Strange Happenings

Her eyes glanced over the spines until she found her favorite book and grabbed it. It was a fantasy book and even though she had read it a thousand times, she always found herself coming back to it. At this point, she probably didn’t even have to open it and read, she could recite it. She knew every scene by heart, from the battles with giant spiders and other monsters to the sweet romance that springs up between the main characters. Sometimes she wishes it was like that for her, but it wasn’t and here she was still waiting.

Maya carried the book back to the chair and curled up on its soft surface. Mom said that she would be back soon, so here Maya will wait here till she gets back. Time flew by and soon it was dark. With a sigh she pushed herself out of the chair, leaving the book on the arm. Guess mom got caught up somewhere, another day longer.

The next morning, she went back to the living room and found the chair still in its normal spot. She let out a sigh and moved to the shelf and scanned the books. She found her book and went to sit down and everything suddenly felt really hot. Did someone turn off the air conditioning? No one else was here though. The heat disappeared as suddenly as it had come and Maya shook it off, maybe she was just going crazy.

Once more, night came with no sign of her mother and she went back up to her room for the night. A few days passed in like fashion, sitting in her chair and reading all day then back to her room for the dark hours. She felt the heat a few times, but it never stayed long. She kept telling herself to go check the thermostat, but Maya never got around to it.

This morning she had come down to the living room and froze the second she entered. Her eyes were glued to the chair in front of her. It was always in the corner, but today it was by the fireplace as if someone had wanted to watch the flames from it. Maybe mom was home. Quick as the thought came, Maya went flying around the house calling out to her mom, but there was no response, only the normal creaking of the house.

Finally, she found herself back in the living room and she sat down on the chair. Maybe mom went back out for some reason, who else would’ve moved the chair. It wouldn’t be the first time she suspected her mom had come home, but sadly she had yet to see her. She looked around for her book and found it resting on the bookshelf, so she got up to get it. The chair was in the wrong place, so she decided to move it back before curling up and reading her book.

When darkness fell she returned up to her room, but as she walked in she froze. All of her photos were missing. In fact, all of her personal items were missing from her room. The room looked generic and like she hadn’t lived here at all. Maya approached the bed in a daze, staring at it like it was a poised snake. Her mind felt like it was going 160% and yet it felt like it was going in slow motion. This was all wrong, but she had no clue what she was supposed to do.

Weird things had started occurring shortly after her mother left. The chair has moved three times, books have been in strange places, and other little things have moved on their own as well. Maya shook her head, she must be going crazy. It just couldn’t have been happening, but it was. She wanted to think it was just her mom, but her mom hadn’t come home yet and surely she wasn’t repeatedly sneaking in just to move things around. Maybe this was just a dream and if she just closed her eyes, she would wake up and all would be well.

The next morning, it was like waking up in a hotel room. Looking around at the bare room made her want to weep. Maybe she should try looking for all of her stuff today. With a nod, she got up and started looking around the house with determination. The more she looked, the more she realized that everything was different and not just her room. All the family photos were gone as well as most of the personal items. She started to weep as the place no longer looked like her home.

The rooms started to fill with the sounds of her cries, only quieting as she entered the living room. Her chair still sat in its corner, but there was only 1 book on the shelf. She moved quickly toward her book and opened it looking for familiarity in its words. Instead, a strange note fell from inside and it’s words caused her to start to tremble.

Who are you?

Her eyes widened as she stared at the note. Maybe mom was playing a trick on her? While part of Maya hoped that was the case, something told her it wasn’t. She looked nervously around the room and her eyes landed on a pencil. Should she respond? Why not, maybe it was just mom. Maya moved swiftly to the pencil and wrote her name on the piece of paper. Her eyes reread the note before she tucked it into the front of the book and tried to push the thoughts aside.

It didn’t quite work as she barely made it three pages by the time night fell and she found herself heading back up to her room. As she entered, she could help but cry out at the foreignness that filled the room. She wanted this to all stop and for her mom to come home. Her mom would be able to tell her what was going on. She laid down and tried to pretend that everything was all right and that this was still just a nightmare.

But as the sun rose, it revealed that her room was as foreign as it had been the night before. She fled the room and flew to the one place that still held an ounce of familiarity. She took the book and went to sit down on her chair only to find it no longer in the corner. The book fell to the floor when she saw it by the side of the fireplace once more. The thud caused her to jump as her wide eyes glanced down at it.

It had fallen open and a piece of paper was lying on its open pages. Maya started to tremble as she slowly crouched down to pick it up. On the paper was another note with the same writing as the one from the day before.

Maya, do you remember?

An image of water popped into her head and the note drifted back down to the book. She scrambled a couple feet from it and stared. Maya loved the water. They had a pool and she would go and just float on top of the water all day. Her mom would joke that she was supposed to be a mermaid. But, she hadn’t gone to the pool since just after mom left. Maybe she had been too anxious waiting for her mom that she hadn’t wanted to.

Why would the question remind her of the water though? Yes, she remembered the happiness and peace she felt, but why would that be important. Maybe it was something else, where did her mom even go? She couldn’t remember what she had said. Her mom kept a calendar, but it was among the things that had disappeared, she wouldn't be able to check.

Her eyes hadn’t left the note in front of her and she saw it lift off the book. She couldn't move as her eyes were glued to it. The paper stopped about a foot above the ground and hovered there, wiggling slightly before lowering back down to the ground. She waited for a long time before finally approaching the paper and picking it up. A new sentence had appeared under the first.

Remember the pool

The words seemed to be pleading for her to remember something important. The image of water popped up once more, except this time bubbles and ripples filled her view. The image was so chaotic, there was no sense to it. Why did it feel so important? And real? Maya shook the image off and moved away from the note again.

Then her eyes landed on the first question. Her eyes widened as she turned and flew out of the room, she needed to remember. The pool was connected to the kitchen downstairs and soon she found herself entering it. The second her eyes landed on the pool, her form came to a halt. The image of water came to her again, but this time she held onto it. She needed to know.

Everything was white at first as shock went through her. The white settled into calm water and she found herself looking up at a figure. Burning in her chest changed the shock into panic as she tried to move her limbs, but they wouldn’t move. The figure was getting further away and bubbles filled the water. Her body started to jerk on its own, sending ripples through the water.

 It wasn’t long before the bubbles and ripples stilled though. Everything was still. Then everything went dark as her eyes closed. The image faded and left Maya more confused than before. That couldn’t have happened. She remembered going to the bottom of the water and meditating as she normally did, but she also remembered opening her eyes and leaving the water.

She left the water and had never returned. She had left the water and went to the library to wait for the rest of the time before her mom came back. Maya continued to stare at the water and thought back to that day, something had been different, but what? She would always swim up from the bottom and take a deep breath as she looked at the clock to see how long she had been under.

Her eyes widened, this time had been different. This time she hadn’t taken a breath after leaving the pool. She still hadn’t.