The Hidden Box

The Second Toothbrush

Sarah

The sun filtered through the curtains and entered the room. I could see dust particles in the air which unsettled me for some reason, clothes were strewn on the floor and small bits of paper were scattered everywhere. Something was written on them, you could make that out by observing all the black strokes and lines. What happened yesterday? I blinked several times hoping that it would jog my memory. Maybe it is just a bit of confusion, an effect due to the morning and several hours of sleep. But nothing came into my head even after a long time of trying to remember anything remotely related to my life. That's when my eyes drifted to the wall.

The words- "I FOUND YOU NOW" were written across it in red. They were wet upon touching, someone must have been here not long ago. How do I not remember?

Slowly dragging my legs to what I thought was the washroom, making sure I wouldn't trip on the mess on the floor, I went to wash my hands. As I rinsed them I noticed that this wasn't paint - it was blood. But whose?

I instinctively looked up into the mirror as I washed my hands, disgusted with the fact that they had touched blood. I looked like a witch from a horror film; black , tangled and curly hair standing at strange angles along with huge dark circles underneath my eyes. Disgusted, I forced myself to look down at my hands and tried to avoid looking in the mirror again. Once my hands were clean enough, I instinctively picked my neon green toothbrush when I saw another purple one next to it. Too disoriented to actually care, I started brushing my teeth.

My hair could be fixed but what about the dark circles? This was not good. I grabbed a face-wash kept near the sink and washed my face. Again I tried remembering anything I possibly could. There was no calender here for me to even guess the date. Tree faces began to slowly come in my mind. The first was of a middle-aged woman. She had that tender look on her face and something in my heart just knew she was my mom. The second face was that of a young boy, probably in his early teens. He bore a strong resemblance to the middle-aged lady. Most probably he was her son and my brother, The third face was someone I could not recognize, but he seemed familiar. I just didn't know who he was and my brain was too exhausted to think anymore.

He was tall and seemed strong - not in the wrestler-guy-who-works-out-everyday kind of way but in the cute-guy-living-next-door. But his face was blurred. However, he wore a black leather jacket which gave him an intriguing bad boy look which slightly aroused me, making me feel butterflies in my stomach. "Enough!" I told myself. "This guy is not your biggest problem. That writing on the wall is". Who had found me? And what did he want? I looked at myself in the mirror. There were no scratches or wounds, but I noticed a small dot on my arm. Someone had drawn blood from me.

Maybe this person had taken something? I proceeded to delve into the huge mess at my feet and tried searching every nook and corner of the house when I realized, even if something was lost, how on earth would I know? I couldn't even know my own name!

Frustration filled me. Suddenly I decided to stop caring. I felt the urge to leave - to be anywhere but here. I picked up the first thing I saw, a pink t-shirt and blue shorts. Somewhere among the things strewn on the floor, I found a purple hairbrush and tried to pull it across my thick hair. Instead of getting untangled, my hair fell off in bunches. I looked hideous. Why was I wanting to look beautiful? Anger and desperation gnawed at me like it was going to crumple my heart. For all I knew, this wasn't even my apartment. If I had a mother and brother I'm sure we would have a bigger place - not a studio apartment like this one.

"Deep breaths" I told myself. Clear brain. No thinking. There should be an identification card in this house like a driver's license or school certificate for all I cared. Where would I find something like that in all, this mess? Fighting back my tears, I opened the wooden drawer keep next to the window. In it, was an ID card that had my face on it - a much more beautiful version and next to it was a name, my name. Sarah Winters.

Now I knew two things for sure. One was that this was my apartment and my name is Sarah Winters. Beginning to feel hopeful, I continued to look in the other drawers hoping to find some journal or diary which would reveal more about myself or at least help me remember.

Just then someone knocked on my door. Before I could open my mouth I heard keys going through the keyhole. This person was opening the door! I panicked and by panic, I mean I became very still and rigid. A boy came in and casually spoke to me, "Hey Baby!", before he became wide-eyed and stared around.