She was Me I blinked my eyes slowly, then rapidly, trying to make sense of my changed surroundings. Where am I? The branches slightly hid the scene unfolding in front of my eyes. The yells and the howls of men filled my ears. Thousands of glimmering flames flooded my vision as I slowly moved closer to the edge of the woods. But I couldn’t dare to move out from behind the shield the branches provided me with. Engulfed by the darkness of the woods, I peered through the branches. An area had been cleared right in the middle of the woods. A wooden pillar had been erected in the middle of that clearing. As I saw the rusted chains dangling from it, a shiver ran down my spine. Hordes of men had formed a circle around the pillar. Their bearded faces were distorted with anger and vengeance. Spit flew out from their mouths as they yelled and shouted, brandishing their flamed torches. How did I come here? Where was I? I turned to search for a way out or to at least find the way I came in. The woods behind me were dark. I found the dark woods a lot more comforting than the glimmering angry flames behind me. I needed to go back home. How far away from home was I? I looked down at my clothes. My black skinny jeans and my shirt were exactly the way they were when I had headed to the mall in the morning with my sister. I searched my pockets to find my phone. A wave of relief washed over me as I felt the plastic case with my fingers and pulled it out. Thanking God, I frantically pressed the power button to turn it on. As my screen lit up, the missing network bars on my phone destroyed every hope I had of returning home. I angrily shoved the phone back into my pocket and I suddenly realized that the woods were quiet. The men had stopped shouting. Cursing my curiosity I moved closer to the edge again. The men at the farther side had parted to let someone in. I could see three figures walking towards the circle. The men were facing these approaching figures. Two burly men were dragging a frail woman by her arms. A nagging feeling of dread started bubbling in the pit of my gut as the three figures entered the circle and stood right in front of the pillar. The young woman wore a simple, white, long dress which had been soiled with mud. The hem of her dress had torn away and was forming a trail behind her. One of her sleeves had been ripped open. The two men were dressed in black tunics and turncoats with breeches and boots. Their death-grip on her thin arms was the only thing that was enabling her to keep standing on her own feet. Her head hung low and she was breathing heavily due to exhaustion. Her inky-black hair; the same colour as mine; had come undone from her bun and had formed a curtain obscuring her face from the thousands of glares. “Kill her!” a man yelled among the crowd. “Kill that damning woman.” “Burn that witch!” Shouts of anger filled the quiet woods again. The mass of people all dressed in black robes and turncoats wielded their flamed torches in agreement while proclaiming their own verdict. With their growing anger, the fear in me intensified. The jeers became louder and louder until it was just a cacophony of voices disturbing the silent night. I couldn’t look at the men anymore; they disgusted me. My eyes fell on the dejected figure standing in the middle of the crowd. She hadn’t said a word. Who was she? As if realizing my questioning stare she looked up at me. I lost my footing as soon she looked at me and I staggered backwards. I caught the closest branch to stop myself from falling. The prickly-branch scraped my right palm but I didn’t take notice of it. Her cerulean-blue eyes looked right at me. I had seen those eyes before; seen them for the last eighteen years; seen them smiling and sad. They were my eyes…my face. I was her or may be, she was me. She looked at me with a knowing look as if she knew I would be there. Her or my eyes bored into me. Her face was devoid of any expression. She implored me through her blue eyes and I was transfixed Bitacora
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Vol 1.1
