April

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar tin ceiling and found myself in an unfamiliar bed.

Not getting up from the bed, I stared at the ceiling full of holes, wondering where I am.

To make matters worse, all I can remember was a name.

Winter

Or is it even a name?

A season, maybe. A word that would lead me to a path wherein I can rediscover myself? I don't know.

Who am I?

A bunch of images quickly flashed in my mind and then disappeares. I only caught a glimpse of it, a world full of snow and ice sculptures. And in my point of view, the 'me' in there was making a snow man.

I sat up on the bed and started observing my surroundings. The bed I am on now is twice the size of the single person bed on the other side of the room. A table full of weird rectangular objects and long rope- like things attached to something like an octopus is beside me and within my reach.

The sound of chirping birds can be heard. I looked back and saw a curtain. Shoving it on the side, I saw a layer of glass separating me from the outside.

Outside that all you can see were lush green leaves of different fruit-bearing trees.

'These trees only grows like this in a tropical area' that thought flashed in my mind.

But how did I knew that? Is it from the memories I have forgotten?

Another flash of 'memories' surfaced. 'The 'me' earlier was not even 'me'', that sentence then made me have second thoughts. After the 'memories' that looks like another perspective of the other one earlier, my mind is getting confused.

I am confused.

Or maybe the question I posed earlier was incorrect.

What am I?

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a pair of footsteps approaching.

"April" she called out.

I looked up to the lady and saw a face that made me jog my memories, but my head suddenly felt a flash of pain. As I was sitting on the bed, the triggered headache made me grip the covers tightly, sweat trickled down from my forehead. I feel my chest tightening, making me gasp and have difficulty in breathing.

"April, are you alright? Where does it hurt?" a man with a curly black hair with streaks of white tried to hold my shoulders but to no avail. As if repelling him, each time his hands tries to hold me, it would either stop in mid air or slip to the side. Seeing what happened, both of them looked at each other, with eyes that says the repelling effect was not what they expected.

I wonder why?

The headache, without me noticing, disappeared. I don't know what to do. My memories seems unretrievable. And 'Winter' was not a name, not my name, it seems...

...

...

A few months later...

"Hey" a girl standing in front of a mirror called out. With one of her hands on the closet, she gathered her ink- black hair in front of her forehead with her left hand, uncovering her eyes hidden behind it. Her blue jeweled eyes, without the usual glint, looked weary.

She stared at her reflection, looking at every detail of her own features, as if drilling the image into her mind.

"Why me?" she asked.

A question that plaqued her mind since day one. And is yet again brought up.

After a long time of a staring contest with herself, she sighed and left her room.

Slipping on her slipper, she went outside of the bedroom and opened the fridge to look for breakfast.

"Fried rice for breakfast?" her brother's head popped out from the living room, asking with a tone that would confuse you whether he is asking you what to eat or he gave an affirmation about the meal.

"No. But if you want to eat fried rice, I can cook one" only seeing a bowl of cooked spam covered with plastic, she decided to cook for her brother.

"You'll end up consuming all of our groceries for 2 weeks within 3 days if you'll keep on doing that."

"At least we ate it, right?" she smiled and went to the kitchen to start cooking.

Chopping the garlic without a proper way of both holding the knife, she kept on chopping until she felt it was enough for a garlic rice.

She heated the pan and poured oil, sautéd the onion then cooked the corned beef. After cooking it, she set it aside and heated a clean pan and placed butter then sautéd the garlic. Placing the rice, she assured that the butter coated it then mixed the corned beef. In the other pan, she poured yet another oil to cook sunny side up egg.

"By the way, I want a corned beef and a slightly burnt sunny side up egg in mine!" her brother, in a loud clear voice, instructed before resuming his work.

She just finished cooking and is setting what she was using aside. Scooping the fried rice in a bowl, she heard his brother's request.

"Yeah, I know! Here!" she went to the living room and placed the bowl of fried rice topped with egg on the side of the table without papers.

"How many modules left?" she asked.

"2"

"Only two? Wow, what a miracle! To think it is still monday today!" she exclaimed exaggeratedly, seemingly mockering her brother.

"I only finished two" he glared and his mood dropped, too obvious just by looking at his face with both of his brows about to meet each other and his mouth occasionally making a pout.

Laughing at her little brother's reaction, she ruffled his messy curly hair and smirked.

"Eat your breakfast, I'll go outside to have a walk" grabbing a cap, face shield and a face mask, she told her brother before leaving the house.

"You can't go out! You're still 19! You're not yet 21! You'll get caught!" warnings with a hint of teasing can be heard from the inside.

"Nah! That's only applicable when you get caught! And besides, I'll only roam around the streets for awhile, and I have my university ID. I am even following the protocol, well, besides the age restriction but who cares, it's my life not theirs and a lot of people younger than me goes out. As long as I won't get caught and stay outside past curfew, I am totally fine. Besides, I'll go to Mum's office later."

"Stop talking with long sentences and just get out!"

"Hehehe bye!" she snickered and left.