R.E.birth Read online

  Agatha looks over to me with a puzzled look on her face and Ami just smiles sweetly.

  The man removes them from the lot, placing them on another counter directly behind him and types on his PayPad once again.

  “Fifteen hundred credits,” he holds out his hand expectantly.

  Agatha hands him her plastic card and he swipes the black part against the PayPad.

  “You have zero credits remaining on the card. Would you like me to recycle it or would you like to keep it to recharge it later?”

  “I will keep it, thank you,” she says with a smile, despite his lack of enthusiasm for his work.

  We load our purchased goods back into our baskets, spreading them out so we each have about an equal load and begin heading for home. Making our way through the crowd of people that now bustles about the city, Agatha takes us on a direct route and in a much shorter time than I expect we are nearing the border between the city and the field.

  As we find our way into the grass just inside the tree line it takes my eyes a moment to adjust, but I can soon see the outline of the house in the distance. I feel my body begin to relax a bit when we finally reach the doorstep and head inside. With my hands full, I use my leg to push the door closed and then set my baskets next to the island counter.

  “So, what is the point of trading one food item for another? It looks like we got less than what we traded.”

  “We did get less, but in a way we got more,” Agatha smiles at me while unloading the baskets. “Being in these sealed cans this food will last much longer than fresh produce and we needed the meat.”

  “How does this food in these cans last longer?”

  “There are canneries that process, purify and seal them so that they stay fresh,” Ami replies while helping her mother.

  “Amazing,” I find myself in awe.

  Agatha takes the packaged fresh meat over to the tall, white, rectangular box next to the pantry and opens its bottom door. The inside is illuminated by one of the electricity-powered lights and I can see a few things in there, including the soup pot from before. Curiously I watch, but with my brain overloaded from everything else today, I do as in the market, and keep silent.

  There will be plenty of time to ask more questions.

  My stomach grumbles and it is loud enough for Ami to hear as she looks at me, shocked. Moving to the white box that her mother is reorganizing, Ami pulls out a white dish and upon reaching the stove with it she opens the door and shoves the dish inside. Having caught a glance, I could only see cheese sprinkled on the top. She closes the door and fiddles with a knob, then turns her gaze to me.

  “We’re having lasagna tonight.”

  “What is in it?”

  “Big noodles, cheese, ground meat and tomato sauce.”

  As they move about the kitchen, some things go in the pantry, some in the white box and for a few moments Agatha disappears into a door that when closed faces the side of the white box. Peering in for a moment I can see a set of stairs that go down below the house, however when I hear her coming back up I pretend I had not been snooping again.

  After they are done putting the food away we all sit at the table and I place my head down on it to rest. My soft scar tissue aches and I feel like it might rip open again. Slyly checking by pulling back a button reveals that it is still closed. Time passes and a smell begins to permeate the room. As I breathe in deeply, the smell of cheese being melted causes my mouth to salivate and my stomach growls heavier than last time.

  We set the table and sit down for another meal together and I find that I am quickly becoming accustomed to this new life. When I take my first bite of the lasagna and taste its salty flavors, I find myself soon shoveling it in. Ami looks at me funny and Agatha just smiles. Involuntarily my stomach makes room and I let out a loud belch. My face turns red and I cover my mouth.

  “I apologize for my rude manners,” I excuse myself.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’re not all prim and proper here,” Ami reassures me.

  “Still, it is quite rude if I do not display some form of manners.” I lean back and let the food settle.

  Ami follows my sentence with a burp of her own prompting a quick stern glance from Agatha. Ami giggles gleefully and I find her effort to belch funny.

  “Perhaps it’s time we taught you proper manners young lady,” Agatha scolds her with a playful tone. “Rain seems to know a thing or two about them.”

  “Oh Mother, when will I ever need manners?” Ami responds and I assume she jests.

  “Rain, while Ami teaches you, maybe you could teach her,” Agatha teases Ami.

  “He laughed,” Ami points at me. “A burp doesn’t count if it’s after a good meal anyway.”

  “Well then! I shall leave you to your lack of manners and we’ll see what kind of man you attract!” Agatha winks at me for some reason.

  Finishing our meal, we clean up in the kitchen and I find myself heading to the couch to rest. Though the longevity of my consciousness has been steadily increasing, my body still seems to need a significant amount of sleep in order to finish healing. I lie down with the dark blue blanket under my head as a pillow and close my eyes.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I do not remember falling asleep.

  Ami drawing the drapes open on the window and the light from outside hitting my eyelids wakes me. Sitting up I groan and rub my eyes and her backside comes into view. Wearing a long puffy pink shirt and dark blue pants I admire her curves up until the moment she turns around.

  “We’re going to have to clear a room for you to call your own. The one across from my sewing room is a little dirty and has a few things that need cleaned out, but it would be perfect for you,” she suggests.

  A room of my own would be nice, though I have been much too busy and tired lately to really care. I suppose at some point I will need a little privacy.

  Pushing the blanket off, I find the morning still to be a bit cold. Though light is pouring in I can see that the sky is clouded over and even a little dark in spots that appear to be threatening rain. My attention is diverted when I notice a sweet smell wafting through the house. I am compelled by my growling stomach to get up and find what is causing my mouth to salivate.

  Ami moves in quickly behind me and I see Agatha standing by the island counter with yet another strange contraption. Next to the contraption is a stack of golden brown, bread-like squares.

  “Take a seat at the table. I’ll bring you some waffles,” Ami offers.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” I offer eagerly, wanting to pull my weight.

  “Nope. It’s all rather easy and Mother has it taken care of this morning,” she smiles brightly.

  I move to sit but I turn sideways in the chair, keeping my eyes trained on Ami when she is not looking. She moves about, collecting up the dishes that are needed for the meal and I watch her hair flow as she moves elegantly through the kitchen. Agatha catches me and grins, causing me to reactively look out the window at the scenery behind the house. Ami sets the dishes down and returns to where Agatha stands. When Agatha pulls another waffle out and sets it on the stack of others, Ami takes the plate that they are on and brings it over. Agatha quickly joins us as Ami serves me.

  “These are waffles,” she informs me. “They are made from a batter created with flour as the main ingredient. Cooked up in the waffle iron over there it creates this pattern.”

  “You know that you are going to have to explain just about everything to me?”

  “Yeah, we’ll have to do some more studying later. It’s not like you’re going anywhere,” she says sounding almost as if questioning the fact that I am here.

  I copy her when she puts a pat of butter in the middle of the waffle and then drizzles a dark syrup over it. When I take a bite I revel in its taste. The waffle is light, airy and sweet while the butter gives it a salty flavor and then to top it all off is the sweet taste of the syrup.

  Will I neve
r cease to be amazed at everything that is new to me?! It seems like every time something new comes to light I find myself in wonder of it.

  After eating and cleaning the kitchen, I find myself upstairs in the dusty room across from the sewing room, ready to clean it. It appears it has been a storage area for a while; thick paper boxes stacked near the closet to my right have collected a significant amount of dust. Agatha had informed me that I could move the boxes down to the last room on the right in the upper hallway, but because it is their stuff I am hesitant to move it.

  I pull the curtains open on the window in the room and it sends a cloud of dust flying at me. Holding my breath while I struggle with the latch to open window, I try not to inhale the cloud but fail, causing me to sneeze several times. Finally, I get the window open and stick my head out, allowing my nose to calm itself.

  With my hands on my waist, I use the light coming in from outside to get a better look at everything. Near the wall by the door lies my new bed, large enough for a single person to lie upon. It has no pillows or blankets and the mattress is dusty too. Next to the closet, behind the boxes lies a dresser and coat rack.

  Inside the dresser are a few random articles of clothing, none of which appear to be my size and when I turn back around I nearly topple a stack of boxes. When I lift the flaps on one and look inside I find some fine detailed pictures in wooden frames that appear to show a much younger Agatha and a tall handsome looking man.

  Must be her husband, Ami’s father.

  With a box in my arms I move it down to the end of the hallway and as I approach an eerie feeling sweeps over me, the hairs on the back of my neck begin standing on end. I cannot tell what is causing it, but a sense of dread falls over me and I resolve to not linger in this section any longer than needed. Pushing the door open on the right reveals an unfurnished room filled with more boxes.

  One by one I bring the boxes down to the other unused room but when I go to leave the far room my ears pick up what sounds like a growl coming from behind the door across from this one. My heart leaps into my throat and I slam the door shut, hiding in the musty room with the boxes.

  Could I have been this easily spooked before my memory loss?

  Shaking it off I slowly crack the door open and listen intently for the sound. Besides the door creaking, I hear nothing else and I sigh in relief, pulling the door open completely. Lying to myself, I chalk it up to the floor settling under the new weight on this side of the house, but when I enter the hall the door and its knob begin to shake violently. Letting out a yelp, my heart leaps into my throat again and I jump. The door continues to shake and a light appears and disappears in the seams. The growling returns and I quickly race down to my room. When I slam my door and put my body against it I can hear the door at the end of the hallway fly open, smashing against the wall. Fast, heavy stomping makes its way through the hall, stopping right outside my door.

  I wait and listen. It is silent outside the door now. I do not hear any breathing or shifting of weight on the wood. Whoever is out there cannot have left without me hearing it so I assume that they are still out there, waiting like a predator for me to drop my guard or open the door. But I realize whatever lies beyond the door will have to be confronted at some point and so I shift my weight from holding it closed and grab the knob.

  My wrist rotates only a quarter of a turn before the door explodes open, the corner hitting me square between the eyes, knocking me backwards off of my feet. Agatha roars and stomps around above me. Only it isn’t Agatha.

  “Bwa ha ha ha. What a little girl! I heard that yelp!” Evalyn mocks me scornfully. “Scared because of noises. I bet whoever tried to kill you did so out of mercy because you’re so frail.”

  Her words sting and I feel my heart begin to ache. At a loss for words she takes the opportunity to continue to hound me.

  “That’s my door down there. Stay away from it,” she warns. “If I catch you by my door again so help me…”

  “You are a cruel woman,” I jump back to my feet and point a finger at her, snapping angrily. “I was just taking boxes to the back room that Agatha told me to.”

  “I don’t care what she told you to do. Don’t come near my door again!” She takes a swing at me and I deflect.

  “You need to calm down!” My voice gets a little higher.

  “Don’t you tell me to calm down! Who do you think you are? You aren’t even supposed to be here!” Despite Agatha’s smaller frame Evalyn manages to throw a knee up at my gut and I pull my stomach in so that her aim is thrown off.

  Her knee grazes my side and in her imbalance I grab both of her arms, trying to be as gentle as possible knowing that it is Agatha’s body. Spinning her around and pulling her arms around her back, I hold her there in defiance of her attack while she kicks backwards trying to hit me.

  How did I just do that?

  “Whether you like it or not, I was offered the choice to stay,” I snap at her. “I think it would be best for us all if you became accustomed to the idea! Until this curse you have sent them into is broken, I am here.”

  “You know nothing about what you speak of. There isn’t a way,” she huffs. “All you’ve done is condemn yourself to endless, miserable and random travel.”

  Releasing her arms, I step back from her and she moves out into the hallway while fixing her hair. She turns around with an evil smirk and we stand there, staring each other down for a moment before she moves toward me again.

  “Better watch yourself in your sleep,” she threatens me.

  “Why are you so bent on keeping them miserable?” Crossing my arms and glaring I ignore the intimidation and find myself in honest concern for them.

  “That’s none of your concern.”

  “What did Agatha do to you? What about Ami?” I interrogate.

  “They simply exist, therefore I have reason.”

  “What could you possibly have against their existence?”

  She becomes irate with me prodding for answers and moves to leave the doorway, anger apparent on her face. Disappearing to the left of my doorway I hear her head down the stairs, stomping the whole way and I sit down on the bed with my mind reeling with what just happened.

  I accosted Agatha’s body. I will have to apologize to her later, when she is herself.

  Returning to my work of cleaning the room up, I manage to get most of it done and head downstairs finding myself a little parched. When I enter the kitchen Ami is there prepping some food, probably for lunch, but I notice her head is bowed and she does not appear to be happy.

  Evalyn must have been through here too and got in her face about something.

  “Hey Ami.” I try and get a response from her.

  All I get is a brief, fake smile from her before she moves to finish her task, taking three plates over to the table with tall sandwiches on them. The sandwich reminds me that I am thirsty and I begin looking for a cup or glass of some sort. As I rummage through the cupboards on the island counter in the kitchen it takes me a few tries but I find them.

  I turn the faucet on at the sink to collect some cold water into the cup and guzzle it down quickly. I let out a heavy sigh of satisfaction with my thirst quenched, but I now find the sandwich on the table extremely appealing.

  “Would it be rude to ask if I could take this sandwich upstairs while I finish cleaning?”

  “Of course not,” she tells me.

  “Great! Now I just need something to wipe the dust off of things in the room.”

  “Wash rags can be found in the hall closet just below the stairs and I can get you a bowl of water if you like.”

  “That would be great. I will have the rest of that room clean in no time.”

  “You’ll probably want to bring the mattress outside and beat the dust out of it later.”

  “Thanks Ami,” I place my hand on her shoulder comfortingly, thinking she might need it right now.

  Taking the sandwich in one hand, I begin wolfing it down while pushing my way th
rough the kitchen door. Looking in between the two pieces of bread I find some sort of cured meat that tastes like pork, slathered with mustard and topped with lettuce. When I get to the door she mentioned, I stuff the rest of the sandwich in my mouth and wipe my hands on my clothes. Gathering some rags from the closet I find my way back to the stairs and Ami appears through the swinging door with the water she offered.

  I smile at her, but I can see she is hesitant to smile back. We walk up the stairs silently and into my new room where I toss the rags down and take the bowl from her. Our hands brush lightly as I do and she genuinely smiles a little bit, but abruptly turns around and makes a hasty exit from the room.

  I wonder if she finds me attractive or if she just is not used to having the opposite gender around.

  Time flies as I scrub the room from top to bottom. After taking the dirty rags and bowl of murky water to the kitchen I return to the room and pick up the mattress from the bed by two conveniently sewn on cloth handles. Dragging it down the stairs and out into the yard near the well, Ami joins me and gives me a long handled, woven wicker paddle that is self-explanatory.

  Finally after a hard day’s work I find that I have worked up a healthy layer of sweat and caked on dirt. A refreshing shower cures me of that. Putting on fresh clothes, this time in the white and blue colors that I had picked out from just the other night, I find that they are just as comfortable as my first set. With my room finished and my bed ready to sleep in, I sit on it with my back against the wall, reflecting.

  Being from an era of time that was limited in knowledge, at least from what I understand, I find myself a little afraid of what I do not know. But I owe my life to these women and will do whatever it takes to help them in their journey.

  I cannot help but wonder what my lost memories hold. Did I have a family? Are they mourning my disappearance or death? Am I, or I suppose I should say ‘was I’, even being looked for? Perhaps one day this family that I am not even sure exists, will see me again.

  Re-energized from taking a break, I find my way downstairs and into the kitchen. Agatha, or perhaps Evalyn, is there washing the few dishes from earlier. Looking past her I can see that it is dusk already.