The Stranger under the willow tree

The truth isn't all what it seems

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the blinding white light. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and I had to squint my eyes just to make out the shapes around me. Slowly, I began to realize that I was in a hospital room, surrounded by machines and tubes and wires. And then, I realized that I didn't remember anything. I didn't know my name, or where I was from, or what had happened to me. All I knew was that I was scared and alone. But then, my family and friends started to visit me. They told me stories about my life, about the things I had done and the people I had loved. They showed me pictures and videos, trying to jog my memory and help me remember who I was. And at first, it worked. I started to remember bits and pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle slowly coming together. But then, I started to notice something strange. The memories that I was remembering and the memories that they were telling me were completely different things. They would tell me about a trip we took to the beach, but I would remember a trip to the mountains. They would tell me about a party we went to, but I would remember a quiet night at home. It was like we were living in parallel universes, with two completely different versions of my life. And as the days went by, I started to wonder which one was real. Were they telling me the truth, or was my memory playing tricks on me? I didn't know who to trust, or what to believe. All I knew was that I needed to find out the truth, no matter what it took.