A Lost Memory

by Lizzy Stevens

  Succumbing to slumber once again, Alley found herself at a waterfall in a green forest, the sun shining through the trees. Movement in the distance grabbed her attention. Her mystery man... She ran to him. Solving his identity was critical to her recovery, she just knew it. But the closer she got to him, the further he slipped away. He remained just out of reach. Alley knew that if she could only talk to him for a minute that things would get clear for her.

  ***

  Days went by and still Alley experienced no return of her memory. Growing bored and restless, she knew that she couldn’t sit around and do nothing. She had to figure out her next step. She needed to find a job and make some kind of life for herself. She’d lost her memory and she had to accept that.

  Maybe she could find something in the want ads in the paper. Now that she had somewhat of a plan, Alley felt better. She got dressed and walked down the stairs. She heard her parents talking in the kitchen. Alley sat down at the bottom of the stairs to listen.

  “Catherine, she isn’t getting better. We have to take her back. Maybe seeing everything will jog her memory.”

  “No! I told Evan no, and I’m telling you no. She’s not leaving. This is her only chance for a normal- mortal life.”

  Alley’s head was spinning. What was her mother talking about?

  “Catherine, you’re being unreasonable. Majestic Falls is our home. None of this is real. Evan loves her and the people love her. She is their queen. We need to do everything we can to help her recovery her memory.”

  Alley didn’t understand any of this. She jumped up and quickly ran back upstairs. What is going on? What is he talking about? Am I still dreaming? She pinched her arm to make sure. “Ouch. No, I’m not dreaming.”

  She had to get to the bottom of all this strangeness. She needed to know what her father was talking about. Alley had too many unanswered questions swirling around in her head.

  Alley glanced at the mirror. Before her eyes the mirror shimmered as if made of water and instead of her reflection she saw herself walking with her dream man. He had his arm around her and they were walking down the path to the waterfall. Again that feeling of deja vu. Memory tugged at her but she was unable to grasp it. This all meant something. But what?

  The vision in the mirror faded and her reflection reappeared. The mirror went back to normal and Alley’s hand started to tremble. She tried to steady the shaking with her other hand but it wasn’t working very well. Alley ran her hands through her hair and glanced around the room desperate for answers.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning Alley exited the back door for the morning walk that was becoming her daily routine. She’d become extremely restless with her lack of ability to recover her memory, and she knew she couldn’t stay at the farm house day after day doing nothing with her life. She knew in her heart that something important about whom she’d been was missing, but she was going to have to figure out a way to live without it.

  Alley stepped to the edge of the creek, took her shoes and socks off and dangled her feet in the cool water. As she sat there with water flowing over her feet and the warm breeze blowing through her hair, an eeriness crept down her spine. She wasn’t alone.

  Alley glanced around in all directions but didn’t see anything or anybody. The trees were full of birds and squirrels that could have given her the sensation of being watched, but it was unlikely. After a few seconds she dismissed her worries and told herself that it was nothing.

  She let her head fall back and enjoyed the feel of the warm sun on her face. Her mind wandered and was soon consumed with thoughts of the man in her dreams.

  He rode up to her on a shiny horse with hair as black as coal. He jumped down from the animal with a dozen pink roses in hand.

  Alley observed him as he approached and leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips, pressing the flowers into her hands.

  A noise in the distance woke Alley from her thoughts. Determination filled her. She would find out who he was.

  Alley strolled the acreage for a few more hours. It was an odd place. As she followed the fence line butterflies seemed to be attracted to her. Yellow and blue butterflies with black spots followed her as she walked. They seemed to be accompanying her, but she knew that was impossible. The logical reason would be that they were attracted to the scent of her soap, shampoo or deodorant. Butterflies couldn’t know a person or follow a person. Could they? Alley held her finger out to watch what would happen. Before her very eyes one of them landed on her finger. She stared at it in awe. After a few seconds the creature flew away, followed by its companions.

  She observed them until the last one disappeared. More confused than ever, she returned to the house.

  * * *

  Frustration filled Alley after spending days with no memory gain. Her mind was now full of her dreams which weren’t real, yet she suspected they must be clues to some part of her life. Nothing made sense. Her world was upside down and she didn’t know how to set it right.

  Alone she strolled back to her favorite spot by the creek. It reminded her of the waterfall of her dreams. As she got closer she saw somebody standing there.

  The man of her dreams turned to face her. Recognition was instantaneous. The flash of memory returning staggered her. “Evan? It’s you. It’s really you.”

  Evan ran to her and put his arms around her. “Oh Alley, you came back to me.”

  “I can’t believe this. I remember. I remember you. I remember us. I remember Majestic Falls. Oh my God. Majestic Falls. We have to get back there. Esmeralda….”

  Evan leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. His hands traced her face then threaded through her hair. He pressed her against him. “I missed you so much Alley. You are my whole world.”

  “I missed you too Evan. I was lost without you, but we must get back to Majestic Falls at once.” She stepped back abruptly. “We can’t let Esmeralda take over our land. We must fight her.”

  “Slow down, Alley. Slow down a minute. Don’t overdo it.”

  “I’m fine. Really. My memory is back, and I want to get home.”

  Evan raked a hand through his hair. He felt a little uneasy about Alley wanting to go fight a battle so quickly. He agreed that she needed to come home. He needed her with him, but he didn’t want her to get hurt. “Alley,what happened? Nobody saw anything or knew anything. You were found in the meadow unconscious with a cut on your head. What happened?”

  “Esmeralda happened. She came to the meadow and we had words. Then it escalated into a full blown argument. She said she would have our land and she would be the new Queen of Majestic Falls. I said over my dead body. Before I knew it she had twenty of her men right in front of me.” Alley paced the grassy meadow her fingers pressed to her temples.

  “All I remember is one of them swinging their sword and it hitting me in the head. Before they could do anything else, I fell to the ground hitting my head on a big rock. Something must have scared them off. I found the bandage on my head when I woke up at the farm house. How I got there is still a little fuzzy.”

  “Alley, I’m sorry about all of this. Esmeralda wouldn’t have this vengeance against you and Majestic Falls if I hadn’t hurt her the way I did. She is hurting you to get back at me.”

  “Evan this isn’t your fault. You and I fell in love. It was destiny. You weren’t meant to be with her. All you did was be honest with her and she is the one that couldn’t handle it.”

  Evan pulled Alley in close to him. “Alley I’m so sorry I wasn’t with you. I should have been with you.”

  “Evan you can’t be with me all the time. I should have used my powers to stop the attack, but I was caught off guard and didn’t have the time to react. Esmeralda will get what she deserves. We must get back to Majestic Falls at once.”

  Chapter Four

  Alley and Evan walked up to her bedroom to where the mirror was.

  “We need to get back now. Leave a note for my mother and father to meet us there quickly
. I still need to have a talk with her about her keeping secrets from me.”

  “Alley, don’t be so hard on her. She was trying to protect you. She didn’t know if your memory would ever come back. If she told you that you live in a faraway land, you’re the Queen of that land and that the farm house isn’t real just an alternate universe, don’t you think that would be a little hard to believe? She did the best she could, and I don’t blame her for the way she handled things. Don’t be angry at her. You need your family in your life.”

  Alley gently touched Evan’s face. “That’s why I love you so much. You’re always my voice of reason.” They stepped through the portal into Majestic Falls. Alley was finally home.

  As they crossed over to the other side, Alley was greeted by pixies, fairies, elves, and animals of all kinds. The entire kingdom was excited to see her back.

  As they stepped through the portal they were surrounded by servants waiting to take them back to the castle.

  Alley climbed into the horse drawn carriage being pulled by two horses white as snow. She stared at the home she had missed for all those weeks seeing the damage that had happened while she was gone. As she rode through the town she witnessed burned down houses, buildings in rubble and debris everywhere. She knew Esmeralda must be the reason for all of the damage.

  “Oh, everything is a mess. Esmeralda will pay for everything she’s done. She will pay for the heartache she has caused the people of Majestic Falls.”

  Evan put his arm around Alley and pulled her in close to him.

  Alley’s eyes filled with tears as they rode through her beloved kingdom. “We must gather the army. We will get our revenge on her, but we must be smart about it.”

  The castle came into view as they rounded a corner. Upon their approach the drawbridge lowered and Alley was finally home.

  She rushed to her room to take a quick look. Everything was as she’d left it. She ran her fingers across her white Oak dresser trimmed with pink flowers. It had a square mirror that reflected her room. There was a maroon sectional couch in one corner with a coffee table directly in front of it. Adjoining the sleeping area was a cozy place to have her morning tea. Everything was unchanged and perfect. She was so relieved to be back.

  After Alley got settled Evan asked the chef to prepare dinner for them. “Alley, honey, I’m so glad you’re back and safe with me. I won’t let anything else happen to you.”

  Alley’s lips curved and her heart swelled with love. “Thanks Evan. We have to figure out what we’re going to do. The minute Esmeralda learns that I’m back she is going to be ready to fight. We must be one step ahead of her.”

  “I’ll get Henry to come here at once and we’ll lay out a plan for his army of men.”

  As they continued to talk, the chef tapped on the door. He pushed the silver cart into the room and laid out their plates and glasses on the table.

  Alley approached the table and poured a glass of red wine to go with their dinner. She removed the silver plate cover to see what was for dinner. She was starving.

  Alley’s stomach growled as she sat down to her plate of grilled chicken breast with a baked potato loaded with sour cream, chives, bits of bacon and cheddar cheese melted on top. To the side was a bowl with Caesar salad and a small plate of wheat rolls with butter and honey on a smaller plate.

  As they ate Alley remained lost in thought. After they’d eaten, Alley spoke, “Evan we can’t let her take over Majestic Falls. I think I have a plan.”

  “Alley, you can’t battle her one on one. She is too powerful and dangerous.”

  “She’s too powerful and dangerous here.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Hear me out before you say anything, because I know this is a dangerous plan, but I think it will work. Our powers are only good here in Majestic Falls. Esmeralda and I could go back and forth hurling spells at each other, or we could outsmart her. We need to get her to cross over to the other side.

  Evan stood up immediately, tossed his napkin down on the table and ran his hands through his hair. “Alley that is crazy. Then what, the two of you have a fist fight? This is ridiculous.”

  “No, of course not. We aren’t going to have a fist fight.” Alley couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “We are going to outsmart her. What I want to do is trick her into following me to the other side. Her magic will be useless there.””

  “Yes Alley, but so will yours.” Evan interrupted.

  “I know Evan, but pixie dust won’t be.”

  Evan’s eyebrows raised a little. “What are you saying?”

  “I could carry a potion with me through the portal, get her to follow, throw it on her and we could destroy her forever.”

  “Alley this is very dangerous. How do we know that the potion will travel the portal and work on the other side?”

  “We don’t know for sure. That’s why we need to do a test run first.”

  Evan’s expression showed his unhappiness about the plan, but he did agree that they needed to do something. “Okay. Let’s get a couple of our best men here to discuss the plan.”

  * * *

  A few hours later Alley’s butler came to her room. “Miss Alley, Mr. Thomas is here to see you.”

  “Thank you. Please tell Evan to meet us in the library. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Alley quickly ran a brush through her hair. She tossed the brush down on the dresser and then went to lay out her plan.

  As she walked in she saw Evan and Thomas both waiting for her. “Thank you for meeting us, Thomas.”

  “It’s my honor, my Queen. The minute I heard that you and King Evan wanted to see me I came as fast as I could.”

  “Can I get you a drink? Tea, Water?”

  “No thank you, Your Highness. What can I do for you?” Thomas asked his voice conveying excitement.

  “Esmeralda has a done a number on Majestic Falls in my absence and this cannot go unpunished.”

  “I agree, Your Majesty. How can I help?”

  Alley glanced over at Evan and then back to Thomas. “King Evan and I have devised a plan. Esmeralda’s magic is useless in the human world. We need her to cross over so that we can attack her on the other side.”

  Thomas rubbed his palms on his pants nervously. His hand went to his head and scratched lightly thinking everything over before speaking. “Queen Alley? How do you plan to defeat her on the other side? If her powers are no good then yours will be no good as well. Right?”

  Alley rose and fixed Thomas a cup of hot chamomile tea to settle his nerves. She handed it to him and then returned to her seat. “That is correct Thomas, but we have an idea that we need to test.”

  “What is it?”

  “We want to test this theory of course, but the plan is to get Esmeralda to follow me into the portal and cross over to the other world. I will have a glass potion bottle in my pocket and when we get to the other side I’ll throw it on her and we will be done with her. Now we all know that Esmeralda is too smart to simply stand there and let me throw a bottle on her, so the plan is to tell her that I have something for her from Evan. We know she never got over Evan so we will use that against her. She still loves him and that’s how we get her. We need to see if the bottle and the magic will make it through the portal, and then see if the magic works in the human world. Then we will figure out the plan to get her to follow me.”

  “It’s very dangerous dealing with Esmeralda, my Queen, but if this works it will be excellent news to the people of Majestic Falls. When do you want to test it?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon. I need to make a couple of potions first. Come back around noon tomorrow and King Evan and I will be ready.”

  After Thomas left, Alley walked to Evan and snuggled into his arms. She had missed him while she was gone. Nothing made her happier than being back in his arms.

  “Let’s go to bed Alley.”

  “Now that sounds like a plan.” Alley laughed as she walked hand in hand with the man of
her dreams.

  They walked into their bedroom and Alley turned to Evan. “I think I’d like to soak in a nice hot bubble bath before bed. Would you be interested in joining me?” She asked him slyly.

  “You don’t have to ask me twice.” Evan followed her into the bathroom and began drawing the bath for them.

  Alley walked back into the other room and poured them both a glass of wine to enjoy while soaking in the bath. When she entered the bathroom the scent of lavender and the soft light of flickering candles made her smile. Rose petals floated along the top of the water.

  She handed Evan the glasses and undressed. She sat down in the hot steamy water, and Evan stepped in behind her.

  Evan wrapped his arms around Alley. He moved her hair and then kissed her gently on the neck. “I missed you, Alley, and I love you more than anything in the world. “

  “I missed you too Evan. I’m sorry I frightened you. We will get her though. You can count on that. We will get her. She‘ll pay for the hurt she’s caused.”

  After the water turned cold, they climbed out, got in bed and snuggled in close as they both drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning Alley got up excited to begin her day. “I’m going to ask my mother if she would like to help with the potions. I think it will do her some good to know she is helping and that I have no hard feelings about her wanting me to stay in the other world. She was just looking out for what she thought was best.”

  “That’s a good idea, Honey. I need to bring your father up to date with the plan and how he can help. He is the best man in our army.”

  Chapter Five

  Alley and Catherine spent hours making different potions and filling glass bottles. They made one set for the test run and one set for the actual showdown.