I woke up late that morning. Mom and Dad were already at work and I had the house all to myself. I yawned as I fixed myself a bowl of Lucky Charms. Upon setting the box down, I noticed a list on the counter. I sighed. Mom occasionally left me a list of chores. It read,
"-Take out the garbage
  -Pick up from breakfast
  -Clean the attic"

     I took my time eating my breakfast. I was in no hurry to get started. Cleaning the attic was a chore they had me do annually, and I never looked forward to it. I refused to do the easy chores first, so I headed up to the attic as I sipped my coffee.

     There were so many boxes this year. I groaned as I opened the first one. Pictures. It knew it would take a while.

     Several hours later, I finally got to the last box, marked "Christmas." I opened it and sighed in relief. It was full of tree ornaments. I noticed a set I had never seen before. It had a name on each plain white ornament. I recognized a few of the names, but there were several I had never heard before. I picked up the one that said "Victoria," and Feelings began to well up in my chest. Victoria was my sister that had died the year before in a tragic car accident. She was my only family beside my parents, and we were very close.

     Tears begin to fall down my cheeks. I reached to put it back into the box, but my vision was blurred and my hand caught on the edge, causing me to drop the precious ornament. I gasped. And then I heard a familiar voice behind me saying, "Kate?" I turned around and nearly fainted. My sister was sitting on the other side of the attic.

I was feeling quite adventurous that day walking home from school alone, and I took a road I'd never taken before. There was trash on the sides of the road and graffiti on a old library, but there were other people around, so I knew I was safe. As I walked past a door, a  bright movement caught my eye. I looked in, and the door was open, but all I could see inside was complete darkness. I glanced around to see if anybody was watching, and quickly scooted inside. I immediately forgot where I was and where I came from. I couldn't remember my name or my favorite color. I couldn't remember anything.

     Life was always completely normal. Nothing ever felt off for a moment, and nothing felt surreal. I was always experiences exciting adventures, but Miles, my best friend for as long as I could remember, was often jealous. My parents had more money than they could ever seem to spend, and we were constantly travelling to see unique places. One morning at breakfast, my parents announced we would be going to Amsterdam in two weeks as my graduation gift. I was ecstatic, but nervous, knowing that Miles and I always talked about the place and how we always wanted to go together. My parents never wanted me to invite Miles along, seeing I was an only child and they wanted "quality" time with their son. I understood most of the time, but I felt slightly sick to my stomach about Amsterdam. Miles, who had been spending the night, came downstairs in his pajamas, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. All conversation immediately stopped. "I know I'm ugly in the morning, but you don't have to pause life to acknowledge it." He rolled his eyes. We all laughed nervously.
"Miles, would you like to go to Amsterdam with us?"Mom said nanchalantly. He stopped in the middle of rubbing his eyes and was immediately awake.
"Um, yes. Yes, I would. Are you serious?" He ran down the stairs.
"Yep! I figured that, since this is Harrison's graduation gift, he would prefer if you were there." Mom said, cutting a square out of the edge of her pancake. Miles ran up to me, eyes bright.
"Pinch me if I'm dreaming!"
I laughed as I pinched him, but all smiles faded away as he disappeared into thin air.

     I walk down the snowy streets of Chicago, a cold breeze sending shivers up my spine. I breathe into my hands in attempt to warm them, but have no success. In defeat, I shove them into my jacket pockets and begin to admire the world around me. Everything being black and white to me, snow is the only thing that still holds an immense amount of beauty. I've never though much of my disability. Afterall, I don't know any different. I hear people talk of all these colors... red, blue, pink, purple, but never have I had the chance to experience their vibrancy. Being a block away from my small apartment right ouside downtown Chicago, I begin to get excited about getting to warmth after an hour or walking. My exhilaration suddenly fades into anxiety as I see something I know will forever change everything. A man walks across the street, full of bright, vibrant colors. I follow him as he walks into a valley.

     I can never remember when or how it all started, but everything is different for me. I have yet to comprehend the reason why. I don't remember being a kid or growing up. I don't remember my parents or a family. I'm just here. I've learned to live with the fact that I'm not like everyone else, but I can't help but think how different my life would be if I could just remember things. I can only remember my life as it started in high school. I am now in my junior year, and my life hasn't changed a bit.

     I feel the sensation of falling. It’s like when you’re in a dream, and it feels so real that the adrenaline in your body wakes you up. Except it doesn’t wake me up, and it never has before. I get closer and closer to the ground, and I try to wake up, but it all seems too real. Once I get to seconds away from hitting the ground, I close my eyes, awaiting the pain that I know will follow. I wake up laying on the ground in a crowded city. There’s people everywhere, yet no one seems to acknowledge that I’m even there. I get this burning sensation in my throat. What is happening? I need water. My throat is so dry I can hardly breathe. Gasping, I stand up and stumble my way to the nearest store, which happens to be a restaurant. “Water… I need…” I begin to cough. My throat is too dry. “…Water!” I run up to one of the waitresses and clench my throat. He doesn’t even notice I’m there. I fall to the ground, unable to breathe. I wake up in nothingness. No light, no sound, just me. What is going on? I close my eyes, trying to get out of this place. When I open them, I’m at the end of a long hallway, and at the other end are two people. I squint, trying to make out their faces, but it’s all just a blur. I close my eyes and rub them, hoping that when I open them, I will be able to see them clearly. When I open them, I’m lying in my bed.

     I wake up with a massive migraine. Something's off; I can feel it. "Mom? Mom!" I shout from my room. She runs into the room with panic, "What's going on? Are you okay?" She says, nearly out of breath. As I look up at her, leaning over me, I see all these colors coming from her body. I rub my head. Something is terribly wrong. Why am I seeing things? "Uh, yeah.. sorry. I'm fine, I just have a migraine. Could you get me some medicine?"     I watch her walk away with all those weird colors following her, pink and yellow is what I see. When she arrives, the colors are gone. It must have been my migraine. Those stupid headaches I always get are making me see things now. I take the medicine and I'm back asleep within minutes.

     I wake up to my phone buzzing. A text from Audrey, my best friend since fourth grade, says "Come over!! I have something to tell you :D." So I put on some clothes and drive over to her house. As I'm driving, my headache begins to come back. And fast. My fingers are shaking as I pull my phone out of my back pocket and try to dial Audrey's number. "Something's come up." I whisper in pain. "Sam? What's wrong?!" She says, panic already in her voice. Here we go. "I'm not feeling well." I reply, but suddenly my head is pounding so hard all I hear is ringing. "Come get me, I need you here." my voice shakes.

     By the time she gets there, the headache is nearly gone. She has colors radiating from her: pink and yellow. How odd.