Mountain River Girl

Chapter 5: Pictures Of The Past

PICTURES OF THE PAST

Disoriented, I came by in my room. I had no memory of arriving home or even going upstairs to my bedroom, yet, that had been exactly where I was. Reluctant to the idea of getting out of bed, I tossed the covers aside and sat upright. It was a start, I thought to myself, but I still didn’t feel awake. While rubbing my eyes, they fell on the note directly next to my alarm clock.

“I hope you slept well.

We had to go out for a little while but we will be back before dinner.

Look after yourself and be careful.

- Mom”

Next to where I found the note was the tube of ointment that Joanne had given me. My alarm clock told me it was long past noon, so I decided to reapply the ointment just like Joanne told me to. On autopilot, I undid the bandage and followed Joanne’s instructions. Meanwhile, I wondered how I could still be tired after a five-hour nap. It could only have been half past ten at the latest when Dad and I arrived home. My stomach growled loudly and the thought of some late lunch was very tempting. While winding the bandage around my ankle once again, I realized I’d let my hunger distract me. The bandage wasn’t wrapped nearly as neat as when Joanne had done it that morning, but it would have to suffice nonetheless.

Every thump echoed through the house as I hopped my way – one-legged – to the stairs. The steps themselves squeaked more than usual. I tried to move more quietly, but I didn’t seem to have it in me that day.

“You deserve to know the truth about yourself.” Kieran’s words from the previous night rang through my head again. They made me wonder what truth there was to know about myself. I was plain old Seda, seventeen for another few weeks and I had lived in Mountain River all my life. Really, I was boring; I didn’t have any friends and did okay at school. Hobbies weren’t my thing, except for my secret walks in the woods. That was all there was to know. But when I passed the small table with family photographs at the bottom of the stairs, one in particular caught my attention. It was of me as a baby, held by my Mom, and Dad stood next to us. I was pretty sure it was of my first birthday. A day my parents had picked out for me because no one knew when my real birth date was.

“Begin at the start and you’ll find all the answers you need.” I remembered Kieran telling me as well. The start, what did he mean by that? Was it possible he was talking about my birth? About my real parents? My biological parents? For years I had tried to find them, and still I hadn’t come any closer to finding them. How did Kieran expect me to find them now? I took the picture frame with me as I made my way to the kitchen, but I paused when I passed Dad’s home office. Another line of Kieran came to mind. “If the people who should be the ones telling you keep quiet, take matter into your own hands.” My parents wouldn’t have adopted me without knowing who I was, I reasoned while sneaking into Dad’s office. Leaving the door slightly ajar, I placed the photograph on his desk and took a good long look around. Plenty times before, I had come in here, but none of those times I had been looking for something. Another problem arose; I had no idea what I was looking for. The only logic I followed was that of my parents being tidy and organized. If they had anything that had to do with my past, where I came from and who I really was, it would be in this room. Determined to find anything that would tell me where I came from, I started opening drawer after drawer of my dad’s bureau. When I didn’t find anything but work-related files in there, I moved on to the shelves that covered the walls. Sorting through all of the binders and boxes seemed like an implausible task and I was so engrossed in my little bit of spying that I was completely caught off guard when I heard a key unlock the front door. In a rush, attempting not to get caught before I had any answers, I stuffed the box I held in my lap back to where I had found it and hopped my way out of Dad’s office. Luckily, Mom waited for Dad before coming in. This gave me that one extra minute I needed to hop into the living room and throw myself on one of the two couches.