Wake Up


Pain.  Lots of it.  Everywhere.

I couldn’t remember what happened to me.  I couldn’t remember where I was.  

Worst of all?



I couldn’t remember who I was.

~*…*~

I was in a park.  The second time I woke up, the word came to me, explaining the trees and grass and swings and people.  

When did the people arrive?  They weren’t here earlier.  

I sat up.  My head felt extra heavy.  Why was something wet dripping from my nose?

I blinked at the red droplet that appeared on my arm.  Blood.  Metallic to the taste and scent.  It was falling from my nose.  Nose bleed.  

I didn’t understand still.  Why was I in a park?  Why was I aching everywhere?

What was this boy staring at?

Peering up at him, I stood.  His green eyes watched me warily, dark brown hair fluttering slightly in a breeze.  He moved his arm up towards me.  

I leapt back and crouched, eyes darting.  Why did I do that?  I stood, blinking again.  The boy looked scared, but continued to hold out something.  Tissue.  White and thin and fluttering in the wind.  Like wings of doves.  

Dove?  I blinked before a picture of a white bird appeared in my mind.  Pretty.
  
I took the tissue before stopping briefly.  I shoved it against my nose after a moment.  Feeling sticky stuff on my lips, I licked at it and was met with a salty metallic flavor.  Mucus and blood combined.  

The boy watched me.  I stared back at him.  Who was he?  Why was he staring?

I looked down at myself.  

Black shirt, green cargo shorts, no shoes.  My feet were covered in scabs on the bottom.  

Did I run somewhere bare foot?  So then I ran to the park.  Why?

A voice broke my musing and I jumped, remembering the boy.  He repeated himself, but I couldn’t hear him.  My vision fuzzed and spiraled.  Pretty sparkly dots and stars swam by before everything snapped back into focus.

“Miss, are you okay?”

Was my name ‘Miss’?  Did he know me?  

“Am I Miss?” I asked.  My voice was rough and crackly.  The boy’s wasn’t.  It was smooth and deep.  

The boy raised a brow.  “It’s just a term.  Are you a foreigner?”

I blinked.  What was that?  The term was foreign to me… wait… “I don’t know.” I replied honestly.  Did I have an accent?  What was an accent?

The boy looked confused and slunk back a tiny bit.  “You sound like you’re from Europe.” he replied honestly.

“Europe?”  Where was that?  Was it a big place?

“Are you alright?” he repeated, eyes slightly narrowed, as if he was concerned.

“Fine.” I replied instantly, though not knowing why.  Was it instinct?  I blinked.  What were these words I kept thinking of?  

“Okay… um… I have to go.” the teen mumbled before leaving.  I watched him for a moment before running forwards.

“Wait!  Who am I?” I asked, wanting to reach out and grab his arm or shoulder but not wanting to touch him.

The boy stopped.  “You don’t know?  I’ve never seen you before.” he replied before running.

I watched him go and blinked before turning back to the trees.  It was nice there.

~*…*~

So I was no-one so far.  

A girl.  Alone and lost and hurt.  No-one knew who I am.

Why couldn’t I remember my name?

Why was I hurt?  Why was I alone in some park I didn’t know?  Where was I and where was I from?

Did I have a name?  A family?

What’s a family?

I sighed, sitting down at the base of a tree, resting my head back against the bark and looking up into the leafy branches.  Sunlight shone through the small gaps, leaving short beams of golden light against green leaves. Pretty.

Voices.  More voices than before, different voices. Did I know one?  I felt like I did.

Peeking around the tree, I did know one, the boy from before with green eyes like the leaves and brown eyes like the dirt.  They were saying things.

“You met a foreigner with no recall of her name, personal history, or where she was?” a tall, blond haired boy asked, looking over at the boy I knew from before.

“Yes, and she was hurt.” the brunette confirmed.  That was me, right?  

Something heavy landed on my shoulder.  I leapt up and away, eyes wide and darting around.  A girl stood beside my tree, black hair, black eyes.  

People were everywhere then.  All around me.  Watching, staring, whispering.  I backed up into another tree.  I didn’t like this.

“It’s alright, we only want to help.” the girl said.  Something inside me said to not believe her and run.  Run where?  Only away.  Where was ‘only away’?

“You think she’s a victim?” a hushed voice asked from beside the tree.  I whipped my head around to see the tall blond boy listening to a dark-skinned girl.  African-American.  

What was that?  What she was?  Just a term for girls in general?  Or only dark-skinned ones with curly or crimped hair?

“Of a mobbing or from our side?” the boy murmured faintly back, eyes on the ground.

I tilted my head curiously, whatever that meant.  His eyes flashed up and stared into mine.  

Silver.  Bright silver, like molten metal.  Swirling with faint blue flecks.  Pretty.

“What?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.  The pretty silver ones.

“What’s this?” I asked, picking up a chain.  A silver chain.  A silver chain with a pretty pendant on it.  A pendant that had a heart that looked a bit like a cage engraved in it, with a sword going through the top. It fell from my neck.  I didn’t know what it was.

The group stared at me in shock.