Something very bizarre happened to me today. I was busy at work placing used DVDs in their organized section, singing along to Hall and Oates and all of a sudden, a young girl taps me on the back and asks in a thrillingly familiar voice, "Will you pplease help me with one of your MMMMP3 players you have uup on the wall?" I glanced over at a face that I found so completely familiar. "Yes, of course! I will be right over!", I replied. I walked up to the front counter with my eyes wide open, grabbed the magnetic key and walked over to where she was pointing. "I want that pink one”, she demanded. Every time her mouth opened, an electric shock went up my spine and back down again. She looked and sounded EXACTLY like a girl that I knew back in elementary school. She was the one who grew up faster than all of the other kids. One who stole all of my Tamogotchis and pushed me around during every recess. "Annie Rexic" was the name I was given by her since I was the lankiest kid in all of Kiddy Corner daycare. I mean her stutter and everything. Mirror image status. This could not be her! She would have to be my age and I am sure would have grown out of that hot pink jacket, those big rosy cheeks and super thick bangs that slightly caught her eyelashes. I could not let her leave without asking, "What is your name and how old are you?" She looked up at me, blinked a few quick times and stated with an overwhelming dose of curiosity, "My nname is Bethany and I am nnnine and a hhalf, why?" "You remind me of someone I once knew, that's all.” I said while drawing out my breath. It was a sigh of relief knowing that she was not the younger identical twin of my long lost bully. I watched her as she skipped off with a smile and thank you, and with a grin, I replied the same. For the rest of the work day, I traced back to many of those old daycare memories, laughing at moments I found myself once frowning in when I was a little skinny-ma-rink.
It is funny how you forget these things until a stranger walks into the room and suddenly your mind opens up to a clear world of it's past.
Thank you, Bethany.
