Who am I?

A young woman, in her early 20's, was pacing back and forth at the bus station. Then she looked at her watch on her wrist before she turned her attention towards her surroundings, searching for something. She looked dejected, and then she glanced at her watch again. Her anxiety had become more visible as time passed. Suddenly, a woman screamed while looking towards the middle of the road. Her eyes widened as she saw a young boy was standing in the middle of the road while holding a ball on his arms.

“Oh my God, my baby” the woman shrieked frantically. Her scream startled the young boy and he cried. Suddenly a figure ran towards the middle of the road and grabbed the young boy. After he made sure the road was clear, he quickly walked towards the woman and he handed the young boy to her.  

“Aiden, my boy” she hugged her young son tightly. “Thank you. Thank you so much” said the woman as she stood up. He nodded and then he patted the young boy’s head and said “be careful, next time”.

The young woman that had been watching the whole ordeal looked at the boy’s lifesaver intently. Her brows furrowed but her earlier disappointed expression was gone, now replaced with curiosity. When the situation had calmed down, she took a seat closer to the spot he was standing. Her eyes lingered on him, trying to find the right moment to approach him but she kept hesitating.

Her chance was gone with the arrival of a bus. She quickly rose from her seat when she saw the boy’s lifesaver board the bus and she followed him suit. She took an empty seat behind him. She kept looking and observing the person in front of her while tapping her finger on the screen of her phone, feeling nervous with what she was about to do. She then leaned forward and her hand hovered over his shoulder, slowly getting closer but suddenly she pulled back her hand. She tried one more time, but her nerves got the best of her and she slumped on her seat, feeling dejected.

Suddenly, the boy’s lifesaver rose from his seat as the bus stopped, and then he got off from the bus. Upon seeing him leaving, the young woman quickly rose from her seat and followed him slowly while maintaining her distance.

“Why are you following me” he asked, suddenly stopped after a few minutes of walking. She was too stunned at his sudden question that she remained quiet. Then she saw him walking towards her warily, probably thinking she was a stalker and dangerous. She bit her lips, unable to come up with a better explanation. Seeing that she gave him no answer, he turned back and then he walked away. Still stunned, she watched him walked away. Realizing that he was out of her sight, she ran after him. She sighed, as she was now standing at a juncture in an unfamiliar neighborhood and he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he emerged from his hiding spot behind her. Caught red-handed, she felt blood drained from her body.

“Tell me, why are you following me? Who are you?” he asked. She looked at him silently. She tried to think of better words to say.  

“I’ve been searching for you” after a few minutes in silence, she finally said. His brows knitted upon hearing her answer, probably never expected to hear that. She knew he had many questions because of her answer. Probably what he wanted to know was similar to what she wanted to know too. And right now, the only clue she had was him.

Three months ago, she suddenly woke up in a hospital with no memories about herself. When she opened her eyes, there was a young woman that was sleeping on a chair beside her bed. She didn’t recognize that young woman. Later, she found out that the young woman was her younger sister, Lena. Lena had been taking care of her since she was hospitalized due to an accident that caused her to fell into coma for six months. She tried to remember what had happened to her, but all it gave was splitting headaches when she forced herself.

She had forgotten everything that happened in the past- her family, the accident, and even her name. But she realized, she seemed to remember some moments, bits and pieces. However when she asked her sister, Lena didn’t know what she was talking about.

Until recently, she found out the memories she had weren’t her memories from the past, but the memories of her future. She discovered about those memories when she was having a brunch at a cafe with Lena a few weeks after she got discharged from the hospital. At that time, she was walking towards Lena that was waiting for her at the table when she accidentally bumped on a waiter because of the wet floor. The collision between her and the waiter caused the glass of water held by the waiter to get spilled on a young man that was sitting at a table near them.

Before the accident happened at the cafe, she remembered experiencing a similar accident. So she asked her sister if she had been in that situation before, but Lena shook her head. She thought Lena was mistaken and might have forgotten about it. Then a few days later, she really did cause the accident, exactly like she remembered. That’s when she realized the memories she remembered was not from her past but rather her own future!

Still unable to grasp on that absurdity, she thought she might be wrong, so she asked for another opinion. Her doctor said she might be experiencing a dejavu. She would have believed so if not for the fact that she remembered when she walked out from the hospital building after her regular checkups, she saw a young man was helping an elderly woman putting her belongings into a taxi. This time, she became sure that what she was seeing wasn’t a dejavu but her real memory, when she really did see a young man helping out an elderly woman putting her belongings into a taxi after her appointment with the doctor a few days later.

At first, those memories seemed random- when she ate at the cafe with her sister, and when she visited the doctor at the hospital. But as she tried remembering more, she discovered that there was a common denominator- the young man. In every memory that she remembered, there was always one specific person nearby.

So today she decided to test her theory. She remembered seeing him saving a young boy at the bus stop at the park nearby her house. As she expected, he came and rescued the boy. Now she was sure that he was the person she was searching for. So she tried to approach him. She tried to talk to him. But whenever she had a chance, her tongue became tied. She didn’t know what to say and how to say it.

She did have her script “Hi, I’m Leia. I don’t remember my past but I happen to remember my future and I know I will see you today and I know you will save the boy today. So I have been waiting for you here. Can you help me with these questions I have for you. Have we met before? Do I know you? If not, I want to get to know you. I think you are the key for me to remember my past”. Surely that would freak him out if she said that. He’d probably thought she was crazy. She would too if someone kept following her and said those words. But she’s not crazy. Everything she said was real. She strongly felt he was the key to learn about her memories and she really wanted to know how could she remember her future but not her past and why? What was his connection with her memories?

She saw him looking at her cautiously. Not that she blamed him for being wary because she was doing a terrible job at being stealthy. Moreover, a part of her felt everything was ridiculous including these memories of her, so she couldn’t bring herself to ask him directly.

Her thoughts were interrupted when he asked her again the reason she was following him. She took a deep breath. She made her decision. “Because I like you” she replied.