Three years later, I am still pondering over that moment. It is my only memory. Before that, I just don’t know. But it’s the only thing I have  been thinking about for the last three hyears, begging the past for more details.

I am riding as tram back to Salsiva from Lina where I serve as a maid to a rich family so that I can make money for my family. My face burns with anger whenever I walk into the McShones mansion. The disparity between the rich and the poor is very immense. Salsiva is the poor district where I live and Lina is the wealthy district. I stare glumly out of the small dusty window at the grey thundering sky not even caqring whether it rains tonight. The bus beeps signaling my stop so I jump up with only the stars to guide me not even caring that it is now pouring out and I am getting soaked through my skin. Within seconds, I am at my door step taking off my shoes, and pushing the door open.

“Chloe, you’re home!” my mom says ecstatic, and cheery as always. “Dinner will be ready soon! I can’t wait to hear all about your day honey!”

“ I’m not hungry,” I mutter which is a lie the second the word pour from my mouth. I’m staving actually. But, I don’t say anthing because really, I’m not in the mood to hear everyone talk about their days, and then have them ask me about my day and have to talk about cleaning the McShones house. It’s no that the Mc Shones are mean, it’s just that cleaning all day is not the most fun thing to do every day. When everyone else has something interesting to talk about. “I’m going to bed, I don’t feel so good,” It’s a lie, and my heart aches from saying it but I really do just want to go to bed.

“Oh honey do you want me to bring you a little dinner?”

I can’t stop my stomach from saying yes so I obey it and say, “Thanks , Mom! That would be great.”

I go upstairs, climb into bed, and have oon fallen asleep. It is not until eleven ocklock at night when I qake up again in my rickity wooden bed. I have woken up from the sound of voices. At such a late time of night, this Is a rare occurance. My curiousness  gets the better of, so that I climb out of bed onto the creaky wood floor where I beg it not to crack so I am not heard. I creep down the hallways toward my parent’s room or should I say closet. I stand at the door pressing my ear against it listening intently to the voices insidfe. It’s my mom and my dad.

“ You know where she’s from don’t you Bill?”  my mom says. It’s a few minute s before my dad ansers and I’ve almost thought that he had fallen asleep.

“ Of course I do honey.” My dad respondes, “ And she deserves to know,” She must be suspecting that there is something suspicious going on.”

What in the world are they talking aabout? I mutter to my self under my breath. With in seconds my question is answered, but it leads to so mony more questions.

 "Yes, but Chloe is still so young, she's only qe. She won't understasnd." The blood drains from my face, leaving me pale white like a ghost. I feel myself falling to the ground, and don't even try to stop myyself. I land with a thud on the ground. Honestly, I don''t even care about the noise. Let them discover me, and then they'll have to explain. Explain everything. A second after I thud to the ground, the door bangs open It's my mom."What are you doing here Chlo0e? What did you hear?" she sounds scared.

Instead of answering her I say, "Why wr you guys talking about me?"

"So you heard?" she says in a cold voice that I din't think she was capable of.

"Yeah, yeah I did, and I have a lot of questions, first I wnt to know..."

"Honey I'm going to ask you not to ask questions for now until I think this over. You have to stay with us." she interupts me her sugary and sweet voice back that makes me feel like a pancake beoing covered in brown sticky maple syrup. "Go to sleep Chloe, we'll see you in the morning, and please don't tell your sibling."

I try to utter good night but when I attempt to, only a squeaking sound comes out. So instead I stagger down the hallway not  even caring that my siblings may still be asleep. UI even hear one of them  cough. Suddenly a question comes into my head. Why is everyone here have brown eyes amd tje [erson in myu one memory before Salsiva had green eyes? Other than that, I have never in my life seen another person with brown ehyes. And then it dawns on me, I have green eyes. But why? I wonder. There must be some reason. As the days go by things make less and less sense. I just don't belong. 

                                                         ***************                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Mom said that I should just go to bed. I did that that one night but for the past month adna half I have heard nothing at all of interest. They go to bed and I know it for sure because they snore when they are sldeeping. It is not until now the 44th day that anything has happened. For the past month and a half life is as normal as it has been for the past three yeats. Until this night. I sit in the pure dasrkness of the hallway in only my linen night gown sitting, listening for knowledge, covered with only a thin wool blanket. I am shivering but my craving for knowledge keeps me there sitting in the darness listening intently for any knowledge. Recently, I have been so tirede bdcause I hyave not been sleepin gat night that I have fallen asleep during some of mhy jobs at the McShone house and as consequences I was yealled at by the head sefrvant Louisa. I could sto coming here at night, but this is the most lead I have ever had on any idea in three years so if I wan tknowledge, this is  what I have to go through until I actyually find some information out. "This is my past that we are talin about, and I don't want to have to rive  a life not knowing what happened to me before I was eleven . I want knowledge. Sometimes I want to scream with frustration! It is not fair that I know nothing about my past when everyone else could tell you a woud by word account of their oif.

Anyway, I was sitting out in the cold in front of my parents mi ni sleeping chamber when suddenly I heard voices. But, they are not the voices of my parents, well it was mhy parents but alsosomeone else. Itr was a woman. AndI knew here. Not from Salsiva but from somewhere else, a land far off from a land far off. Itr   skimmed a memory from far off. 

"Hoq is Chleo doing her/ She was so young when they canme. Too yound. her fathere and I thought, well that she should move to somewhere safe until she is a little older. I just wanted to come see if she doing weelll here, or else we can move here swomewhere else.  We hope she is not too big of a pain." the woman says.

It takes me a full minute to proccess what she just said. Bjut when it does, my body goes numb with shock. I'm not from here. Well if I'm not where am I from?I'm not from Lima! I can't be. Even those snobs have brown eyes. Amd then another question dqwns on me. Why has nobody ever said anything about my green eyes? Are they all io on a secret that I don't know about? I'll find out tomorrow.

                                                            ******************                                                                    I wake up the next morning to find out that with all the shock last night, I had dozed off. It is now very early morning, a little after the time the chickens would crow if we could even afford them which obviously we can't judging by the fact that I live in a closet. jSo that nobody notices that I was not in bed last night, I crawl down the hallway, silently praying that the floor does not creak beneath me, or worse break. As I creep back to my room I start to plan out my mission. But, the second that I put my head against my pillow, I am asleep. I can really use some sleep. I have a very action packed day tomorrow that I need to have rest for unless I want to end up in a black hole for the rest of my life. 

     
When I wake up again, the sun is up and rising, and it is time to get up. I stretch my legs, and walk down stairs as ready as I ever will be for my mission. I walk down the stairs, grab a piece of toast, yell hello to everyone, and bolt out the door. At first, I thought about testing my siblings as part of my experiment but then I decided for the better that they might blab about it to our parents. Instead, on the way home from work I'll do it to some of my friends.

After five tiring hours of cleaning the McShones house I am finally on the way back to Salsiva. I run off the bus and find my first experimentee. Her name is Elizabeth. We have known each other since I got here. She seems to know me from before them but right now, we'll find out.

I walk up to her and say calmly, "Hey Lizzy." My hands our white and my body is shaking. I do my best to calm down but it's not easy.

"Oh hey Chloe, how are you doing?" she responds.

I decide to take it easy and calmly so that she acturally answers me when I get to the punch line."I'm doing well. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well."

"Hey, you should come over tonight for dinner."

"OK." she responds

"Hey do you remember my zoo party when I was eight?" This is a complete lie. When I was eight I wasn't even in Salsiva. "On June. 8th from 4-6."

A flicker of confusion passes on her so fast that I though it was my imagination. ∫ut \, it was there. I saw it with my own eyes. It is a full minute before she responds. "Oh yeah! I remember that! We had so much fun!' She is lying. I can tell she is from her clammy hands to her pale face.

I pretend that I don't notice. Instead I say, "Let's meet at my house in two hours at seven?"

"Sure," she responds. Before I can say anything else, she runs into the evening towards her house. I back up against one of the fences protecting one of the houses. All I want to do is jump and scream in excitement. Lizzy knowws something. I'll ask her tonight. Night is the time for secrets to spill. As I am walking I run into Agatha who I have also known for as long as I have known Salsiva. I take it casually just as I did with Lizzy. I do the same thing until I get to the important part. I ask her to dinner as well.

"You remeber that time when I was eight? We had such a fun time at the beach! On june 8th from 4-6?

"Oh yes. I remember that." she says without any hesitation but her face pales ever so slightly.

                                                         ***********************

"Youre having friend over?" My mother asks. I never have friends over. she looks appalled. I'm not such of a friend kind of person. More like an investigator whcih is exactly what I will be doing- investigating.

"Yes." I respond. "I hope that it's OK. I should have asked first."

"No. It's Ok. Don't worry. You just don't usually have friends over."

"Yeah, well i though that I should have Lizzy and Agatha over. I have not seen them in a while.

                                                      *****************************

The door bell dings. Agatha and Lizzy are here. I answer the door, and usher them up to my room. I'm sick of being casual. I jump straight to the punch line. "Guys, I think that something strange is happening to me. You don't know anything about that do you?"

They look at each other before Agatha says sweetly, "We don't really know a lot but, in Salsiva, we really just try to enjoy our selves and forget about all the strange things that happen."

I think about that for a long long time after.





EPILOUGE- 2 years later.

It is 2 years later, and my whole life has changed just because of what Agatha told me. It took me a very long time to realize what she really meant, but I took it into account, and now I am a completely different person. I have realizd that all that investigating made me not so friendly. I now know that I just need to live my life, and forget about all of the confusing things in my past, and I have. I am a new person for the better.