chapter 3

Imogene stopped walking and turned around slowly.

She didn't notice any one staring at her. On her right side, there were a few people in the distance playing with a dog and on her left side, a couple sat under an oak tree with their back to her.

She turn back around and scanned the entire park. She didn't see anyone watching her or anyone out of the ordinary. However, deep down she knew she wasn't wrong.

She was still feeling like someone was watching her.

Feeling uncomfortable with the idea of being watched, she picked up her pace, deciding that it was time to go home.

Just then, a ball came rolling in her direction. It bumped on her foot and stop. Imogene looked up and saw a small girl about five years old running towards the ball. The child's mother was a few feet behind her watching her.

Imogene reached for the ball and hand it to the girl who was now in front of her.

"Thank you." The girl said grinning at her.

She smiled at her. "You're welcome."

"Imogene? Is that you?" The child's mother questioned as soon as she reached closer to them.

Imogene looked up at the woman and as soon as she saw her, she recognized her instantly.

It was Alyssa Woods.

She knew Alyssa when she was at the orphanage. Alyssa came to the orphanage when she was thirteen years old. Imogene was two years younger than her; she was eleven at the time. She was the only orphan there that was extremely nice to her.

Basically, Alyssa was her only friend.

But then two months later, Imogene was sent to a new home. Two years later, when that placement didn't work out and she came back to live at the orphanage, Imogene found out that Alyssa was adopted a year after she left.

She was really sad to hear that because Alyssa was the closest person that she had to a friend. Also, even though she was happy for Alyssa, she felt even worst because no one wanted to adopt her.

"Yes, it's me. Hi Alyssa." Imogene said smiling at her.

Alyssa surprised her by coming closer to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulder in a tight hug.

When she pulled away, Alyssa said. "I can't believe it. After all these year. I never expected to see you again. What's it been? Fourteen years?"

Imogene smiled. "Yes it has." She confirmed. "It's really good seeing you, Alyssa."

"You too. Come on, let's sit down." She turn her attention to her daughter. "Oh by the way, this is my daughter, Mia."

Imogene smiled down at the little girl. "Hi Mia." The little girl smiled up at her. "She's really sweet."

Alyssa laughed. "Thanks." She then led Imogene to a bench that was just beside them and sat down. Mia was in front of them playing with her ball.

"So how are you? I wanted to visit you but I didn't know where the person who adopted you lived." Alyssa said regretfully.

"Actually, it didn't work out with her. I moved back to the orphanage two years later." She explained.

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Alyssa said sympathetically.

When they were at the orphanage together, Imogene had told Alyssa about her previous failed placements. So, she can imagine how disappointed she must have been about that.

"Thank you. It's okay really. It wasn't really bad there." Imogene clarified. "What bums me out is the fact that I will never know who my parents were."

"You're trying to find them?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes, but so far I've hit a dead end." She answered.

"Oh no. I really hope you will find out something about them soon. It's a good thing you're doing. Honestly, I would have done the same thing."

Imogene nodded. "By the way, how was it at your new home?"

"It was great. My new parents were very nice. I thought about my parents every day, but as time passed, I learnt to accept that they're gone."

Alyssa lost her parents at a young age of thirteen. She had told Imogene that they were on their way to a business trip when the helicopter that they were in lost control and crashed.

Alyssa was very torn up about it. She would tell Imogene tales about her parents and would sometimes cry during it. She would always comfort her in those times.

"So you're married?" Imogene asked after noticing the ring on Alyssa's finger.

Alyssa smiled. "Yes, six months now." She then turn her attention to Mia, who was now throwing the ball up and down. "We had Mia a year later."

"That's great."

They sat there for a while when Alyssa said. "I've really got to go now." She stood up from the bench and Imogene did the same.

"It was really great seeing you, Imogene." Alyssa smiled.

"You too, Alyssa. Do you live around here?"

"No. I live on Vinton Street. That's a twenty minutes drive from here." Alyssa took out a pen and paper from her bag and wrote down her number. She then hand it Imogene.

Here is my number. I hope to see you again."

Imogene took the paper from her. "Thanks." After Imogene said that, Alyssa waved at her and took Mia's hand. "Goodbye Mia."

"Bye." Mia respond as she waved at her.

Turning around, Imogene walked from the park and head home.

••••••

Imogene woke up early Sunday morning. However, she laid in bed staring at the ceiling.

Her window was half open and the curtains were pulled back a little so the fresh morning air invaded her room. She heard Robins that were perched on the tree outside her window began to sing. She smiled. For some reason, she really likes listening to birds singing. It makes he feel relax and peacefully.

She laid in bed for another fifteen minutes before deciding to get up.

She walked over to her window and pulled it open completely. She then walked into her bathroom to get ready for the day.

When she came out of the bathroom, she head to the kitchen to get breakfast. After setting the kettle on the stove to make a cup of coffee, she prepared eggs and toast.

After breakfast, she decided to read a book. Taking up The Sun Is Also A Star from a small bookshelf that was in her living room, she head for the couch.

She didn't make it far because as her luck would have it, her foot caught on the corner of her rug that was flipped up and she felt herself falling to the floor. The book flew from her hand as she tried to balance herself by grabbing unto the edge of the bookshelf. It didn't help as she lost her balance and fell on her bottom on the floor.

"Oh crap." Imogene said as she rubbed her sore bottom. Luckily, the rug was there because the pain would have been worst.

I really ought to have this rug replaced, she thought to herself.

Just as Imogene thought that, she looked up as she realized that the bookshelf she was grabbing unto earlier, was falling down in her direction. Her heart jumped into her throat and her eyes went wide as she realized that she won't be able to move in time.

Fear took over her entire body as she snapped her eyes shut waiting for the impact of the bookshelf. However, she realized that even though she heard the bookshelf hitting the floor, she didn't feel anything at all.

That's weird.

Opening her eyes slowly, she looked down.

And what she saw shocked her.

The bookshelf had indeed fell, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was; it fell through her. She couldn't even see the rest of her body because part of her was still in the bookshelf.

Shocked by what she was seeing, she scrambled away from the bookshelf quickly. As soon as she was beside the bookshelf, she crawled across the floor and over to the near wall.

With her back now resting on the wall, Imogene tried to control her racing heart and her trembling fingers.

What the hell just happened?