Lost & Found

The sound of cars zooming by the main road is the only break of silence out here. If the flashing headlights weren’t so bright, you couldn’t see where the lines begin or end. I walk on the edge of the path down to nowhere, teasing death with a simple nudge. The vibration of the wheels shook the floor beneath my feet. I look down at my right hand, holding a bottle of whiskey. I take a swig, with some of it dripping down my mouth. I wipe it off with my left hand, and notice my wrist, covered in dry blood. Two slits remain, open wounds but the bleeding has stopped. Ignoring the pain, I take another swig from the bottle, missing a step, almost stumbling onto the road beside me.

Walking deeper into the dark, I start to hear my name, “Alba! Alba!” Shouting comes from behind me, but I turn around and see no one. Suddenly, the sound of the cars fade out, and the sound of oncoming footprints get louder. They’re running towards me. One foot in front of the other, I begin to run too, away from the sound, as fast as my body allows me. “Alba! Alba!” My name gets louder and louder.

Running without any light to see, besides the stars guiding me, I trip to the ground. Dropping the bottle that falls into the traffic, rolling towards the cars. I attempt to crawl over to reach for it, lights blinding me, and the honk of the incoming car horn. Immediately, my body was pulled quickly away, and I sprung back onto the dirt, hitting my head. ‘What?’ I thought. Rubbing the back of it, I look up at this girl. “Alba! You almost got yourself killed. What are you doing? Come on, we have to go! They’re getting closer!” she yells at me. I think, ‘how does this girl know my name. I have never seen her before.’ I yell back at her, “Who are They?! How do you know my name?!” “We can’t talk right now. Get up, let’s go.” She pulls onto my left wrist. ‘Ouch.’ Then we run to the nearest trees.

Panting, I stop running and pull my arm away. The girl stops running, also. She has wild curly brown hair, longer than mine, and eyes that were bright enough to see under the moonlight. I catch my breath, and ask her, “Are you going to tell me anything?” She turns to me and replies, “My name is Ty, and I know you from our dorm hall. I saw you arguing with someone and followed you to make sure you were okay, but now we’re both being followed, so we have to keep moving.” “Wait, we go to school together?” “Do you not remember?” “No, I don’t,” I say to her, as I look down at my left wrist. She notices the wounds, while I try to hide it, and tells me, “You’re not alone anymore. You never were.” I look back up at her, and ask the real questions, “Who is chasing us, and why?” “Your demons,” she responds. “Demons? I don’t…” She cuts me off, “I do, too, and they’re catching up, so let’s go!”

We continue running, with no spoken destination, until we come up to a fork amongst the trees and stop. I tell her, “I don’t think I can run anymore. Where are we even going, I can’t see anything.” Screeching is heard from a distance. This ominous loud scream, as if a baby was crying in the woods. “What is that?!” The screeching gets louder, and closer. Out of the darkness, swoops in these majestic white wings, like an angel. Attached to a round snow white face with big beady black eyes. ‘Is that a barn owl?’ I think to myself, confused. “Oh, yes. This is Kyto,” Ty replies, while the owl lands so gracefully on a rock in front of us. Ty then continues, “She helps me get through these woods, every night. She can help you, too.”

“Hello, Alba,” says Kyto, the owl. ‘She knows my name, too?’ “I’ve been running and running for so long, I don’t know what else to do,” I said to her. “But you do,” Kyto replies. I look over to the trees again for some sort of lit path to choose, and it's completely covered by the forest. The path just disappeared into the night. “There’s nowhere to go,” I told her. “But there is.” Kyto waves her wings into the air, and flies away. “What does that even mean??” I yelled up to the sky, but the barn owl was already gone.

Ty looks at me and says, “I think this means we have to go back.” I said to her, “Back where?” She points behind us to the route we just came running from. “But I thought you said demons were down there.” She looks me straight in the eyes, and says, “Looks like it’s time to face them.” We turn around and look back into the darkness.

“Alba! Alba!” I hear the screams again.

“Alba, Alba! .. Time to get up, honey. It’s about that time again for breakfast, and then we have a group session, right after,” says a gentle voice. I opened my eyes, and looked around at this white room that I’m waking up in. There is nothing on the walls. I look at my left wrist, where the slits were, now two scars. I get up from my bed, and walk towards the door, where the nurse is standing. “Come now,” she says. She puts her hand on my shoulder insisting I walk with her down the long hallway. While we’re walking, I see a bright eyed girl with curly brown hair, standing with another nurse. “Ty?” As I walk closer to her, “Ty!” She stares at me with empty eyes. ‘She doesn’t recognize me?’ I get a glimpse of the shirt she is wearing, with a white barn owl on it. “Who is Ty, dear? Did you have one of those dreams, again? Do we have to switch meds?” “uh.. No... that girl, I thought she was someone I knew." The nurse says to me, "Oh, I don't think so, Alba. She doesn't talk to anyone at all. Heartbreaking, really. However, I have heard that she whispers in her room to her stuffed toy owl. She sleeps with it every night. Now let's get breakfast, and have a good group therapy." We continue walking through the hallway doors, and I ask myself, “..dreams?”