Memories

I

I SEE FIRE

'Now I see fire, inside the mountain
I see fire, burning the trees
And I see fire, hollowing souls
And I see fire, blood in the breeze
And I hope that you'll remember me'

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Remembering things was like gold for Thalia. She didn't have many complete memories, and the ones she did have were out of context. Hard to decipher the meaning of. Annoying. But most of all, they terrified Thalia. 

One of the memories that stuck inside her mind like gum to the bottom of a shoe was the one that started her journey. 

Thalia lay on her back, aching and sharp pains throughout her whole body. She stared at the starry night sky, and listened to the crackling of a fire nearby. Thalia had wanted to turn her head. Look at the orange light. But she didn't have enough strength to compel her body to obey her thoughts and wishes. 

So Thalia lay there in pain and eventually someone stood over her. It was a boy. Thalia could see that much. The fire emitted enough light for Thalia to see the boy's eyes glisten with tears. She wondered if he were crying over her, but found it unlikely. As far as Thalia knew, she had nothing to do with this boy. He'd likely just found her here.

But then the boy took something out of his pocket and put it in Thalia's hand, giving it a soft squeeze. He bent down and pressed a kiss to Thalia's forehead. She wanted to ask him what he was doing. But then he stood again and walked away. Thalia used all her strength to look to the side and was startled by what she saw.

The boy was walking towards the fire, but it wasn't just a fire with sticks and wood, like Thalia had guessed it would be. The fire was coming from a car, and the boy walked right past it. Had Thalia been pulled from the car? Was there some sort of accident? Had the boy saved her?

There were too many questions. Ones that Thalia would never know the answers to. So eventually she'd stopped trying to find out, and let the memory haunt her forever.

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"Thalia? It's time to go." Officer Higgins said as he knocked on the hotel door. Thalia had woken up at seven thirty that morning, fussing over her appearance for hours. It was now one o'clock, and Thalia still wasn't ready. Not mentally. She didn't think she'd ever be ready for what today held.

"Just a minute, officer." Thalia replied, hoping the man didn't hear the strain in her voice. She looked at her reflection in the full length mirror. 

The yellow, calf length dress she'd bought yesterday fit her perfectly, but Thalia smoothed it down every few seconds as she fretted over it. Her watch - the only thing she had connecting her to a past life - sat on her bony wrist, and the heels she'd chosen felt like they were going to make her fall over.

"Thalia, come on. We really need to go now." Thalia sighed, knowing the officer was right. She opened the door with a smiling face that Higgins returned. The smile was a fake, just like everything she'd told the police for the past few weeks. As far as they knew, Thalia knew nothing of her past. But that wasn't quite true. 

She had fragments of memories floating through her brain. Thalia had written them down as soon as they'd popped up to make sure she didn't forget. Never again would she be left vulnerable and without hope. 

Arriving at the court house was making Thalia more nervous than she'd been half an hour earlier. She felt like she was going to throw up, with a pressure rising in her throat that didn't feel right. Thalia sat in the backseat of the cop car for a few minutes after they'd stopped. Higgins turned in his seat in the front to face her, though it was hard to see his face through the grating.

"Listen, kid. You're going to be fine. It's not like you're being convicted of murder." Higgins laughed like his joke was funny. Thalia didn't think it was, so she said nothing. "The only reason you're here is so that the judge can decide what happens to you, and what the safest thing for you is."

Thalia knew that was true. After being found on that beach by police, Thalia had spent three weeks in hospital, and then three being questioned by police. They'd seen the car. It apparently wasn't still burning by the time they got there, but they'd realised Thalia must have been pulled out by someone. 

They'd found it odd, however, that Thalia had a bullet wound in her thigh and a few broken bones, though Thalia didn't know anything about how she'd gotten those wounds, and had told them as much. The only full-truth the police had about Thalia.

Once inside the courtroom, Thalia became slightly less nervous, which she found humorous. There was the judge, officer Higgins, two other police officers, and Thalia herself. She sat next to Higgins and waited patiently for the judge to speak.

"Thalia Warden," she began. Thalia nodded. "The decision has been made that you will spend one full year in the foster care system, and on this day, one year from now, you will turn eighteen and be allowed to live your life as you please."

Thalia let out a breath. She was relieved that nothing else was going to happen to her, but also surprised that it hadn't. Higgins put a hand on her back comfortingly and told her it was time to leave. Thalia didn't waste any time, and stood up, following him out of the court house.

Once back in the car, Higgins turned around. "It'll take a couple of days to find a family to take you in, but from then, you'll be in safe hands. I promise." Don't make promises you can't keep, Thalia thought as he drove away from the court house.