Amanda smiled as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The waves of her long brown hair circled her face in a beautiful way. Her wide brown eyes shone brightly. She was wearing a short black and white dress that embraced her tiny figure. She liked her makeup free face but there was no way her friends would let her go to prom like that. She ran her hand trough her hair and stared at her reflection for a few minutes then she turned and changed back into her pajamas. She lay on her bed and fell asleep.
A bright light blinded her eyes as she tried to open them slowly. She was in her room. She put on her school uniform and walked out of her room. Everything around her was black. She walked slowly not seeing where she was going. She saw a dim light and walked towards it. Then she saw him, a young boy chained up to a wall. He was sitting on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest and his head buried between them. She walked to him and knelt down beside him. His chained hands and feet were bleeding. She felt tears welling in her eyes. She put her hand on his shoulder and said softly “Are you okay? Who did this to you?” the boy raised his head and looked at her; his eyes were bloodshot and there was a bleeding cut on his forehead. “Oh God” she said putting her hand on her mouth. He moved his mouth but no voice came out. He put his hand on his throat in panic. He tried to talk, shout and scream but no voice was coming out. Tears streamed down his face. Amanda wrapped her arms around him “It’s okay. Everything will be fine.” She said in warm voice. When the boy calmed down she stood up and tried to pull the chains. They seemed old and rusty but they were firmly fixed to the wall. She tried and tried till her hands bled. She was tired so she sat next to the boy. “You’ve been here for a long time, haven’t you?” he nodded “You must’ve been very lonely. Do you want to hear a story?” he nodded. She let him rest his head on her lap and she started telling him old stories and singing children songs till the boy fell asleep. She stood again and tried to pull the chains. After a while she heard a crack and the chains loosened up a little. The boy opened his eyes and Amanda smiled at him “The chains are loosening up. It’ll take a while but we can do it.” She said happily. The boy cried in joy “Oh I can hear you.” She said. They talked for what seemed like hours while trying to break the chains. He didn’t know his name or where he was. He didn’t know or remember anything so she called him Joe. Their hands were bloody and their vision was blurry. She told him to rest but he wouldn’t. The sound of cracking metal gave them the power to go on. After long hours the chains broke and the boy was free. He jumped and wrapped his arms around her. They walked hand in hand till they reached the door that she came through. He was walking a step behind her then he pulled his hand away. She turned to look at him but he wasn’t there. She cried his name but there was no answer.
Everything around her was spinning. She closed her eyes and hoped for it to end but it kept going and she felt something grabbing her arm. She screamed but didn’t open her eyes. “Go back to sleep it’s just a nightmare.” a strange voice came from beside her. She opened her eyes and looked around. She didn’t recognize the place and there was a strange figure lying next to her. She hit it and a strange man sat “What do you want?” he said in an angry tone. “Who are you?” she shouted “Really? You’re waking me up in the middle of the night after all these years to ask me who am I? I’m your husband. Now go to sleep because we have to go to work tomorrow.” He said then he lay again. “What? I’m not married. Who the heck are you? Where the heck am I?” she cried “We’ve been married for 10 years. You don’t just wake up one day and forget everything even if I hope we could. I don’t remember you. So, why don’t you forget me and each of us can go back to our normal lives?” “Divorce costs a lot of money.” he said then he laughed. “Where is the bathroom?” she yelled “It’s right there, just where you left it a few hours ago.” He said pointing to a closed door. Amanda walked to the mirror when she saw her reflection she screamed again. The woman in the mirror was an older version of her. There was a knock on the bathroom door “Are you okay? The door is locked, open up.” He said in a worried voice. “Stay away from me. I don’t know you. I’m supposed to be graduating from high school, going to prom and college.” She cried. She felt as if her life was stolen from her. “You already did all of that, darling. Can you please come out?” “Tell me about us.” “I may not have been your prom date but we went to college together and we graduated together. We went to every college party together as friends. You saved my social life.” He said laughing. “We even worked together. When you said that you’re going to quit the job, I thought I was going to lose you. I summoned my courage and asked you out.” “That is enough. You didn’t tell me your name.” she said smiling slightly. He laughed loudly “Joe, sweetheart” “Your name is Joe…. This is a dream.” She said after she pinched herself and didn’t feel anything. She opened the door and hugged the man standing behind the door. “Thank you.” She said and she climbed the stairs to the roof. She stood on the edge and looked down “Are you crazy? Get back here.” Joe shouted grapping her arm. She pushed him away, closed her eyes and jumped.
Amanda opened her eyes. She took a few moments to adjust her vision but she was in a strange place. “NO” she cried “Oh honey, Are you okay? You had an awful fever and you were hallucinating all night. We had to bring you to the hospital.” The familiar voice of her mum said.