First Flash

My head had started to hurt again, "Now where would I keep the aspirin," I wondered out loud to myself as I rubbed at my temples ineffectually with my fingers. "For that matter, do I often talk to myself out loud?"

I stood up from where I had been sitting on a comfortable armchair and walked softly down the short hallway. Several rooms branched off and I glanced in them as I walked past. A Study with beautiful bookcases and a large desk. I wold investigate that later I decided. I also passed what looked like a guest room, and then a small bathroom. The last door in the hall turned out to be the master bedroom. It was a neat room, as was the rest of the house. The large bed was covered in a blue comforter and looked soft enough, there was another bookcase, but it appeared to be filled with nic-nacs. I stepped closer to the bookcase and examined a few of the objects, handling each with care before replacing them exactly as I had found them.

Stepping through a door into the bathroom I opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. "I guess it was where I would keep it," I muttered to myself. I filled a glass with water from the sink and washed down the pills.

Hoping that the pills would soon take effect I sat on the edge of the bed and took a closer look around the room. There were a few pictures hung on the walls, and one on the nightstand beside the bed. I picked up the framed photo and examined it closely. It was me. And there was another man that looked very similar. Not old, so it couldn't be my father, but a brother. What's his name I wondered.

I carefully removed the picture from the frame and flipped it over.

To Shane,
The best big brother a guy could ever have asked for.
Love, Adam

"Adam Briarwood. I have a younger brother," I said and smiled despite the fact that I didn't recognize him. I stared hard at the picture and then closed my eyes, willing my mind to see Adam in another setting, something that might trigger a memory.

My mind flashed upon a brief scene, almost painful in it's brightness. I could see Adam walking up a small hill and laughing, he turned to me, opening his mouth to say something when the scene was gone again.

My head was pounding worse than before, but I closed my eyes again, willing the image to return. I don't know how long I stared at the black of the inside of my eyelids, but I was startled when the doorbell rang.

I quickly replaced the picture in the frame and put it back on the night table before swiftly yet silently moving down the hall and to the front door. The bell rang again just as I got there.

I looked through the peep hole and I could see a pretty woman standing on the other side of the door. She had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that almost seemed ringed in white. She reached out and knocked on the solid wood, "Shane," she called out.

I stepped back from the door and flipped open the lock before pulling the door open.

"Oh Shane!" She woman cried and stepped into the entryway, "I can hardly believe what's happened."

I stepped back from her almost reflexively, putting a little more distance between us. She frowned at this, but didn't say anything about it. However, she did fire questions at me quicker than I could have possibly answered them.

"Wait, wait," I finally said, holding up my hand to stop her talking. "What's your name?" I asked.

She blinked at me in shock, "Shane," she breathed, "when you said that you had amnesia, I didn't think that you meant you had lost everything." Tears had gathered in her eyes.

"Never the less," I said, trying to ignore the guilty feeling for causing her tears, "I don't remember. I don't remember anything. Not me, not you, not this house or anything else. I have messages and messages, all from people who's voices I don't recognize. I have mail and bills from places that I don't remember buying from. I don't know what my favorite color is. I don't know if I'm married, what my job is, or if I like dogs." I was frustrated, and truth be told, a little scared. I took a deep breath after I finished my little rant.

The woman looked at me. "My name is Anna," she said calmly "your favorite color is blue, you're not married, but you were engaged once a long time ago. You work for the government and you like dogs well enough, but you love horses."

"Then Anna, you are?" I asked, leaving it hanging.

"Your sister," she said. "Our brother's name is Adam, who is a few years younger than you, and I am the youngest. Our parents live in Colorado."

I sighed, partially in relief, but also in frustration. There was no way to confirm that anything that she had said was true. It was true that my brother was Adam, but what of the rest of it? Did I really work for the government? And if I did, what part?

I rubbed my eyes, trying to will the world to make sense again.

"If it will help," Anna said and touched my sleeve," you always kept a journal. Ever since we were young. If we can find that it might help you remember things."

I nodded, feeling a large weight lifting from my chest. "Where might I have kept it?" I asked.