Maggie stretched like a baby cat waking from an after-dinner nap. The room was cool and her body ached like she’d just run a marathon. The early morning rays from the sun peeked through the curtains and Maggie used her arm to shield her vulnerable eyes from the excrutiatingly bright light. The husky aroma of fresh ground coffee filled the room. The scent stirred Maggie’s craving and made her wonder if her dad had left for work yet. She knew that if just her mom were at home she wouldn’t be allowed to have any coffee. Her dad was the one who allowed her to drink it, but only one cup, because her mom swore it would stunt Maggie’s growth, not that Maggie cared about her growth when she was already a 5’8”, 17-year-old girl. Regardless of her size, she loved her morning ritual with her dad. He wasn’t home every morning, so it wasn’t like they got to do it often.

As Maggie thought about their rituals, something that felt almost like static electricity began to tingle in the back of her mind…“Wait…. how could it be morning?” She questioned herself, but when she couldn’t come up with the answer to it she realized something wasn’t quite right.  

The harder she tried to think, the more muddled her thoughts became, to the point it was almost impossible for her to concentrate. She couldn’t even remember going to sleep. In fact, the last thing she remembered, was sitting on her front porch with Cindy, her three-year-old sister. Their parents had asked her to watch Cindy while they went to the Miller’s dinner party. Her sister was an easy-going and quiet kid, she never caused trouble, so Maggie didn’t mind watching her. Maggie remembered sitting on the front step painting her nails while she watched Cindy play in the front yard with her new purple ball. Her sister liked to lay on her stomach on the ball and pretend to be an airplane, just like the game their dad played with her. That was when the phone rang and Maggie’s hormones immediately stood at attention. She’d hoped that it was Billy on the phone, her secret crush from school. She remembered Cindy had been occupied when the phone rang, so she thought she could run in and answer it and come right back out without her sister ever noticing. She’d waited all day to hear Billy’s smooth, raspy voice, so she couldn’t just not answer it. Besides, they couldn’t afford one of those new answering machines, so that gave her no other choice but to run inside and grab the phone. Maggie rubbed her forehead as she tried to remember more of what happened. But the only other thing she could remember was that the call came in around 5pm, she knew this because every summer the sun always lined up with their mailbox at that time casting a large mallet-shaped shadow on their front lawn.

The second Maggie’s foot touched the ground as she got out of bed she realized she was no longer in her room. In her room, she had cinnamon colored shag carpet, but this was blue linoleum under her bare feet, like what hospitals had. She wondered if maybe she’d been in an accident of some sort? But that couldn’t be, she would’ve remembered that, right? And if she were in a hospital, where were all the machines and medical equipment? Hospitals didn’t look like bedrooms, and this definitely looked like a bedroom, just not hers.

The rising panic she felt in her chest reminded Maggie of a bad case of reflux. She fought the feeling of fear, knowing that it would be best to remain as calm as possible right now. Losing her head wouldn’t do her any good, especially if she wanted to get out of here. As she stood next to the twin sized bed, she ignored the apprehension that was trying to take over. She didn’t recognize anything in the room. It all seemed new to her, like she had woken up in a stranger’s bedroom.

To her left, sat an old beat-up brown dresser with an empty vase and silver hand mirror laying on top. And next to the dresser, was a newer-looking desk with a wooden chair tucked underneath it, a stack of papers and freshly sharpened pencil were arranged neatly on the desk as if waiting for someone to write a letter. Maggie’s eyes continued to rake across the room until they finally settled on an ugly and well-worn mint green loveseat that was situated next to what she suddenly realized was the only window in the room. A small bit of hope filled her chest as she stood and stared at the blue flower-printed curtains that covered the window.

Feeling like her nerves were bouncing around her stomach like one of those super bouncy balls kids can get from a twenty-five-cent machine, Maggie knew that it was now or never. So, she walked across that room with determination in her step, intending to find out what was on the other side of that window. She knew it was silly to hang on to her tiny spark of hope, but when she looked out that window she wanted nothing more than to see her own beautiful yard in front of her. Maggie creeped forward inch by inch until she was just a hair away from the curtains. So close that they tickled her nose a bit as they brushed against it, but she ignored the feeling, more concerned about what was on the other side of that window. With every muscle in her body tensed, and without further hesitation, she grabbed both corners of the cotton fabric and yanked them open, revealing not her yard that she wanted to see, but a park. Maggie stumbled backwards, and dizziness assaulted her as her breath whooshed out of her. The disappointment was so strong. She felt like she’d been hit full force in the chest by a sledgehammer. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as she stood there and stared in horror at the unfamiliar sight in front of her. How could this be? The dizzy feeling and confusion intensified as she studied the park. It seemed so beautiful and serene, and her favorite color, the color green, was everywhere- green grass, green bushes, and green trees. Maggie also spotted a little narrow path that wound all through that greenery. A few wood benches also dotted along the path about every 6 feet.

The people who were scattered about the park didn’t look familiar to Maggie. Some sat on the benches, some were being pushed in wheelchairs, and Maggie even spotted a couple of cute kids, a boy and a girl around 5 years old, as they played next to an elderly woman who stared off into the distance. She didn’t seem to notice that there were kids playing with a purple ball right in front of her.

Cindy! The memory of her sister playing with a purple ball suddenly resurfaced, and Maggie was reminded that she needed to find her sister! What if she was in trouble? Maggie’s heart drummed against her chest like a caged prisoner trying to escape. She knew she needed a plan but…. maybe the room could show her something? Maggie left no drawer unturned as she rifled through the old dresser. The contents of each one ended up dumped out on the floor around her. When she was finished rifling through the drawers, she targeted the desk next. And as she grabbed the stack of papers from the top, something caught her eye. 

The handwriting on the first page was hers, except, she didn’t remember writing it, and none of what was written made any sense, it couldn’t be true, it was way too ridiculous. Maggie’s fear, which had once been so overwhelming for her, had now turned to anger. It raged inside of her like a ball of fire ready to consume anything that touched it. She vowed vengeance on whoever was responsible for this.

“CINDY!” Maggie screamed as she angrily threw the papers at the floor. Like a wave crashing against a rocky shore, they hit the ground and scattered about, all except for one, the one with her handwriting on it, which seemed to float in the air for a moment before gently gliding to a stop just in front of the door. The door. She hadn’t even noticed there was a door there! Maggie knew she needed to find her sister and get them both home. She just hoped that whoever had brought her here hadn’t locked that door. Someone must think they were playing a joke on her, but it wasn’t funny.

Without any further thought, Maggie bolted towards the door, she was determined to get out of there as fast as possible. But before she could reach the door, she froze in her spot as it was yanked open and two women appeared in front of her like a mirage. One of them looked like a doctor wearing a white coat with a silver stethoscope hanging loosely around her neck, except, Maggie knew that couldn’t be. The woman was African-American, and even though Maggie supported the civil rights movement, she knew there was no way African-Americans were allowed to be doctors, especially female doctors! Maggie braced herself as she prepared to escape by ramming through the women. This door was her only way out and they were blocking it, she had no other choice but to use her body as a battering ram and break through the women to free herself. Maggie took one step back, fisted her hands at her sides, filled her lungs with as much oxygen as she could take in, then, she took off, her right shoulder pushed out in preparation of taking the brunt force of the impact with it. Maggie knew this was going to hurt, but she’d do anything for her baby sister, so she prepared herself for the pain.

A fierce battle cry came out of her as she charged the two women. “AAAAARRRGH!”

“GRANDMA!” The lady next to the fake-doctor called out.

A moment later, both women rushed towards Maggie, they grabbed her with two sets of arms tightly wrapped around her and quickly had her restrained. But Maggie refused to give up without a fight, even though it was useless, she struggled. When she felt the shark prick of a needle pierce her thigh, Maggie knew it was too late. The fake-doctor had injected her with something, and within seconds Maggie’s body went limp, her arms and legs felt heavy, like they were covered in cement. Her entire body felt like she was swimming through quick sand. She could barely move.

The two women hoisted Maggie’s body onto the bed and the fake-doctor took her vitals, while the other lady lovingly caressed Maggie’s forehead with a sad look in her eyes.

“Pleassssse. I n-need to get to C-Cindy. My sssssister needs me.” Maggie’s words slurred as she tried to get the women to understand her need to find her sister.

“Calm yourself, honey.” The fake-doctor soothed in a velvety voice as she gently patted Maggie on the shoulder.

The other woman had picked up the paper that had Maggie’s handwriting on it, she passed it to the fake-doctor to look at. The fake-doctor frowned as she examined the paper in her hand. Shaking her head, she then turned her sad expression towards Maggie. And what came out of her mouth next, was something that Maggie had never expected to hear.

 “I’m sorry Maggie, Cindy died 65 years ago.”

“NO!” Maggie bellowed as first pain, then denial sliced through her heart.

“Yes, honey. We go over this every day.” The fake-doctor sighed, then leaned over and whispered something to the other lady. The other lady then walked over and grabbed the silver hand-mirror from the top of the dresser. She brought it back to Maggie and with her eyes still full of compassion, she lifted it up so that it was positioned directly in front of Maggie’s face, making it obvious she wanted to show her something.

Still reeling from the fake-doctor’s revelation, Maggie robotically did as the second woman wanted. She grabbed the mirror from the lady’s outstretched hand and brought it up to her face…… And when she gazed into it, her breath caught in her throat, as icy cold tendrils of fear slithered through her veins. She gazed at the reflection for what seemed like an hour, but was really only a couple of minutes. She could barely comprehend what was happening. The person that looked back at her from the mirror was a white-haired stranger with familiar looking eyes.

“Grandma, Cindy is gone.” The strange lady’s voice cracked and she sounded choked up, like she was holding back a barrage of emotions.

“No.” Maggie whispered as she vigorously shook her head in denial.

“She got hit by a car when you were a kid. See Grandma, you’re not that kid anymore.”

The fog that had saturated Maggie’s brain was suddenly lifted, and she finally realized that this wasn’t a sick joke after all. Well, maybe it was life’s sick joke.

 Maggie’s memories all came flooding back to her at once. Specifically, that day 3 years ago, when she was sitting in a worn leather chair, and Dr. Owens, the same African-American doctor who currently stood by her side, was sitting across from her, a huge ornate mahogany desk between them. Dr. Owens was in a solemn mood that day, and she had the same sad look on her face when she broke the horrible news to Maggie. That horrible day, 3 years ago, was when Maggie first learned she had Alzheimer’s.