"I am sorry, I mistook it because it has your house number", Teesta mouths politely to the annoyed lady who holds the door half open, her grip tightening with every word out of Teesta's mouth.
"Are you sure you have no one in the house name Noelle?", Teesta tries again despite the pointed looks of the lady.
"Female delivery people are so annoying", The lady mouths before shutting the door.
Teesta sighs, crossing off the fifth house of the block on her notepad.
She puts on her cap and tears off the sticker from the box and sticks on a new address, the address to the next house.
The address she had seemed easily reachable until an hour ago when she realized that the house number written on the address is missing
She stands on the door of the next house waiting for it to open after a polite knock, wiping of the sweat around her brows. The idea of searching all the houses in the block in pretense of a delivery girl seemed like a great idea if the annoyed faces that Teesta has to face on the other side of the door weren't on the list in addition to the blazing heat and the frustration that comes when nobody recognizes the name.
Exactly three months prior, Teesta woke up to a world of void with biting pain on the head. Her mind running wild with messed up thoughtlessness. She remembers vividly the day her mother had to introduce herself as her mother. Even her own name had sounded wrong to her, everything sounded wrong to her. The first week that she can remember was spent looking at people who visited her at the hospital, trying to remember the spelling of her own name, mustering up courage to ask people to introduce themselves. Of the people that visited some got upset and angry that she didn't remember them while some were vaguely understandable. It was the second week she began to collect thoughts and ordered them on her mind, started recognizing her parents, her family members as if the things were set inside her brain. It was instant, but most memories remained congested..
The first month was agonizing, trying to remember. She wanted answers most of the time, those times were more agonizing for her family. There had been days where she got so frustrated struggling to find what she lost, that she wished someone would already dictate it to her, the missing pieces hold by the last twenty six years of her life. She would prod her parents. And it seemed she had been missing for three years from their life too. Her mother would thank her time to time for being alive. Would thank the unknown savior they never met that informed them of her lying in the hospital.
When remembering things became painful, she left them just as they were, untouched. Besides her brother, Neel's timely reminder of how past memories are vain and all people need is to create more memories for future, seemed to get to her although illogical. She had let go. Trying to remember. Had took up living the life she is supposed to live as Teesta as everyone says. She had let go of the Teesta she was until one day her mail received a notification of an undelivered package. The package fetch unveiled an almost dead hydrangea plant that she had send to someone named Noelle a week prior the day she woke up in a hospital with no memories at hand.
That was three days ago.
Her parents were suspicious when she brought up a trekking trip with names of friends she didn't even know she had, and that was her mother's question too. But she had hurried out with lies and Neel somehow supported her. When he noticed her bag of summer clothes he didn't say anything except a small pat on the head.
"Safer place than home are the warm memories," He had whispered and left the room.
Teesta smiles remembering her brother's way of support.
"Illogical", She mutters and laughs shaking her head but bits her lips when she heard the click from the other side of the door.
She straightens up with a smile when the door opens to a frail old lady with heavy wrinkles.
"Hello, " She starts ," I have a delivery under the name of Mr. No.."
"Lucida!", Teesta snaps her eyes at the name. Familiar name. More familiar than her own name.
"Lucida", the lady grabs her forearm and pulls her to a tight hug," You are alive".
It scares her that the lady's hug felt so comforting and the name just seems so right.
Teesta stood upright as the lady lets go of her to cry into her folded hands.
"Ao",She doesn't know why she calls her that, but she reaches for the lady's hand and speaks the only word she knows and the only word that brought her here," Noelle".
Painful gray eyes snaps at her brown ones at the name and she halts her breath when the lady mutters ,"They took your son Lucida, they took your son".