Chapter Twelve

Petra found herself in a strange place again. It wasn't the same room as the last time. This room was larger, and had twin beds on either side of the room. Between the beds was a night table, with a lamp that had colourful stars on it. On the right side of the room were two posters of soccer players, and one of a car. On the left side of the room were hand drawn pictures. They looked like the drawings of a child. One had a house, and four stick-like figures standing to the side of the house. Another had the blue sky, and a bright yellow smiling sun. Another one had flowers of different colours, and another had splatters of red. The last one sent a chill down Petra's spine, and left her with an uneasy feeling.

Petra took in the scene before her, once again wondering where she was. A boy, the one she'd seen before, now a bit taller, stomped past her. He threw himself on the bed, and shouted something into his pillow. The little girl with the pigtails followed, and stood at the foot of the bed watching the boy for a while. He was crying. She walked over to the boy and patted his head. He sat up, and lifted her onto his lap. Petra could see the redness in his eyes, and the puffiness of his face. Even with these details, his features were unrecognisable.

The little girl put her arms around him. They were speaking, but Petra could only see their lips moving, no sound came out. The little boy finally laughed, and the little girl jumped off his lap and ran from the room.

The room spun. Petra could find nothing to hold onto, so she shut her eyes. She opened them again when she heard laughter. The boy and his sister were on the floor, playing a game. She didn't know what game it was, or what had happened, but they were both laughing. Petra sat down, watching the happy moment in front of her. Again a feeling of familiarity coursed through her, but she knew that she'd never seen this before.

A moment later, a woman walked in carrying a tray. Petra saw the golden tray. She could see the sandwiches cut into triangles, and the two glasses with the bird design. But she couldn't see the woman's face.

Her face, much like the previous time was blurred. Petra didn't know why, but not being able to see the woman upset her. Not only did she have a yearning to see the woman, but she also wished to speak to her. As she stood up to reach out for the woman, the scene dissolved and everything turned dark.

She felt herself falling again, with nothing to hold onto. Petra sat up in her bed, her pulse thrumming and a cold sweat on her back. The room, the children, the woman, all but forgotten.

A feeling of uneasiness lingered. Accompanied with that feeling was a niggling, a nagging at the back of her mind to remember. It was important, a matter of urgency, but she had no idea what it was.

The thing she sought was there, she could feel it hovering just outside her grasp. She sat in the dark for a while, turned over and went back to sleep.