A Bend in Time: Lethe

It felt like waking up from a long nap when Lethe regained consciousness.

She kept her eyes closed, since she still felt drowsy, and could barely remember what had happened the night before.

A frown creased her forehead, and slowly images started to return.

Her end-of-year exam, cycling home with her friends and lastly seeing glaring headlights heading towards her.

Lethe bolted upright, her breathing ragged, but she didn't see the white interior of a hospital as she had expected.

No, she was inside a large dark room, lit by only a single candle a few feet away from her.

Noticing that her lips were extremely dry, she licked them only to notice that they weren't the same as before.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Lethe slowly moved to the edge of the huge bed and placed her feet on the cold marble floor.

Quickly retracting her legs, she rubbed her feet to get rid of the cold.

A shiver ran through her body, and Lethe slowly searched the floor for a pair of slippers.

She soon found them and, slipping into them, slowly stood up. The fatigue she felt from this single action astounded her, but it made sense she was still recovering from her accident.

Taking in a deep breath, Lethe carefully took a step towards the candle.

She soon reached it and grabbing hold of the taper holder, she slowly lifted it as high as possible.

Her eyes widened as the darkness cleared allowing her to see the room in more detail.

It was just as large as she had thought with dark wallpaper, absorbing some of the light her candle produced. She glanced over to the bed, which she now realised was a four-poster bed with quite a few cushions and blankets covering its thick mattresses.

Noticing a large mirror a few feet away from her, Lethe gulped and slowly began to move in its direction. She feared what she might see there, a mangled or scarred face, she had noticed something was wrong with it earlier.

Stopping just out of range of the mirror, Lethe took a deep breath. She wasn't sure why she wasn't panicking yet, maybe because she hadn't faced reality, but she was sure if she stepped in front of that mirror, she would either wake up or scream.

Taking a deep breath she steeled herself and stepped forward.

For a few seconds, she wasn't sure what she was seeing since the Lethe in front of her was so different to the old her.

This Lethe was thin as a stick, with thin pale lips and eyes brow like those of a doe, with dark bags under them. Her black hair was long and unkempt, but what made her uncomfortable were the dark bags under her eyes and the sickly look of her skin.

There was a tight feeling building in her chest as the reality of the situation sunk in. Her breath became ragged, and tears began forming behind her eyes. She tried to blink them away but they kept coming back. "Pull yourself together!" she spat angrily. Her eyes went wide as a distant memory returned, it was of her mother, she had told her the exact same thing when her pet hamster died.

The tears began rolling down Lethe's cheeks in large shining rivulets. As the faces of her parents swam before her, smiling and laughing. The candle slipped from her hand, hitting the floor with a thud. She then joined it, falling to her knees, as sobs wracked her body. She didn't even notice as the carpet caught fire, lighting the room up.

She heard a door slam and shouting. Shadows danced across her vision, as the flames grew bigger, warming the side of her face. Someone shouted and suddenly the warmth which had slowly been embracing her disappeared.

"Lethe!" someone called out to her, his voice was deep and rough.

Turning her watery gaze to the man, she shuddered, he was tall and thickset with shaggy black hair that reached his shoulders.

Her lip trembled and she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his midsection. She had needed that, the simple feeling of another human comforted her and gave her hope.

She smiled as, contrary to her expectations, the man knelt down and wrapped his thick arms around her.

"It's alright," he murmured softly, and placing a warm hand on her back he started to draw circles.

Another sob wracked her body and smiling softly the man began to hum.

It was a melody Lethe had never heard before but still, it filled her with warmth and joy.

She felt the man gently pick her up and carry her over to the bed, all the while humming.

Placing her down on the soft mattress, the man pulled the covers over her small fragile frame.

Sleepely looking over at the door she saw another man, this one slightly shorter, standing there, his arms crossed, and a wooden stick in his hand.

Lethe didn't even notice as the man left, her consciousness huddled up in a ball somewhere deep inside her mind.

That night she dreamt of the two men, her parents, and a great snake coming to take it all.