Consciousness regained

Chapter 1

I woke up on the floor disoriented and lost. Head pounding and covered in a cold sweat, I carefully got to my feet. Nausea swept over me and I had to grab a hold of a stall door to keep from collapsing. From the corner of my eye I saw the mirror and in it…the bathroom. I couldn’t see myself. It took a moment for my brain to process this and when it did, I disregarded my nausea and ran to the mirror.  I scoured it from top to bottom, side to side and when I thought that maybe the problem wasn’t with the mirror, but with me, I froze. Absolute terror ripped through me as I stared into the middle of it; into nothing. What is happening, I cried out inside. It seemed impossible to move or even make a sound. For a moment, I ceased to exist; not seeing or being seen, not hearing or being heard.  I was dead to the world. Slowly and as fast as I dared, I raised my hand to my face. I don’t know exactly when it reached my face because it never entered my vision. The mirror was fine, but I wasn’t. As I cried out into the empty bathroom, I couldn’t see nor hear myself.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t remember anything from before I woke up. I was completely alone in a place I did not know.

 

          As I slipped quietly around a corner, I searched for places or people that may have been familiar. Since my encounter with the mirror in the bathroom, I’ve learned that the bathroom belonged to an airport and that the only belongings of mine were the clothes on my back, which were made of a material I had never seen before. It was one piece and fit snugly against my body shifting as easily as I did. I didn’t find anything else except for the usual toilet paper strung everywhere and puddles of water here and there. I had checked each stall, trash can and under each sink. I wasn’t taking any chances and missing a vital piece of information that could tell me where I was and what had happened to me.

 Quickly, I learned that other people couldn’t hear or see me either; however, if I were to attempt to touch them it would feel as if I was actually there. When I tapped one man on the shoulder, he turned around and assumed it was the person behind me that had touched him. The other man denied it, of course, and so the man I had originally touched turned back around and quickened his pace. I can only assume to avoid the man who denied his accusation. Later, there was another scenario where I had tried to create a distraction for the clerk behind a sandwich shop counter. I was hungry and since no one could see me and I had no money, as soon as he was turned away I took a sandwich from the rack. What I had forgotten to take into account was that even though I was invisible, people could clearly see through me, and what they saw was a floating sandwich. A few of the customers ran out of the store and others tried to rationalize what they were seeing. A couple even thought that it was a publicity performance from the sandwich shop. The clerk’s obvious fright of the sandwich, which was just being held in my hand as I was trying to figure out what to do, and the fright of the people who ran out of the place terrified started to spread and eventually everyone was either doubtful that it was a “stunt” on the store’s behalf or too scared to move. I found it slightly amusing. All of these people terrified over a single floating sandwich, which I had been the cause of. My mouth started to form a smile. I put the sandwich back and decided I would try at another time. I highly doubted anyone would touch that sandwich again except to maybe throw it away and at that thought, I silently chuckled to myself. 

My amusement disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. I was still lost, without food, or knowledge of my past.

 I sighed and started my search for exit signs. If I could get out of here I might have better luck at finding some shelter and information. Maybe I would even see something that would trigger a memory. All I knew for sure was that I could not stay in an airport and wait for something that may or may not present answers to my questions. As I followed the signs in the general direction of the front entrance, I tried to keep my distance from people. I didn’t want to start something that was caused by an accidental “bump in” from me. I learned that from my experience with the guy I had tapped. If they had wanted to, both men could have started throwing insults back and forth and eventually punches. Some people are just that touchy, but thank God it didn’t come to that. Being virtually non-existent was bad enough without having to worry about who was going to kill who because you freaking tapped them on the shoulder. And even though I did my best at keeping my distance, there were just some places that were so jam packed you couldn’t go through the place without brushing against multiple people, sometimes at the same time. Most people ignored that slight touch on the arm or shoulder as they were traveling from one part of the airport to another and some people just automatically assumed someone had accidently walked into them from the lack of space. That taken into consideration, there is always that one jerk that you happen upon and the one I came across was a witch. Not literally, but damn near close. She was pushing people aside to create a path in which she could walk and drag her five hundred suitcases behind her. I just happened to be in her way and she was coming at me too fast. I had no time to move and since she couldn’t see me, she rammed right into me and knocked me flat on my behind. Me - an invisible wall.

Boy, was that a scene. It looked as if the clumsy little witch had fallen right on her butt. And she did, but not for the reason that most people thought. Yeah, she got what she deserved, but that’s because she walked into an invisible person, not because she couldn’t place her feet in front of her.  A couple people had stopped to gawk, but most people continued on their way or snuck glances as they passed. They had places to be and couldn’t sit around to watch an obviously domineering woman with a million suitcases topple to the floor and attempt to pick herself and her luggage back up again, no matter how entertaining it may have been.

When she finally got to her feet, she looked as mad as a bat out of hell, but she kept her composure, so I had to give her credit for that. She quickly took in the condition of her suitcase army, hauled them all back up, and started off again; this time a tad bit faster due to her temper. The couple people who had stopped to gawk got this sad and bored look as soon as she was out of sight; like now that she was gone they had no entertainment whatsoever, and were going to be bored for eternity. I just got up, dusted off my bottom, and continued maneuvering my way through the crowd of people. Now that that was over, maybe I could get somewhere.          

Reviews

[Weeping Willow]

hey, this is great. I'll send some read request to my friends if you don't mind, but keep up the good work!
:)

[Schyala]

Loved the beginning! Only a few typos to address, also you have mixed tenses, which means you wrote "I learned" then "I see" or something like that. Just go back and fix that and it will be perfect :)

[Monster]

Thank you very much!! I'll go back over it as soon as I can and fix it.
I greatly appreciate your input. :)

[Melody]

This is starting off fantastically. :) Good job!

[Monster]

I thank you, most sincerely!! :) Any suggestions on improvements or anything?

[Melody]

rmfnorfowfmo It keeps saying that you left a comment on this review and then I click it and nothing shows!!! DX WHATifooefiefioejfw

[Monster]

..I DID leave a comment..lol

[Melody]

Oh so NOW it shows! I see how it works! Lol.
And no, don't change anything. It's fine the way it is.

[Monster]

Okayz. Thanks!! :) lol

[Melody]

You're welcome. :)