damnfinecup | Entries tagged with notes to diane

Diane:

One of these days I'm going to catch you up on everything I've missed, but today is not that day. You're probably relieved that I haven't already, imagining me having finally come to terms with my life here, and how this may be the only place I know from now to the end of my days.

Diane... I think I would be all right if that were true. I have developed a wonderful relationship with Sookie, become co-head of an island branch of the Bureau and been elected as a member of the Island Council. I have a home -- or will have, soon enough -- and friends, and a place and a purpose here. It's not what I would ever have imagined for myself, but together we're making this place work and I think it's something we can be proud of.

There are still, however, a great number of mysteries that I would like to continue to examine, so you'll have to bear my reports a little longer. I assure you, Diane, they will never be dull.

Diane:

You'd never believe me if I told you who I met a few days ago, and I'm not a cruel man so I'm not going to make you guess. It was a curious man going by the name of Rosencrantz. No, not the uptown jeweller my mother used to swear by, the comtemporary of Hamlet who was fortunate -- or unfortunate -- enough to have warranted his own play. He was quite the character, Diane, and I consider myself fortunate to have enjoyed a bona fide game of questions with him. This island may be many things, some of them far from favourable, but at the very least it is entertaining.

One of its other good qualities is the consistent availability of coffee. Some mornings I'd say it was heaven, if it weren't for the snowstorms, dinosaurs, and lack of anyone I've ever known in life.

My research into the meaning of our collective being here is going well so far, though it's hard to say without a clearer goal in mind. I've certainly found some interesting reads out at the compound, though the relevance of some of them to my line of inquiry is not immediately obvious. The rec room of this compound also seems to be a prime location to meet people interested in having a bit of a chat about, well, life. The universe. Everything, really. A Canadian punk rocker by the name of Joe Dick -- whose name, I confess, I wasn't familiar with -- was particularly enlightening. And a lovely young woman known as Sookie Stackhouse was just the sort of bright, curious, friendly woman I do enjoy spending time with.

The island still isn't inclined to offer up any of its secrets, but I will not cease to pry.

Diane:

The real blessing of having a compound to retreat to is not the kitchen or the shelter or the hot showers (though I won't deny I've taken advantage of all of them) but the neverending supply of reading material. I don't know how it works, Diane, and I don't imagine there's anyone I can ask, all I know is that it does. (And don't even get me started on the jukebox, that's a whole other level of strange.)

I'm feeling a renewed enthusiasm to uncovered the secrets of how we've come to be here, thanks to finally meeting another member of the Bureau who's found herself on this island. People are still constantly appearing and disappearing, without any discernable pattern, but there must be some meaning behind it all.

I also ran into one of the Winchester boys again, and I have to tell you Diane, I do enjoy their company.

Diane:

I've spent a great deal of the last few weeks meditating, and reciting to myself the tenets of the seven major religions of my experience, and I'm happy to report that I feel as centered now as I ever have in my life. Which it seems I will be spending on this island, unless I vanish one day as mysteriously as I arrived, and I certainly can't discount that possibility.

I've had no more encounters with the dinosaurs but then I admit I've gone out of my way to avoid that. One of the keys to survival, Diane, is to avoid dinosaurs. Something a great many people on this island seem not to have learned as yet.

My home in the caves is still quite comfortable, but outside it has been getting colder and colder lately. Too cold for a tropical island, I'm certain; just one more of the mysteries of this island I've found myself on, and one which I suspect I will not come to the bottom of. I've never been so glad that I arrived with an overcoat, something many of the others did not; I expect I'll finally have use for it as something other than a makeshift knapsack.

Diane:

It was certainly inevitable that as we grew, and grew to know one another and accept our circumstances, some of the baser aspects of people would begin to appear. And certainly there have been skirmishes since the beginning, but nothing like what we now face. While I suspect we have always had criminals and murderers in our midst, at least we have not before had to directly confront their crimes.

This mysterious place, Diane, has become home to peoples from so many different times and places that it's not even remotely possible for us to all agree on any course of action. Despite this, we came together today in an official capacity for the first time. Diane, I can't say that anything was particularly decided, but it was one of the most fascinating cross-sections of humanity that I've ever been witness to.

Today we are more of a society of our own than ever.

Diane:

While the dinosaurs are indeed one of the greatest mysteries of the island, they are also undoubtedly one of the greatest dangers as well. More than one member of our team ended up injured by a rogue Tyrannosaurus Rex -- at least, that's what I believe it was -- during our expedition, and our leader, a Dr. Temperance Brennan, was hospitalized for some time. It is to our great fortune that there are a number of doctors on this island, and at least rudimentary medical facilities.

While my home remains the caves, I have been spending more time in the vicinity of the compound lately. It's the only place on the island a man can get a cup of coffee and a nice shower, though if I could only have one of the two you know I'd pick the coffee every time. It was in this manner that I came across Dr. Brennan again, studying our finds and looking far better than she did the last time I saw her. Let's hope we can keep her that way.

Diane:

The number of people here on the island still grows with each passing day, though more slowly and we are still few. The size of perhaps a very small village, the sort with a general store and a church and maybe an auto mechanic, where there's not a lot to do.

Diane, let me tell you about the dinosaurs. Now I know what you're going to say, but this isn't a nebulous Loch Ness situation and I'm not going to be returning with some blurry photos of rotting logs to back up my claims. There are honest-to-goodness dinosaurs here, not just old and somewhat frightening drawings in caves, and I've volunteered my services to help to track down and study them.

I suspect that before we started our journey into dinosaur territory I didn't really know just what volunteering my services would entail, but I believe I have now found a new thread to my investigations. It has long been clear that there was a group of people, scientists, inhabiting this island before us, and I can't help but assume that their work here has something to do with our presence. And if their work was with these dinosaurs, then these dinosaurs I will investigate.

While I have mixed feelings about killing these rare and magnificent creatures, we are certainly in a survival situation here, Diane, and these animals are not only of particular scientific interest, but also pose a danger to our fledgling civilization. As always, I will do my best to see to both.

Diane:

I had a dream last night. I dreamed that I was back in Twin Peaks, in my firm yet comfortable bed at the Great Northern. On one side of me was Annie, sleeping the sleep of the innocent yet dressed like a worker from One Eyed Jack's. One the other side was a young, disheveled man in a velour tracksuit. I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling and counted to sixty-three, at which point the door to my room swung open and Sheriff Truman sauntered in, in a cowboy hat and gunbelt, and told me to pick my favorite flavor of bubblegum.

I awoke in the caves, on my makeshift bed of my coat and a number of island grasses, with my hand wrapped around a palm-sized round stone with strange markings on it.

I have no idea what this means, Diane, other than that I may have a choice ahead of me.

That, and I need to get out more.

Diane:

The longer I'm here, the less urgent everything feels. It's become clear to me by now that there is no quick find that is going to get me -- or anyone else who has been stranded here -- home. And enough days have passed that life will have gone on without me back home. With this in mind, I have finally carved out a little home for myself on this island and will endeavor to at least be comfortable, while I try to puzzle out all that has happened. Others have already formed numerous and varied liaisons, even those like myself who recognize no one and nothing from the places we came from. There is much that remains mysterious and unknown, and should I never find my way back then I suspect it will be my life's work, discovering the mysteries of the island.

There are two things in particular that are of note to me right now. The first is the caves, which have become my home. Despite my misgivings about them, they have proven vast and welcoming. The cave drawings which I had heard so much about still trouble me, but they are clearly not the twins of the ones we uncovered in Twin Peaks, and so I suspect they have little to do with how I found myself here.

As well, other intrepid souls have ventured further into the jungle that covers the island and discovered a long-abandoned compound, which opens up whole worlds of other possibilities, Diane. Clearly there were people inhabiting this place before we arrived -- and, Diane, every day there are still more of us -- though they have long since vanished. They facility seems aged, with that unmistakable must of disuse, though the technology that I saw there seems quite current. Another in a long line of mysteries. It is a comfort to know that the many doctors who have appeared here now have a place to practice their craft, and though I choose not to stay at the compound for the time being -- Diane, you know how I am about crowds -- it's good to know it's there.

I have made the acquaintence of two young men, brothers, they tell me, who share my interest in the mysteries of the island. Together, we will be doing some further explorations of the caves and the drawings that were found there, to see if our combined knowledge and observations bring us some answers.

I fear the answers will be slow in coming, Diane, but it's nice to have something to do.

Remind me to find out of the compound stocks any coffee. I'm just about ready to kill for a cup.

Diane:

I'd heard about the caves long before going to seek shelter in them, but was reluctant to investigate despite their obvious significance to the case. You know that tingling you get on the back of your neck and up your spine when you're contemplating a very bad thing? That's what I get whenever I think about cave paintings these days.

However, the storm -- which I have neglected to inform you about, as I was too busy huddling for warmth and dryness -- forced me into them, as it was a clear alternative to being blown away, shelter and all. As the storm has now passed and the caves are less populated, I have no excuse not to investigate these drawings and determine whether they are the same as the ones I left back in Twin Peaks.

Despite this being an important clue, Diane, I sincerely hope that they are not.

Diane:

We managed to find a source of water that was pure and clear and sweet as a mountain spring. Or perhaps it only seemed that way to my parched throat after hacking our way through the tropical forest to find it.

While everyone on this island -- and as everyone assumes that it is that, I shall call it such from here on in, despite my own uncertainties -- is looking for something to do, I suspect a smaller and more focused group would have accomplished the task much more quickly. In a group with this many diverse people, personality clashes are inevitable. And when I say diverse, Diana, I mean diverse.

I did meet an interesting man named Severus Snape, who seems intelligent and driven and shares many of my goals. Should I need assistance in the future, I believe he may be one of the people I turn to. He's the sort, Diane, who reminds you to never judge a book by its cover.

I think that now I shall take a moment to enjoy the fruits of our labours. We've certainly earned it.

Diane:

Did I ever tell you about the time I was called upon to coordinate the jointly-run FBI-Boy Scouts of America seventh-annual luncheon and ball game? I'm reminded of that occasion today. Trying to arrange nearly a dozen very disparate individuals into an expedition is very much akin to herding cats, or boy scouts.

Nevertheless, it is gratifying to see a number of people with a keen interest in survival. I have prioritized my ambitions, Diane, and our journey today will be in search of a regular supply of fresh water. Now that I've spent some time here I realize that the necessities of living will have to outweigh my desire for answers.

With any luck, however, this trip will do something to assuage both.

Diane:

Waking up with a raging thirst, I found myself a nice, squat coconut palm to scale to find myself some breakfast. You'll be happy to know I did so without loss of life or limb, though it's not an experience I care to repeat should I find anyone nearby more nimble than I am.

A young man who I suspect may be of Japanese origin offered his assistance while I was several feet off the ground, and has now gone off to find food and water, as these things seem to be his strengths. I have not seen him since, so I suspect the fruits of his labours may have gone straight to the camp that has arisen around the crash site of the spacecraft. And Diane, don't think I don't feel a little bit strange describing this scenario to you.

There was also a young lady with a few pronounced vices, sleeping soundly beneath the very tree I had chosen to pillage. What is remarkable about her is that she does not seem to have appeared on this tropical beach simultaneously with myself and everyone else I have encountered. This may be an important clue, Diane; make a note. However we all came to be here, it does not appear to have been a single event.

I have decided the best course of action at this point would be to investigate the beyond the immediate area of our arrivals, to try to find some indication of where we are, or why. The only things I know right now, Diane, are that we are on a tropical land mass, with a long stretch of shoreline and a very visible mountain that I will have to investigate at a later date. If there's one thing I need, now that thirst and hunger are taken care of, it's more information.

A seafaring man and self-titled explorer by the name of Steve Zissou will be accompanying me in my investigations. I suspect he has his own reasons for wanting to do so, but he seems a very sensible man, and good with a knife, and all in all he's the sort I'd be happy to have at my back.

Wish me luck, Diane, I have no idea what we're going to find out there.

Diane:

Despite finding myself so very distant from where I started, there's a similar feel to this place as I found during my time in Twin Peaks. There's something in the air here that isn't quite right, and I'm not just talking about the fact that a random assortment of people from locations across time and space have mysteriously found themselves here together. I will keep you apprised as to my impressions of this phenomenon.

In addition to the young man I previously spoke to you of, I also encountered a young Australian doctor, who despite being dubious of his own abilities in this environment will most likely prove to be useful, should we all find ourselves here for any length of time. I hope, however, that we'll find a solution to our mutual dilemma much sooner than that.

To this end, I sought out the leader of the large group of people who have now collected around a cleverly large bonfire. The closest I found was a man by the name of Captain Reynolds, who captains what appears to be a large and incapacitated spaceship. In other circumstances I would have recommended a psychiatric evaluation, however considering all I have seen in the last day, I choose to take him and his crew at their word. There are stranger things than encountering a space captain from five hundred years in my future on a mysterious tropical land mass, though I'm afraid I can't think of any at the moment.

I cannot report I made much progress towards my goal of discovering the secrets of my location and my unexpected appearance here, but I feel I have made a healthy start.

I have not ruled out the possibility that this scenario is all in my head, nor have I ruled out the possibility that it is an elaborate charade. However, since it is the situation I have found myself in, I feel I cannot proceed with any less than my best effort, and assume everything is real until proven otherwise. I am not absolved of my responsibility to myself and others just because my current environment may be nothing more than a collective hallucination.

Nothing else about my situation has changed, except that it is now dark when it once was light. A day has passed, and Diane, I am really thirsty. As soon as it gets light, I'm going to have to do something about that.

Diane:

Either I am having an extremely detailed dream, or I have somehow found myself stranded on what appears to be a tropical island, though not having circumnavigated it I cannot say for certain that it is, in fact, an island. The tropical part, however, is somewhat unmistakable. Given these circumstances, I have chosen not to depress the record button, assuming that you will not receive this report in a timely fashion, if at all.

Old habits, it appears, really are hard to break.

I have already encountered one other individual who finds himself in similar circumstances, a young man who is currently urinating behind a large palm tree. We intend to seek out others, and hope to encounter someone who might be able to give us a clue as to just what has befallen us. Given the proximity of the voices, I expect this to occur shortly.

Diane:

It occurs to me that I might also be suffering from a psychotic episode. Remind me to see a Bureau physician about this immediately upon my return.