When We Were Young by Karen Kingsbury

Author:Karen Kingsbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

15

Noah woke up slowly, his legs tangled in the bedsheets. A cold breeze drifted across the room and he looked at the window. Why was it open? And how had it gotten so cold?

It had to be in the twenties.

He set his feet down and . . . there it was again. The cold, scratchy carpet. His feet jerked back like before. Where were the wood floors? And how could he have agreed to this cheap carpet? His memory was jumbled, but in the recesses of his mind he remembered something.

They lived in an apartment now. That was it.

He crossed the room and slammed the window shut. November wasn’t usually this cold. Especially when thunderstorms were in the forecast. Not only was the air outside freezing, but it was bright and sunny, and the apartment was quiet. His head was pounding again, and his vision, blurry like before.

Emily and the kids should definitely be home by now. The party at the park couldn’t possibly have gone this long. He stepped into a pair of jeans near his bed and walked bare-chested into the cramped living room. There on the small end table near the ratty sofa was a three-foot drugstore Christmas tree.

Noah felt the room begin to spin. A Christmas tree? What was happening? Who had come by their apartment and set up a tree? They never decorated till after Thanksgiving. And if it was Christmastime already, then why didn’t they have a real tree?

They always had a real tree.

He walked to the small plastic shrub and looked hard at it. Eight red and green bulbs hung from the fake branches. That was it. Even the green of it wasn’t realistic. More like the color of an old Army Jeep.

Something was wrong: his family should be home and it wasn’t Christmas. He glanced at the counter, saw his phone and grabbed it. Fine. This would give him some answers. The code to unlock it worked on the first try.

At last. Noah exhaled. Something that made sense. It was five-thirty in the morning and in a few clicks he figured out that he was mistaken. It was December, already. The first Saturday in the month.

In the calendar square it said, “Aiden’s soccer game—9:00 A.M.” Today. December the fifth. Aiden had a soccer game? When did Aiden start playing soccer?

Noah dropped to the nearest chair and let his head fall into his hands. After his beautiful dream, all he wanted was Emily. This confusion and headache . . . the amnesia . . . nothing made sense. Whatever was happening to his mind, he needed help. Clearly. The concussions were stealing his very life and he couldn’t remember a thing.

Entire months were slipping away. Years.

He needed to see a doctor as soon as possible. Maybe check himself into the emergency room. Noah looked around. He had to get his bearings first. He sat on his sofa and watched the sun come up, watched the morning light reflect on the ugly little Christmas tree.

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