in which past meets future in an alternate reality; how they existed not as immortal beings but as mere mortals with an all-seeing eye, and where they meet to create everlasting time
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ACT I, SCENE I
She has already made quite a name for herself. The sky looker, the dreamer, the stargazer, the girl who could not fit in, the strange one. But at the same time, she did not have a name. She did not have a name, names like Rachel, Sarah or Audrey. She did not have a name at all. As such, last stormy night, she made her way to the public library where she spent hours to find a name for herself. Personally, she was alright with not having a name but occasionally, someone would greet her and ask for her name. To avoid more of such awkward happenings, she decided to find a name she liked, that could represent her, so she could solve this problem once and for all.
She found it in a book titled '100 Beautiful Names for your baby girl'. It must have been rather odd to see a young woman in her early twenties to be reading such a book so late into the night. Perhaps that was the reason why, so many people had been staring at her. She had not put too much thought into it then, simply because she had never quite fit into society; always becoming the outcast, the loner. At least that was what she remembered. Memory was such a hazy thing. If she were to put more effort into analysing her memories, she probably would be more than baffled as to why she had no given name and why had she not found a name for herself long ago. But she was not that kind of person. She preferred to let the past be the past. She never had a thing for the past. She was more of the visionary type of girl who preferred to ponder over the future instead.
After hours and hours of searching, after flipping through more than a dozen books, reading a thousand names, she found it. She found the perfect name for herself, with a meaning she never knew she was looking for. When she chanced upon the name, there was a sudden eureka, a sudden cosmic explosion and she knew that was the name she was looking for. It was Delphia which meant 'one who can predict future; womb'. She loved the way the name rolled off her tongue; how it simply flowed, like water off a rock. She loved the way she wrote it, the way she needed to circle her wrist to carve every curve and every line. She loved how she finally had an identity. She felt like dancing and singing. She wanted to stand on a mountain peak just, so she could shout out her name for the whole world to hear.
But now, it was morning. After going to the public library last night, she had to buy necessities from the supermarket that was around the corner and she had to pick up some books she ordered from who knows when. When she made it back to her university campus, it was already in the wee hours. She knocked out cold the moment she reached her dormitory and had not managed to write her name on all her books as according to her plan. So technically, no one, other than herself, knew of her name. But, funnily, her roommate knew of it.
"Good morning Delphia! You want some cereal?" she greeted her as she sat up from her bed. To say she was stunned was an understatement. She was flabbergasted. "How... How did you know my name?" she asked. Her roommate stared at her incredulously. "Are you playing with me right now? Seriously. It's too early in the morning for all these mind games. Gosh! Don't you know my boyfriend is already messing my mind up? You introduced yourself as Delphia when we met, remember?" And with that, she let out a hefty sigh and slammed her bowl against the table for extra measure. She could see as clear as day that she was irritated. There was really no need for all those sound effects.
Reluctantly, she got up from her bed and placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I am sorry. I wasn't playing mind games with you. As you said, it is too early in the morning and my mind isn't working. It completely slipped my mind that I told you my name. Like how did I even forget that? I must be running very low on sleep." Her roommate gave her a small smile and catapulted herself into her embrace. She buried her head in the crook of her neck and without warning, started to bawl her eyes out. As she stroked her back and tried to console her roommate, her own mind flew.
Her head was pounding, and her heart was hurtling in her ribcage. This was bizarre. She could not wrap her mind around this. She found the name Delphia last night. Before last night, she was nobody. She had no name. She was sure of it. She only found her name last night and she had not uttered a word to anyone since last night. It was impossible that her roommate knew her name and it was insane that her roommate said that she introduced herself as Delphia when they first met. They met for the first time at least a week ago. Her roommate knowing her name was like knowing the future or it was like her going back to the past and telling her roommate that she was Delphia. And either way, according to her very sane mind, was out of the world insane. Hands down, crazy. Or perhaps last night did not happen. Maybe she had not gone to the public library last night but had gone a week ago. Again, that seemed highly unlikely. If what she recalled as last night was really another night from a week ago, that would mean she must have lost memory of the week between that night and this morning. But she remembers everything that happened, minus the name part.
She was on the verge of pulling all her hair out. That is why she said she rather let the past be the past. Because memory, could be such a hazy thing.
