A Hiccstrid Story

Chapter 12

Astrid awoke early this morning to the sound of birds chirping outside her slightly open window. She rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 6:00 am it read, far too early to go anywhere but Astrid decided that she needed space to think. Between her diagnosis, the revelation that she had forgotten an entire person and her ex, Astrid hadn't had time to think or get any alone time aside from sleeping. So, she rolled herself out of bed and silently walked down the corridor to the stairs. Keeping her mind off the events of late, she descended the stairs and made her way into the kitchen.

The blonde woman paused for a moment, what did she want for breakfast? That was the current question to which she had no answer. There was cereal, sausage and bacon or toast. All are good options, all are tasty but there is only one problem. Astrid knew she can't cook. Once she managed to burn her own toast to the point of it being inedible. In fact, she is banned from cooking anything in the house no matter what it is. As such, Astrid settled on cereal for breakfast so she quickly poured some Wheat Chex into a bowel, added some milk, grabbed a spoon and made her way over to the dining room table.

Astrid sat and started eating the food in front of her as she allowed her mind to wander. As she put spoonful after spoonful of her breakfast into her mouth, broken images began to flash through her mind. A school, a mansion, a boy, a sunset, a sunrise. All the images made no sense but Astrid theorised that this was her mind subconscious mind trying to remember the lost man. She thought back to all the times that she laid eyes on a man and thought she recognised him. Her mind changed to show her memories of times when she was speaking or heard someone speaking that she didn't know but thought she recognised the voice.

The lone woman realised that her mind had been subtly trying to make her remember him for years. The encounter in the café had caused her to briefly unconsciously remember the face but not why she knew him or the memories they had. Since that moment, her mind had been trying to tell her that she was missing crucial parts of her identity, of her past. The brain is a miraculous part of the body, capable of doing many many things, including 'remembering' something supposedly forgotten. Astrid had always valued her brain above all else, using it so much in her daily life to do everything including in her work.

Finishing her breakfast, Astrid moved the bowel into the kitchen sink and left the room to head back upstairs. She shook her mind clear as she ascended the stairs to her room. Upon entering she looked around the mess she had left earlier and laughed a little. When she had come to bed that night, Astrid had shoved all the clothes from her suit case onto the floor, had climbed in and collapsed asleep. There were clothes and suitcases strewed all over the floor, her bed was a mess and it looked like she had had quite the exciting night. Unfortunately the opposite had happened, not that Astrid was looking for a good time, she was still too broken up over Erick.

Astrid spent 20 minutes cleaning her floor, putting the clothes away and placing the suitcases in the corner of her room. Next she moved onto making the bed. She neatly laid her quilt over the length of the bed, tucking the corners under the mattress and then folding each side under the mattress. Finally, she plumped her pillows and placed them at the top of her bed. With all the jobs in her room finished, Astrid got dressed in some blue jeans, a white blouse and some black socks. She then left her room and quickly washed before heading back downstairs. Astrid put her shoes on, grabbed the car keys and left the house.

Immediately, Astrid was assaulted by the cold Berkly weather with a light sprinkling snow on the ground. She got into the car and noticed the time on the dashboard, 6:55 am. The Hofferson daughter started the car and began heating it up as she sat thinking intently about what to do next. She was acting purely out of impulse, not truly knowing what to do or where to go. Astrid wasn't truly sure whether she wanted to go on this drive. Her mind proposed the reasoning that she had been through a lot and needed the break. It was certainly well deserved.