Chapter 2

I felt someone shaking me. My eyes flew open and I jolted out of my daydream. My mother’s plain gray eyes stared down at me, and I realized the rickety motion of the train had stopped. I glanced out of the window and saw that we had stopped at a station in the middle of a remote place. Ragged plains and stretched out on either side of us and a few bare trees dotted the horizon. Several beggars were scattered across the platform and traveling families were hustling around trying to catch their train.

“Are we getting off here?” I asked alarmingly. My eyes darted from my mother to the endless plain that stretched beyond my eyes.

“No, we need lunch and water,” my mom replied.

I breathed out a sigh of relief and climbed out of the train. I spotted a vendor, and hastily made my way to him.

“Wuz you lik a zicken berzer Mizz?” the old man asked.

“A chicken burger?” I asked.

“Yez.” He reached into a bucket and pulled out a burger wrapped in paper. My eyes grew wide as I noticed the swarm of flies clustering around it. He must have noticed my astonished look, because he grinned a toothless grin back.

“Zon’t wurry. Zey’re everyvere here. Zis berzer iz only one veek old.” I stared at him for a whole ten seconds before I regained my composure and blinked.

“W-what?!” I glanced around to see if there were any other vendors I could buy food from, but I was out of luck. “Uh, would you have anything else by chance?”

“Nope. Zis iz all I carry.”

“Okay, I guess one burger is fine,” I said. There was no way I was going to eat that. If mom was hungry enough, she could have it. “Do you have anything to drink?”

“Yez. Water and Pepzi.” He pointed to a carton that had bottles of Pepsi - without their caps. The flies were everywhere and I gulped as I saw one clumsily head plant into an open bottle.

“Bottled water’s fine.” I quickly bargained with him, but as soon as I turned around to head back, that train had already started moving. That’s when I began to panic.

“Mom!” I screamed and began running. I caught a glimpse of my mother crying and screaming, but I could barely hear it over the sound of the wind whistling in my ears. I ducked my head and ran as fast as I possibly could. The wind bit my face but I ran for my life. My hair tie flew off and my long red hair whipped my face, but I didn’t care. Finally, after what seemed like ages, I caught hold of the side of the train and a large hand hauled me up. I saw a glimpse of his ruby ring before I was engulfed in my mother’s embrace. We both sat down and I panted, trying hard to catch my breath. I looked down at my hand and realized I had dropped the burger.

“I’m - I’m sorry. I wasted-”

“It’s okay.” If this was one of her BDD (Before Dad’s Death) days, she would have made some joke to ease the situation, but I saw no smile in her eyes this time. She was genuinely worried. My mom smoothed my hair out of my face and her eyes grew wide in shock. “You have welts all over your face!” I raised my hand up to my face and realized it was wet and swollen. I had been crying. Dabbing my sleeve on my face to dry my tears, I winced.

“They’ll go away,” I said as mom splashed some cool water on my face.

Cuddled up on the crook of my mother’s elbow, I felt comfortable after what seemed like forever, although it had been only a few days since I last slept in my bed. Finally, my eyelids drew heavy and I began, once again, to think about the call, which I remembered word for word. And I thought about my dad. And most of all, I thought of my life before it was turned upside down.

 

~~~

 

“Hello?” I had answered the phone.

“Hello. Is this Rosie Güzellik, daughter of Elizabeth and Walter Güzellik?” a woman’s voice asked over the phone. Her voice sounded plain and calm on the phone, but she definitely was not someone I knew.

I winced at her pronunciation. “It’s goo-zay-lik, not guz-ell-ik. And yes, they are. Is there some message you want me to tell them?”

“I beg your pardon, Rosie. No, unfortunately I have a message for you.”

 “Huh?” I asked impatiently, getting more confused by the moment.

“Your mother and father were in a car accident about an hour ago. You mother survived but her leg has been badly damaged,” she paused, “but your father didn’t make it.”

I froze. The news hit me like a bucket of cold water, but I made my voice hard and my eyes narrowed. “This better not be a crank call.” My voice betrayed my emotions on the last word and cracked. I mentally slapped my voice.

“No, I am calling from Tasarita Hospital. I’m sorry about the news. Your mother’s doing very well though. Brave woman, if I might say so myself. In fact, she requested to see you before her surgery. In a few minutes, an officer will come and bring you to the hospital. Again, I’m sorry for the shock this caused,” she said as she put the phone down.

Within minutes, I was in the hospital, looking at the pale face of my mother. Nothing could prepare me for the sight that met my eyes. My mother looked shrunken as if she had aged several years in just a few hours. Her cheeks seemed hollow and her protruding dark circles seemed more visible. Her leg was twisted at a strange angle and I winced just seeing it. But what scared me the most was her eyes.

Sure, they were large, round, and gray, but there was something different about them. They seemed lifeless. The joy and smile in her eyes were gone, and I had a bad feeling they were going to stay like that for a while. Unconsciously a few tears dripped down my face, but my mother lifted up her frail hand, and with jerky motions, wiped off my tears. My tears were gone, but my sorrow still weighed me down like a lead shawl.

“I love you,” my mother mumbled, and her eyes slowly fluttered, and then they closed. For a brief second, I panicked, thinking that she might have joined my father, but I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“She’s alright. She just needs some rest. We’re going to take her in for surgery soon,” a nurse said as she led me to a waiting room. “Should I get you anything to eat?”

I shook my head, afraid that if I said something, I would probably burst into tears.

“Okay then. Make yourself comfortable.”

“H-how about my dad?” I managed to say loudly enough for the nurse to hear me.

The nurse fidgeted. “He’s not here right now. Now now, don’t worry. We have everything in control. Just rest for a while, you’ve been through a lot. Don’t worry about your parents. They’ll be fine.” She smiled and walked out.

That left me alone with my thoughts and I couldn’t bear them at the moment. So I shut out all of my thoughts, and purposely tried to make my mind blank but my thoughts were just too stubborn. I sat frozen for a while, but then the reality of the situation hit me and a low moan escaped my mouth. It was too much for my body to take, and I fell into a coma. I just remember darkness and nothing else until I woke up several days later.

I was back in my bed in my room, but everything looked so - different. The walls were bare and few pieces of furniture I had were also gone. What happened to my stuff?! Shocked, I sat up in bed as it squeaked under my weight. Suddenly, I felt faint, so I eased myself back into my covers and groaned.

“Rosie?” my mother called out from an outside room. I heard alternating clanks and thuds as my mother hobbled into the room.

“Mom!” I exclaimed as I saw her leaning heavily on her crutches.

“Still getting used to these,” she motioned with her head towards the crutches.

“What happened to everything? Are you fine?” I asked.

“I’m fine. The question is: are you? Could you come to the kitchen? I made some soup, but I don’t know if I could carry the bowl here.” She winced.

“Mhm. Be careful mom. Don’t hurt yourself!”

“It’s fine. You’re not feeling dizzy or anything?”

“Not much.” I got out of bed and steadied myself. For a second, the world spun, but when I blinked several times, I felt better. I trudged into the kitchen and rinsed my face. The water felt refreshing and cleared my head a bit and I saw that almost everything was gone there too, including the pots, pans, and paintings on the wall.

“Mom, what did you do to everything?” I asked alarmingly.

“Hmm?” my mother mumbled as she set some more stuff into suitcases.

“Where is everything?”

“Hmm?” she was too engrossed in whatever she was doing and apparently her mind had zoned out.

“My stuff?!”

“Did you drink your soup?” she muttered. I let out an irritated breath and practically swallowed it in one sip.

“MOM. WHERE IS ALL MY STUFF??!” I just about screamed aloud this time.

“Sold.”

“WHAT?!”

“We need the money. We’re moving,” she said in a matter-of-fact way.

“WHAT? WHERE?!” This time, I definitely screamed. My mom turned around and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t you raise your voice at me young lady. I didn’t sell all of your stuff. The birthday presents that your father gave you are still lying in the chest in your closet. I was hoping you would sell that antique watch-” she broke off sobbing. The thought of my dad brought tears to my eyes too, but I walked over to my mom and hugged her.

“It’s okay,” I mumbled. We stood there for a while until my mom stopped crying. Slowly, I broke off and put my hand on her shoulders.

“You don’t have to though.” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and turned around, signaling that the conversation was over. I stared at my mother’s back and my mind, clouded with confusion, finally began to clear up. Dad was dead. I almost started sobbing again, but I held it in for my mother’s sake. He was the one with the job in our family, and without him, we had no source of income. We’d even have to sell our house so we could manage a few years until I got a job. Suddenly, I felt weary. I would have to leave everything behind: my friends, my school, my soccer team, and most of all, sixteen years of my life. Slowly, I turned around, walked back to my closet, and dug around for my chest. Coughing, I wiped off the blanket of dust that had settled on the box. Ever so carefully, I pried it open and peered inside. Before I knew it, my eyes had filled with tears at the memories I had just unlocked.

I fingered through the gifts: hair curlers - which I never had the patience to use, an ornately carved hairbrush, a beaded purse, a rusted charm bracelet, and a fancily decorated hand mirror (which my father claimed was from India). I smiled and held up a large, old pair of keys which my father had given me. It was when I was seven and determined I was going to find a hidden treasure chest someday. Dad had given the key ring and told me it was the key to my treasure, but I just had to find it. There was the bottle of perfume my father gave me, which I loved so much. It smelled like roses in a fresh spring day. I had used most of it, but kept the rest away as a memory of the good times with my father. Besides, it was probably the only perfume I’d ever own in my life. Remembering the good times with my dad, I couldn’t hold my tears in anymore. They trickled down my face as I stepped outside with my head bowed.

“He’s willing to buy it for four hundred dollars,” my mom said. I barely heard her. Sobbing, I placed it into the man’s large hands and headed back just as a red caught my eye.

 

~~~

Suddenly my eyes flew open and I jerked my head upright - crashing it into my mom’s chin.

“Oww,” I moaned rubbing my head and my mom’s chin simultaneously. “Sorry,” I said, biting my lip while looking into her questioning eyes.

My mind swirled with thoughts. Red ring. Exactly the same red ring. The guy who bought the watch. The guy who helped me up. It’s got to be the same person! But why?! I peered around trying to see if I could recognize the person, or at least catch a sight of his ring again. But the only person’s hand I could see was the man sitting next to me, snoring under his sombrero. And the only thing on his hand was a hairy zit the size of a golf ball.

And it was then I realized I had to be in hyper-alert mode all the time, because there was something going on, which I had to find out about. And whatever that was, it was about moi. 

Author's Note

Comments/reviews/ratings great appreciated :)

Reviews

[JadeForever]

really good so far!!!!!!!!

write more!!!!

[Brittany]

I didn't like the 'moi' at the end because it seemed dramatic and Rosie doesn't seem drama queen-ish. Otherwise, I very much liked the the chapter and the writing. Great job. Hope you keep it up.

Title - 'Keys to My Past'?

[Nima M]

I can't wait till you make the next chapter. This day (the day you wrote it) should go up in history as The Day Amrah Wrote Her First Horror Story, because this book is off the wall (that just means its really good, in Nima-ease as my dad would say).

[Starcaller]

Very cool ;)

[Anonymous]

Another fantastic chapter, I really like the contrast between the time zones of her journey, it definately makes it all the more interesting.
I hope you continue writing :)

[AK]

Going really well. The story is becoming more and more interesting! I loved it!