Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!
I had a dream last night.
I dreamt that I was in a house I didn’t recognize, and a woman I didn’t know was sitting next to me. She was pretty, a little stern looking, dressed very professionally. The house was spotless and very nice, but had an air of sterility to it. Like nothing was to be touched. A morning sun was filtering through the windows, but other than blue sky, I couldn’t see what was outside.
“Yuriko,” she said, sadly. I could see a tear in her eye.
“Who are you?”
She frowned. “I… I don’t know. Maybe that’s not important here. But I know who you are. You’re Yuriko.”
“No, I’m Lily,” I said, puzzled.
“No,” she shook her head vigorously. “Yuriko.” She frowned. “And it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“What do you mean?,” I asked. This was getting weird. A small dog hopped into my lap, panting. I absently scratched her. Her?
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” she repeated. “I… I’m sorry, Yuriko. I’m so sorry. I wish I could take it all back.”
“Take what back?,” I asked. I absently scratched Marie on the head. Marie? The dog is named Marie? How did I know that? I looked down and said “Marie?”, and her tail started wagging. Marie, I guess. She licked my hand.
“What? What are you sorry for?”
A crystal tear ran down her face, and fell off her chin. She pulled something out of seemingly nowhere, and handed it to me. It was a red spider lily. Perfect. Seemingly made of iridescent glass, but soft to the touch, like a real flower. I looked at it, and I looked at her.
“Do you know?”, I asked, tears starting to well up in my own eyes.
She nodded. “I know. But I can’t say. I’m not allowed. But… but I had to tell you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Yuriko”. She took my hand. “I’m happy for you. I’m glad you found a family who loves you. Better than we could. Better than we did.”
My mouth dropped open. “You – You’re -“
She reached a hand up and stroked my cheek. “I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to talk to you again. I love you, Yuriko. I always did. And I’m sorry. So sorry…”
The dream started to fade, and I started to scream. “NO! DON’T GO!!! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!”
But then I woke up.
Oh no. Oh God. Oh no.
I ran over to Sabby’s room and knocked on her door. “Sabby? Sabby? SABBY!!!” i could feel the tears starting to form, and I couldn’t hold them back. She opened the door, and I launched myself into her. “Sabby, I… I… I SAW HER!!!”
But I lost my words right then and just started wailing.
Sabby took me downstairs so I didn’t wake everyone else up and just held me while I cried it out. “Sabby,” I hiccuped, “I had a dream. I saw her. I don’t know who she was, but I saw her…”
“Who?”
“HER,” I said. “I think she was my previous mother.”
“She… your…”
“Yes! Oh Sabby it was a nice house and there was a dog named Marie and she was kind of plain but pretty and she kept telling me she was sorry and she loved me and… and… and she gave me a red spider lily! Kind of like the one Jack gave me! And she said it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“Do you remember her?”
I frowned. “No. But I remembered the dog.”
“We’re calling the psychologist in the morning.”
I nodded. It only made sense. It was a small memory. Just the dog’s name. But it’s the first memory I got back. The only memory. A dog named Marie. If it’s a memory at all.
Sabby finally took me back to bed, but I couldn’t sleep.
And… and it got weirder!!!
Because I got a package!!!
And when I opened the package… it was from that person that sent my the information for my trust account! And… and… IT WAS THE LILY!!!
OMG!!!
It came with a note.
“Lily, this has recently come into my possession. I can’t tell you how I got it or where it came from. But it belongs to you. And you should have it.”
And that’s all the note said.
It was a beautiful lily. The one Jack got me was beautiful, but this one was far more beautiful and far more intricate. It seemed to shine with a light of its own, but it was just reflecting and diffusing the light. It came in a little but extremely fancy box and I was almost afraid to take it out. It wasn’t quite soft to the touch like the one in my dream, but it was just as intricate and beautiful.
A lily. A red spider lily. Lycoris Radiata. And a dog named Marie.
OMG.
We called the psychologist and damned if she didn’t clear out her schedule for me, we’re talking tomorrow.