Waking up with absolutely no memory of, well, anything would leave most people rattled and likely more than a little confused. When a stranger finds himself covered in dust in the middle of Death Valley in this exact situation, he too feels lost. Ha...
Why is this so hard, Annabelle Clairemont wondered.
She put the pencil she'd been clutching for the last fifteen minutes down on the empty page of her notepad with a sigh. Crumpled sheets of paper littered the floor around an overflowing basket underneath the old wooden desk Annabelle was currently slumped over.
The desk chair creaked softly as she leaned back to study the starry night sky with tired eyes. It was easy to spot the constellation her father had shown her when she'd only been a small child.
Ursa Major, the great bear.
The memory left a bitter taste in her mouth and she frowned. She hadn't seen her father since her husband Jim had dragged her out into the desert after their honeymoon.
Annabelle had spent the last few hours at her old desk in the sparsely lit attic, trying to find the right words to tell her father just how sorry she was for secretly leaving in the dead of night all those years ago. Rekindling their relationship had been her dearest wish for a few months now.
Suddenly feeling pathetic, Annabelle lifted her hand to her lips and stifled a laugh.
Before she could continue feeling sorry for herself, an unusually bright star caught her attention. No, it wasn't a star. Stars didn't move.
Maybe a plane. No, it was too luminous to be a plane—much too fast too. Annabelle frowned as she studied the brilliant object that seemed to be plummeting toward the earth at an accelerating speed.
Briefly contemplating whether her mind was playing tricks on her, she let her gaze wander to the remnants of the joint. But when she looked up again, another similar object had appeared, quickly followed by two more.
Wondering whether these could be shooting stars or meteors, Annabelle hastily plucked her phone from her pocket, selected the video option, and tapped the record button. Jim would never believe her when she told him about the strange objects in the sky if she didn't have any proof. The camera on her phone wasn't the best, but it would suffice in convincing even her feeble-minded husband that she had in fact seen something.
One of the blazing objects seemed to be coming her way with increased momentum. Radiant shades of green and orange trailed behind what looked like a fiery rock. Annabelle's breath caught in her throat as she watched it disappear behind the ridge above her house. Believing to have witnessed something incredible, she stared at the three remaining objects with awe until they too vanished beyond the horizon.
A satisfied smile softened the sharp features of her delicate face as she replayed the video on her phone. Giving up on the letter to her father, for now, Annabelle stood and switched off the dusty lamp on the desk, disappearing into the darkness.
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