sorry yall, but I have been really busy and haven't had time to write but I didn't just want to not post.

Peace

DK Bellefontaine

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Leah like her home. It was actually a small house on Cross Lake with just enough room for two people to live comfortably. They had a private dock, a small boat, and the nearest neighbor was about ten minutes walking distance away. Very peaceful. Just perfect, she thought. Her room faced the lake and the sunset as well. Her walls were blue and purple. Her bed was made to match as well. Stacked against the wall were boxes. Her stuff. Leah's stuff; stuff that she didn't remember acquiring.

Leah slowly opend the first box. In it were paintings of portraits. She took the first one out. It was of a woman with long, blonde hair. Her eyes were blue and her lips thin. The painting seemed almost as if it were a photograph but you could see the brushstrokes. She looked at the other paintings. All were of faces she didn't recognize. There was one and he was handsome. Wavy black hair tied back into a ponytail, dark blue eyes and a secretive smile. Dimples in the cheeks. Leah stared, mesmerized at his features. Her signature was at the bottom left of the painting.

Leah opened the next box. She found clothes, similar to the ones she found tasteful at the Boardwalk. She immediatley set to unpacking all the boxes and sorting through her things. She found pictures of herself--though she had long flowing black hair in these. Her eyebrows were finely arched and she was beautiful in these pictures. Now, she was scarred, short hair with still-healing bullet wounds in her head, but she was still alive.

Hours went by and Leah looked at the clock which said 6:45. She strolled downsairs and found Clarisse who was standing in midair. Leah stopped and stared.

"Clarisse!"

Concentration broken, Clarisse fell to the floor.
"Leah! I almost had it!"
"Had what?"
"Floating! You can do it, too,"
"You were floating. How did you do it?"
"Do you remember what Col. said about our gifts?"
"Yeah, but I thought he was talking about survival."
"He was, but not in the normal sense."
Leah nodded, still not believing what she was seeing and hearing.

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Leah was walking again and this time in brand new shoes and clothes. She was slowly learning how to defend herself and adapting the the humid environment. Her first day out of the hospital was a treat at the Louisiana Boardwalk along the Red River . Zydeco softly flowed from the speakers embedded in the sidewalks and the smell of spicy food permeated the air. Yet, nothing felt familiar. She felt as if she was a tourist; a first time visitor.

She strolled along the river with Clarisse and the Colonel. New clothes, shoes, and candy from the Chocolate Crocodile. She had her hair done in a stylish do that didn’t go past her ears and had a make over. She also felt stronger. As they found a perfect spot, Colonel began to talk openly to them.

“The main reason I took you two in is because I witnessed something the both of you have done. You have unique gifts. Clarisse has already used hers in trying to bring you back. However, I am not sure how to teach you to use your gifts because I am not sure what exactly they are just yet. Leah, you used your talent to defend yourself against a group of people shooting at you in the mall on that horrible day. The media was even talking about a miracle girl who prevented the terrorists from demolishing the whole city,”
“How?” Leah asked, bewildered.
“ I am not sure. I know that you have this because, I too, have it, but was unable to use it to save my family. The attack came so suddenly. I think there are others out there like us. I want you and Clarisse to focus on learning ways to defend yourself, and also learn how to use a gun. I have permits for the two of you to carry a concealed weapon as well.”

Leah stared at him, unsure of what exactly to do. Clarisse spoke.
“Leah, I too, thought Colonel was crazy, but he is telling the truth. Somehow, we were both affected in the same way. I can even hear thoughts of other people. I can heal, or I can destroy. Water is the source of our strength,”
“I believe you both, I am just…I don’t know, confused maybe,”
“You will see, soon, that you have unique gifts,"Col. said.

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The weeks followed with Leah regaining her strength, but not her memory. Col. Arrington turned out to be fatherly toward the girls and Leah learned that Clarisse was originally from Trinidad with no family in the States. As of her own family, they were in New Orleans during Katrina and were still among the missing.
“You were living in Bossier during the storms, you often told me. Your lease was up and you signed up to go to Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. You and I were roommates. You loved painting and you are very talented. You were almost finished with getting your Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.”
“Why was I moved back here then?”
“The doctor at Emory thought you may feel better about being in your home environment and your friends here supporting you would encourage you—if you survived which you did. He also mention that the chances of losing your memory were high, but we are determined to help you regain it back,”
“I see. I feel so ..so lost,”
“I know. I can’t imagine what its like.”
Clarisse brought some photo albums and said, "Here are your photo albums that you often showed me and also a journal that you write in during Katrina, Rita, and the aftermath of losing your parents.

Leah looked at the pictures of her and her family. Her mother had long blonde hair and violet eyes. Her father was dark--tall with wavy black hair and dark, laughing eyes. Leah saw baby pictures of herself and another whose name was scribbled along with a birthdate at the side of the album, "Pierre Soileau, 05/19/1984."
She flipped through the book at the smiling faces in Halloween costumes, Christmas parties, birthday parties, and Mardi Gras. Leah saw a picture of herself on one of the floats and scribbled in the margins was "Krewe of Gemini, Shreveport-Bossier, LA 1993"

If only she could remember her mother’s voice, touch, scent, anything.If only she could remember being on the Mardi Gras floats and remember her father and brother. But she remembered nothing. She looked a lot like her father—same hair but different eyes. Her eyes were violet.

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She woke to voices, though none were familiar. A young, dark skinned woman with burgandy dreds to her waist was sitting in the chair beside her as was an older man in the uniform of the US Airforce with ranks that of a colonel. Leah instantly sat up. She had to use the bathroom and she also felt dirty.
“Easy, Leah,” the woman said, immediately getting up to come to her aid.
“I have to go!”
“I will help you”
Leah nodded as the woman helped her.
“What is your name?” she asked her.
"Leah? You really don't remember me?! I'm Clarisse, from school. We were dorm mates. You truly don't remember me?"
“I am sorry, Clarisse, but I don’t even remember me. My life is unknown to me. What was I like?."
“You are an artist. You are also kind and caring. You were well-known in Little 5 Points for you amazing portraits. You would paint people for a small fee of $15 and you usually were tipped well. I will help you try to regain your memeory and so will the colonel.”
“That’s right, Leah. I have arranged a place for the two of you to stay in a nice area just across the River in Shreveport.“
Leah looked at the colonel and noticed that he had grey streaks in his auburn hair and a wedding ring on his left hand.
While Leah was in the bathroom, the nurse had come in and was changing her sheets. She slowly returned and the nurse had already finished the bed and was waiting patiently for Leah.
“Leah, I brought you a wheelchair so you can go to the shower room and bathe, but use the tub, not the shower. Your head injuries are still healing. I can wash your hair for you and help you if you wish,”
Leah obliged and Clarisse brought out towels, underwear, and a gown along with some lavender soap and shampoo. It took about fifteen minutes for Leah to get situated into the tub of fresh lavender scented water. The nurse was gentle with her hair, but Leah insisted on bathing herself and wanted to be alone. When she finished, she was helped drying off and getting into her clothes and the chair. She felt much better after her bath.


Leah took a long look in the mirror at her reflection. She had a small scar curving on her jawline stopping at the middle of her throat. It was barely noticable and could easily be coverd with make up. Her eyes were violet, though the whites had red lines in them and her hair was unevenly cut with the longest strands reaching her shoulder. She had little hair around the lower back of her head. Two bullets to the head, the nurse had said to her.

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She woke up to the sunlight streaming on her face. She tried to remember what happened to her, but couldn’t. Where was she? Where was her family? Then she tried to picture her mother and then realized that she didn’t recall what her mother looked like. Then, she realized that no matter how hard she tried, she could not even remember her own name or age. She had no idea who she was.

The door opened and in walked a nurse. She was in some kind of hospital. The IV was hooked up to her and she really needed a bath.
“Ah, you are finally awake,”
She nodded then asked, “What happened to me?”
“You do not remember?”
“No, ma’am, I don’t”
“You may have amnesia. Tell me, what is your name and what year is it?”
. Surely she knew her own name! But she couldn’t get past the fog in her mind,”
“I-I can’t” tears started flowing, “I don’t know,” she whispered. She started trembling.
The nurse gently soothed her.
“. Your name is Leah Soileau and you have no children. You were born in Bossier City , LA , though you chose to attend school in 2004 in Atlanta , GA. You lost your parents to Katrina in 2005 after they moved to New Orleans . You in the mall when there was an armed robbery.. You took two bullets in the head, yet survived it. Then there was the fire. Only one of your friends survived and she is here in the city as well,”
“So I am in Atlanta ,” Leah, now knowing her own name murmured, trying to remember the events as the nurse just spoken.
“No, you are in your home in Bossier.. Colonel Arrington lost his family in the mall and wanted to save you and Clarisse. You are actually at Barksdale Air Force Base.,”
Leah struggled to take all of this in. A bombing, shopping at the mall, and being home in a place where she has no memory.
“Rest now and the doctor will see you later,” The kind nurse, whose grandmotherly presence that Leah felt attached to all of a sudden, left. Leah instantly fell back to sleep hoping she would wake up with her memory intact

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