"So she kept them after...?" His throat tightened, the loss of his best friend still hurt.
"I went to see her after I read about the land mine accident overseas. She knew how important they were to him, that he kept them in case I resurfaced one day. She kept them because she knew it would have been his wish."
"So where have you been?" he asked as they broke apart. "What happened all those years ago?" His voice was husky with emotion. "Sorry. I don't mean to bombard you with questions but... I don't understand any of this."
The ghost of a smile touched her lips. "I don't blame you. I had trouble believing it myself at first. In a nutshell, I was abducted... and tricked into believing the kidnappers were my real family. Crazy, I know. I only found out the truth after they both died. Look, it's a long story but can we get out of here and go some place where we can sit down? Somewhere it's not too dark to see?"
"Of course. Have you eaten?"
She shook her head. "Not since breakfast, really, except for an apple around noon."
He grinned and held out his hand. "Come on. We'll talk over dinner, and I'll bring you back to get your car." And they did. Or at least she talked, while he mostly listened, as she revealed the ordeal she had been through and how she had finally learned the truth.
After their order was taken, she quietly started her story. "I didn't remember anything about that day, or anything before that. I just woke up terrified, not knowing where, or even who, I was."
"That must have been terrible."
She nodded. "I was terrified. I didn't recognize anything, didn't know who or where I was. They said I had been very ill and that things would be better as I got well. I withdrew from everyone and spent most of my time in the bedroom they said was mine.
"I calmed down after several weeks, and they told me that they were my real parents. They said that I had been kidnapped shortly before my first birthday, and I was too young to have any memory of them. They said they had never stopped looking for me and were overjoyed that they had found me.
"They said I was in the river, trying to swim upstream, but the current was too strong after a recent heavy rainstorm. They said I was fighting to keep my head above water but they had found me just in time. That's what was causing my nightmare. They said it looked like I was trying to run away and were thankful that they'd found me in time.
"As time passed, I began to believe them, and built a relationship with this new family who treated me like a princess. Eventually, I grew to love them.
"Throughout my childhood, I sometimes had dreams of having picnics with friends, beside a river," she said. "They told me that it was just dreams, probably brought on by something I'd read or seen on television, and I shrugged it off."
