Shepherd Of Fire

(Chapter 8)

I laughed at Matt's cheesy joke. We were on our way to town. Matt was going to take care of some stuff while I went and wandered around town.

"See, I told you I wasn't good at telling jokes." Matt said.

When we started our small trip, I asked him if he knew any jokes. He had said he knew some, but they weren't good and he wasn't good at telling them. I insisted that he tell me at least once and he finally gave in.

"It made me laugh, didn't it?" I said and grinned at him.

"Yea, I guess so." he said and smiled back at me. There was a small silence until he spoke again. "Janice, I'm sorry if it seems that I'm insisting or intruding into your business but I was wondering, have you been able to remember anything?"

I looked over at him and saw that he was avoiding eye contact with me. He would look down at where his feet were leading him or into the sunny sky, anywhere but at me.

"Matt," I said and he turned to look at me, "I don't mind you asking me. It actually comforts me to know that you actually care about me when you could care less. And to answer your question, yes, I have remembered something. I've remembered how my parents look like, though I haven't remembered their names."

"You remember your parents?"

I nodded and looked over at him. "I dreamt about them some days ago." I said.

"That's great news, Janice. It's a huge improvement that you can remember people as important as your parents." he said.

I nodded. "Yea, it is. I really want to remember who that man is, though. I just know he's important in my life. If he wasn't, why would I keep dreaming of him?"

"Yea, that's a good point." Matt said.

We finally got into town and Matt turned to me. "Alright I should be done in about half an hour, an hour tops. If it starts to get dark, just go over to Cruven's. We'll leave from there."

I nodded in understanding. "I'll meet you in a bit."

***

I was heading over to Cruven's place when I saw a familiar face. It was Bernard and he was walking up to me. It had been two weeks since I first met him and we would talk whenever I came to town. He seemed to be a nice guy.

"Hey Janice." Bernard said as he came up to me.

"Hey." I said and smiled at him.

"How've you been?"

"Good. Just living the usual day to day life."

"Pretty boring."

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Bet you'd like to get put of here, huh?"

"Maybe, I mean first I'd have to remember about myself."

"I know how to get out of here." Bernard said.

"What?" I asked seriously and in disbelief.

"You heard it. I can get us out of her. Both of us. You and I." He stated rather seriously. I looked at him, shocked. "Would you go with me? It'd just be us, though."

I bit my lip thinking about this. Do I want to leave? Would I be willing to leave Matt behind just to go back to the real world?

"I don't know Bernard." I said nervously.

"Come on, Janice," he said and took my hands in his, "we can get out of here. You and I. And in the real world we can start a new life, regardless if you remember your past or not."