First Chapter: The Guess

Deep into the night, dark thick clouds formed until the previous clear sky adorned by several stars was out of sight. Then, roaring thunders sounded, roll after roll, which disturbed the tranquility of the heavens; In the sea of ominous clouds, sheets of light, appearing and disappearing in less than a second, came into sight.

This phenomenon that signaled an imminent downpour brought forth strong winds and the temperature dropped a few degrees lower. Anyone that came out to enjoy the weekend night displayed frowns on their faces due to the unexpected and rapid change of weather.

Suddenly, a blinding light came, illuminating the surroundings in a flash, and accompanied by a loud thunder. The flash was bright that people outside got momentarily blinded while the loudness of the thunder was startling, awaking some from their sleep.

The combination of light and thunder aroused some curiosity. People one by one came out of their doors and inquired one another about the occurrence. However, as none of them had the answers, they were left to suspect what happened.

Meanwhile, in a certain apartment, a slender figure slept on the bed, unawakened by the thunder. Her forehead was decorated with beads of sweat and her face twisted in an ugly expression. With eyes tightly shut, she jerked her head to left and right while making grunting noises.

Screaming as she sat up, she woke up from her nightmare. She breathed heavily and bead of sweats trickled down her face. The dream was vivid she could recall every scene perfectly without missing a single detail, simply frightening. Hugging her knees, she rested her head on them.

Outside, the sea of dark clouds cleared up, leaving a clear sky full of stars. People that went out to play regained the smiles on their faces and those that went out to inquire went back to their houses and slept. However, one person had not recovered her state of mind yet.

The dream shook her up greatly. She tried to calm herself yet the scenes of the dream kept playing on her mind, stirring up her emotions, until she was unable to hold herself anymore and cried.

Crying until she could secrete tears no more, she lied down, tired and sleepy. Pulling the quilt up to her nose, she smelt the fragrance of roses— really nice. She sniffed the pleasant scent again then realization hit her: it was not the subtle sunshine fresh scent of her fabric conditioner!

Surprised by the discovery, she regained her senses and drowsiness slipped out of her body. She clenched the quilt. Thinking she may had mistaken, she smelt the quilt once more. Then, scent of roses entered her nostrils. With her senses confirming that it was not the scent of her fabric conditioner, she felt something amiss.

Immediately, she felt for her phone under the pillows but it was not on its usual place. Continuing to feel for it until both of her arms were stretched widely, she noticed that her single sized bed had grown big.

With the unfamiliar fragrance of the quilt and the huge size bed, she more or less comprehended that it was not her bed.

The fear caused by the dream was gone and it was replaced by the nervousness of finding herself in an unknown place.

Looking around, she found herself in a dimly lit room with the curtains irradiated by subtle lights. She got up from the bed and walked over to the curtains. Her every step was light and taken with vigilance. Then, reaching out for the curtains, she spread them apart.

Welcoming her sight was a beautiful city night view, stunning her for a moment. She opened the window and immediately she felt coldness, caressing her. She enjoyed the cool breeze, which helped her calm her nerves. But when she felt the night chill getting into her bones, she closed the windows but left the curtains open as to let a bit light into the room. She then searched for the light switch; and with a soft click, the room instantly brightened.

Blinded for a moment by the sudden illumination, she squinted her eyes. And through the unclear vision, she could tell that it was a huge room. When she had completely adjusted to the brightness, her eyes shone with amazement. She sized up the room and assessed that it was a bedroom of an upper middle class apartment. "How did I come here?" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

After watching the finale episode of the currently most popular Korean drama in the country, she checked the time. It was already the wee hours of Monday morning. She had to go to work when the sun was up. So not wasting time, she slept.

"Then I woke up here." She shook her head and dismissed the thought for she remembered more.

She woke up due to a loud bang. The noise came from the other side of the wall, which meant her couple neighbors were in a fight again. Checking the time, she found out that she would be late for work. Immediately, she got up and started moving. After half an hour, she ran out of her apartment.

"As I was running late, I took a taxi instead of a bus." She stopped for when she recalled more of that day, it directly connected to her dream.

In her dream, a big truck that had lost control drove fast to the direction of the taxi she was riding. The taxi driver was able to avoid the truck and they escaped unscathed. However, in the next second, she heard a deafening crash then she lost consciousness.

When she opened her eyes, the clear blue sky greeted her sight. Then a man appeared. His mouth moved as if he was talking to her but all she could hear was mumbled noises. She wanted to tell him she did not know lip reading but she could not for even a simple breathing caused her pain. Although she was muddleheaded because of the extreme pain she was in, the fact that she was dying was as clear as the sky of that day to her.

She was young and her parents were alive and well. She did not want to die before them. As the child, it was her responsibility to mourn for her parents' death and not the other way around. Thus, she wanted to fight for her life, but it was futile. Slowly, her eyesight blurred until darkness enveloped her entire consciousness.

Sitting on the soft mattress, she caressed the bedding. The texture was good to touch, smooth and soft. The sensation on the tips of her fingers was real. "This is not a dream," she concluded. "The dream earlier was not just a dream either. The accident actually occurred... and I died."

As though she was not totally convinced yet, she pinched her arm with a little force. The pinch hurt and left a red mark on her arm. Gently, she rubbed the sore spot to alleviate the pain. "I sense pain. I am alive," she muttered, "but how did I— did I reincarnated?"

She had read several novels of diverse plot lines. And the matter of returning back to life, she had read it also, but thinking for it to happen in reality, she was skeptical.

Remembering all the scenarios related to her situation that she had read in novels and watched in dramas, she settled with one that seemed more plausible to happen. And that was she did not die in the accident but had survived the brink of death.

In summary, she surmised that she had a short term memory, an anterograde amnesia, where she could only remember up to the day of the accident but not the things that came after that, which also explained why she did not have recollections of her recovery and under going therapy.

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Presenting to you, the female lead of this story!

This artwork was made by me, this author. (^-^)v Although this art was done sloopily, as I am a stupid and frustrated artist, please overlook my lack of skill. (T—T) Also the cover was done by me. The subject of my artwork is an actual person so if you want to know her, just leave a comment.

Author's Note:

Readers, please leave comments. Your thoughts about my work will be appreciated. Criticisms are also very much welcome and will be of use to improve my writing. Thanks for reading. Have a great day ahead.

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