The dreams...
Fire is everywhere. Flames engulfed a house without anyone trying to put it out. The sounds of horrific screams rang out. Howls of pain rang out from inside the house. Black smoke blurred Briana's vision. Then there was nothing else she could remember. The dream came again and again. However, it was unfortunate that she could not remember the horrific events.
"So you had a nightmare?"
Briana nodded. All this time, she had been unconscious. However, after a week of consciousness, strange dreams began to come to disturb her sleep. "It was a strange dream. I don't know where the place is."
"Are you able to tell me your name now?"
"Name?" Briana scratched her brown hair. "My name is Briana Clooney. I am a final-year student at a high school in New York."
"New York?" asked Nancy as if surprised.
"Yes." Briana grimaced. "What's wrong with New York? Well, I'm a city girl. Not used to the noise of birds and insects. Sorry!"
"It's not that. You, seriously?" The old woman's face looked incredulous at what Briana was saying.
"Of course. I don't remember how I got to this place. A wooden house in the forest with the sounds of wild animals and horrible insects. A house by a lake, but I didn't forget my name."
"I don't mean that, Miss. Oh, Briana. What a lovely name you have." Nancy was still a little confused. Of course, that made Briana suspicious.
"What's wrong, Nancy? What are you trying to hide?"
"Are you still in high school? You don't look like a teenager. I mean, at least you've graduated from a college or university."
"Oh, God. Did something bad come out of my face? Wrinkles or fangs that suddenly grew and pierced my nose?" Briana quickly went to the closet in the corner of the room where she was sleeping. The mirror there was wide enough to see the reflection of her face, which frightened Nancy.
Nancy followed Briana's quick steps into the room. What appeared in the mirror was a woman with brown hair. It was light brown at the base and darker at the ends. The hair was slightly curled and looked tangled.
"That's me?"
"Of course, it's you. It wasn't Queen Ravenna who asked the mirror, Who was the most beautiful woman?"
Briana looked at her face in the mirror. With some hesitation, she fingered her complete lips. The eyes were blue like sapphires. When Briana blinks, the figure in the mirror also blinks. Now, she traced her body wearing a long gray nightgown that wrapped her body like a mummy.
"In that mirror, I look quite beautiful. But at the same time, I look old. Perhaps?"
"What?" asked Nancy.
"I'm in a wormhole—or a time trex machine. I'm in the future. Oh, it's so horrible that the future is like this."
"It's 2024.”
"2024?"
"Yes."
"Who is the president of America? Surely not Rambo? My dad loves Rocky movies." Briana tried to joke, but when she saw Nancy's silence, she didn't laugh.
Nancy didn't continue chopping radishes. Instead, she went upstairs. There was a transmitter and a telephone that could be used to contact Sean. The young woman was fully conscious. Although she looked healthy, Briana seemed to have lost her memory. Nancy had to report to Sean as soon as possible about the girl's condition.
"Nancy!" called Briana. "Can I come upstairs with you?"
"No need, Briana. I'll be right down," Nancy said.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Nancy came down from the second floor of the wooden house. She stomped down the stairs until the creaking of the wood could be heard against the weight of her large body.
"Mr. Sean is at the front."
"There's no sound of a car approaching," Briana argued.
Nancy just smiled. "Did you hear the motor engine?"
There was the roar of a diesel motor approaching. Briana immediately turned her head towards the main door. During her time in the log house, she had never explored the house room by room. She opened the window and found the lake. However, because her head was still dizzy, Briana lay down all day like a paralyzed person.
"The sound of the engine. Like a speedboat," Briana said, uncertain.
Briana stepped closer to the door. She opened the wooden door to find Sean tying the chain to the speedboat.
"What is this place, exactly?" Briana immediately welcomed Sean's arrival with a question.
"Are you well?"
"I've been fine since a week ago." replied Briana unkindly. "When are you going to take me to the hospital?"
The man was silent. Instead, he reached for the sack of kitchen items. However, at the doorway, Sean turned to Briana.
"By the way, you haven't introduced yourself yet. What's your name?" Sean asked casually. Not intimidating as usual.
"Briana," she replied as she tugged at the sleeve that had fallen back off her shoulder.
Sean's friendly gaze darkened. That strange look returned. "Nice name," he said.
"I've been beautiful since birth."
Sean raised the corners of his lips. "All right. Now you can tell us your family name, the address where you lived before, or something that will help us find them."
"My name is Briana Clooney." Briana glanced at Sean, who was staring at her intently, and then her eyes shifted to Nancy, who had a friendly smile. "You can come to my school in New York. Well, I'm a city girl. So that you know!"
"New York?"
"Why is that?" Briana didn't like the look in Sean's eyes, which were sharp as a hunter's arrow. Did Sean not believe where she was coming from?
"Do you remember the cell phone number of one of your relatives that I can call?"
Briana shook her head. She had forgotten today's date. And worst of all, she lost in 2024. How could that be?
"I don't remember anything except my school. Roslyn High School is a top-ranked public school in Roslyn Heights, New York. Don't you know?"
"I didn't know," Sean replied. He seriously didn't know about school rankings.
"Oh, all right. But I can't be careless. According to my teacher, we students aren't allowed to give our addresses to anyone. Especially strangers."
Sean raised his eyebrows. "You're too old for a schoolboy."
"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Woodsman!" growled Briana.