Chapter 11
From Enrica's own narrative
I woke up in a strange room, immediately knew that it was not the familiar room I had slept in for three years in Montreal. Somehow, I was moved from the 'conference room' to that place: a small room with a comfortable bed and a small wardrobe. I tried to check for the time, but I did not have my watch with me or I could find any clocks in the room. I thought of the things happened in the day before. I left school in the afternoon, three o'clock in Montreal time. The only reference of time I had was the darkness I saw upon landing to that unknown place. Darkness, in normal times, meant ten at night to five in the morning, but I thought I might have crossed some time zones. I felt like an idiot, I should have paid more attention to the little things happened around me, or at least the maps about time zones in mama's book. I sighed, starting to study the room, in which there was nothing excited about. The simple bed, a metal wardrobe and plain walls were of nothing unusual, the room was air- conditioned with no window, and the door was locked, not surprisingly. I banged the door, to see whether there were out there. No one responded. Suddenly, I had a fear that somebody was hiding under the bed, planning something bad for me. I was so scared that I could not move, leaning against the door, which was at the opposite end to the bed in the room and stared at the darkened corner under the bed. All kinds of crazy thoughts passed on me, from '023' hiding under the bed to a lonely ghost sweeping out of the small wardrobe. At the last thought, I realized I was not calm and so I closed my eyes and had a deep breath. Just when I would draw my breath normally again, the voice of 'Aunt Yvonne' came from somewhere and, surprise out of surprise, from the darken corner under the bed. All I could do was to give a high-pitched cry. Sensing that I was terrified, she silenced for a while. I forced my brain to work, to 'analyze' the 'information' that came to me as papa often said. The voice was not natural, it was a sound transmitted by electronic devices, i.e. I had to look for some sort of intercom. I slowly approved the bed, kneeling down and did the search. There was a small box with slits on the surface near the pillowcase. So, it was even not in the 'dark corners under the bed'. I smiled sheepishly, well after all, I was a 100% fool. At the same time, there was a knock at the door. The knock was not a usual knock normally heard; 'she' was hitting the door and the thick door transmitted the sound differently, I should have noticed it after I banged the door. I screwed up all my courage, "Please come in." I said.
"Good Morning, Enrica. I hope you had a good sleep." 'Aunt Yvonne' said. I calmed down a little, at least she tried to be friendly towards me. I greeted her and let her take me out. I had a relatively large breakfast, composed of fried egg, ham, sausages, a toast, cereals and orange juice. I ate only a little, feeling completely uneasy to be eating in front of a stranger. There was nothing special during breakfast, she told me that I was going to have some tests and would be presented to 'an officer in high position'. I listened without replying her, from the experience I had, the important thing for me to do was to observe the environment and to find out what they want with me. After breakfast, I followed her to the elevator and went to the fifth floor. Then she told me to wait for a moment.
I was left alone for the second time. This time, I was in an area where I would term as 'lobby'. It had a high ceiling with a very ordinary lighting system, the floor was decorated with geometrical patterns using different kinds of marbles. After about three minutes (for I have swung my feet 190 times), I heard the sounds produced by leather boots hitting against the floor. Instinctively, I bent down my head and tried to catch every sound coming next. It was a soft murmur, not the female voice of 'Aunt Yvonne', but a gentle, silky young female voice. Then another person walked towards me, bent down to try to look at me. I turned my head so that the person beside me could not see my face. I was nervous, busy thinking what to say and then there came a boyish voice asking me, "What is your name, little girl?" I was surprised, surely he was not the 'officer at high position' who wanted to meet me. Maybe, the boy was sent by HIM. "Hm... my name is Jamil, nice to meet you." 'Jamil', a name I have never heard of at that young age. I quickly thought of whether I was transported to a place where the language there was unfamiliar to me. Several possibilities came to me, maybe I was in South America or Europe. My father and mother had a few Asian friends and their names did not sound in this way, I think, at that time, my guess was a good one. I was lost in thoughts and the boy asked again. "How old are you? Why are you here?" There was nothing wrong in both questions. However, the second question struck me right into my heart. "Wasn't that you people brought me there", I thought. "You people took me away from my parents and brought to this strange place." I miserably thought. I tried to control my thoughts, making myself busy in thinking the formation of marbles. Starting from the cooling of the young Earth, my thoughts went from the formation of plate boundaries to the different types of plate movements. Somewhere in my mind, I was vaguely aware that my mind was being scraped. It was not a proper way to say things, but it was my feeling at that moment. The more accurate way to describe my feeling at that moment was "I feel like I was being spied." However, that feeling did not last long. Strangely speaking, as that feeling stopped the boy went away. The gentle, silky female voice was heard again, "Enrica, you'll be perfectly safe here. Don't worry." And then the pair walked away.
I was stunned and no longer held back my curiosity, I looked up and saw a very welcoming picture in that time. The lady (for she was so kind) had blond hair and was very slim; the boy, who was very tall, had dark brown hair and was quite clumsy in body built. They were walking away from me with their backs facing me. They were a handsome pair and although they were in military uniform, one could feel warmth radiated from them. I was calmed by this sight.
From Enrica's own narrative
I woke up in a strange room, immediately knew that it was not the familiar room I had slept in for three years in Montreal. Somehow, I was moved from the 'conference room' to that place: a small room with a comfortable bed and a small wardrobe. I tried to check for the time, but I did not have my watch with me or I could find any clocks in the room. I thought of the things happened in the day before. I left school in the afternoon, three o'clock in Montreal time. The only reference of time I had was the darkness I saw upon landing to that unknown place. Darkness, in normal times, meant ten at night to five in the morning, but I thought I might have crossed some time zones. I felt like an idiot, I should have paid more attention to the little things happened around me, or at least the maps about time zones in mama's book. I sighed, starting to study the room, in which there was nothing excited about. The simple bed, a metal wardrobe and plain walls were of nothing unusual, the room was air- conditioned with no window, and the door was locked, not surprisingly. I banged the door, to see whether there were out there. No one responded. Suddenly, I had a fear that somebody was hiding under the bed, planning something bad for me. I was so scared that I could not move, leaning against the door, which was at the opposite end to the bed in the room and stared at the darkened corner under the bed. All kinds of crazy thoughts passed on me, from '023' hiding under the bed to a lonely ghost sweeping out of the small wardrobe. At the last thought, I realized I was not calm and so I closed my eyes and had a deep breath. Just when I would draw my breath normally again, the voice of 'Aunt Yvonne' came from somewhere and, surprise out of surprise, from the darken corner under the bed. All I could do was to give a high-pitched cry. Sensing that I was terrified, she silenced for a while. I forced my brain to work, to 'analyze' the 'information' that came to me as papa often said. The voice was not natural, it was a sound transmitted by electronic devices, i.e. I had to look for some sort of intercom. I slowly approved the bed, kneeling down and did the search. There was a small box with slits on the surface near the pillowcase. So, it was even not in the 'dark corners under the bed'. I smiled sheepishly, well after all, I was a 100% fool. At the same time, there was a knock at the door. The knock was not a usual knock normally heard; 'she' was hitting the door and the thick door transmitted the sound differently, I should have noticed it after I banged the door. I screwed up all my courage, "Please come in." I said.
"Good Morning, Enrica. I hope you had a good sleep." 'Aunt Yvonne' said. I calmed down a little, at least she tried to be friendly towards me. I greeted her and let her take me out. I had a relatively large breakfast, composed of fried egg, ham, sausages, a toast, cereals and orange juice. I ate only a little, feeling completely uneasy to be eating in front of a stranger. There was nothing special during breakfast, she told me that I was going to have some tests and would be presented to 'an officer in high position'. I listened without replying her, from the experience I had, the important thing for me to do was to observe the environment and to find out what they want with me. After breakfast, I followed her to the elevator and went to the fifth floor. Then she told me to wait for a moment.
I was left alone for the second time. This time, I was in an area where I would term as 'lobby'. It had a high ceiling with a very ordinary lighting system, the floor was decorated with geometrical patterns using different kinds of marbles. After about three minutes (for I have swung my feet 190 times), I heard the sounds produced by leather boots hitting against the floor. Instinctively, I bent down my head and tried to catch every sound coming next. It was a soft murmur, not the female voice of 'Aunt Yvonne', but a gentle, silky young female voice. Then another person walked towards me, bent down to try to look at me. I turned my head so that the person beside me could not see my face. I was nervous, busy thinking what to say and then there came a boyish voice asking me, "What is your name, little girl?" I was surprised, surely he was not the 'officer at high position' who wanted to meet me. Maybe, the boy was sent by HIM. "Hm... my name is Jamil, nice to meet you." 'Jamil', a name I have never heard of at that young age. I quickly thought of whether I was transported to a place where the language there was unfamiliar to me. Several possibilities came to me, maybe I was in South America or Europe. My father and mother had a few Asian friends and their names did not sound in this way, I think, at that time, my guess was a good one. I was lost in thoughts and the boy asked again. "How old are you? Why are you here?" There was nothing wrong in both questions. However, the second question struck me right into my heart. "Wasn't that you people brought me there", I thought. "You people took me away from my parents and brought to this strange place." I miserably thought. I tried to control my thoughts, making myself busy in thinking the formation of marbles. Starting from the cooling of the young Earth, my thoughts went from the formation of plate boundaries to the different types of plate movements. Somewhere in my mind, I was vaguely aware that my mind was being scraped. It was not a proper way to say things, but it was my feeling at that moment. The more accurate way to describe my feeling at that moment was "I feel like I was being spied." However, that feeling did not last long. Strangely speaking, as that feeling stopped the boy went away. The gentle, silky female voice was heard again, "Enrica, you'll be perfectly safe here. Don't worry." And then the pair walked away.
I was stunned and no longer held back my curiosity, I looked up and saw a very welcoming picture in that time. The lady (for she was so kind) had blond hair and was very slim; the boy, who was very tall, had dark brown hair and was quite clumsy in body built. They were walking away from me with their backs facing me. They were a handsome pair and although they were in military uniform, one could feel warmth radiated from them. I was calmed by this sight.