Okay, enough of me talking. Let's get right into the story, shall we? S-shan't we? I dunno, which one sounds cooler?
Window to the Past
Chapter 2: Four
Grass. She felt grass on her back. Did she fall asleep on the grass? No, she wouldn't. It'd leave stains. Her eyes flitting open, Alice quickly got up, attempting to brush her back in order to see if there were, in fact, grass stains.
I...can't...reach, she noted angrily as she strained to scratch the supposed stains off. After two minutes or so of this charade, Alice decided it wasn't worth her time. At that moment, she realized that she had absolutely no idea what she looked like.
"What if I'm ugly?" she exclaimed, her face donning an expression of horror. Looking around wildly for some sort of reflective surface, her eyes locked onto a lake that was nearby. Breaking into a dash, she frantically made her way towards the lake. Alice skidded to a stop at the lake's shore and peered into the water.
The surface was a little distorted, due to the natural waves of the lake, but Alice was able to make out a bit of her reflection, and deduce what she looked like from that.
Okay...Round body, weird...stubby things for hands? Uh...oh my God, those eyes are ADORABLE. Okay, okay, back on track. Shoe things? Are they shoes, or feet? And I'm orange. Orange. Alice made a face. Well, I could be mahogany. Or grey.
Stepping away from the lake, Alice heaved a relieved sigh. Whatever she was, she at least looked presentable. Then she frowned. "What am I, anyways? Was I always this...thing?" she asked herself aloud. "Maybe I have Anastasia. Or...anasthetics. Athletics? Antarctica?"
Alice sat down on the grass, deciding to forget about the issue for the time being. She decided, instead, to take a look at her surroundings.
The grass was green, and looked soft and springy, but was a little uncomfortable to sit on. The lake that beside her had relatively clear water, though the shore had rocks instead of sand. The horizon was lined with dark green mountains, which in turn were covered with what looked like pine trees. The sky was blue, with a few clouds strewn across the expanse, though Alice couldn't see a sun. She reasoned it was probably behind a cloud.
"Okay. I'm in a generic field. Now what?" she asked herself, rolling back so her eyes faced the sky. She laid there for a while, before remembering the grass stains. Alice got up quickly and sighed from boredom. She looked nonchalantly to her left and saw a small, unlabeled book where she had woken up. Walking over, she bent down to pick it up. Alice turned the book over in her grip, noting that it didn't really have any remarkable features about it. It was just a moderately thick brown book. Curious, she opened the book to see its contents.
The book was empty. There was an also unremarkable pen attached to the front cover, but all the pages within were absolutely blank. Lined, Alice noted, but blank.
Alice frowned, then remembered that she was totally and completely bored. So, she decided that this book would be her diary. Because at this point, what else do I have to do? she asked herself. She took the pen in her hand and began to write.
Dear Diary,
Today I woke up with no idea what I was. And this seems weird to write, I know. It's like, uh...animosity. Anonymous? Anaconda? It's that thing that makes you forget everything. But I'm this weird orange blob thing. And I had to look in a lake to find that out. Imagine that, I forget what I look like so much that I describe myself as a 'weird orange blob thing'. But I'd rate myself a 9/10 on the cute scale. Unfortunately, this is the wrong kind of cute. It's not the cute you think when you see a guy you like. It's the cute you think when you see a baby or a puppy. And who wants to date a puppy? Only furries would date a puppy. I'll have to fix that soon. Who knows what kind of boys are here?
Actually, now that I write that, where am I? It's like this generic field. There's a lake, grass, and mountains. That's basically it. I don't see any signs of civilization. So I'm wondering if I'm going to have to go all 'survivor girl' to, uh, survive? But I've made up my mind, Diary. No matter what, even if I turn into a broomstick from starvation, I am not eating grass. Never in a million years.
Do you sign diary entries? Is this the first time I've done it?...Stupid alamode.
~Alice
Toby woke sitting up, utterly confused. He looked around, bewildered.
What happened? Where am I? What was I doing? He looked down in front of him. What is that?
He picked up the book in front of him. Is this mine? he thought to himself. Turning the book over in his grip, he examined it closely. It was brown. There wasn't really anything he could recognize from the outside. So he opened it to see what kind of book it was. Maybe it was a mystery novel, or a
Dear Diary,
"Aah!" Toby exclaimed, dropping the diary on the grass. "I can't read it now!" he exclaimed. That was someone else's private thoughts! He couldn't read it now!
And so Toby sat down on the grass, unsure of what to do next. I can't remember where this is. I can't remember that book. I can't remember who I am, or...well, really, the only thing I can remember is my name.
He looked around cautiously for any sign of danger. There was a lake to his left that he could drown in if he wasn't careful; he made a mental note to stay away from it. He examined the grass, wondering if there were any lethally poisonous bugs hiding there. He couldn't see any. He stole a look back at the diary.
Maybe just one look...Toby thought to himself, inching closer. Before he knew it, he was staring the lined pages in the face. Oh...I'm going to hate myself for this...
"Dear diary," Toby read quietly. As he continued through the passage, his eyes began to narrow. "Weird orange blob thing?" he whispered, attempting to look down at himself. He found that he couldn't, and gave an uneasy glance at the lake to his left. "She mentioned a lake, too..."
"Alice?" Toby called uneasily. "Alice, are you here? Hello?"
He listened for a response but didn't hear any. He went back to the diary and continued to read.
Animosity? Alamode? Maybe she means amnesia- Toby thought, confused. Maybe she means amnesia-
Toby stopped. Amnesia. Forgetting.
That was him. He had amnesia. He was at least orange, he knew that. He stole another glance at the lake.
No. I can't. No, he scolded himself. I'm not going over there. If I do, I'm going to look in the water, I'm going to see I'm a 10/10 cute orange blob thing, freak out, fall in the water, and drown. No.
Instead, he picked up the diary. He picked up a pen that was lying on the ground. And for some reason, he began to write.
Adrian blinked twice, staring at the book and pen in his...hands..?
"What the...what the heck is this?" Adrian mumbled, waving the book about.
Is this mine? he thought. Why can't I...Oh, God, no.I've got to remember something. My name's Adrian. I've got that. What else? I've got to know something else.
Adrian threw the book to the floor. I've got to remember something. My name's Adrian. I've got that. What else? I've got to know something else. What am I? I don't know. Where am I? I don't know. What the hell is with this book? I...don't...freakin'...know.
Adrian cringed. He had amnesia. "Oh, well, this is just great. Just GREAT! Aaagghhh!" he screamed in frustration.
A rage-filled minute later, Adrian sat down on the ground quietly, running through the options in his head.
What options? he thought bitterly. I've got nothing. I'm stuck in this freakin' field, next to this freakin' lake, beside this frickin' BOOK. AND I MADE UP THE FRICKIN' NAME ADRIAN.
The book sat beside him, mocking him. Read me, it seemed to call. Adrian didn't see a feasible reason to decline. He snatched the book off of the ground and began to read.
Dear Diary,
Today I woke up with no idea what I was. And this seems weird to write, I know. It's like, uh...animosity. Anonymous? Anaconda? It's that thing that makes you forget everything. But I'm this weird orange blob thing. And I had to look in a lake to find that out. Imagine that, I forget what I look like so much that I describe myself as a 'weird orange blob thing'. But I'd rate myself a 9/10 on the cute scale. Unfortunately, this is the wrong kind of cute. It's not the cute you think when you see a guy you like. It's the cute you think when you see a baby or a puppy. And who wants to date a puppy? Only furries would date a puppy. I'll have to fix that soon. Who knows what kind of boys are here?
Actually, now that I write that, where am I? It's like this generic field. There's a lake, grass, and mountains. That's basically it. I don't see any signs of civilization. So I'm wondering if I'm going to have to go all 'survivor girl' to, uh, survive? But I've made up my mind, Diary. No matter what, even if I turn into a broomstick from starvation, I am not eating grass. Never in a million years.
Do you sign diary entries? Is this the first time I've done it?...Stupid alamode.
~Alice
Alice. Who's Alice? Was she here earlier? She's obviously talking about this lake beside him. Adrian looked orange, too. Maybe they were twins. Adrian hid a smile before noticing the writing went on.
Hey, Alice
I don't even know why I'm doing this. I just felt the weird compulsion to. I have this weird feeling that...oh, man, this is going to sound creepy. I feel like you're me. I don't even know if you can read this if you are me. I mean, I woke up next to a lake, like you said. I don't see any civilization, like you also said. I'm a 'weird orange blob thing' that is also cute (in my opinion, anyway). And you have amnesia. Like me. Maybe you made up the name Alice. I don't know what my name is yet. I'm going to have to sign this since this is more of a letter than a diary entry.
~Toby
Adrian squinted. Amnesia. Orange. Lake. He shook his head as he started to connect the dots.
He didn't finish. Instead, he kept reading.
Oh my God, YES! I made up my name! I woke up! This is, like, super freaky! Where are you? Is this a joke? Because I, like, passed out, and when I woke up, I was holding the diary and the letter was up there. This is...whoa. Okay. I'm going to wait for you to write back. ~Alice
I woke up holding the book, too. This is scary. Do...do you think it's healthy? Having more than one person in a body? Also are you sure you don't know anything about who you are? I mean, if you can't remember, that's fine, I'm sorry for asking. But if you can, please tell me, because I'm really scared. I'd tell you what I'm going through, but...you're going through the exact same thing, I guess. This is weird. ~Toby
OH MY GOD YOU WROTE BACK I CAN'T. My head feels like imploding right now! It's like, I have another person right there! Okay, you listen here, Toby. You'd better not do ANYTHING to mess me up. If I wake up with a black eye, I'm going to kill you. Because this is my body too, so you better not do anything reckless! This body is dangerous levels of cute and if you do ANYTHING to mess it up I will
I'm sorry! Did I do anything?! I swear I haven't punched myself or anything like that! I'm sorry! And...you didn't finish. Did I interrupt you too? _ I'm so sorry! ~Toby
I was a little harsh, yeah. But seriously. If we're going to be keeping this body, as long as you take good care of it, we'll be friends, okay? 3 So...any ideas of what to do no
Adrian's heart beat quickly in his chest. His breath was fast. These people. They were him. He had a girl and a boy inside him. And they're writing letters to each other. His eyes were drawn to the pen on the ground. He spent a long time staring at that pen. Finally, he picked it up and began to write.
"Okay, who the hell are you two and what are you doing in my body?"
"There's another one?!" Alice exclaimed. "How many are there? Dude, what's your name? You'd better not do anything bad to this body either!"
"You were interrupted again, Alice...what were you saying? What should we do now? I don't know. We're in this field, and I don't see anything. Also, night is coming and I'm getting scared," Toby wrote.
"You're getting scared?" Adrian asked. "Great! I have a priss and a wuss in my body!"
"Priss? Excuuuse me! :P" Alice wrote angrily. "Maybe you're a priss, too, since we're the same person!"
"Shut up!" Adrian replied.
"Guys, we really should try to find some shelter...I don't want to be out here in the night," Toby wrote.
"Alright, fine. Will you stop whining if I make sure we're safe?" Adrian asked.
"Was I whining? I'm sorry," Toby apologized.
"You weren't whining. Adrian's just being a jerkface," Alice wrote.
"Maybe you're a jerkface too, since we're the same person," Adrian replied.
"Dear Adrian and Alice,
You guys have your differences, and your personalities clash a bit. That's fine. It's normal. But arguing like this is counterproductive. Toby's getting scared, and I believe it's in our best interest if we just help Toby out, so he isn't scared anymore. I hope we can get used to each other, and all become friends.
~Daphne"
"...Who's the chick writing in letter format?" Adrian asked, confused.
Daphne looked down at the diary, as she watched the pen write Adrian's letter. She waited impatiently for him to finish, then shoved herself to the front. She began to write. And speak.
"My name is Daphne, Adrian. I wrote my name up there earlier. Toby's right," she stopped, looking at the darkening sky. "We should find shelter. We don't know what these fields are like at night."
Daphne suddenly felt herself get pulled back. She let whoever was next come through.
"Daphne? How many people are in my head, anyways?! So...are you a girl too? And speaking of which, does anybody know whether this body's a boy or a girl?" Alice wrote.
"Guys, I think I see some lights behind us. It could be a village. Do you think maybe we could go there for the night?" Toby asked.
"What are you saying, 'your head'? How do you know this isn't my head? Who says you're the boss here?" Adrian wrote.
"Because I woke up first. I claimed dibs or something. Point is, this is my body," Alice replied.
"Please don't fight, Adrian and Alice. You're going to be living in close quarters with each other. If you don't want to go insane, I'd suggest you get along. I'm getting along fine," Daphne advised.
"Insane? Funny you use that word when I HAVE A BRAIN THAT HAS FOUR PEOPLE IN IT. I'm pretty sure we've gone past the whitejacket checkpoint already," Adrian replied.
"Please! It's getting really dark and cold, and I hear scary noises!" Toby wrote largely, trying to get the other's attention.
"Yep, I'm going. I don't care about you two, but Toby and I are going to sleep somewhere warm," Alice asserted and closed the journal.
She huffed and stared at the journal, confused. She wasn't exactly sure what just happened. She also felt like she had accepted the fact way too easily. Nonetheless, Toby had a point, and she didn't want to be outside during the night, either. So she began walking towards the lights Toby had pointed out.
The others didn't seem to protest that much.
So for those of you who haven't figured it out, the main character has amnesia and Dissociative Identity Disorder, more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder. I put a lot of research into this, so I'm really hoping it's accurate. I mean, it's a disputed mental disorder anyways, but still.
