Awakened One Night Chapter 2

“I don’t know…” she said.
“How could you not remember me?” the girl was saying and clasped her hand on her mouth. She turned back to look around. “Okay come in, but be very quiet.” She said. “Mom is going to freak out!”
She stepped inside the room and took a deep breath. It was nice and warm inside and something inside did tell her that she belonged here.
“Oh great! You’re making a mess!” the girl whispered. “Wipe your shoes on the mat outside.”
She stared at her for a few seconds and followed her as she gestured her towards a mat outside.
“Now clean your shoes.” The girl instructed and she followed her feet forwards and backwards exactly like she motioned.
After a few seconds, the girl grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. “Be extremely quiet.” She warned and took her to the couch she had seen her sitting on. She saw a picture of another girl in the frame and she picked it up. Why was she crying while looking at a picture?
“Okay, sit here!” the girl said. “No don’t!”
She looked at the girl and wondered what she was supposed to do.
“You’re really dirty, you need to take a bath.” She said and took her arm and made her follow her upstairs towards what appeared to be a bathroom.
“Luckily Mom is a really tight sleeper. Nothing could wake her up- not even an earth quake!”
“What’s an earth quake?” she asked.
“You really don’t know?” the girl asked while filling up the tub with water. She poured something from a plastic bottle into the water and dried her hands with a towel. “This is your favorite -Peaches and Cream.”
She turned around to see the very same girl she had seen in the picture gazing at her through an even larger picture. “Who is that?”
The girl raised her eyebrows. “That’s you and this is a mirror.” She said and stared at her. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
As the girl put her arms around her, she couldn’t help but stare at her reflection. She looked exactly like the girl in the picture, yet her face was smeared with dirt and something seemed to be crawling on her neck.
“Eww!” the girl shrieked. “Maggots! You really have to take a bath right now.”
She stared at the tub filled with foam and looked back at her. Her mind seemed to whirl as she stared at her and then back at the girl. She knew what she was supposed to do, but somewhere in her head, the answer was buried under a lot of questions.
“Okay!” the girl said. “You need to take off your clothes and get into that while I go and lay out your new clothes. After you’re done…”she headed towards one end of the tub. “Tug at this chain and turn on this knob here. I think you better use a shampoo too. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find your favorite shampoo in the shops, but you can use mine for tonight. The shopkeeper said the stock would be coming later this week.”
She looked at the girl while she chatted and found she could understand some of the things she was saying. As soon as she had left and closed the door, she started removing her clothes. She stepped into the tub and found it warm and inviting. She started to lie down, and realized at the last moment that it wasn’t a safe thing to do. The subtle fragrance of the soaps invigorated her and her mind seemed to clear out the wisps of utter confusion.
Suddenly, she found herself able to remember how to take a bath. She picked up the brush lying next to the plastic bottles, and started to scrub herself. She was filthy! Her skin was layered with dirt and it took all her energy to scrub it away. She got up and unplugged the drain, so she could take a shower and wash her hair.
“Are you done?” the girl whispered from outside. “Use a towel to wrap yourself.”
She turned off the knob and pulled the towel off the bar. She wrapped it around herself and got out to open the door.
“Great, now follow me.” The girl said and pulled her towards a room. “Get dressed while I find a hair dryer.”
She walked towards a bed and picked up an oversized T-shirt. The T-shirt was blue and had white flowers printed on them. “Carnations.” She said.
“Yeah, your favorite flowers.” The girl said distractedly.
“You’re my sister!”
The girl pulled up an object and turned to face her. “I knew this would happen.” She said and walked towards her. “You don’t remember my name, do you?”
When she shook her head, the girl looked even more disappointed. “I’m Leena and you’re Kara.”
“Kara!” she said out loud. “It does seem familiar. But why couldn’t I remember that?”
Leena locked the door and looked at her hesitatingly. “You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you.”