20 Days Later

Looking back on everything, I’m sometimes tempted to say that my life began the day I died. That would be a lie. It began 20 days later.
The first thing that I was aware of was the fact that I was floating. I tried to move, but my arms and legs were sluggish, as if I were moving in a dream. My eyes wouldn’t open, but I could feel the sun beating down on my face. I tried to move again. This time, my right arm flailed, and it hit water. “Water?” I thought, “Where did water come from? Where am I?” My arm flailed again, hitting something hard this time. Instinctively, I grabbed hold of it. I struggled to open my eyes. Light streamed through my partially opened eye lids, giving an ethereal glow. “Where am I?” I asked myself again. “Am I… am I dead?” I panicked for a second, but my whole body seemed to move in slow motion, as if it didn’t care to move anymore. I forced my eyes open. Little by little, they opened, the light becoming brighter and brighter each time. My eyes burned, as if I had been I a dark room and someone shoved me into the light. At first, all I could see was the sun, bright and bold in my face. As my eyes adjusted, could see the blue of the sky, and small feathery clouds skittering past in the wind. I was lying on by back looking up at the sky. So I wasn’t dead. But what was I lying on, and why did I have the sensation that I was floating? Slowly I turned my head to the right. My hand was wrapped tightly around something, as if it were the Holy Grail itself. My vision was still blurry, but I could make out the shape of an outcropping rock in my fist. I rotated my head slowly to the left. My left arm was floating in what seemed to be water. “Water?” my mind said, as if struggling to remember something. “Water? Wasn’t there water before? Where was there water before?” I struggled to remember. “Wasn’t there water in the pool? What pool? I was in the pool. I fell in the pool. And there was ice…” A bright flash of light went off in my head, causing my entire body to jerk. The pool. I had fallen in the pool. I couldn’t get out. The water was freezing around me. These thoughts came to my sluggish mind as fast as I could process them. If I was in the pool, then why wasn’t I sinking? My body panicked again, this time causing me to splash. I still remained afloat. I turned to my right hand and focused my strength on pulling myself out. Grasping with my now free left hand, I got up onto the grass surrounding the little pool. My legs still wouldn’t move. I looked down at them and gasped. Ice. My legs were covered in thawing ice. I reached by hand backwards and felt my back. It was covered in some places with chunks of ice. “That’s why I didn’t sink.” I thought. “The ice helped me float.” I looked around. Nothing had changed. My satchel was still there, soiled but intact. It was the same as that day, the day I came up here and fell in the pool. The day I froze the beaker, the water in my hair, and the entire pool. I remembered all these things, but the memories seemed all faded and far away, as if they had happened so very long ago. As if they happened in another life. I tried to remember what had happened while I was frozen. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember. I had the distinct feeling that I had been somewhere, but I had no idea where. I looked at my feet. The ice had thawed off considerably. Surprisingly, I could sense feeling returning to them, even though they had been frozen for God knows how long. I forced my self to my feet, my body still sluggish as if awakening from a drugged slumber. I grasped my satchel and dragged it behind my, moving in the direction of what my mind said was a road.

I made it to the street and walked a little way till I saw a pay phone. I patted my pockets. No spare change there. I opened my satchel and dug into a little side compartment. I pulled out some coins that I kept for exactly this purpose. I inserted them and dialed a number. It rang twice, and a woman answered. “Hello?” the voice asked. It was the sweetest, most wonderful voice I had ever heard. It made my feel warm all over despite my obviously frosty demeanor. “Mom?” I responded. The voice cracked. “O God, Alex!! Alex sweetheart, where are you?” I tried to remember. After a moment’s hesitation, I said, “About a mile away from the school.”“Ok. Alex? Alex, just stay where you are, ok?” she said, her voice in hysterics. I hung up the phone and waited. About 20 minutes later, the family car pulled up. My mom jumped out and ran over to me, hugging me and kissing me, repeating over and over again that everything was going to be alright. I already knew that, but my mom, being the drama queen that she is, totally ignored that fact. My dad just stood from afar, tears watering his eyes.
They drove me to the hospital, amid a barrage of questions ranging from where I was to if I knew how worried they were. I tried hard to remember but nothing came to me. “…and we called everywhere, all your cousins, friends from your old school, your friends Drake and that Allison girl.” My mom was saying. I laughed to myself. I had never had Allison classified as one of my friends. “Twenty days, Alex” she said. “It’s been twenty days since you disappeared.” I sat up straight. 20 days!!?? I had been frozen at the bottom of a pool for 20 days? My mom looked at me sharply, “Where were you all that time?” she questioned. I stared at my feet and tried to remember what happened, but all I drew was a blank. All I had was the feeling of being somewhere, when I know I had been frozen at the bottom of the pool.
The hospital checkup was a quick one. Aside from being slightly malnourished, the doctor said that I was pretty much fine, but that I would have to see a therapist over the next few weeks if I had no recollection of where I was. I sat staring at the ceiling in the hospital room. Till this day I have no idea why I survived so long at the bottom of the pool, nor did I ever remember where I had been. I would probably say that God saved me, but back then I didn’t believe in God or Jesus or any of the stuff I believe now. But for that while, I just lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, flipping these thoughts over in my head. My train of thought was broken by a knock on the door. Drake pushed the door slightly and came through.

“Hey man, how are you doing?”

“Not bad,” I replied, “if you don’t count selective amnesia.” His eyebrows rose slightly. I told him about not being able to remember anything.

He gave a low whistle, “Well I guess that does suck.” The then he smiled “But enough of the bad stuff he said. “ I have something that’ll have you up and about in no time.”

“Really?” I asked. “What could top memory loss?”

“Well, while you were missing, your parents put this big alert out on the news, and they wanted some kids from school to come on TV and ask people to look for you. Guess who went besides me?”
I thought for a second, “Allison?” I asked.

Drake shook his head slowly, “No, not Allison. Why would Allison do that?”

“No reason,” I replied, “My mom just said something about her while we were in the car. So who was this other generous person?”

“Erica Simmons.”

I sat up straight. “Erica Simmons? You’re serious right?” I gave Drake a sharp look. “You sure you’re not pulling my leg?”
Drake raised both hands. “Honest.”

From the day I walked into Valley Private High School, I knew I was in love with Erica Simmons. Everything about her just made my heart go into acrobatics. Her straight black hair flowed down her back, encasing the most enchanting face ever conceptualized. Her soft brown eyes laughed every time she was amused, along with the little dimples in her perfect olive brown skin. Her body was shaped and chiseled with a geometry that defied the human mind. I was crazy about her. But all I could do was stare resignedly at this wingless seraph. Erica’s parents owned an international chain on luxury restaurants and kept a very tight leash on their only daughter. Besides, with money and looks like her, she was at the top of the food chain. There was no way a bottom feeder like me could get to her. Until now.

“It was amazing.” Drake was saying. “You should have seen it. She was all sobbing and pleading for your safe return and stuff. She put me completely out of the spotlight.”

I smiled.“Maybe I should go fall in a pool more often.” I said before I could stop myself.
Drake raised an eyebrow. “What did you say?”
“
I was a fool waiting for this to happen.” I cringed, hoping that Drake would take the bait.

He smiled.“Okay then.” He said. He looked down at his watch. “Shoot. I need to be home in 5 minutes or I am toast.” He looked at me and smiled. “Since you disappeared, all our parents have been a bit antsy. That’s why Erica isn’t here with me.” He got up and walked towards the door. “Take care man. Hope you get better soon.” I lay on the bed thinking over these new developments. Maybe having a new life could be exactly what I was looking for. Oddly enough, I felt something smothering my thoughts. Something like… whispers! I bolted up. Whispers again! Just like the pool. What the heck were they? As suddenly as they began, they stopped. The room door creaked, causing me to jump. It opened fully, to reveal Allison standing there.

“Twenty days of perfect lab work.” She said, shaking her head. “I knew that it was too good to last.”

I sighed. “Thank you Allison, for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and offer me your sympathy. It’s heart wrenching.”

“I didn’t come here to pity you,” she replied, rubbing her temples, her face wrinkled in discomfort.

“I left you twenty days ago with a headache, and you still have one?” I asked.

“I don’t see how that concerns you.” she growled. I looked at her stunned. “Aren’t we a ray of sunshine today?” I thought.

“Please,” Allison said, “refrain from comparing me to sunshine. It’s really sappy.”“Sorry,” I answered.

“I was thinking aloud,” even though I was sure that I didn’t.

“Anyway, as your lab partner, Miss Havelock wanted me to come give you the stuff you missed.” she said, placing a stack of papers on the table next to me. She sat down on the chair and opened a bottle of aspirin.

“She’s probably an addict by now.” I thought, smiling to myself. She gave me a sharp look.

“Very funny. Do I look like a junkie to you?”

“What?” I asked.

“You just called me an addict. Do I look like an addict?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Alex, don’t lie. It doesn’t suit you."

I looked at her confused. “Maybe it’s not aspirin in that bottle.” I thought.

“Alex, keep this up and I’ll make you disappear for another 20 days.” I was completely perplexed now. Why didn’t I know I was saying these things aloud? And what if I wasn’t?“Anyhow,” she said getting up, “I’ve got to go. I actually have a curfew now. I have you to thank for that.” She walked out the door.

“Good riddance.” I thought.

She stuck her head back into the room. “I was saying the same thing about you a few days ago.” Then she left.I lay bewildered. What exactly just happened? Suddenly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I had the distinct feeling that someone was staring at me. I glanced around the empty room, making sure I was the only one there. This day kept getting weirder and weirder. Maybe this new life wasn’t all that much better than the last one.