Darkness and then light. My awakening was happening, so I opened the slits of my eyes.

A fresh, rectangular light slammed me directly in the face. It was hard to see. After a few minutes, my area of sight widened and lengthened, and I began to study the room around me. White walls, tiled floors, a man to my left, a picture frame in front of me- wait a minute.

“Who are you?” I attempted to speak, but it came out as more of a gurgle sound. The mystery man had the audacity to laugh, and while he did so I studied him. He seemed to be in his mid fifties. He had grey stubble, messy brown hair underneath a cap, a simple brown coat that was unzipped. He had blue jeans and hunting boots to complete his look. Everything about him seemed so…familiar.

“Don’t be ridiculous Miss Izzy, we’ve known each other for years,” he spoke.

But that couldn’t be. I had only just met this man. I didn’t even know his name.

Confusion hung over me, so I slumped my head down towards where I was laying. It seemed I was a patient somewhere, and I wore the clothes to prove it.

“Miss Izzy, I understand that it may be hard to understand some things, but everything is going to be ok. Trust me,” the man reassured me.

“I can’t trust you. I don’t even know your name,” I softly spoke. It seemed my voice was still trying to catch up to my consciousness.

“My name is Charles, Charles Voyant. I’m your neighbor.”

“Well then, Charles Voyant, if I am to trust you, tell me what happened. Tell me how I got here,” I demanded.

“That is the one question I can’t answer, Miss Izzy. I only got the call while at the grocery store and headed straight to the hospital to see ya. You see, you have no fam-“

As he was about to finish his sentence, I began to unwillingly lose consciousness once more. I tried not to, but I succumbed to the heavy feeling of sleep and dreamt of the past.

My dream held the scene of a driveway. It looked as if I was in front of a sage green house. The bushes were neat, but in need of a tiny trim. I had the feeling that I would’ve gotten around to it.

I dreamt of myself walking. Walking with a recycle bin in hand, I set it inches away from the curb and turned around only to trip on a squeaky toy in the shape of a bone. It had been leftover from my dog, Red.

Usually, I would have seen it. Usually, I would have been more alert, but not that day. Briefly, I could remember that I had little sleep the night before. For whatever reason, it didn’t matter now. I was falling face first to the concrete. My senses were still five feet behind me, so my hands had no time to help brace the fall. The next thing I remember was darkness, pure darkness, more darkness, and then finally light.