Amentia

Chapter 2 - Puzzles

Córdoba, Argentina.

Natalia groaned when she felt her shoulder being shaken. She stretched widely, turning away from the hand that was forcing her to return to reality. It was a gentle shake, which was appreciated, but she'd much rather go back to that fascinating state in which she was neither conscious nor asleep; that was where the best thoughts came from and where she got the most rest. But the hand kept shaking her, driving her further and further away from that magical in-between spot.

"Natuchi, I'm leaving for the store and dad left an hour ago; remember I have that dentist appointment today," said her mom's voice in a low whisper close to her ear. The hand was no longer shaking her. Nati groaned again, opening her eyes this time.

"At eleven, right?" she asked, sitting up on the bed and reaching for her phone on the nightstand and unplugging it from the charger. When she touched the screen, it lit up to show it was 7 am. Her mom nodded. "I'll be at the store at ten, then."

Her mom smiled sweetly and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. Less than a minute later, Nati heard keys rattling and the front door closing. Good thing her mom had woke her up with so much time to spare, because she'd gone to bed so late the night before that she hadn't had the energy to shower, and her hair was a greasy disaster. So she got up, took her sweet time to wash her hair properly, and then spent a few minutes deciding what to wear after checking the weather forecast on her phone. Feeling fresh and renewed, she went to the kitchen to make herself a coffee and three slices of toast with butter and sprinkled sugar. She took her breakfast to the living room and turned the TV on to watch the news... and then changed the channel five minutes later. The headlines were enough information, thank you. She didn't want her good mood ruined by learning more details about the terrorist attacks in Europe or the deteriorated economic state of her country or another woman being killed by her boyfriend. She put on a documentary about the ocean until it was time to leave.

She put on her sneakers, grabbed her backpack and left the house. At the store, she found her mom restocking the cereal shelf. Nati rushed to the counter to toss her backpack by the wall and went back to help her mom, passing her the boxes of cereal when she needed them. Before she could fill the entire shelf, her mom had to leave for her dentist appointment, so Nati finished restocking by herself, although she had to pause for a minute and get behind the cash register when a costumer came in.

Late mornings were slow on weekdays; most people did their shopping earlier or later in the day, so Nati had a quiet, mostly empty store to look after until it was time to close at 2 pm. This gave her the chance to make progress with the book she was reading on the psychology of music, and pretend she didn't have university exams to prepare for. Granted, the book was related to her studies, but it was located quite far from the subject they were currently on at school.

At 2 pm, Nati closed up the store and walked back home. Her mom was resting on the couch and eating ice-cream. They chatted for a bit while Nati cooked her own lunch and ate. Afterwards, Nati went to her room to read the actual psychology texts she had to read, trying to keep in mind that, as much as exams sucked, she was getting this degree because she loved to learn and to help people. To her, psychology was like a puzzle. A person comes in, mentions random things that they've been feeling, and one has to figure out the source or the cause for those problems. Sometimes the patient doesn't say anything at all, and one has to watch that silence carefully to try to see exactly where or why it started. Other times, the patient is a child who barely knows how to put words together, and one must still figure out what those loose words mean. One must join dots, piece things together with knowledge, consider all the facts, look at them from different perspectives, ask questions, and understand those facts in order to actually know what they are and how to approach them.