Chapter 2: The Arrival

Everything being in a blur, Annie tried to re-focus her eyes. Maybe she fell asleep in the car and her dad carried her to her room in her grandma's place. She was probably in her bed because the cushion below was soft and warm. Although she could not understand why her body felt... broken.

'I should go and check where the others are and ask them.,' she thought.

Barely managing to get up and keep her legs firm on the ground, she tried again to refocus her eyes.

"It would take some time", she said to herself.

She started walking, or at least tried to do so until she stepped wrong on her left foot. Her eyesight started becoming black again. She was falling, falling, falling...

"ANNIE, OH MY GOD!!! You were just going to break one of my favorite trays!", a familiar male voice came out right next to her

Two big hands wrapped themselves around her waist, preventing her from falling.

"Come on, let me help you get back to your bed." The same familiar male voice said.

Who was this? She felt like she knew that voice better than her own. If only her eyes could do their job right now...

"Who are you? Where is everybody?", Annie asked, worry rising in her voice. She could not hear any of her parents' voices or her grandma and brother, who was constantly playing around and shouting. Not even her grandma's cat. Chonk.

 She could feel the person's arms helping her back into the bed. It was quiet. Not anxiously quiet like her house, more like comfortable quiet.

She could lie and watch her movies without a single worry in the world. But she missed the chaos of her grandma's house, which seemed strange because she wasn't supposed to miss it, since she was there. Right?

"Who are you?", she asked the person again, whoever it was.

"I want to answer all of your questions, Annie, but I could simply not do it while you're in this state. I have a lot to explain, and what I'm going to say is not light. You need to take more rest."

She felt something warm touching her lips.

"Open up, Annie. What I'm giving you is not the most tasteful thing, but will surely improve your condition. So, drink up! Please!"

In just a heartbeat that sense of brokenness Annie felt in her body before was gone. And in just another heartbeat she could feel her mind slipping away again…

…

When Annie woke up this time, she could finally see clearly, although what she saw did not look like her grandma's house at all.

Instead of the pink Umbridge-style walls, the ceiling was wooden. She was in a room with a bed in the middle, a drawer, and a tall night lamp as if designed specifically for her with its dark colors and glittery drawings of…animals?

She could find out later if there would even be 'later'.

She had to be hallucinating. Instead of a door, the room had a glass-made paravane, through which she could see people with hats and aprons putting what seemed to be baked goods.

Was this…

NO.

NO.

NO.

Now she knew she definitely had to be dreaming because on top of the trays were placed fantastic beasts.

Flour Nifflers, Demiguises, Bowtuckles, Occamys…

She also knew what this place was. She had looked at it a thousand times through the screen of her TV back home.

Mr. Kowalski's bakery.

'Now it's time to panic.', she told herself.

Swiftly standing up, Annie walked to the glass paravane. She tried pushing it aside but it went straight through her hand. Magic.

As if the situation was not already confusing enough, brushes on the other side of the paravane were cleaning the floor.

ON THEIR OWN.

Being on her way to make another attempt to pass through the paravane, a man appeared in the center of the room.

Middle height, slightly chubby, black curly hair and beard, big brown eyes, and pale white skin.

It was Mr. Kowalski.

"Calm down, Annie. It's just a dream. A very beautiful dream.", she told herself while staring wide-eyed at him.

"Looking better now, Annie. I'm very glad to see that.", Mr. Kowalski said with a smile on his face.

"Thank you, Mr. Kowalski. I feel better and this is indeed the perfect dream."

"I wish it was a dream, Annie. But it's not. You were going to buy some presents for your grandma on your way to her house with your family, correct?"

Annie nodded her head in confirmation with confusion on her face. A little bit of hope too. Because she desperately wanted to know what the hell was going on.

"When you opened the car door, a truck crashed into the car. This is why you are hurt and were unconscious earlier."

Mr. Kowalski paused and the smile on his face vanished. Replaced by sorrow and regret. She saw him open and close his mouth several times before running his hand through his hair.

She could see that he was trying his best to speak further. This only meant something bad.

Finally, Mr. Kowalski sighed and revealed, "The rest of your family did not survive, both of your parents sitting up front and your brother simply being too young to carry his injuries. I'm sorry for your loss."

Annie just stared at him with shock and disbelief.

"However, on your way to face your family's destiny, your soul took a turn, so to speak, and came into our world. This is why you're able to see me and talk to me like a normal person. Someone found you and brought you to my bakery. You're more than welcome to stay as long as you wish, forever even."

Mr. Kowalski wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes and said, "I know this will be hard for you to process, but know that there are people who know far better than me why and how this happened. And who knows, maybe you will be able to find that out with our help. I know this may not be for you right now, this is why I'll leave the rest of the answers to share with you in the presence of other people at another time. I'll leave you to your thoughts now."

Looking at her with sympathy, he shook his head and vanished and reappeared on the other side of the paravane.

Mr. Kowalski left Annie with her thoughts indeed.