Invisible String

Epilogue

"Michelle, someone's coming!" Annie's big brown eyes was full of fear as their eyes meet.

"Let's run, Annie," Michelle takes her hand and pulls her. "C'mon, run!"

She leads them further into the forest behind their summer house, the same forest that her mother has always warned them not to go into all summer and the very same forest that she and Annie have been frequently visiting for the last 2 months despite the warnings. Michelle knows the ins and outs of the forest, knows where they shouldn't go and could go, but today was different because it was raining hard and she couldn't see all that clearly. 

She pulls on Annie until they reach a big bush that they can hide behind in.

"Do you know who it is, Annie?" she asks in a whisper.

"I don't know," Annie shakes her head, her pigtails swaying back and forth with her head. "Maybe it's my Dad's friends."

"Are they taking you away?"

"Maybe," Annie shrugs. "I don't want to go with them, Michelle."

She herself doesn't want Annie to go with them. She wants Annie to stay with them, with her, forever.

"Michelle, they're coming, let's go!" Annie says in panic as they hear footsteps near their hiding place. Annie pulls on her and Michelle lets herself be dragged by her friend. They run and run, the rain falling down on them, when Michelle suddenly recognizes a familiar rock that she knows they're not supposed to go past. 

"No, Annie, that's the edge!" she tells her and tries to pull back on Annie's hand, but it was already too late as Annie slips down the side of the rocky ledge. She tries to hold on to Annie and pull her back up but the rain kept falling and falling on her face and her hands were already slipping.

"Michelle, help me!" Annie cries. It was inevitable as Michelle's hands finally slip and she herself ricochets backwards with the sudden loss of Annie's weight. 

Her world turns black as the back of her head hits something hard.

-

Michelle couldn't open her eyes yet, but she hears her mother's voice near her having a conversation with an unfamiliar voice. 

"The girl's father requested that she be transported to a hospital in Manila and then they're planning to transfer her to Bangkok once stable," the unfamiliar voice says.

"I guess he found them."

"Excuse me?"

"Tan and her daughter, they were on the run from her husband. She thought they'd be safe here in the Philippines, but I guess he really is as powerful as she says he is."

"Should we get the police involved? Or maybe the Thai consul?" 

"Let me speak with Tan first, okay? I'm not sure what she wants to be done, especially with her daughter still unstable at the moment."

"Okay, please let me know so we can intervene if there's a need."

Michelle wants to call out to her mama but her head was starting to hurt a lot again so she just lets herself fall back into the darkness.  

-

"Mama?" she calls as she sees her mother near her bed when she finally gets to open her eyes. Her mother hurries over her side, a look of relief on her face. "Annie fell."

"I know, iha," her mother runs her hands through Michelle's forehead gently.

"Is she okay?"

"I'm sorry, baby, but Annie's gone," her mother says softly.

"Gone?" she wonders out loud. 

What did her mother mean that Annie is gone? Was it like that frog that she and Annie once kept as a pet and escaped the next morning? Annie said it has probably gone back to its home in the forest. Or was it like that one time when they kept another one and found it not moving anymore the next day? Annie's mother said that the frog was gone forever now.

She wants to ask but her head starts to become painful again so she went right back to sleep.

-

Michelle just came from the hospital a few days ago and her mother said the doctor needed to see her again so they were here now. The doctor just asked her questions and then checked her eyes and head and now she's in the middle of solving a maze puzzle in one of the magazines that they've brought with them as her mother continues speaking with the doctor. 

"She still hasn't remembered anything?" the doctor asks.

"Nothing at all. It's like nothing ever happened."

"Well, sometimes kids do tend to forget traumatic events. It's their way of handling the trauma, the mind of a child is truly a wonderful thing."

"It's the same with the other girl, I spoke with her mother and she said the girl doesn't remember anything when she woke up, but I think it was more because of hitting her head."

"Yes, it can be secondary to physical or psychological trauma or really, a mix of both."

"Is this something I should be worried about though?"

"All her scans and physical exams are normal. We'll just monitor her and see if this memory problem affects other aspects moving forward, for now, we shouldn't force her to remember anything."

"In a way, I guess it's a good thing. The other girl's mother and I decided it was best for the girls to just forget, they're not going to see each other ever again, anyway, especially now that they've moved back to Thailand."

Michelle pauses her puzzle solving and ponders on what other girl they were talking about, but as she tries to think about it, something inside her head starts hurting.

The pitter patter of the rain against the doctor's room's window then distracts her from her thinking, and as she looks out the window, she wonders if she can go catch frogs when they get home.

---

A/N: This story was meant to be read in one go talaga, bagal ko lang magsulat kasi. I do hope they found each other again in this alternate universe, I have no doubt they already have or eventually will. Because... Invisible strings and all that, of course. :) 

Thank you all for reading!

TODAY'S THE 29th! THE BLESSING IS COMING!

(Sorry pala sa tatay ni Anntonia, ginawa ko syang masama sa story ko. AU lang naman.)