Opaque

20 | A Blast From the Past

"You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories." - Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

Chapter Twenty

Karma: a psychotic, moral, killer, who attacks the sinners, those who sinned mentally and those who hurt others, in slow motion. I believed in Karma, at least in the idea of it, but, despite the fact that I had committed many sins, both unintentionally and intentionally, I didn't think I would be visited by the moral killer this soon. After all, it had been just two minutes since I had lied to Mia. How could I be punished so soon?

As we enter the "kid's area" of the dojo, which was actually a corporate building once upon a time, I immediately recoiled from the sound of childish laughter coming from the brightly painted room. The room, which was large enough to fit my entire apartment and then some, looked as if a day care center and a ballroom had a baby. Children, of all ages, sizes, and ethnicity, sat sporadically - some were on chairs, hanging upside down, some, most likely the smart, well-mannered kids, sat in the middle crisscrossed, and others either leaned against the painted, decorated, yellow walls or ran around playing a mean game of tag.

"Wow, this is a big class," I said, gulping slightly at the sight of children running amok in the room.

Mia grinned proudly, her pearly white teeth sparkling in the harsh white light of the room.

"Yeah, but it's so much fun teaching them," she said, walking into the middle of the room.

She turned her head, away from me, and focused on the kids. Clapping loudly, she said, "Settle down everyone. We have a visitor today," she gestured at me, "So let's all be on our best behavior and show her all we got."

Loud enthusiastic screams, and applause, echoed around the room as the kids all lined up-I'm assumed, based on height- against the back wall of the room. The energy in the room was palpable. It was nerve-wracking to be around these young kids. I remembered when I was their age...

I heard Mia ask me to give her ten minutes to wrap the class up before we talked, but I felt disembodied. I felt my head bobbing up and down, a nod in response to her question, and I saw her smile with her pearly white teeth again, but I felt as if I was far away and there at the same time-a ghost.

A girl ran in front of me, her blonde ponytail bouncing behind her. Clear cut memories flashed before my eyes. Yellow, golden, hair-a striking resemblance to Rapunzel-had touched the ground as she sat down, her hair open and down, as she waited for her mother to fetch the comb.

I heard laughter as a boy tugged on his opponent's-a girl-hair. She screamed, her face lit up in a bright smile, pretending to be hurt by the move he pulled. Feeling bad, tears welling in his eyes, he approached her to ask if she was okay, but, he realized a little too late, that was all a part of her plan.

Another memories skids across from view. As she sat on the carpeted floor, playing with her Barbie doll-a birthday gift from her father-he entered into the living room, seemingly from out of nowhere, giving her a fright. She screamed before bursting into child-like giggles. It was only him... And he cared.

I felt my legs moving back, to where? I didn't know, and I continued doing so until I was against the wall. From my peripheral vision, I saw Mia give me a strange look but I couldn't analyze it. I was stuck, enchanted, trapped, bewildered, and lost.

Lost in the memories of her and of him. Two boys, relatively the same height-though one definitely weighed more than the other-and similar in resemblance, were up next. They were brothers.

"Tony, a boy pinched me in school today. It hurt so much and then he stuck his tongue out at me and said I had 'coodies.' He is a big meanie. I don't like him at all," she, goldilocks, said to him.

"Don't worry,Lia," he said, using the nickname he created for her, "One day, when I'm big and strong, I will be there to protect you."

"Will you really," she asked, her dark brown eyes looking straight into his, and, when he nodded, she added, "Promise?"

He wrapped his finger around her pinky and said, "I promise."

The boy, who was skinnier than his brother, though they both were pretty slim, won the match. He beamed in delight and, though I expected his brother to be upset, he hugged his brother. They were happy and together... Unlike them or, rather should I say, like them.

After them came two girls, both brunettes, but besides that, they had next to nothing in common. They both took up their stances and waited for the other to attack. They waited and watched, watched and waited, like two lionesses fighting over food for their cubs.

She ran, her bare feet lightly hitting the wooden floors, from one room to another, with him following behind at an intentionally slow pace. They ran, one away from the other, the other trying to catch the former, but, from a distance, they seemed to be running together in harmony.

The brown eyed girl lifted her arm in defense as the one with misty blue eyes attacked. One stood in defense, the other in offense. Both circled each other, looking for a weak spot, waiting for a chance to attack.

I couldn't remember whether or not Mia had specified a list of moves the kids could use or whether there were any rules, but from what I witnessed, she had done a terrific job at training these kids. Although, it made me wonder, where did she learn to fight? Wasn't that the objective of this meeting? I couldn't remember...

"Mommy, can you tell me a bedtime story," she asked, as she was tucked into her princess themed bed.

"Which one," her mother, a blonde-haired angel, asked her goldilocks child. "The one with a princess in it," she said, her child-like mind still a big believer in fairy tales, princesses, and dreams.

Her mother laughed, her hazel eyes twinkling, her eyes scrunching slightly in the corner, and even though she wasn't sure which story her daughter wanted to hear, trusting her motherly instincts, she began reciting an old fairy tale her own mother used to tell her. A circle of life, she supposed.

"Once upon time, there lived a princess in a far, faraway, kingdom... And her name was Rapunzel."

The match between the two girls was over before I could even blink. Time seemed to pass by without me even noticing. There seemed to be an invisible vortex in front of me and through it, I seemed to travel to the past. As a witness to all of those scenes, I carried the memories with me. At times they were unclear, foggy, and unreal, but like today, with a present reminder of the past right in front of my eyes, the memories became as clear as the day.

Every quirk, every word, every breath seemed to materialize in front of me. I felt as if I was once again a witness. An intruder, of sorts.

My biology teacher had once said mentioned something about her past and gave her memories a name. It stuck with me ever since. "A blast from the past," she called it and that was exactly what I had experienced merely a few minutes ago.

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