Young Locke's Smoke Monster Drawing by Ianio M

LOST is over and what a great ride it has been! Now that the show has ended, have we gotten all the answers we were looking for? Sadly, no... but that won't stop MANY people from thinking, theorizing, and intensely scrutinizing every detail from the last six seasons... for MANY years. LOST was a phenomenal experience for me, one that I will remember until the end of my time. This is my first attempt at answering (at the very least) one of LOST's mysteries. Now this isn't a MAJOR mystery, but one that has been on my mind for awhile. Hope you enjoy!

Here is the setting for this theory:

"Cabin Fever" is the eleventh episode of Season 4 of Lost. The flashbacks in this episode reveal a lifelong connection between Locke's destiny and the Island.

FLASHBACK: 1961
"Five-year-old John is playing backgammon in a living room when his foster sister Melissa rudely knocks the pieces off the board, taunting him. His foster mother Florence scolds her before telling John that there is a man there to see him and that he should be on his best behavior. Richard Alpert walks in the house and sits at the table across from him. He introduces himself as Richard and tells John that he runs a school for special children and has reason to believe that John is one of them. Richard asks if John minds if he shows him a couple of neat things. Richard notices a drawing on the wall of the room of a man lying on the ground while a mass of smoke hangs over him. Richard asks John if he drew the picture, John nods his head."

Here is the drawing:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100421054147/lostpedia/images/d/d6/LockeDrawingSmokey.jpg

Since that drawing was shown, many theories have popped up... such as:
- future memories "leaking" backward in Locke's time-line to his younger self (Locke's time traveling having to do with such info being passed along)
- The picture was of older Locke being attacked and taken over by the smoke monster and young Locke was seeing the future (a premonition).

What I postulate is this: Young Locke was INDEED special and the drawing was a premonition of things to come... but not for future Locke, but rather of a scene we (the viewers) saw in the finale (The End).

CONTINUING FLASHBACK: 1961
"Richard tells John that he wants him to look at a few objects, think about them, and tell him which of them are his. The boy thinks Richard means "to keep" but Alpert clarifies, "Which of these things belong to you already?" He lays out on the table a baseball glove, a book entitled "Book of Laws", a small container of granules, a compass, a comic book entitled "Mystery Tales", and a knife. John immediately claims the container of the granules and inspects and then claims the compass. John starts towards the "Book of Laws", at which point Richard looks hopeful. Instead, he picks up the knife. Richard is disappointed and angry. He asks John if he is sure, and after he nods, Richard snatches the knife from his hand and takes the other items away. He puts these back into his bag and stands up quickly. Florence enters the room and asks how John did. Richard responds sternly that John is not quite ready for his school and walks out of the house. Florence scolds John, asking what he did wrong, as he looks down dejectedly."

The test given to young Locke by Richard Alpert resembles the Tibetan Buddhist ritual used to confirm a reincarnated tulku (the Dalai Lama being the most widely known). Locke was supposed to choose the items that already belonged to him... hinting at the specialness of Locke and his ability too somewhat "foresee" certain future events. John selected the container of the granules and the compass. John then picks up the knife, to which Richard seems upset.

We know why Locke chose the items he did:
- A brass compass - because he will end up using that compass in the future.
- A vial of granules - seems to represent his connection to the Island
- A wood-handled knife - We all remember Locke's "Case of 400 Knives" and how he liked using them to hunt and such on Island.

But what about the picture of the smoke monster? What did it mean? Look at this picture:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100512165940/lostpedia/images/7/7c/6x15smokeyissuesforth.jpg

Look familiar? I think young Locke somehow saw this happening as a "future vision." The drawing was about the creation of the smoke monster (a "foreshadowing" for us viewers, from the writers - without us knowing what we were seeing). The stick man in young Locke's picture looks sad... could that be Jacob looking sad because he just threw his brother down into the Source??? I think it is.

And there you have it. Maybe I am wrong, maybe not. Will we ever find out the answers to the mysteries left unresolved on LOST? Probably not (at least all of them). But at least we can theorize about them for the rest of our days.

Let me know what you think. Thank you.