Here's part 4, yay! I'm glad you're all still liking and I really appreciate the time you take to read and review :hugs:
Disclaimer: Me? Own Lost? Hahahahahahaha! I do partially own Luana though, along with the Sanateers.
Tell me a Story (part 4).
"So…how about we finish that story, huh?"
Again Luana nodded in response as Sawyer began back up the beach towards their shelter intent on finding them both some dry clothes.
"Right, Harry and Bob spend a whole night of driftin' there on the wreckage of their ship, 'fraid their gonna get eaten by somethin'. 'Cept they don't and they wash up on a beach they never seen before in a strange land that neither of 'em know, so they're kinda glad to be back on dry land and yet kinda scared 'cause they ain't gotta clue where in the blazes they are." He paused to draw a breath and set his little girl down onto the warm, dry sand outside their family tent, ducking inside to retrieve one of the towels that he had pilfered from the hatch a good three years or so previously.
"What was the beach like?" Luana asked, peering in through the tarps that constituted their front door to watch as her father picked out a fresh outfit for her, cobbled together out of unclaimed garments, and absently grabbing the nearest of his own shirts that he could find.
"Whosawhat?" he responded, returning outside and drawing a giggle from her lips as he wrapped the towel about her slim frame, dwarfing her in it's terrycloth folds. "The beach?" he repeated with a grin, plonking himself down to sit before her. "Well, ain't much different than this here beach." He stated, towelling her down and helping her from her wet outfit into the clean, dry one. "It was a nice enough place 'cept they'd just been shipwrecked and Harry's head was hammerin' like a woodpecker on a tree trunk!"
Luana giggled again at his words and the images they had obviously conjured for her and waited patiently, sitting herself down cross-legged before him as he changed his own soaking shirt and hung their discarded garments on one of the trees that held their home up.
He sat down beside her finally, eyes gleaming as he began getting into his storytelling persona. He splayed his fingers wide, moving his hands in a gesture that encouraged Luana to picture the scene.
"Suddenly, while they were just getting; their breath back, lyin' on this beach, wonderin' where in the hell they are, somethin' rustled in one of the bushes. Someone was shoutin' and hollarin' and makin' a whole loada noise as if they were bein' chased by the Devil himself.
Luana made a small squeak as she gasped her breath in through a gaping mouth and shuffled a bit closer to Sawyer, so she could reach out and fist a hand into the slowly drying material of his jeans leg for reassurance.
"What was it?" she queried and Sawyer held up a finger in response, tilting his head at a jaunty angle in a wordless request for silence.
"It breaks through the trees at a breakneck pace, blurred 'cause it's runnin' so fast. Trippin' 'cause it can't run fast enough and Harry recognised who it was. It was-"
"Barry!" she squealed in shock. "Barry's alive? But I thought he got washed away in the sea?"
"Ah well," Sawyer countered, knowingly, shifting a little so that he could recline, fold his hands behind his head for a makeshift pillow and enjoy the sun as he spoke. "Barry was a lucky sonofagun. Got himself caught in another current and wash ashore a little further down from the other boys. But when he reached Harry and Bob, they noticed that he was lookin' a little beat up, more so that the see could rough him up anyways, and his hands were tied behind his back like he'd been captured by someone…" he trailed off as he felt her scoot beside him again, so that she could lean against him, back to the sun, and watch his face as he squinted his eyes against the brightness.
"Was it the pirates again? Captain Frank?" she enquired, drumming her fingertips against his chest as she wiggled a bit more to get comfy.
"Good guess, Sherlock, but nope. Them pirates were long gone with Ted in tow, but the boys had washed up on somebody's island and that somebody didn't like new people trespassin' all over their kingdom.
Now Harry and Bob didn't know none of that mind and they started tryin' to calm Barry down, who was still screamin' his head off about some other people on the island, and before they know it…BAM!" Sawyer shouted the last word, drawing a scream of shock from Luana's lips and causing her entire body to jolt with fright. "This great, huge, giant man, size of a tree, comes tearin' outta the jungle lookin' for poor old Barry. His eyes all glowin and angry and his teeth all sharp and gnashin' and with a voice loud and boomin' as thunder but-"
"Stop! Daddy! Stop, stop!" Luana demanded suddenly, banging a fist against his chest as if she were knocking on a door, to gain his attention and he cracked one sapphire eye open at her, raising his head up slightly with a questioning glance.
"Whatsa matter?"
Luana shuddered, drawing her shoulders up to her ears as tightly as she could manage.
"Stop," she repeated again, though more fearful now instead of insistent. She shook her head back and forth and squeezed her eyes securely shut. "It's too scary!"
And Sawyer held back a chuckled, propping himself up on one elbow and dragging her closer to him with his free arm curled around her middle.
"Aw, Precious," he soothed, fighting a grin of amusement once more and brushing a hand over her dark, smooth hair comfortingly. "S'only a story. Not like it's real or nothin'…" he almost laughed out loud at his own words and their irony but Luana was standing, pulling herself from his embrace and moving away. "It's just getting' to the good bit!" he called after her.
"I'm hungry." She announced, nonchalantly, changing the subject entirely and starting down at him expectantly. And Sawyer heaved a sigh, pushing himself upright with exaggerated effort.
"Hungry, huh?" he mimicked her words, shooting a glance at the position of the sun in an attempt to gauge how close it was to midday. "Well…I supposed you an' me can chow down early. Momma'll just have to eat dinner on her own for once…s'what she gets for keepin' me outta the loop." He mumbled the last part bitterly beneath his breath, still sore at her apparent desire that he not accompany her to the hatch that day to participate in more exciting things, but Luana snickered at his words anyway, even if she didn't understand what he was going on about. She slipped her tiny hand into his, once he had stood and dusted himself free from the clinging grains of sand. "Let's go see what we can rustle us up, hey, Puddin'?"
oOo
"Well hello there." The older woman's voice was warm and cheerful, with a wide smile to match as she noticed the approach of the little girl, dragging her father, who moved at such a leisurely pace that he was almost walking backwards, behind her. "And how are you today, Luana?"
The little girl in question beamed back in reply, glancing up at her father as if asking permission to run on ahead and as he shot her a wink and nodded, she dropped his hand and skipped up to great the woman who had spoken to her so kindly.
"Hi Rose. Hi Bernard. I'm good." She replied as she reached them, peering through the makeshift shelves that had been erected on the beach a long time ago to house the foodstuffs still being dropped off every month or so by mysterious means. "Daddy an' me are having a picnic!"
Rose glanced over at her husband, briefly sharing a smile before she returned her soft, dark eyes to Luana, stroking back the wisps of hair from the five year olds forehead.
"Well now, isn't that nice?" Rose chuckled.
"And he's telling me a story!" Luana continued, enthused by the idea of telling someone all her news.
"A story? Wow! Your Daddy's a real good Daddy, huh?" Rose lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper as Sawyer approached and stopped, leaning against the shelving unit beside them and nodding a greeting to Bernard. "And what story is he telling you? One with unicorns and fairies?"
Luana shook her head as Rose nudged Bernard and pointed to the many packages of food, silently telling him to parcel some up for the father and daughter.
"Nope! It's about a prince who sails away on a giant boat with his two brothers and nephew but they get shipwrecked by pirates and washed up on a beach in another land." She paused for a split second, as if considering whether or not to continue with her explanation, but she did eventually. "We just got to a real scary part with a giant who tied Barry up. But Barry escaped and now the giant's mad!"
Rose gasped and raised her hands to her face in pretend shock drawing a laugh from Luana but Bernard shot the girl's father and wary glance.
"You're telling her about what happened on the other side of the island!" he queried incredulously, but before Sawyer could growl out a response for him to mind his own business and snatch the food parcel from the old dentist's grasp, Rose's elbow caught her husband in his middle, causing him to wince and suck breath in through his teeth.
"Hush, Bernard!" she hissed, before smiling down at Luana'a curious stare. "It's a story about prince's and giants, didn't you hear? And I'll bet there's going to be a princess in it somewhere too…" her gaze flickered up to meet Sawyer's, amusement sparking in the depths of her iris' but Sawyer cleared his throat and narrowed his own eyes, ignoring the knowing and enigmatic smile that she fixed him with.
"Hey! Wanna stop givin' the game away, Mother Goose?" he drawled with a very half hearted scowl. "And she's not a princess. She's a queen actually…"
"Oh right!" Rose breathed, almost as enthusiastic as the Southerner's charge was. "Wow, but where's you Mommy, Luana? Wouldn't she like to hear the story too?"
Sawyer felt discomfort prickle at the back of his neck as he found himself their focus once more and he shifted on the spot, shoving his hands into his pockets with their food parcel wedged beneath one arm.
"Momma's at the hatch." Luana supplied sadly. "Papi says that we'll just be having lunch on our own and not wait for her 'cause she kept him out of the hoop or something."
Bernard snorted at that, from where he had taken refuge out of his wife's reach at a separate shelving unit. Rose allowed herself a full blown laugh.
"I think you mean out of the loop, Honey, and I'm sure your Momma had a good reason." She stated, defending the A.W.O.L Ana-Lucia while still chuckling to herself. "Hey, why don't you and your Daddy take some lunch to her? That was you can all have a picnic together and that way Daddy won't be out of that loop any longer, huh?"
Sawyer rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to slap his palm into his face as Luana began tugging on his arm, squealing with delight at the notion just suggested.
"Please, Daddy, please, please, can we go to the hatch and take Momma her lunch? Please? Pleeeeeeease!"
"Alright, alright! Sonofa…Knock it of already. What are you? A stuck record?" he demanded with a growl but the five year old was too busy jumping up and down excitedly to notice the bemused tone in his voice.
Rose held out an extra box of biscuits, chocolate ones, to Sawyer and he snatched them from her, securing them together with the rest of the food before muttering a sarcastic 'thanks', to which Rose responded with a superior 'You're welcome…and those are Ana's favourite cookies by the way…' as if she could see past all his bluff and bravado to the bare faced fact that he really did care and he was really glad for an excuse to make the trip to find his partner.
"Yeah, yeah. Peachy," he grumbled turning to leave. "Come on, Skippy. We better get goin' now if we wanna make it to the hatch before your Momma's shift finishes." He called and Luana followed dutifully, turning to wave 'goodbye' over her shoulder to Rose and Bernard, as they headed into the jungle on the path to the hatch.
