Without a Map: A Jinn Trilogy Short Story (The Jinn Trilogy Book 4) by Liz Schulte

Author:Liz Schulte [Schulte, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leaping Lizards
Published: 2015-03-06T00:00:00+00:00

****

I squeezed the water from my hair, staring at myself in the mirror. The dress Maggie got me was really cute, but also really short. I could almost hear my dad’s voice in my head telling me to change. I put Femi’s leather jacket on over it. I didn’t look like myself…but it wasn’t bad either. Maybe this was me, just a me I hadn’t met yet.

Mom’s words echoed in my head. She said to try something new. This was definitely new. Was this me? Did clothes really say anything about the person? People always gave me presents that were more them than me and I loved everything I was given. Like this dress was very Maggie. It was feminine and flowing. Pretty but not too risqué. Then there was the leather jacket. It was so cool and I felt tough in it, but that was Femi. My worn jeans and concert t-shirts, totally my mom. I didn’t have one thing I could honestly say was just me.

My life before all of these people was a blur of terribleness. Honestly nothing was clear in my memory until after we moved to St. Louis. But at four or five or six, however old I was, it wasn’t like even I had a clear idea of who I was.

Maybe today I could be the cool girl who wore a leather jacket and the confident girly-girl in a short skirt. That girl wouldn’t be afraid to talk to Fisher. In fact she would probably love it. Not only that, but that girl wouldn’t be afraid to see where she really came from. Things were bad back then, the bits and pieces I could remember told me at least that.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” I said, turning away from the mirror.

Maggie stuck her head in. “Sorry to bother you—” she glanced at me—“you look cute.”

“Thanks. What’s going on?”

“Just thought we could discuss our plans for the day.”

“Alright. Cool.”

She came in and sat on the bed, her bouncy, curly hair piled on top of her head. “I was thinking we could hit the museums, maybe some touristy stuff since you haven’t been here since you were a kid.”

“Sure, if that’s what you want.”

She pulled her legs up beneath her. “Would you rather do something else?”

I nodded slowly. “Maybe.” It wasn’t smart and it wasn’t safe, but mom did say to figure out who I am and this was the only way I knew to do it.

“Great. What?”

“I remember a lot from when Holden found me, but it all happened so fast that things sort of blurred together. There are a few places I’d like to see again.”

Maggie froze. “Huh.”

“If it’s a problem, I don’t have to.”

Maggie’s eyes widened as she smoothed her sunny yellow, cotton dress. “Well, I guess that depends where you want to go. Like I can’t take you to Xaviers, but if you want to see the warehouse, we could set that up—you spent more time there anyway.”

“Okay.” That was the easy part of my request.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.