An Unexpected Jump

Dee grabbed her bag and slammed the door, screaming in frustration. She stormed down the street, ready to pulverize anything or anyone in her way. She may be being a little dramatic, but, although the rational part of her mind screamed at her to stop and think, that she was being ridiculous, another part of her was so worked up that she didn't care and just kept going. She’d go anywhere. She didn't care. Anywhere was better than being stuck in that god forsaken house with her irrational mother and uncaring step-father.

                At this point, she was panting so she paused to rest while looking around to see how far she’d gotten. Unsurprisingly she’d reached the edge of town. Blue Mountain was tiny and Dee loathed it. She looked up at the rolling hills that seemed more like mountains and wondered how far she could get before dark. The still fresh memory of her mother throwing her CD’s, shattering them against her royal purple walls, propelled Dee forward. She couldn’t go back yet. She’ll stay out all night and come back in the late afternoon tomorrow. Maybe her mother would be worried sick. She has everything she needs; her backpack always has granola bars, 2 water bottles, a big bag of jerky, two flashlights, a space blanket, a lighter, a pocket knife, a pack of cards, water purifying tablets, and a change of clothes. She was one of those people who would rather be prepared than dead, even if the pack was heavy. And if she stayed out all night, maybe when she got home her mother would apologize profusely, take her out for ice cream and replace her stuff. She did that sometimes, if she feels she overreacted or lost control. If she felt like she was pushing her daughter away in dangerous ways she might even buy her some new CD’s.

                Dee blinked in surprise. She wasn’t aware she had even been walking but she was at the bottom of the hill and no longer on the road. Taking a deep breath, she made up her mind and started climbing. Due to the fact that she doesn’t exercise much, it wasn’t long before she had to stop for breath and a small drink of water.  Looking around her she saw that she had made it almost to the top of the hill that should really be classified as more of a small mountain. The view was truly wonderful. You could see the whole town (it was truly tiny) and the fields beyond. The colors were rich and the land seemed to roll in lazy waves. Blue Mountain was fit snug in a valley at the bottom of many hills, like it were in the bottom of a very deep bowl. The sun was setting and there were splashes of orange and purple in the sky that made the whole scene look like something out of a fairy tale. If it wasn’t so boring in that little town, Dee might actually love it. It was certainly beautiful.

                Wait. The sun was setting. It would be dark soon and Dee still hasn’t found any shelter. Looking around frantically, she saw a small cave. Taking out a flashlight, she peered in cautiously. It was bigger on the inside than it looked from out but it seemed to be empty and secure. Plus the smaller opening to a big cave would give her more protection from the weather. She walked inside (she had to duck) and put her bag near the door, along the wall of the cave, where it would be safe, out of the way, and invisible from the outside, and yet close enough that she could grab it if she had to leave in a hurry for some reason. Satisfied, she went and found a few twigs and a few big sticks that were almost logs. She came back, set up her makeshift fire pit with rocks from around the cave and started stacking the wood. Pulling her lighter from her bag, she lit the leaves and dry grass that she had stuck under her wooden pyramid. It lit up immediately and quickly caught the twigs on fire. It was burning them up so quickly that Dee started to worry that the logs wouldn’t catch, but finally they did. Still, she went and found as many twigs and sticks as she could find for a firewood pile, just in case.

                Dee pulled her space blanket from the bag and her extra sweatshirt. She rolled the sweatshirt into a tight ball and set up a makeshift bed near the fire, but not so close that she would need to fear rolling on it in her sleep. Set up for the night, she decided she deserved her meal, and pulled out two granola bars (one chocolate chip and one peanut butter), the bag of jerky and a water bottle. She was just taking a bite out of a piece of teriyaki jerky when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Was the cave not empty like she thought? Tensing up, she turned slowly; ready to play dead or run like the wind, depending on what she saw. But, to her surprise, nothing was there. Assuming she had imagined the whole thing, she shrugged and decided it was time for bed. She crawled underneath the space blanket, resting her head comfortably on the rolled up sweatshirt, and closed her eyes, unfortunately missing, as many unobservant teenagers would, the fact that her fire was now giving off a few green sparks and the smoke was the same purple as her walls at home.

                When Dee woke up she was surprisingly refreshed. It was as if she had slept for years, rather than just the few hours that were indicated by the fact that the sun was just beginning to rise. Shrugging she pulled out the jerky and the deck of cards and played a few rounds of solitaire while snacking, just to kill a little time. After a few hours of that, she got bored and started missing her computer. Maybe it had been long enough. She was sure her mother wouldn’t have broken that too, she spent too much money on it. It was before noon, judging by the sun, but she was so bored that she decided to head back. It would take her almost an hour to get back anyway. She stuffed her blanket and sweatshirt back in her bag, ate the last of her jerky, and shoved the trash in the zippered pocket. She then took one of her two water bottles, and poured it over the fire. The fire roared up and was fiercer than ever when the water hit it and Dee had  to jump back in order to avoid losing her eyebrows. Shocked, she just stared at it, while the water slowly took effect and the fire finally died. She made sure to step on the few lingering sparks, but she did so cautiously.

                Finally ready to go, she slung her backpack over her shoulders and started the walk home. She made a game out of going slower than gravity and her feet wanted to go, giggling and she stumbled her way down the steep hill. Finally she was at the edge of town. It looked different. There were buildings she didn’t recognize, but she figured they were just painted yesterday or something. Although it would be odd that it was painted so quickly… shrugging it off and pegging it as all in her head she stepped forward and stopped suddenly. The dirt road was now pavement. Now that couldn’t just be in her head. Starting to panic she started running towards her house. On the way she passed faces that she didn’t know. How could she not know them? Blue Mountain was tiny. Everyone knew everyone . This wasn’t possible. She didn’t see a single familiar face. Finally she made it to her house. She stopped in front of it and stared. It was definitely her house, that’s for sure, but it was yellow. Her mother would never paint her house yellow, she always wanted a light blue house and they finally painted it that color two years ago when Dee’s step-father, Gary, moved in. But her mother hated yellow. She loathed it. What was going on?

                Slowly she walked along the short sidewalk and up the few steps leading to the door. She knocked. Why did she knock? This was her house; this had to be her house. A woman opened the door. She was young, about in her early twenties and she was cradling a beautiful baby in her arms. Dee stared at the woman in shock, and the woman stared back, for some reason obviously rattled.

                “No way…” the woman breathed. “You can’t be…”

                “Can’t be who? Who are you? Why are you in my house? Where’s Gary? Where’s my mom?” Dee shot an arsenal of questions at the woman but still the woman just stared. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a teenager before? Where is my mom, lady?!”

                “Who is it, hon?” Dee heard from what had to be the kitchen, her kitchen. It was a man’s voice and seemed to knock the woman back to her senses.

                “Not sure, sweetheart, hang on,” The woman shouted back to the man. “Who are you?” she asked, finally saying something to Dee that made a little sense, although the question was obviously absurd.

                “Who am I? Who are you? Why are you in my house? Where’s my mom? Who is that guy?” Dee was panicking. Her breath was coming in short gasps and she was starting to see dots swimming in her vision.

                “Now hang on, sweetie. Just tell me your name. It’ll be ok, I promise.”

                “Dee. It’s Dee. I’m Dee. Davina Polanski. I live here, with my mom, Valerie, and her husband Gary. Why are you in my house? Why is it yellow? Who are you?” Dee was crying at this point, and starting to feel incredibly dizzy.

                “You’re sure? You’re sure that’s your name?”

                “What? Of course, I’m sure. I know… I know my own name…” Dee was swaying, tears still running down her face. “Where’s… Where’s mom…” And with that she passed out.

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                Dee was exhausted. Where was she? She was on a couch. Duh. It was soft. It felt… it felt like her couch. Finally, something familiar. Maybe she just dreamed the whole thing, maybe she fell asleep watching a movie or something. Yeah. She thought she heard the T.V. It was being very loud… a woman was shouting at a man and he was shouting back, obviously trying to stay calm but losing it.

                “It’s her! Of course it’s her! Look. Look. She looks exactly like the pictures mom used to have hanging everywhere. Dad’s last name was Polanski, and mom and her kid from her previous marriage took that name. Mom talked about her. Said her name was Davina. Who else could it be?”

                “Would you listen to yourself? It’s not possible!! She’s been gone for almost 24 years. And yet she looks exactly the same as the pictures of when she was 16? That’s not possible! She must be her kid or something. She must have moved away and just never talked to your mom and got married and had a kid and sent her here.”

                “That’s insane. Mom always said she stormed off. She never came back for her stuff. She was a prepared kid, sure but she wouldn’t have made it all the way to the next town. She was prepared, but she was still just a kid. The next town is 30 miles away. No kid would do that. She would have calmed down and come back. This isn’t her kid, it’s her.”

                This show was weird. Dee couldn’t figure out what was happening. Someone disappeared and now they’re back? That doesn’t make any sense. Twenty four years couldn’t pass with someone staying sixteen. She would have to rewind. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see the T.V. wasn’t on. And was this room always green? There was still shouting. Suddenly it hit her. It wasn’t a dream. That wasn’t the T.V. She was sixteen. The strange woman… the voice in the kitchen… they were yelling about her.

                Dee was starting to feel panicky again but she pushed it down. There was no time. She needed to know what was happening. She sat up slowly on the couch, looking at her surroundings. Everything was different. She ignored the questions racing through her mind and stood up. She was shaky at first but she regained her balance and walked to the kitchen. She stood in the doorway, listening. They were still shouting about her but after a few minutes the man noticed her standing there.

                “You! Kid, where are you from? Your mom put you up to this right? Finally came to meet her sister but wanted to screw with us first like some kind of little brat. You’re not really Davina right?” The man looked at her expectantly while the woman just sighed and sat on a stool (stool? There weren’t stools in her kitchen…).

                “No, I’m Davina, although I prefer Dee. Davina is such a weird name. Who are you?”

                “Me?” The man snorted. “I’m Noah. Noah Foster. Kid, if you’re really Davina –“

                “Dee,” she interrupted. She hated her full name.

                “If you’re really Dee, then where have you been all these years?”

                “Years? I’ve been gone one night. Mom was breaking my CD’s and I got mad and stormed off. I stayed in a cave last night, woke up this morning and came home. I thought she’d be calmed down by now. Where is she by the way?”

                “What’s your mom’s name, kid?”

                “Valerie. She married Gary. Where’s Gary? And where’s mom?”

                “Kid…” The man sighed and sat down. “If you’re really Da- I mean, Dee, then you’ve been gone a long time. Almost twenty four years. Valerie found out she was pregnant with Lucy – Lucinda – a week after you went missing. But since then… both Valerie and Gary have passed. I’m sorry.”

                “What? No. That’s not possible. I’ve been gone one night. Just one night. I know it. It’s not… possible…” Dee started crying again. “How… I mean… assuming you’re telling the truth… how did they pass…?”

                “Valerie had a heart attack, and Gary… he… he was in a bad place. He was alone (Lucy had moved out by this point) and he was heartbroken. He… Lucy found him in a bathtub. He had committed suicide… It was awful…” Dee put a hand to her mouth. She was still sobbing and she was starting to feel dizzy again.

                “Hon?” Lucy finally looked at her.” It’ll be ok. You’ll be able to move on, I promise.” But Dee’s world was crashing down around her. Move on? How could she move on? Her life was gone, over, her family dead. “Not all of your family, sweetheart, I’m still here.” Dee hadn’t realized she was talking aloud. “I’m your sister. Well, your half-sister. And Noah will be kind to you too. We’ll be your family. You’ll be safe and cared for. I just wish I knew what had happened.”

                So do I, thought Dee before she slumped onto the floor and collapsed in on herself. This was too much. She couldn’t take it. Her heart hurt more than she thought possible. But what had happened? How was this possible? Will she ever find out?