The Tiger and the Moth

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

When Emily got up, she heard the sound of thunder. Light flashed against the sky, behind her eyelids echoing a pattern and shape that danced when tried to close them again. Emily got up, and looked at the time. It was only noon, but the sky was dark and grey. A memory came to her that she had forgotten or just made sense of, she couldn't tell. It was a thought about when her parents and her went on a vacation to a beach house and they watch the lightning from the top bedroom window. It must of really happened, or else why would she think of it now? Did the lightning and thunder bring the memory out of her from the dark? She remembered the cornfields she passed while looking out the window. She got up and decided she needed to find out where this was. Maybe her mom went there? Was Aileen just tired of city life? It was worth a shot. The idea of finding this place intrigued Emily. She wanted to know where this was now that she remembered this memory from her childhood.

Emily got dressed and went downstairs. At the front desk, she saw Michael.

"Good afternoon," Michael said. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, thanks," Emily said. "Quick question... If I wanted to find someplace, how would I do it?" Emily said.

"What kind of place. Like a city or a town?" Michael said.

"Yeah something like that. But I don't know the name of it. I just know how to describe it," Emily said.

"What is it like?" Michael asked.

"The houses are colorful. This one was pink. It was near water, like an ocean or lake. But it was flat. There were waves. Lots of thunder and lightning, kind of like today," Emily said.

"Anything else?" Michael asked. He turned to his computer and started typing.

"What are you doing?" Emily said.

"Trying to search through images," Michael said. "Any other details you can think of?"

"It smelled like fresh bread and coffee. The houses were close together, and the sidewalks with crack. I could hear instruments playing down the street," Emily said.

"It sounds like a place you visited," Michael said. Thunder shook. Emily jumped a little bit.

"A very long time ago," Emily said.

"I have a few ideas..." Michael said.

"Okay, I'll be around," Emily said. She walked up stairs and saw lightning flash through the window. No matter how many times she's heard it, even in California storms sacred and excited her. Emily went inside the library, and ran her hands along the shelf, stopping at a book and pulling it out. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. She opened the front cover. Amazing! Emily thought. It was a first edition and in great condition. Emily sat down on one of the chairs and pulled the string light. She swung her leg on a stool and began reading the book. In California, there are only museums of what libraries once were. Now everything is digital. She read for many pages and the room was getting lighter. The storm was passing. She heard a knock on the door. Michael peered in.

"I have some ideas about that place," he said. Emily closed the book and put it back on the shelf. She followed him down the stairs and to his computer.

"I think it might be right here... New Orleans. It's only thirty minutes from here. The weather and type of location seems to fit it," Michael said. "There's some other places too that might be it..." he continued to say

Emily was too busy to notice what he was saying. It was it. This is where her mom might be. The pictures showed the busy urban neighborhood, vines growing wild along the fences. The French Quarter it was called was booming with music and food vendors. She could remember the smells. This had to be it. Could her mom be there? Is it fate why she ended up here?

"This place could be ruined by tomorrow," Michael said over her shoulder.