I raise my head, a bit lost. If I had so much crafting stuff, how come only the dreamcatcher here seems handmade? The other walls are bare, I don't even have pictures hung up like in the living room. I stand up and open the wardrobe. It's a bit of a mess inside, but there are only clothes, as expected. Most are black or dark gray, but there are some surprising items, like a red sequin top, a sexy black dress, and a cute white skirt. I find a couple of boxes with brand-new jewelry inside, left untouched, but that's it.
"Anything you remember?" asks Bonnie, standing at the doorway.
"No... Nothing."
I'm disappointed. I don't know why, I thought something might come back if I stood in my bedroom, the place I should have felt most familiar with, but nothing, absolutely nothing comes back to me. I keep staring at my clothes for a while. At least I like them, my tastes probably didn't change much...
"I wonder when you got these and why," says Kelsi, grabbing the jewelry boxes. "I've never seen you with jewelry either."
"Maybe you still have the receipts?" Bonnie asks, coming to her side to check with her.
While they are checking the jewelry boxes, I go back to my desk and bookshelf. I have so many books, and a lot of them look used. The covers are torn in some parts, and the pages are yellow for some of them. I check the two books on my desk. One is a book about meditation, the other one is a history book. That's an odd choice, no?
"Mara? The receipts say you bought one of those one week before Christmas and the other in mid-April. Does that mean anything to you?"
"No... Nothing does here, to be honest. Do you think I could be an art student? Or history...?"
Kelsi frowns.
"I've never seen you craft anything but the dreamcatcher, to be honest."
"Most of the paint looks unused," adds Bonnie, looking at the contents of the first drawer.
Damn it, this is all so frustrating! I frown and turn to the books on the shelves, trying to find a clue. Some of them are fantasy books, a couple of old history books, there are a few about psychology, theology, and some I have no idea what the subject is. It's going to take me a while to go through all of these...
"Come on, Mara, no need to agonize over this," says Kelsi, grabbing my shoulder. "You know what, boo? Tonight is your first night back, so we should celebrate properly! Let's order some pizza, get some beer, and hold a proper pajama party!"
To keep me from tormenting myself any more over the questions my bedroom raised instead of solving them, Bonnie and Kelsi kick me out of my own bedroom and take me to the living room, both girls agreeing we need a girl's night. We order from the local pizzeria and decide on a movie to watch. Kelsi goes crazy since I obviously don't remember any of the movies she calls classics, and we spend the rest of the day and evening watching the silliest girly movies I can endure. I know they are doing this to distract me, and it actually works.
Though I am a bit disappointed, at least I am out of the hospital. I get to change into my own pajamas, a dark blue ensemble, while Kelsi puts on a ridiculous pink onesie, and Bonnie borrows an oversized T-shirt. We spend a lot of time laughing at the movies, eating pizza until our stomachs are full, and Kelsi and I drink some nice beer while Bonnie only has tea.
I don't remember falling asleep, but a sudden movement on my bed wakes me up. I frown and struggle to see anything in the dark. After some hesitation, I light a little flame in my hand, careful to control it. It's pitch black in my bedroom, and I'm not familiar enough with my surroundings yet to remember where the furniture is...
I spot a shadow moving right under my desk, and frown. What the heck is that thing? It's small and dark, and I see it rush under my bed when I try to direct my flame its way. What's going on?! I get up, careful about my footing, and rush to turn the lights on. Nothing seems to have moved in my room, but I clearly saw something before. I get down on my knees, and to my surprise, two yellow eyes find me.
"Meow..."
A cat?
It comes out from under my bed, not looking scared at all. It's really a cat. A black one with lots of little golden patches, and those two big golden eyes. It's cute... It walks up to me, not looking afraid, and rubs its back against my leg so I pet it.
"Where did you come from, you…?"
Does the kitty have a name? Kelsi could have told me we had a cat! I wonder how it came into my room, the door is still closed? Did it sneak in before I went to bed? Anyway, it's rather docile, purring while letting me pet it.
After a while, though, the kitty suddenly turns its head toward my bookshelf and walks up to it. To my surprise, it suddenly starts scratching one of the books.
"Hey! That’s not your scratchboard!" I protest, taking the cat away from the poor book.
Crap... I take the book out to check its poor state after the ruthless scratching. It looks like an old one too, with a pretty leather cover. It doesn't have a title on it, though? I open it and, to my surprise, there's a picture between the cover and the first page. What is this...?
In the picture is a little girl and a woman hugging her from behind. It looks like it was taken in some garden, probably in a hot season too, as both are wearing dresses. I frown. That girl... It's me, isn't it? I look no older than five or six in that picture. The woman holding me is in her twenties. She looks very thin, with long hair, but the picture is in shades of brown and white. I can only say she's a Caucasian woman... I look at the back of the picture, but there's nothing.
"Meow."
Kitty is purring again and rubbing its head against my ankle. It's funny how it led me right to that precise book. I check the contents of the book. It's all about plants, with drawings of each flower or leaves, their uses, and properties. I keep checking the pages, and to my surprise, there are lots of little notes, handwritten next to some of the book's text. Good for headaches... Use roots for rheumatism... Boil petals for meditation... I grab one of the pens on the desk and a sheet of paper to copy some of it, but it's definitely not my handwriting. Who wrote all these? I get to the end of the book after over an hour of reading. The cat is curled up next to my legs, but I'm more absorbed in all the little notes. Whoever wrote all these was fascinated and very knowledgeable about plants.
I yawn. It's already dawn... A bit late to go back to bed. Too bad, I guess. I keep the book with me and head to the kitchen. Kelsi told me to take anything I needed, but I have no idea of my cooking skills, so I take it easy and simply make myself some coffee while continuing my reading, going back to the first pages once again, hoping I missed something.
