Page 48 of Little Stolen Memories

I leaned forward, squinting.

When I saw no other signs of movement, I wondered if my eyes had deceived me. Perhaps I was alone, after all. Still … I needed to be sure.

“Is someone there?” I asked.

No response.

And then another flicker of movement.

I wasn’t alone.

“Look, I know someone is there, standing behind the tree,” I said. “Step out into the light so I can see you.”

A young man poked his head out from behind the tree and smiled. He began walking toward me, his hands shoved inside of his pockets. Once he was within a few feet of the bench, he lifted a hand and said, “Hi, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before. I hope you don’t think I was trying to frighten you. I wasn’t.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“Good.”

“Why were you over there, hiding behind a tree?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up.” He gestured toward the bench with his hand. “Is it all right if I sit down?”

I nodded, and he took a seat.

As soon as he sat down, I got a good look at him, and I realized I’d seen him before.

“You’re Owen, aren’t you?” I asked. “I recognize you from the picture in your, ahh?—”

“My obituary in the newspaper?”

I was going to say case file, but he got the idea.

“I suppose I was Owen, a long time ago,” he said.

I looked him up and down and noticed he was dressed in the same clothes he’d been wearing in the photos taken at the crime scene. The back of his head was misshapen and covered in dried blood—blood that had also stained his shirt, his pants, and even his skin. For all the similarities I’d seen between the crime-scene photos and the young man sitting next to me, there was one obvious difference.

Around his neck, he wore a gold chain.

In the photos in the case file, he wasn’t wearing one.

I was sure of it.

“Where did you get the gold chain you’re wearing?” I asked.

“Football coach. We all have them. Well, all the star players on the team did.”

“Star players, including Aidan and Jackson?”

“Yup.”

“Were Aidan and Jackson wearing their chains that night at the cabin too?”

Owen shrugged. “I don’t know. Can’t remember. Why am I here?”

“I suppose you’re here because we’re in a dream. My dream. I believe this is the park Cora was telling me about earlier tonight. She told me she used to come here with you.”

“Yeah, guess you could say this park was our place. We came here a bunch of times. Been a while since I’ve been back. Been a while since I’ve visited lots of places. Suppose you could say I’m in limbo. We all are.”

---