DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the order in which the words are placed.
CHALLENGE: Written for Passion & Perfection's Big 5000.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
So, Not Summer Camp?
By Peppuuch
The sun was shining. As always. Just... shining away instead of going and getting help. Damn sun. Kinda like the moon... damn stellar/satellite crap.
Hurley was trying to hide food from us, and I guess 'cause he's still alive, he was doing ok. I think being a cop gave me better powers of observation than most people.
Charlie was being annoying. Practically begging to be thrown on that nest of sea urchins I found yesterday. Do sea urchins 'nest'? They certainly can't flock. I wonder if they roost?
See it's at this point, day forty-something, that I think I'm going insane. Reading into things too much. I'm angry at the Sun for not alerting the coast guard for Christ's sake.
So I figure that writing stuff down might help; get it out of my system and allow me to 'self-analyse'. The day I actually WANT to talk to a shrink and I'm living in a self-sufficient commune, on a pacific paradise island that has misplaced the idea of confidentiality.
So this is me writing stuff down. So as I was saying, it was an average day on our own Pacific Hellisle, and for lack of something better to do I was looking at pippy-shells…
"Hey, do you want to join our game?" Hurley asked while making an attempt at puppy-dog eyes. As far as I'm concerned, that only works for dogs.
"What are you playing?" I glanced up and saw Kate coming our way, obviously having heard Hurley. I really didn't need any social interaction today, and along come Mr Needy and Ms Personable.
"We're playing hide and go seek!" Hurley looked at me like he just realised what a genius he is. An ego destroying was imminent.
"You're playing a game?" Ms Personable asked, interrupting my stream of thought. It might have had something to do with the 'still wet t-shirt look'.
"Genius here wants to play hide and seek." Hurley looked kinda offended. Not that I care.
"Hey, it'll be fun…" I glared at him for a little bit, trying to either make him go away or assess his level of sincerity. He stayed, and yup. Right up there with his stupidity.
"Uhhh. You want to go and hide in the jungle?"
"Yeah, until someone finds us."
"Ok. So you want to go hide in the jungle indefinitely, with a semi-visible smoke monster and Others-with-guns-and-sharp-sticks."
"Uhhh..."
"Sure. I'll play. You go hide first." I paused and glanced at Kate. She had the most adorable smirk... ummm... "I'll count to ten thousand. Make sure you hide good." 250 pounds of bruised ego disappeared.
"You wanna play hide and go seek?" Kate looked back indulgently. That or she was constipated. I went back to my shell-staring. Don't you hate it when people interrupt you? Then you have to find your place all over again.
"That was really mean." Ok. Not going away. Sitting down. Staring at my shell. That's my shell dammit woman! Find your own.
"No one else would have told him he was being suicidal." I really do need to learn to keep my mouth shut around this woman. I don't 'chat'.
"Everyone else would have turned him down gently."
"Not Sawyer."
"No not Sawyer. Sawyer's at the hatch or something…" She drifts off, and I really don't want to know what she thinks about Dipwad. I felt the need to get back to the point. But Kate got there first.
"No one ever wants to rain on Hurley's parade. It's better to distract him with something else."
"Yeah, it's so much nicer to have him think no one wants to be around him."
"Well now he thinks we all want him to play and get eaten." Ok. Pissing me off now. I'm having a hard enough time trying to get a grip on my own reactions to being stuck on this goddamned island without having to care about other people… and caring is all part of the problem.
"Look, I ain't Hurley's Ma, and I don't give a damn what he thinks or how he feels. I tell it like it is and I won't change that for anyone." I turned to glare at this woman that makes being here so much harder, "My ticket said LAX. Not Summer camp. I won't be nice because people want me to, so get used to it." I really expected Kate to up and walk away at that point. But she stayed.
Being around her is hard because I don't know what to do. I know what I want to do, but I don't think Kate will want to do those things. She makes it hard, even if she doesn't realise it. I want her to make being here easy, I want her to make me want to be here with her.
Kate leaned towards me, "I don't think you're all that you make out to be." And then she hugged me. And got up. And walked away. Just when I wanted her to stay.
What is with this? I'm not complaining, but everyday it seems that she touches me more often. Sometimes playfully, sometimes to get my attention. Sometimes (I SWEAR I'm not imagining it) just because she can. I like it. I really like it. But I don't get it.
I don't get why I like it. Whether it's a product of this isolated environment, the closeness of our community or the sense of a society that people are starting to build. I mean, Echo wants to build a Church, we have long-term water and food plans and Sun planted a garden.
Am I just reacting to the situation I'm in, and forming an emotional attachment out of necessity and isolation? Or do I really like Kate like I think I do?
Does she really like me like I hope she does?
The End