Shards

chapter 15

Chapter 15:

I woke up coughing, my neck still sore from where Shay's hand had been. Golden bands of sunlight fell across the bed, filtering in through the open blinds. My pillow lay crumpled on the other side of the room. Big surprise there. Feeling strangely restless, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. My bare foot brushed against something, causing me to do a double take. The notebook lay exactly where I had left it. Although I knew it wouldn't completely satisfy James, I decided to give it a try. He'd done so much for me, and who knew, maybe his tactics would get some results.

Picking up the book and pencil, I slid back into bed, leaning against the wall. Where to start? Although I'd learned, fairly well, to keep the dreams straight in my head, getting them out was a different story. Putting the pencil to paper, I began.

I was getting pizza and checking the perimeter. Julian was at the computer. Audrey was upset.

I stopped, staring at the paper in frustration. This wasn't working. Turning the pencil around, I considered erasing it and starting over, but that would get me nowhere. Writing down these dreams just seemed wrong. They were too disorganized. James would never understand them, he hadn't felt them like I had. No, I had to go about this in a more organized way.

Ian

A couple of lines down, I wrote his name.

Audrey

Hers was the next, scratched onto the paper directly below his.

Dale

Kyle

Julian

Denis

I realized what I was doing. I was making a list, the first of many. It was time to bring order to the chaos. Above Ian's name, I scrawled, Important People, finishing it was a thick underline. These were the people who had meant something to me, I knew that with complete certainty. Next came the hard part, listing the people who hadn't.

Nea

She'd once been my friend, the last flashback had told me that. But that was a long time ago. The day that friendship had ended was the day another had began. I smiled slightly, remembering Ian, as he helped me to my feet.

Rion

Darren

These were the only other robots I could remember, although I knew there had been more. My throat twinged, as I attempted to swallow. More from thirst than from the dream, but it brought to mind the redheaded boy who had grabbed my neck.

Shay

Emme

I had never actually seen her in the dream, but I had a sense that the petite blonde was important. There had been a reference in my memory, to her sleeping in my bed. She had been Audrey's new roommate, after I'd left to be Nelly! That was the only thing that made sense. I felt proud of myself for deducing the fact, although I realized that it had already been somewhere, buried in my brain.

Wait! It struck me like a bolt of lightening. If I'd never seen her in a flashback, how did I know what she looked like? Again, I tried to call a picture of the girl to my mind's eye. Blue eyes, thin bleach blonde hair that wisped off right below here ears. I knew what she looked like! I couldn't believe it. I'd actually remembered something without the aid of my dreams, maybe my memory really was coming back! That meant I couldn't stop now.

Next I had to make a list of all my flashbacks, from the very beginning, and the most important points. Now that I had a task, regaining my memory actually seemed plausible. Drawing a little one on the paper, I began with the first piece of the jumbled dream. It was like I had tunnel vision, as my hand slowly worked away, spilling my thoughts on the paper.