Guess what? I'm not dead. Despite what you may think, I am alive.
Miles could tell something was going to happen. Something had happened to Claire and her connection to the island was clearly about to get much, much stronger. He was watching her so he could tell Charlie what was up. Nothing at all seemed to be going on; all she was doing was playing with her kid.
"Don't even think about it."
Miles looked up. Sawyer was giving him a very cold look. "What?"
"Don't look at her. Don't talk to her. Don't mess with her," Sawyer ordered. "You got a restraining order. 20 feet."
Miles could have laughed. He thought he was looking at her like that. He clearly couldn't tell something was up. "What are you, her big brother?"
"No," Sawyer said, getting more frustrated by the minute. "I'm the guy that's gonna put a boot in your face unless you say 'Yeah, I getcha.'"
Ah, how sweet, Miles thought sarcastically. He made a mental note to count how many colors Charlie's face turned when he told him about that. "Yeah, I getcha."
Sawyer glared at him and stomped off. Miles couldn't help but smirk once he was gone and throw one last glance at Claire before heading off too.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Boone and Charlie saw Miles walking through the jungle. "Where do you think they're going?"
"I don't know," Boone said uncertainly. "But wherever it is, none of them look too happy. We should follow them."
"Yeah, why not?" Charlie shrugged. "I mean…it's not like we have anything better to do. Last I recall the most exciting thing we did today was attempt to find a new string for my guitar."
"Hey, at least we found one," Boone said.
"After 2 1/2 hours of looking," Charlie said. "Honestly, do you not know what a guitar string looks like? It's not that complicated."
"Let's just go," Boone muttered. "They're getting ahead."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
"They're getting ahead."
Miles was getting annoyed from the constant whispers that were around him. He recognized it to be Boone and Charlie. It wasn't easy to hear what they were saying, but he understood it. It was still annoying.
"I can hear you, you know," he said finally. The whispers ceased immediately. "Right now I just want to get back to the beach safely. I'm still kind of freaked from that smoke thing."
Suddenly he stopped. Sawyer and Claire were both looking at him as if expecting him to say something. That was a downfall in his job; he would get mixed up between two worlds and miss out on things. "Sorry, what?" Miles asked.
"I asked who you were talking to," Sawyer said.
Miles glanced around quickly before slowly answering, "Was I talking?"
"Yeah, you were," Sawyer said, getting impatient. "But no one is there. Why were you talking?"
"I wasn't," Miles said convincingly. "It's probably just your mind playing tricks on you. I'm sure it's not that hard. Now I thought you wanted to get back to your beach camp quickly." Miles walked forward a bit, then stopped. "Well, I don't know the way!"
Sawyer and Claire gave him one last weird look before moving forward. Miles smirked and followed them.
They walked in silence for a while before the whispering started again. Boone and Charlie really don't get the picture.
Miles could stand it for about 2 minutes. Extremely annoyed, he turned around and said quietly, "Would you stop? I'm sure you have better things to do, or do you enjoy seeing this guy with your girlfriend?" Miles heard Boone start to laugh.
"Hey!" Sawyer yelled. Miles turned back towards him. "Now you're gonna tell me," Sawyer began menacingly. "Why you're talking when there ain't no one there."
"I'm really concerned," Miles said. "I don't know why you keep imagining things. Maybe-,"
"Okay, we both know you were talking!" Claire snapped suddenly. "And for whatever reason, you won't tell us, but if you answer his question, we can keep going!"
Miles was silent for a moment. "I want to get back to your beach soon, don't you?"
"I want to figure out why you're being such a spaz," Sawyer growled.
Miles sighed. He figured he'd try the truth and see how they reacted. He could use some entertainment. Imitating The Sixth Sense, Miles whispered, "I see dead people."
Sawyer and Claire both sighed and rolled their eyes. "You ain't gonna tell us what's up? Fine. Then you ain't gonna eat either."
Miles shrugged. He could always get food from the Barracks. He started to walk again, and when he passed Claire, he said, "Charlie says hi."
Tears immediately formed in Claire's eyes, and Sawyer gave her a sympathetic look before asking Miles, "How do you know Charlie?"
"I told you," Miles shrugged. "I talk to dead people. When you heard me talking, I was speaking to Boone and Charlie." There was a pause, and Miles appeared to be listening intently. "Boone says hi too."
Sawyer and Claire glanced at each other, alarmed. "How do you-were you telling the truth?" Claire whispered. Miles nodded. "Prove it."
"Prove it?" Miles questioned. "I can't prove it! Wait-," he turned around again. "Would you two mind if you were to occupy the bodies of animals?" More silence. Miles grimaced. "They said they would like to keep the little amount of dignity they have left."
Miles laughed as the unheard-by-Claire-and-Sawyer protests broke out from Boone and Charlie. "Oh, come on, Charlie, Claire would still like you if you were in the form of a rabbit or something…"
"Okay, I figured it out," Sawyer said. "You're crazy. I don't know how you know about those two, but I do know that you're whack."
"Shh…" Miles hushed. "Listen carefully. Guys, says something." Miles suddenly stumbled forward a bit and jerked his hands up to his ears. "No need to yell! If they have the ability, they will hear you without shouting."
"What are we supposed to be hearing?" Claire asked.
"There's nothing to hear," Sawyer told her. "C'mon, this guy's loony." He gently grabbed Claire's arm and turned around halfway, and then-
"He's not."
Sawyer and Claire whirled around, because they knew the voice that spoke. It was one they hadn't heard in a very long time. Standing feet away from them was a dim outline of Boone Carlyle, accompanied by the dim outline of Charlie Pace.
They looked as if nothing had changed, except for the fact that Boone had longer hair. But there was something about them that they all could feel wasn't right-a feeling of emptiness. Even so, it was unmistakably them. Miles' eyes had gone vacant of any sign of life.
"Charlie…?" Claire whispered, extending her arm out towards him, but he shook his head and stepped back.
"Don't give him a hard time," Charlie said. "He's a good guy."
"Yeah," Boone agreed. "We can't stay for long. He'd be exhausted." Boone nodded to Miles.
"And Shannon's cooking hotdogs on the bonfire at the Barracks as we speak!" Charlie added excitedly.
"That too," Boone grinned. "Well…see you around…or not." They both vanished and it looked as if they were made of sand and had been blown away by the wind.
Once they were completely gone, Miles fell to his knees. He put his hand to his head and sighed. "So am I allowed to eat with you, or can I go have hotdogs with Shannon, Boone, and Charlie?"
…wait…why would Shannon eat hotdogs?
Don't question this chapter. You know that dead people have been seen by live people in like every episode.