Believe In Yesterday (Cindy, PG)
Title: Believe In Yesterday
Author: cloudytea
Characters: Pre-Lennon/Cindy, mentions of Zach and Emma.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: None.
Summary: Blow out the candles out, darling. What’d you wish for? For fanfic100 prompt Birthday.
The twenty-third of April starts out just like any other day: Cindy awakes just before dawn, an old habit she can’t seem to shake. It’s as if she’s fearful of being late for something, only to discover there is nothing to be late for; she has been on this Island for just over seven months and the last plane she ever boarded delivered her here.
She lets Zach and Emma sleep an extra hour while she helps the other women peel vegetables for the evening meal. She does this until about midday, when she tears the children away from their friends and they take their daily walk in the jungle, just beyond the parameter of the Temple walls. She usually nicks a couple of starfruit from the kitchen inventory for them and they eat underneath a sweeping Melaleuca tree.
They speak less of their mother now and that scares a small part of Cindy. She knows that she may as well be their mother, but the fact that they are forgetting life before this place makes her uneasy.
It’s when she lays down to go to sleep that night that she realizes that this place has gotten the best of her, too.
The twenty-third of April is her birthday.
That night, her dreams are flooded with flashes of her childhood, a mixture of old video recordings her mum would replay all the time to old boyfriends (long before the diagnosis came in the form of missing clumps of hair and ribs peaking through sallow skin), as well as a small dosage of what life would be like had she not crashed on this rock.
The sound of her dead mother’s kind voice echoes in her mind. Smile, Cyn, smile for the camera! Blow out the candles out, darling. What’d you wish for?
The next morning, all she wants to do is sleep. As she closes her eyes tight, she can feel the golden light of the dawn pressing on her eyes, forcing them open and her out of bed.
Instead of her usual morning routine of food preparation, she feels that they can get along without her for just a few hours. She sneaks out the front entrance, careful of the light creaking the door emitted on her way out.
A few minutes later, she is seated on the top of the steps that led into the pond. Her hands are clasped together underneath her chin. Her lips are pursed tightly and eyes are focused on the water, careful not to reveal her inner turmoil.
Cindy? It takes her a moment to register that someone was speaking to her. You okay?
She turns her head to see Lennon standing there, hands in pockets and staring down at her through those wired spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose.
Yeah, I’m uh, she combs her fingers through her hair and looks up at him. I’m fine.
Yeah, well, he says, sitting down next to her, you don’t look fine.
She takes a deep intake of breath that sounds very reminiscent of anguish. Her line of vision doesn’t break with the calm water. Yesterday was my birthday.
Why, uh, why didn’t you say anything?
Because I didn’t realize it until last night. She smiles. I guess time flies when you’re having fun. But her voice was anything but joyful.
I’m, uh, I’m sorry, Cindy. I know that you’re forced to be here. I know should have taken off on that helicopter with your friends. He looks down and expects an agreement to pass through her lips.
I’m, um, I’m glad to be here. She smiles and looks over at him. I really am. Her hand rests on his shoulder for a moment. Suddenly, she looks up at the sun. I uh, I should be going. Those vegetables won’t peel themselves.
She stands and leaves him sitting on the steps and he remains there, staring out at the placid pond. His shoulder tingles slightly, warmed by the soft touch of her hand.
After that, Lennon made sure Cindy was never forgotten on the twenty-third of April.
Author: cloudytea
Characters: Pre-Lennon/Cindy, mentions of Zach and Emma.
Rating: PG
Spoilers/Warnings: None.
Summary: Blow out the candles out, darling. What’d you wish for? For fanfic100 prompt Birthday.
The twenty-third of April starts out just like any other day: Cindy awakes just before dawn, an old habit she can’t seem to shake. It’s as if she’s fearful of being late for something, only to discover there is nothing to be late for; she has been on this Island for just over seven months and the last plane she ever boarded delivered her here.
She lets Zach and Emma sleep an extra hour while she helps the other women peel vegetables for the evening meal. She does this until about midday, when she tears the children away from their friends and they take their daily walk in the jungle, just beyond the parameter of the Temple walls. She usually nicks a couple of starfruit from the kitchen inventory for them and they eat underneath a sweeping Melaleuca tree.
They speak less of their mother now and that scares a small part of Cindy. She knows that she may as well be their mother, but the fact that they are forgetting life before this place makes her uneasy.
It’s when she lays down to go to sleep that night that she realizes that this place has gotten the best of her, too.
The twenty-third of April is her birthday.
That night, her dreams are flooded with flashes of her childhood, a mixture of old video recordings her mum would replay all the time to old boyfriends (long before the diagnosis came in the form of missing clumps of hair and ribs peaking through sallow skin), as well as a small dosage of what life would be like had she not crashed on this rock.
The sound of her dead mother’s kind voice echoes in her mind. Smile, Cyn, smile for the camera! Blow out the candles out, darling. What’d you wish for?
The next morning, all she wants to do is sleep. As she closes her eyes tight, she can feel the golden light of the dawn pressing on her eyes, forcing them open and her out of bed.
Instead of her usual morning routine of food preparation, she feels that they can get along without her for just a few hours. She sneaks out the front entrance, careful of the light creaking the door emitted on her way out.
A few minutes later, she is seated on the top of the steps that led into the pond. Her hands are clasped together underneath her chin. Her lips are pursed tightly and eyes are focused on the water, careful not to reveal her inner turmoil.
Cindy? It takes her a moment to register that someone was speaking to her. You okay?
She turns her head to see Lennon standing there, hands in pockets and staring down at her through those wired spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose.
Yeah, I’m uh, she combs her fingers through her hair and looks up at him. I’m fine.
Yeah, well, he says, sitting down next to her, you don’t look fine.
She takes a deep intake of breath that sounds very reminiscent of anguish. Her line of vision doesn’t break with the calm water. Yesterday was my birthday.
Why, uh, why didn’t you say anything?
Because I didn’t realize it until last night. She smiles. I guess time flies when you’re having fun. But her voice was anything but joyful.
I’m, uh, I’m sorry, Cindy. I know that you’re forced to be here. I know should have taken off on that helicopter with your friends. He looks down and expects an agreement to pass through her lips.
I’m, um, I’m glad to be here. She smiles and looks over at him. I really am. Her hand rests on his shoulder for a moment. Suddenly, she looks up at the sun. I uh, I should be going. Those vegetables won’t peel themselves.
She stands and leaves him sitting on the steps and he remains there, staring out at the placid pond. His shoulder tingles slightly, warmed by the soft touch of her hand.
After that, Lennon made sure Cindy was never forgotten on the twenty-third of April.