On a Wednesday, she rolled into class.
That bright green dress that didn’t quite go with the rest of us, your hair pulled back, and your school uniform were all just right. She was in a wheelchair with bright wheels that looked like little suns and had braces on both legs.
At the time, I thought, “She seems to know something I don’t.”
At first, everyone was nice to her. It’s too soft. Like she was made of glass. Not me, though. I talked to her like I would any other person. Asked her where she was from. “You already know,” she smiled.
I opened my eyes. “I don’t,” I said.
Then she called my name.
She said it again, “Eleanor,” in a soft but sure voice. “Do you remember me?”
I looked at her with my mouth open a little. I tried to figure out where to put her face, but it didn’t work. That I could remember, I had never seen her before in my life. In all the years I’d been at this school, I had never met anyone who looked like her. But there was something in her eyes that made me feel like she was waiting for me to understand or remember.
“Sorry, I don’t…” I got off track and felt bad about it, but she didn’t seem to mind.
She shrugged and said, “That’s fine.” “I understand it’s been a while. When we last saw each other, you were very little.
I was even less sure of what to do. I didn’t get a chance to ask her more because the teacher told us to get going, but I had a strong feeling that this girl in the wheelchair knew something I didn’t.
I felt drawn to her as the days went by. Violet was her name, and even though everyone else kept tiptoeing around her, the fact that she didn’t expect that from me made me feel better. It took a while for us to become friends. I put her chair out when we ate lunch and helped her with her books. When the weather was nice, I even rolled her wheelchair across the school yard.
The way she laughed was dry, but it made me laugh. She saw things in the world as if she knew something that most people didn’t, and she wasn’t afraid to say it.
I stayed behind one afternoon after school to help her with her work. She always asked me for help with math, even though most of the time she was smarter than me.
I pointed to a hard subject and said, “I don’t get it.” “Why is it important to know this equation? Why bother?”
“You really don’t remember, do you?” Violet asked me with a smile that wouldn’t go away.
“What do you remember?” I asked, still not sure.
She wasn’t quick to answer. She rolled her chair back and forth instead, putting her hands on the wheels. She then sighed and said, “I used to be just like you.” Not while sitting down. But the world I lived in had a lot of questions and solutions I couldn’t find. I was lost too.
I opened my eyes. “I don’t get what you mean.”
She said in a soft voice, “I mean, we were friends when we were younger.” In a different life and time. Well, something big did happen. It changed us both. Everything changed.
I stared at her, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. “Do you mean to say that?”
She paused, and her eyes got a little narrow, as if she wasn’t sure if she should tell me more or not. She finally told him, “I shouldn’t tell you this yet.” Not yet. But you will be one day.
Her words were vague, and I wasn’t sure what to think about them. Violet has always been unique, but now it seems like she’s speaking in a strange language. I didn’t understand what she was joking about when she smiled, and sometimes she’d look at me like she knew something that hadn’t come out yet.
Violet started to be more open over the next few weeks, but only in small ways. She told me about her life before she came to our school. She said she used to be healthy and full of energy, and she and some other kids would run around together. Things changed one day, though.
She said one afternoon, her voice barely above a whisper, “I was in an accident.” “The doctors weren’t able to fully fix it.” My legs aren’t working as well as they used to. That’s okay, though. I changed the way I live. “New ways to get ahead.”
It was the first time she had talked about the truck crash. I never asked what had happened because I didn’t want to know.
“Before,” I said slowly, “I don’t know what you mean.” “Do you mean to say that?” “How could we have been friends?”
Violet’s face softened, and I saw a flash of weakness for the first time. She said in a low voice, “You used to be my friend.” “I loved you very much.” It was something that made us forget, though.
I was about to ask her what she meant when I had an idea. “Do you mean to say that we knew each other before this life?”
She said yes. “Yes, we did.” You were the reason I made it through. You were supposed to help me, and I was supposed to help you. But we got split up.
Everything she said made no sense to me, but as she went on, I started to wonder if there was some truth to it. The way she spoke and the way we talked to each other felt strangely familiar.
All of the pieces started to fit together when we were walking to the bus stop together one night. There was a mark on her wrist that I could just barely make out under her shirt sleeve. It was a small, delicate sign that I had seen before. The sign from a dream I had years ago made my mind race. That dream had always felt so real to me.
“Where did you get that tattoo?” I asked Violet, my voice shaking a little.
She looked at it, then back at me, and her smile was even smarter than before. “That’s important. It’s the key to everything. There was a link between us before we met again.
The thought hit me like a wave. It was all coming together: the dream, the feeling of déjà vu, and the thought that something was left unsaid.
I told myself, “I think I remember,” but she didn’t hear me. “I believe I remember you.”
Violet smiled, and her eyes seemed to be shining with happiness. “You’re beginning to remember.” I knew you would. Eleanor, it’s not just about the wheelchair. What we were meant to do together is at stake. We must not forget that the world needs us to do something important. “Do not do it again.”
Just as I was about to ask her what it was, though, something strange happened.
A man got out of a car that pulled up next to us. He looked very important as he walked over to us. He was tall and dressed in a suit. He spoke in a stern voice, “Violet, it’s time.” Our search has been on for you.
The look on Violet’s face changed right away. She wasn’t the relaxed, funny girl I had grown to know. Suddenly, she became serious and focused.
She turned to me and said, “This is where our paths split again.” It took me my whole life to wait for you to remember and understand what we need to do. That being said, you can’t do that with me. You need to do it by yourself now.
“What do you mean?” I asked because I needed to know. “Where are you going?”
She said, “I’m not going anywhere.” “But I know what you need to know to find your own way,” she said. When the time comes, you’ll know.
The suit-wearing man turned to leave, but Violet stopped him. One more time, she looked back at me. “Eleanor, you’re ready now.” Have faith in yourself. It was never just about me that you were on this journey. You were always the focus. You’ve always had the power.
She was gone in an instant.
I thought about everything Violet had said over and over again in the days that followed. Everything—her words, the mysterious message, and the man’s sudden appearance—pointed to something bigger, something I had never thought of before.
Still, I knew deep down that she was right. I could change my life at any time. The turns and bends, dreams, and memories were not just random events. I had to put them together because they were parts of a bigger puzzle.
I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I was ready. I was finally ready to move on.
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