Magic Land: The Lost Princess (On Hold Until January)

Chapter 6

Imogene stopped walking and turned around slowly.

She didn't notice anyone staring at her. On her right side, there were a few people in the distance playing with a dog and on her left side, a couple sat under an oak tree with their backs to her.

She turned back around and scanned the entire park. She didn't see anyone watching her or anyone out of the ordinary. However, deep down she knew she wasn't wrong.

She was still feeling like someone was watching her.

Feeling uncomfortable with the idea of being watched, she picked up her pace, deciding that it was time to go home.

Just then, a ball came rolling in her direction. It bumped on her foot and stopped. Imogene looked up and saw a small girl about five years old running towards the ball. The child's mother was a few feet behind her watching her.

Imogene reached for the ball and hand it to the girl who was now in front of her.

"Thank you." The girl said grinning at her.

She smiled at her. "You're welcome."

"Imogene? Is that you?" The child's mother questioned as soon as she reached closer to them.

Imogene looked up at the woman and as soon as she saw her, she recognized her instantly.

It was Alyssa Woods.

She knew Alyssa when she was at the orphanage. Alyssa came to the orphanage when she was thirteen years old. Imogene was two year younger than her; she was eleven at the time. She was the only orphan there that was extremely nice to her.

Basically, Alyssa was her only friend.

But then two months later after Alyssa came, Imogene was sent to a new home. Two years later, when that placement didn't work out and she came back to live at the orphanage, Imogene found out that Alyssa was adopted a year after she left.

She was really sad to hear that because Alyssa was the closest person that she had to a friend. Also, even though she was happy for Alyssa, she felt even worst because no one wanted to adopt her.

"Yes, it's me. Hi Alyssa." Imogene said smiling at her.

Alyssa surprised her by coming closer to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulder in a tight hug.

When she pulled away, Alyssa said. "I can't believe it. After all these years. I never expected to see you again. What's it been? Fourteen years?"

Imogene smiled. "Yes, it has." She confirmed. "It's really good seeing you, Alyssa."

"You too. Come on, let's sit down." She turned her attention to her daughter. "Oh, by the way, this is my daughter, Mia."

Imogene smiled down at the little girl. "Hi, Mia." The little girl smiled up at her. "She's really sweet."

Alyssa laughed. "Thanks." She then led Imogene to a bench that was just beside them and sat down. Mia was in front of them playing with her ball.

"So how are you? I wanted to visit you but I didn't know where the person who adopted you lived." Alyssa said regretfully.

"Actually, it didn't work out with her. I moved back to the orphanage two years later." She explained.

"I'm really sorry to hear that," Alyssa said sympathetically.

When they were at the orphanage together, Imogene had told Alyssa about her previous failed placements. So, she can imagine how disappointed she must have been about that.

"Thank you. It's okay really. It wasn't really bad there." Imogene clarified. "What bums me out is the fact that I will never know who my parents were."

"You're trying to find them?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes, but so far I've hit a dead end." She answered.

"Oh no. I really hope you will find out something about them soon. It's a good thing you're doing. Honestly, I would have done the same thing."

Imogene nodded. "By the way, how was it at your new home?"

"It was great. My new parents were very nice. I thought about my parents every day, but as time passed, I learnt to accept that they're gone."

Alyssa lost her parents at the young age of thirteen. She had told Imogene that they were on their way to a business trip when the helicopter that they were in lost control and crashed.

Alyssa was very torn up about it. She would tell Imogene tales about her parents and would sometimes cry during it. She would always comfort her in those times.

"So you're married?" Imogene asked after noticing the ring on Alyssa's finger.

Alyssa smiled. "Yes, six years now." She then turns her attention to Mia, who was now throwing the ball up and down. "We had Mia a year later."

"That's great."

They sat there for a while catching up, when Alyssa said. "I've really got to go now." She stood up from the bench and Imogene did the same.

"It was really great seeing you, Imogene." Alyssa smiled.

"You too, Alyssa. Do you live around here?"

"No. I live on Vinton Street. That's a fifteen minutes drive from here." Alyssa took out a pen and paper from her bag and wrote down her number. She then hands it to Imogene. "Here is my number. I hope to see you again."

Imogene took the paper from her. "Thanks." After Imogene said that, Alyssa waved at her and took Mia's hand. "Goodbye Mia."

"Bye," Mia responded as she waved at her.

Turning around, Imogene walked from the park and head home.

••••••

Later in the evening, Imogene decided to make some hot chocolate and sat in front of her apartment to watch the stars appear one by one in the sky.

She always likes to watch the stars at night. It makes her feel safe and comfortable and it gives her a sense of peace. Also, for some reason it made her feel less stressed and given what she has been going through lately, this was exactly what she needed. A little quiet time watching the stars. This always allowed her to feel a connection with herself.

She took a sip of her hot chocolate and sighed from its heavenly taste. She then chuckled to herself as she imagined Aaron teasing her about her obsession with hot chocolate. She couldn't help herself, she loves it. It doesn't matter the time of year, she would always drink it.

Her mind strayed for a while as she remembered the events of this morning. She still couldn't explain what happened to her and that was confusing the hell out of her. Maybe the stress of trying to find her parents was getting to her and she was starting to hallucinate. That definitely must be it because there was no other explanation and honestly she was tired of thinking about it. She needs to put this incident behind her as she had other things to worry about.

Imogene felt better as she told herself that it was all in her head. All she needed to do now was relax. With that in mind, she took up her empty cup from the table beside her and head inside.

It was best she forget about the whole thing because she knew for sure that something like that would never happen again.