Things I Almost Remember: A Selection Story

All Comes Back

Kate opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. She was no longer in the forest, but in a large sparkling room with a grand chandelier and windows looking out into the starry night beyond. As she looked around, she realized that everything felt so much more clear. It was like a great fog was lifted or as if she was seeing for the first time.

"I have been here before," Kate thought. "Not just in my nightmares, but I have been here in my memories. Johnny and I played here, and Mother came and joined us and taught us how to do a real dance."

She walked to the window and looked out to see an old wooden swing on one of the trees.

"That is my swing! I would play on it as a little girl and try to see if I could touch the branches," she thought, smiling at the memory. 

The memories. So many memories. It was as if someone had destroyed a dam in her brain and everything was flooding back in her mind. She was taking in the room with a huge smile, taking in the entirety of the sparkling ballroom.

"I remember!" she exclaimed before she had realized she had spoken it out loud. Everything was coming back, and no longer just in strange random fragments. It all was real and concrete.

"Kerttu?" a voice that she finally recognized called out to her. It was a voice she had heard in her dreams, faded and both familiar and unfamiliar. Now, she could identify it easily.

"Mother?" she said turning and running into the outstretched arms of her mother.

"You remember, darling. You at last have come back to us. We knew you would, one day," Eadlyn whispered, hugging her daughter.

"I never knew you always were with me," Kate said, happy tears falling down her face. "I could hear your voice and see you, but I never knew it was you, how were you with me?"

"The heart has a better memory than the head," Eadlyn said holding her daughter close. "We have always been there in your heart, and we will remain there forever. Even if we cannot stand beside you, you still carry us with you."

Kate leaned back embrace and looked at her mother's face. She could see what people meant, that she looked like her mother. They had the same think wavy long brown hair, large expressive eyes, and button noses, but Kate's navy blue eyes and pale skin had come from her father. 

As soon as she thought of him, she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her father walking toward her.

"Oh Father!" she wept running into her father's arms.

"At last, nappula. At last, you remember," he whispered, holding her to his chest. 

"I was so lost Father, I was so lost. Things started to come back, but I couldn't remember your voice or the way you smelled when you hugged me, but now it all is so clear in my head," she said, happy tears falling down her face. 

"And what do I smell like?" Eikko asked, laughing.

"Old books," Kate said laughing. Eikko raised an eyebrow, and she hugged him again. 

"In the best way possible, it is that smell that an old beloved book has. A book that you have read over and over, but you always have so much more to learn."

"I can see it," Eadlyn said, laughing and coming over to join them.

Eikko laughed and shook his head.

"My girls, I never did know what to do with you two."

"Oh Father, I have missed you," Kate said, hugging her father again. It was then that she looked over his shoulder and saw a tapestry hanging on one of the back walls. 

"That tapestry," she said, pointing and walking toward it. "That is where General Leger and Miss Lucy took me on that....on that night."

"Yes," Eikko said, his voice quiet. "That tapestry leads to one of the secret passages that lead out of the palace. Very few people know about it. Luckily, General Leger was one who did."

"I remember that night. I can see it so clearly. I can see you two lying...lying there on the floor," Kate said pointing to a space at the center of the room. "I can hear the screams and the gunshots." It was in that moment that more recent moments came back into her mind. Marid and his followers, the ones who had killed her family, had Johnny. They had Johnny, and they were going to kill him if she didn't save him.

"Oh Johnny," she cried, collapsing to her knees. 

"Kerttu," Eadlyn said, kneeling next to her daughter and putting her hand on her back. "Now that you remember, your time has come. The time has come for you to lead and bring light back to Illéa. It is your destiny. They say everything happens for a reason, and you survived that night to bring peace and a better dawn for our country. It won't be easy, but that is what we must do in the role we have been given in this world. But never forget, I am always with you, helping you at every turn, you just need to look inside yourself.

She placed her hand on Kate's chest and smiled. Eikko came to kneel beside his wife and daughter. 

"We love you so much, nappula, and we are so proud of you. You are going to be a wonderful queen," he said, putting his hand on top of his wife's over Kate's heart. Kate placed her own hand on both of theirs.

"You and Johnny will bring peace and light back to Illéa," Eadlyn said, smiling at her daughter. "You began to remember when you found him again because, just like us, your connection to Johnny has always been something you will carry in your heart. When you saw him there in front of you, your heart began to remember. Now, have chosen to fulfill your destiny in this world, your heart has opened fully to who you were so that you can fully become who you were meant to be."

"I don't want to do it without you," she whispered, looking at her parents, tears began to stream from her eyes.

"Nappula, haven't you been listening? We are always with you forever. You always know where to find us," Eikko said, kissing Kate's forehead. "It is time for you to go forward and do what you must to bring back the light in Illéa."

"I never will forget again," Kate said. "I love you both so much."

"We love you," Eadlyn said. "Forever, Kerttu. 

They all stood, and Kate moved forward to embrace both her parents. As they embraced, Kate began to feel lightheaded. She staggered back a few steps, and when she looked back up, her parents were gone. Everything began to spin, all the lights in the ballroom blending together. They span faster and faster until everything faded into darkness.