A New Journey

Flashing lights outside alerted the neighbours. Curtains twitched, lights came on, of course, it's human nature, curiosity. They saw the ambulance leave the house and nothing had been seen of the woman who lived there since. They did see another woman visit the house on a regular basis presumably to pick up the mail. Someone must have taken the cat also as Spat hadn't been seen either. Everybody knew Spat, he was such a friendly cat but nobody really knew his owner. She appeared to be in her thirties and lived alone. If anyone met her in the street she would smile and say hello but never stopped to chat, always in a hurry, suited and booted, leaving early in the morning and arriving home late presumably catching a train as her BMW didn't move from its parking space during the week, only at weekends.

It was a month later and Sally was pottering around the modest terraced house, putting flowers in a vase and placing it onto the polished oak table, bringing a little cheer to the emptiness. It wouldn't be empty for long though Jen would be home today. As she walked through the living room her mind flashed back to that day. Jen and Sally had been friends since University. Their careers had gone in different directions, Jen worked in London as a Lawyer's assistant and Sally worked in the next town to where they lived, as a Care Manager. Even so not a day went by when they weren't in contact and this day was no different. It was late, after ten when the phone rang, the voice on the other end was undoubtedly Jen's but something was wrong. Nothing of what she was saying made sense; it was as if she were drunk. Sally put on her shoes, picked up her keys and dashed straight out. She drove to Jen's house; she had a key so she let herself in.

As she walked through the door she saw Jen sitting on the sofa still talking on the phone, Sally removed it without resistance and turned it off. She only had to take one look at Jen to know how much trouble she was in, her skin was pale and sweat hung delicately on her forehead like crystals. With her dark ebony hair, it made her look gothic. Sally rang for an ambulance and then laid Jen down, put a pillow under her head and covered her with a blanket. As she laid her head back she found something strange, the hair on the side of her head was matted with what looked like blood.

Summer turned to autumn and the sun lay low in the sky. The scenery travelled past so quickly that Jen turned away. Sally checked that she was alright and Jen confirmed all was well, there weren't too many people on the train so she felt safe, but wondered how this journey would end. Would there be answers, Police believed she had been attacked that day, but this made no sense, there was no robbery and no other injuries other than the one on her head, and this was now causing all the problems with her memory. She had no recollection of how she got home that evening, this journey they were embarking on now was apparently one that she normally took, but it was now no more than a blur buried deep in the chasm of her lost memory trying, but failing, to climb out.

She had forgotten so many things, that day and the weeks after it, but she knew people and things from before the incident except for this journey, her work colleagues and her job were still a little vague also. New things she tried to remember slipped away like feet on ice. Life was so much harder now, new places and people were new over and over again, Jen felt as if she was lost within her own mind and was unable to understand why. She had questions, questions she was sure she had asked before and had been given answers to. 'I don't remember, I don't remember' was the constant phrase spinning around the inside of her head.

They alighted from the train onto the platform of the old London station. Jen began to feel strange like Deja Vu, then she realised she did know this place, she gradually found herself encased in a sea of people and it began to feel overwhelming but Jen then felt Sally's hand on her shoulder and instantly felt better. They celebrated together the return of just one tiny memory and hope settled in both of them for the future.