When You Were Young

"I'm afraid that's impossible," another man's voice says. A sandy-haired man in a black suit appears out of the fog. He smiles down at Samantha, lifting her chin with one finger. "It is time for you to meet your creator, my child," he says.

With a flourish the man in the overcoat hits Samantha over the head with a board. As her world spins, they shovel her into a sack. Everything goes dark.

"Samantha, are you all right?" Miss Brigham asked.

Samantha leapt from the bed, shoving Miss Brigham away. "You stay away from me. You backstabbing bitch!" She pulled the gun from her jacket and aimed it at Miss Brigham's terrified face. "You knew they were there. You wanted them to take me."

"I don't understand what you're talking about. I think you should lie down. You're not at all well, Samantha."

"I see what's going on now. You don't fool me."

Miss Brigham took a step towards her. "Please, Samantha, let me help you. I'll call a doctor and-"

Samantha cocked the pistol. "I told you to stay away from me! I want you out of here, right now! Now!"

Miss Brigham raised her hands and drifted towards the door. "If that's what you want, dear." Samantha waited until the door clicked shut before she put the safety back on and tossed the pistol onto the bed. Then she dropped to her knees, pressing her head into the carpet.

Before her eyes ran a series of images like a movie playing in fast forward. Samantha waking up in a dark bedroom with Miss Brigham at her side. She sees herself in the stream, now ten years old. Chubby Prudence dives into the water to save her from drowning. The images start to move faster. Reverend Crane punishing her. Pryde's dogs chasing her. The Fountain of Youth. Pryde disintegrates in the water. She tumbles in after the reverend. Prudence saves her. Now she's six years old.

The images move even faster so that in an instant she springs up from a little girl to a young woman experiencing her first period in the cave along the beach. There's a terrible storm. Pryde's hut. All those bodies. Her parents are dead. She finds her Uncle Hector. Molly becomes a baby. Rebecca becomes a toddler while Prudence is a little girl again. Uncle Hector isn't her uncle at all. He throws fountain water into her face, making her nine again. Then he tries to escape, but his boat isn't ready. It sinks.

There's a terrible blizzard. The island is a wasteland. She's a pimple-faced teenager now. She, Prudence, and Wendell take a boat to Seabrooke. Mr. Pryde gives them a ride. The images slow down to a crawl. A light comes on. Joseph stands in the doorway of his bedroom. Little Joey grown into a handsome young man. Behind the glasses he has such sad eyes. The eyes of someone who's witnessed a great tragedy. Later, he kisses her. He takes her into his arms and says, "I love you."