Prologue
Two people sat on a boulder in a small cove. One who looked about 5 or 6, was wearing a sky blue, sleeveless dress that came down to just below her knees. Her straight, jet black hair, which looked exactly like mine was blowing around her shoulders. The other, an adult woman, had dirty blonde hair in a long braid, and wore a similar dress. She was crying as she talked to the little girl, but the girl kept her head down, examining something in her hands. I strained to hear their conversation.
" wish I had never been born,"
the girl muttered "then you could just forget,"
"look at me" the woman took the girls chin in her hands, and brushed her too-long bangs out of her eyes. "Shariya, you are my daughter, and I will always love you, no matter" she said, pulling the girl into a hug...
The image faded away, to be replaced by another one, but the moment I had seen the girls face I knew who she was. She was me.
I focused on the next image...THe same woman stood on the edge of a cliff. I could hear the ocean roar below her.
"Shariya" she cried " Shariya, Shariya" She threw herself into the ocean, and it clashed her against the rocks...
That image faded away too, and I found myself lying on my own bet dazed by fever, with sadness and pain practically tearing my heart and mind apart.
"Shariya" I whispered. It was a strange name, but it seemed more familiar even than Anna , the name my parents gave me.