awake. He needs someone to talk to. For a split second he's struck with the thought of himself going insane. He lifts his head and bangs it against the sand, and the thought is gone.

He swears it's like some curse on the island. It'll make everyone think they're going insane. It'll drive them to murder. They'll turn on each other.

And everyone will be gone.

A few years later, another boat will sink and end up on the island like his did. And another plane will crash like theirs did. And some forty-something people will be driven to the same fate the island's previous inhabitants were.

What is wrong with him? Ari smacks himself on the forehead sharply with his palm. Why is he thinking like this? Does he want it to happen?

Or it's real.

The curse could be real.

At around eleven thirty, Jake's eyes slowly open. Staring down at him is Ari, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. Suddenly, he squeezes Jake's cheeks together so that he can't talk and says, "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!"

Jake laughs and swipes a hand at his friend. "How old is that show?" he asks.

"I liked it. Stupid Nickelodeon, canceling all the cool animal shows," Ari mutters, his arms folded across his chest. One of Ari's favorite shows when he was younger was The Wild Thornberries. And Rugrats. Cartoons were his life, and in a way, they still are.

When the two walk outside, Ari spots a comic book peeking out from a sand dune. He runs over to it. Jake walks. Now that he's got a view of Ari running, Jake decides that he runs a little like Napoleon Dynamite. His hands are jammed into his pockets, he looks at the ground a bit, and he kicks his feet up high. Maybe he just has too much time on his hands, but that's what he thinks.

"Check this out!" Ari says excitedly, flipping through the book as he walks back to Jake. "It's like…in…Spanish." His voice fades away in surprise. He looks up at Jake. "You know any Spanish?"

"Lemme see it." Ari hands it over, and Jake skims it. He can make out a few words and phrases, but not enough to put a storyline together.

"I think they start teaching that kinda stuff in Spanish four," he answers.

"Crap. What a waste of a comic book."

As he hands it back to Ari, Jake notices something he hadn't seen before. In the illustrations, there's one guy with earlobe-length sandy blonde hair, women's sunglasses, faded jeans, and a button-down shirt. He's sitting against a cooler or something, reading a book. Watership Down.

Ari keeps the comic book, claiming that he can still look at the pictures. As they walk along the shoreline, they see Sawyer sitting against a cooler. Jake's breath catches in his throat. Sawyer's wearing women's sunglasses. Faded jeans. Button-down shirt. He's reading a book.

Jake begins to get nervous. What book? He has to know. What book…what book…he feels like he's in a trance.

Without thinking, he goes up to Sawyer, bends down, and cranes his neck so that he'll have a better angle to view the book's title. Sawyer notices him and puts the book down.

"C'n I help you, Tex?" He notices that Ari is with him, and rephrases. "C'n I help you Texans?"

"We're from Connecticut," Ari answers.

"Good for you. Did you want me to say 'C'n I help you, Connecticutians?"

"What book are you reading?" Ari asks.

Sawyer shows him the cover. Are you There, God? It's me, Margaret. "You got a problem with Judy Blume?"

"No," Jake answers, relived.

They walk away.

As they walk, the comic Sawyer's book changes from Watership Down to Are you There, God? It's me, Margaret.