Answers and Talents....

I stood up and looked toward the room on my left. There was a kitchen in there. I closed my eyes to breathe a moment and then it happened.

I could see the room, wait, could see him in the room. He stood at the counter, his hands over his eyes, shaking his head & muttering. I opened my eyes and realized I was still standing where I had been. I had not followed him. How could I see him? What on earth..? I closed my eyes and thought about the kitchen.

The vision opened again; there he was getting a glass of water, he found some bread and cheese in the pantry. He turned to head back toward the door. I opened my eyes again. He had re-entered the room.

His face was expressionless until he saw mine.
"What happened? Are you okay? You are so pale?" He quickly sat the food down on a table and hurried over to me.

"I am fine. It is nothing. Just hungry. What did you find?" I am not sure why I did not tell him what I had seen.

"Some bread and cheese." He obviously did not believe me. But for my sake he let it pass by. Perhaps he is as tired as I am.

I dove into the food. A strange sensation came over me after a few bites. I literally could feel my strength coming back. My body tingled slightly and when I drank the water my eyes began to produce a few tears and I could tell my skin was no longer dry. There began a pulling on my ankles and feet, only a slight sensation, but enough to make me look.

I almost dropped the glass as I watched the scratches heal, leaving smooth perfect skin in their place. I pulled up my skirt and saw the deep gashes in my knee just before they healed as well.
The man had stopped moving beside me, his eyes were wide, he put down the bread and began to slip away from me.

"How? You cannot be.. it is not possible. You are just supposed to be a girl from the village. YOU CAN'T BE HER!!! Oh no. What have they done? You are not Ariana, you are... you are.." His questions spilled out so quickly that I almost could not catch the words. He had stood up and began to walk a small circle. He had said I was not Ariana.
"Wait. What are you talking about?" I tried to interject but he had begun to ramble.
"They thought you were just a maiden, just a girl, someone from the village. No one that would cause a stir unless they needed you to. Oh how could this have happened?" He stopped and stared straight at me, then dropped to his knees.
"I am so sorry. They were never supposed to have done such a heinous crime. They were merely trying to help the other villagers." His head was bowed and he began to wring his hands.
"Sir, I do not know what you are talking about. But I do know that my wounds are gone. I don't know how, but they are gone. I also know that I can see things that I don't think a normal person can see. Do you have any information as to why I can see these things? Or how I just healed without.. well how I just healed? Who am I? Please help me."

Chaos and questions...

I realized that we were merely watching. I was wasting precious time just sitting here when I could be asking questions. I turned towards the man, he had in fact been staring at me. He spoke before I could even open my mouth.

"You look so confused, but I do not see any fear in your eyes. I know you must have many questions, but for now it is best we wait for this room to clear out, then we can begin. Is that alright?" His green eyes looked warm, inviting, and trusting.

Without even hesitating I nodded my head. Why did his eyes make me feel so compelled to just agree with every word he spoke? What is wrong with me?

The people milled about around us, as though we were not there on the floor. They went about their tasks and finally they seemed to single file leave the room. The quiet that enveloped me was as loud as a thundercloud. It was almost deafening in its silence.

I turned to the man, ready to speak, but again he beat me to words.
"Now. We can begin to talk. Is there anything I can get you? Are you hungry or thirsty?"

Before he asked the questions food or drink had never entered my mind. Now though with thought towards being able to eat something it was as though my stomach & throat had awakened. A growl issued low in my gut and my throat was as dry as cotton.

"Yes." I struggled with the word as my mouth moved. Thirsty did not even begin to describe how I now felt. He stood to move towards the door, I thrust my hand to stop him.

"No. Don't, that door must stay closed." The words confused him but for some reason it was the first clear thought I had made. "You must not open the door, not yet. It isn't time. The water in the kitchen will be fine, I will go with you." How I knew about the kitchen is a mystery to me. But my mind told me that beyond the door there was something dangerous and it must move past us before we could venture through it.

"I don't understand. How do you know about the kitchen and what is beyond the door?" The surprise was clear on his face. Confusion had now sunk into his features and he now turned to look at me head on.

"Do you know how you got here? Do you remember? Have your memories come back? You must explain!" He held my shoulders and his face was so close to mine, there was a slight desperation to his voice, almost as though he was terrified to believe me.

"I-I-I truly do not know how I know the kitchen is there. As for the door, it is almost as though something in my mind is giving me the information. I mean, the instinct of fear came first, but then it is like I just knew that we would be okay in here, but out there... there is something we hav to avoid for a little while. Please believe me." I almost cried when he nodded. It was as though having his trust meant more than living at the moment.

"I believe you Ariana. Just let me think about this for a minute." He stood and paced toward the kitchen.

Ariana. He had called me Ariana. Is that my name? It hurt to not even recognize it, to have no inkling to who I was.

A simple touch...

I sat on the floor of the large living room, covered in small scratches after a run through thickets of briars and sticks. Salve from a large jar lay beside me. The man across the room looked at me with a kind of deep desire, weirdly willing me to look at him as my hand applied the salve to my feet. He spoke to me but I could not comprehend his words. I was oddly attracted to his deep set green eyes and light short brown hair. His mouth moved slowly and when he realized my confusion he crossed the distance and leaned down to whisper in my ear..
"You look lovely even with the scratches." with those quick words he lay the most gentle kiss upon my neck, so slight that no one in the room noticed. His action made me immediately aware that there were dozens of people in the room, they were all moving about quickly to get different things accomplished. A man at the door moved coats and bags to the staircase, a young girl sat at the oversized blue couch and painted her fingernails, and others worked at small tasks in every area of my sight.
The man whose lips had stirred my attention now sat in front of me on his knees, his fingers dipped into the salve and with the slightest of smiles he began to apply it to the other foot. I began to protest, but my neck still tingled from his first touch. It was as though all my senses had awakened, his fingers were gentle even though his hands were rather large and the comfort I felt took me by surprise. A rushing met my ears and the questions ran like fire through my brain. Who was this man? How did I come to be running through the woods? Where am I?

Before I could speak he had moved to my side, sitting there beside me we watched every one else...