CHAPTER 7: A FUZZY MEMORY
Where did it all go wrong? One thing she knew that she was heading home and now in a twinkling of the eye, she was being chased by wolves. She was trying to figure out her bearings, but the adrenaline she had gushing through her body was something new, she felt powerful in a way but she didn't know how to express it. She was part of the earth and the earth was part of her. She felt tainted yet free. She kept on watching seeing everything.
It was almost a dream, her falling unconscious but she could still see what was happening, she could still feel the fear that surrounded her, the whimpers of the pup. It was as if she was a spectator watching her body.
She whirled around in shock, the wolves didn't see her and so passed through her heading for the pups who scurried back in fear, trying to lick Lorraine's face in a bid to wake her up. Lorraine saw that they needed her help and tried to wake up. She tightened her fists and focused on waking up, but it just seemed to make her migraine worse.
But as soon as the leader of the wolves raised his paw to swat at the puppies, she screamed so loud and suddenly she gasped awake, dragging the pups as they rolled down a cliff while the shrubs and plants did their best to cover them. Lorraine was barely conscious now but she was able to save the puppies from harm and they didn't seem wounded.
Rather they stopped biting her and were clutching onto her. She groggily stood up and surveyed her surrounding and just in the clearing, she could see her parked car with the opened door still waiting for her as the wolves began to race down the steep cliff. She staggered a bit trying to run so that she could get into the car before she was devoured by the wolves. She could hear the snarls which fueled her the more as she kept on running, each step taking her closer and closer to the car. And in the nick of time, she managed to enter and shut the door and locked it as the wolves banged the,selves hard against the door.
Petrified she drops the puppies on the backseat and carries some warm blankets and covers them so that they would get warmth a bit. As she tried to figure out what to do with the wolves that was wrecking her car, she felt a bruise coming from the back of her head as she touched it and saw that she was bleeding. And just like that she slipped into dream land.
11 HOURS LATER
Lorraine jolted up from her sleep as her phone was ringing incessantly as she winced. She had a splitting headache…and definitely a weird livid dream. She saw that she was still in her car and was confused but due to the fact that she couldn't concentrate because of the ringing, she finally picked the call.
"Hello?" She said as she held her head which was about splitting into two as her best friend literally screamed at her,
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE, HOURS AGO?" Lorraine winced as she pulled the phone from her ears and placed it on loudspeaker as she tried to answer,
" Could you please stop shouting? I am having a migraine." Lorraine replied as Sarah was shocked.
"Stop shouting? Do you know what you have put me through? If anyone has any right to be angry, then it is me." She yelled as Lorraine started hearing something strange coming from the backseat. She looked through the rear mirror and saw that there were sudden movement in the blanket but what shocked her most was that she was wearing babies cries.
"What the hell?" She said taking off the blanket as she came in contact with three babies who were busy bawling their eyes out. What the hell was going on?
"Is that babies that I am hearing?" Sarah asked as Lorraine said,
"Um Sarah can I call you back? I am a bit confused now."
"Oh you don't get to call me back, you are answering my question now? Are those your kids? Where are you? How is this possible…." Sarah didn't say what she was going to say as Lorraine quickly disconnected the call as her attention were back on the babies.
"This is impossible? You are supposed to be….puppies. Did I steal you guys? What is going on?" Lorraine said as she carried the babies and checked and saw that they were indeed real, She looked all over the car for the puppies but didn't see any trace of them. She remembered dropping them in the backseat where this kids were. Was I dreaming? Is this an illusion. She also remembered that she thought the vines and shrubs were helping her to escape from the wolves. Oh my god, did she confuse reality with fantasy.
She came out of the car and ran back into the woods but it seemed as if the yesterday's fiasco disappeared. There was no dead wolves or human bodies or even a single drop of blood, rather everywhere was green and mouldy and normal just like a normal forest. She ran to where she had imagined picking up the puppies but she didn't see any dead wolf, she didn't even see the trap, that she supposedly found one of the puppies stuck in it and hurt. Almost collapsing she managed to lean on the tree as she tried to calm her racing heart down. She was suddenly sick and started running back to where her car was parked. She was hoping that once she got to the car, she would see that the babies were just an illusion and she probably hit her head too hard. But to her dismay, as soon as she closed her car door, she still saw the triplets crying on the top of their lungs. That was when the harsh reality dawned on her.
I stole someone's kids and pretended they were wolves. What on earth is wrong with me? She was trying to concentrate with the kids crying on the top pf their lungs and her incessant phone ringing. Sarah was definitely not giving up that easily. Confused and lost, she picked the call and said,
"I am heading straight to my office, meet me there in the next one hour, and I will explain everything to you."
"You better explain." Sarah said ending the call as Lorraine started the ignition and drove out of them heading to the main town. The trip took her 1 hour to reach and she quickly drove to her office. She didn't even get home first. She was the center of attraction, as she was driving around in a wrecked car but she didn't give a damn. As she killed the engine, she turned and faced the triplets who were staring at her with those big green eyes of theirs as she picked them up and wrapped them in the blankets before carrying them inside. She ignored the greetings of everyone who were excited to see her as she raced to her own office and closed the door locking it. She quickly looked around and saw a cage, she quickly dropped the kids, opened the cage and made sure there was nothing that could hurt the kids before dropping them inside and locking up the cage.
"I am so sorry that I am doing this but I need to make sure that I am not insane." She said as she grabbed another big cloth and spread it over the cage making sure that nobody could see the kids.
Pacing around biting her fingers, she tried to think of what to do when she heard a knock on her door and she stopped.
"Who is it?" She said anxiety in her voice as her friend replied,
"Come on, it is me Sarah. You told me to come remember, open up. Your colleagues are saying you are behaving strange, and scaring them by locking yourself up. I told them not to call the police because I can handle this and settle this. So open up already." Sarah said pounding on the door as Lorraine said,
"Are you alone? Or is someone with you?"
"I am alone, now but if you keep behaving like this, the whole police officers will be here." She said as Lorraine hurried and opened the door, taking in the confused look of her best friend who hugged her tightly.
"I am so angry at you now, but I am here if you need me. Talk to me. What is going on? What were the babies crying I heard? Where are they? Why are you bleeding and covered in dirt?" Sarah asked all of this in one go as Lorraine dragged her into her office and shut the door tight.