Despite the realization I'd had, I followed myself hurriedly. I didn't know what would happen if I didn't.
"Ah, my dear girl!" a man's voice said, joining Past Me.
"Father," Past Me said warmly.
"Father," I whispered at the very same time.
"Come here, come here!" he said, beckoning to me as he hurried to the wheel. Past Me followed and so did I. My breath caught in my throat when he took my hands in his and placed them on the wheel.
"Father?" Past Me questioned.
I, however, had a very good feeling I knew what was coming next.
"Close your eyes," my father urged. "Imagine this deck, swarmed with sailors who will listen to you, who will follow your every command. Imagine this ship is yours and you are sailing the sea, doing what has been passed from father to son and now from father to daughter."
Ah, yes. Because...something...had happened to my mother? Or, no—was it something had happened to my brother? Did I have a brother?
An answer surged to my fingertips but disappeared far too quickly for me to catch it. Frustration rose in my like a tsunami's wave. Answers were so close—and yet so far away.
"Father," Past Me said, sounding like I wanted to ask a question, "why am I the only girl on board?"
He smiled sadly. "Because us men underestimate women. Too much, I say. Your mother is a brilliant woman, and so are you. You deserve a place among men, my little lion."
Past Me smiled at my father and I felt a tug in my stomach. The memory slipped away, fading into black, and I fell into dreamless sleep once more.