2) Arwyn Wakes Up

Something brushed across her face. It was light feathery and-wait! She grabbed at her face. Wait! Gwen opened her eyes and sat up, her heart beating excitedly, "I'm not dead!" Her cry fell into silence. Something felt not quite right. She couldn't see anything! She knew she was in a bed in a dark room. The blankets were thick and heavy, and had a consistent smooth texture on the top part of the comforter. Is this downing on the inside? She threw them off and tried to jump off the mattress.

The sheets caught her feet and she fell face down onto the wooden floors beneath her. Outside of the blankets it was chilly. Gwen, for some reason was in a thin nightgown, the materiel almost felt like chiffon. Hands shaky she felt along the edges of the room in search for a light switch. She found a table with something that felt like a lamp on top. Gwen felt the object blindly. "Where is the goddamn switch!" she whispered frantically. On the bottom of the contraption she felt something similar to a button and clicked it. At once a pale blue light, soft and not too harsh, illuminated the room; she didn't have a difficult time adjusting her vision.

The room looked like something out of the regency period; multicolored walls with molding and texture, next to her was a large window hidden in thick embroidered gold and blue drapes, the bed she woke up from was a four poster bed with about 6 pillows in different shades of gold and crème, a heavy dark wooded chair which had a blue floral pattern for the cushion sat in the corner next to the large window, a rectangular table sat in one corner of the room which included a chair and stationary for writing.

The bed was spectacular, blocked velvet gold designs were made to look like the headboard of the bed; on the wall at the opposite end of the bed was a fireplace; white pillars held up the mantel on both sides. There was a door, which let out of the room, white with scroll molding across the edges. On the other side of the bed was another nightstand, a smaller window with similar heavy multi colored drapes. Then the most extraordinary piece of furniture of all; a mirrored armoire white, with blue molding around the mirrors, gold knobs to open it with.

Gwen's reflection in the mirrors caught her attention after she was done admiring. 'That's not my face!'

A young girl who couldn't be older than 15; with big brown eyes, thick black eyelashes and wild brown hair stared back at her. She rushed to her reflection and touched her face. She could feel her hands clammy against her rosy cheeks and she squeezed and pulled at them. She licked her plump lips. 'This isn't happening!'

Images of what she used to look like flashed a crossed her mind; black hair, wavy but not wild, with gray eyes, button nose and delicate lips-which is not what she looked like now. Why am I like this?? "AND THOSE EYELASHES!" Gwen exasperated. Frustrated she ran and threw herself onto the bed. She doesn't know where she is, or who she is anymore! Her heart broke. With that, she sobbed quietly into the soft, silky midnight blue comforter. She had died; and then to top it off she was thrown into another person's body. "Why am I here!?" She cried into her arm. "I wish I was just nothing again!!"

After a good ten minutes, her crying faded into heavy shallow breathing. She sat up and looked at the nightstand with the lamp. A bowl of water sat next to the lamp with a rag "I wonder what that is for?" Shrugging she moved on. She looked over herself and realized again that her pink chiffon nightgown was pretty chilly. She crawled under the covers and looked at the lamp again. It was unusual since there was no bulb. A Blue stone glowed at the base, she pressed the button and it went dark again. Odd...

She rolled over and snuggled into the pillows. Whatever had happened, she would worry about it tomorrow, right now- she realized- that she needed to sleep.

"Lady Arwyn," a gentle voice called "I see you are looking much better today!" Bright warm light filled the room as someone pulled the curtains back. That same person scurried around picking things up, like the bowl and moving things in and out of the room. "Are you going to be able to get up? You have been dreadfully sick the last few days- weeks even...The marchioness was fretting about your health!"

Gwen mumbled something incoherently to the woman.

"What was that, my lady?" The women quipped. "I can't understand you if you mumble."

Gwen fumbled to pull the covers over her head, but the person stopped her, "I see you going for more sleep, but I implore you to please get up, you will catch your death if you stay in bed, the doctor cleared you this morning, says your fever is gone! Any sign of the awakening harming you is passed!"

Arwyn is this body's name? "Awakening?" Gwen stretched, "Is that what that was Merida?" Gwen sat up, eyes open.Wait, Merida? How on earth? How did I know that?

Gwen looked up at Merida. The maid smiled back at her, "Lady Arwyn, are you okay? You are looking at me funny" Merida had a brush in her hand and began to brush her lady's long wild hair.

"I'm just waking up is all.." Gwen glanced at her. "Can you say my name again?"

"Lady Arwyn?" the maid inquired, truly puzzled.

The name didn't sound strange to her. It felt familiar. It felt like it was her name. She closed her eyes and tried to focus. Her head started to hurt. Like a spring sprung from the ground, memories that weren't Gwen's started to spill into her mind. Fuzzy, and hard to make out; they were Arwyn's memories. Pieces not fitting, like a puzzle undone, and parts missing all together kept surfacing. Similar to when you try to remember a dream, and you remember faint parts, but your overall understanding can't grasp what it was? Gwen couldn't filter anything out. "Merida can you get me some coffee please?"

"Coffee?" the maid asked.

They must not have coffee here... "I mean, can I have some tea please?"

"Yes my lady." Merida placed the brush back into the nightstand drawer. "I'll be back with your tea, breakfast is in half an hour, so you can't sit idle for too long if you want to eat."

Gwen watched her walk out of the room. The door shutting behind Merida. She needed some peace to figure out what is going on. 'What had happened? Maybe I was Arwyn all along, and my past life's memories resurfaced?' No, Gwen knew that that was not the case. She sighed. She knew this wasn't going to be easy.

"I am Arwyn now," she clenched her fist determined. "I am Lady Arwyn Lovelace," to her surprise she knew her last name. "I have been given a 2nd chance, I will not squander it!"

I am Arwyn. She stood up from her bed, and stretched. Merida came back carrying a tray with a tea pot and a delicate tea cup with gold trim. "Here you go my lady," she sat the tray down at the table in front of the large window, with the curtains now pulled back, Arwyn could see outside. There was a rose garden. Sitting down in her armchair with blue flowers on the cushion she admired the view. Dropping one cube of sugar into her tea that Merida poured for her. She raised the cup to her lips and sipped. It was warm and rich almost like chai tea. It was really good and refreshing.I can get used to this.