prelude

the experiment

She hadn’t seen this person in over twenty-five years. She reached out to touch their face only to discover that it was a mirror. She pulled back her hands and touched her face in disbelief. Her hands ran down her body and then her eyes fell to her hands. It was the wrong ring. Petrified, she looked around the room further. It was the wrong house. A loud thud caused her to bolt from one room to the room she has awakened in. she flung open the door and ran into the hallway. Frozen in disbelief, she stared at two young children who looked almost identical except one was a female and the other male. The children were throwing their toys down the stairs creating loud thuds as they hit the hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs. A deep growl came from the direction of the fallen toys. “it couldn’t be…. He’s dead..” Ahna shuttered in terror. She peered over the banisters and caught a glimpse of a dark haired man ascending the stairs. She looked back at the children as they ran and hid in their rooms. Her hands clinched the railing so tight, one of her nails splintered off from her finger.

“how was all this possible? Was she just reliving her past life in her mind due to the injuries she was suffering from the lightning strike?” Her husband reached the top of the stairs and lunged towards her. She stepped back into the door with no where else to go. “andy, please, not in front of the children.” Ahna pleaded. Andy grabbed Ahna’s wrist as he opened the door behind her. He flung her petite body against the bed and began assaulting her on her arms and then kicking her in the legs. Ahna began to curl up in the fetal position to center the blows to thicker sections of her limbs. Andy never hit her in the face where people would notice. He could explain away anything on her legs and arms as work related since she worked at a retail store, stocking the shelves. “get the damn kids under control or I will start hurting them next! Oh and the house better be spotless and dinner better be ready when I get back from work.” Andy turns away and reopens the door, he looks back, “why do you make me hurt you. I love you and only want the best for us. All I ask is obedience and respect in my own home. Is that too much to ask for?” Ahna can hear the car start and pull out of the garage. She looks over her sore limbs as small bruises begin to appear. She pulls herself up from the floor and sits on the edge of the bed. She needed to find out what the date was. Her phone, she assumed could be downstairs, if she had one. The children were still cowering in their room from the commotion. Ahna quickly mad her way downstairs to the kitchen. She looked around, no cell phone. She remembered that she used to keep a calendar by the pantry for a shopping list. She ran over to the hallway where the pantry was located. She stared at the open calendar in disbelief. “Could it be real? Was it really October?!?” she looked at the corner for the printed year.. it read “2006.” Ahna’s body went limp. Her legs buckled underneath her. She slide down the wall to the cold hard floor. A creak on the stairs alerted her that the children were making their way down. “Jesse, Amber, come here sweeties...” they clambered over their fallen toys and down the rest of the stairs and ran to Ahna’s outstretched arms. They began to cry and apologize for making the mess on the stairs. “its ok. Can you guys behave for about ten minutes while I go get the mail?” the children softly nodded in unison. Ahna had to know,. She had to find out if Teddy was alive and if he knew her. She grabbed the spare set of keys for her parents’ property and slipped out the front door into the darkness. It was a chilly night and the wind was blowing. Ahna could tell snow was on its way. Her healed broken bones were screaming in pain. She walked down the street to the fourth house from her’s. she held her breath, not knowing what to say or what to expect. She knocked on the door and waited. A young man answered the door. His eye were as blue as the sea in the morning. His hair was short and blonde. She stared at his muscular frame, forgetting for a moment why she was there. “I found these keys on top of the mailboxes. I was wondering if you were missing a set?” she searched his face for recognition, nothing…

“no, mine are right here, but im sure someone will put up a flier or notice, once the figure out they are missing their keys.” He said as he scratched his head. “No worries, have a good night.” He turned to close the door as she bolted down the street. She ran around a corner of the nearest house and began to sob hysterically. He was alive! He didn’t recognize her, but he was alive! Suddenly, she feels faint and collapses.

She is pulled back into the darkness that brought her here. She screams out into the darkness over and over without a response. She closes her eyes and thinks of her parents’ farm. She falls down another tunnel, this one different hues of green. She feels cold. She slowly opens her eyes and is surrounded by long flowing grass. Her hand, still on the metallic surface, pulls it back to her lap as she sits up. She looks down at her hand, it was the right ring this time. She was back where she started and where Teddy was dead.