Slipped My Mind

Dysfunctional Memory

"I'm eighteen! I can leave this Godforsaken house whenever I want to!" I protested, my voice rising far past what would be considered an indoor volume.

"Go ahead, Seneca! You think I care?" my mother vociferated right back, gesturing wildly with her thin arms as though shooing me away.

I passed my younger brother, who was staring so intensely into the television screen that he could have burned holes straight through it. For some reason, that seemed to anger me further and I pounded up the carpeted steps so heavily that the house nearly shook.

I went to my bedroom and stuffed my worn, gray backpack until it was about to burst. I then shoved my feet into my steel toed work boots, lacing them with fierce rapidity before slipping into my brown leather jacket. I sprinted back down the stairs and took two large strides towards the door. I didn't bother stealing a glance at my mother as the screen door swung outwards and snapped against its hinges.

I hastily made the decision to seek refuge at Nerine's because I had nowhere else to go. Her house was just on the other side of the forest, and since I did not own a car, I figured the trek through the half-dead foliage of autumn wouldn't exactly qualify as strenuous.

As I walked, the nagging fear of what might be hidden in the darkness urged my pace to quicken and I started to pay less attention as to where I placed my feet. The toe of my boot got caught underneath a decaying log and I fell forward, face down upon the crisp leaves. The side of my head throbbed, almost as though it hit something. I tried to at least get my body propped up on my elbows, but the effort exhausted me and spots began to swell in my peripheral vision until I fell unconscious.

-

My eyes fluttered open, or I'm pretty sure they did—if the brush of my lashes against my cheeks was any indication. The night was so dark that it seemed my eyes were still closed, but once they had adjusted, I could just make out the shadowy silhouettes of the trees. I stood up on rubbery legs and swayed when I attempted to keep walking to... where?

I clung to one of the trunks, leaning into it as I tried to remember why I was stranded in this maze during the dead of night. Maybe a thousand possibilities crossed my mind, though none of them seemed to make any sense and I muttered a curse at myself for being so useless.

My eyes skipped around my surroundings, searching beyond the trees for any sign of life when I spotted a narrow ray of light in the distance.

The girl that approached me had her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and looked absolutely relieved to see me here.

"You've never gotten lost on your way to my house before so I wasn't all that worried when your neighbor called me, but when you didn't show, I didn't know what to think," she rambled all of this to me at such a fast speed that I thought I might have missed something.

Though she neglected to mention who she was, I allowed her to drag me back the way she came because she seemed familiar and acted as though we had known one another for a long time.
I tumbled up the creaking steps of a small house that she had hauled me to once we made it out of the woods. The door stuck to its frame when she tried to open it, so she thrusted her slim figure into the wood twice before it flung inwards.

I followed her inside the house and she directed me to a kitchen chair that looked like it had been clawed by a cat. She then placed a steaming cup of hot chocolate in my hands, though the rich scent rising from the mug did nothing to ease my bustling thoughts.