PancaKe
14th December 2008, 10:40 PM
Well, I was going through my old files on my old old old computer; and came across this four chapter story that I think I might finish. It was posted years and years ago under... I think Charlie? or A Hidden Innocence? Or something. Either way, I can't remember- thats how long ago it was. :D
But; yeah... I guess I don't know what I was doing or am doing with this fic, so bear with me! I'll repost the chapters while I work on the next one. Ummmmm yeah. Anything else I should write? I don't know. Here's part one.
Part One
“What’s going on?” My eyes felt heavy, and it was hard to see in the darkness. My head throbbed as though I had been hit with something. Adjusting to the lack of light, I could make out various shadows moving around me. Trying to see what they were, I sat up.
Suddenly, lights flooded the area. Not expecting this, I was temporarily blind. Adjusting again, many different people with long white coats walked around me. Some held clipboards; others had their hands in the pockets. One woman wore thick glasses. They kept walking. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear any sound.
Come to think of it, I felt kind of funny. I tried to stand up, but I bumped my head hard on an invisible force. Reaching out, I felt the glass walls surrounding me, little holes in certain areas, probably to let air in. This was the first time I had began to feel scared.
Looking down at me, I discovered that the clothes I last remember being in had disappeared. Where had my pajamas gone? My favorite pajamas with the bunnies and bears weren’t there, and mum told me that clothes just don’t disappear.
I began to panic, and put my hands on my cheeks. Someone had stuck needles with tubes in my wrists, held by what looked a lot like sticky tape. The tubes were put through the glass box that I was in, and connected to different hanging bags that had different colored water in them.
Something was in my head too. I could just feel it now. I raised my hand and ran my fingers along part of my skull, and gasped as I found part of my hair missing. What was going on? There were things that felt like round band-aids, but they had wires coming out of them, and there were little tiny things that were sharp and stuck in there as well. I think they were needles.
I didn’t like being boxed up in a glass box. I didn’t know where I was, or who these people were around me. I was cold and frightened, and I felt alone. Angry, I hit the side of the box, thinking I could break it. The glass shook, and my hand stung. I nursed my hand close to my chest.
“She is making movements,” one of the people in the long coats said. The ones with the clipboards scribbled down notes, and one went over to a computer.
“Her reaction levels are high,” he called from behind the computer screen. “Attack levels are rising steadily, though not high enough to escape just as yet. Heart rate is faster than usual, but should be fine.”
“That’s good,” another one said, walking in the room. All of the people in coats turned to look at this man. He was tall, and the hair on his head was silvery gray, and wore the same clothes as everybody else.
“Oak. She has awakened,” the woman with the glasses told him.
He nodded. “Good, good,” he replied. “How long?”
“About five minutes,” the one with the clipboard answered.
What was going on? Who were they talking about?
The new man walked over to me, and bent down to be at my eye level. “Hello,” he said, in a baby voice. “Did you have a nice sleep?”
I opened my mouth to say something back, but too many questions were running through my mind. I couldn’t decide which to ask, so my mouth remained open, yet silent.
“Levels are down, everything is stable,” the person from the computer called.
“What’s the matter?” the man continued to ask, his voice becoming incredibly babyish.
“I’m not a baby,” I snapped, frowning.
“Increased heart rate, slightly.”
The man nodded again. He seemed to nod a lot. “Do you know what’s going on then?” he asked, this time normally. “Do you know where you are?”
I shook my head.
“Do you know what you are?” he asked.
What kind of question was that?
“Well then,” he said, straightening up, and facing the others, who had been furiously scribbling on their clipboards. “We will have to take the Charlie-Delta to the next level of testing, now that she is conscious.”
What was a Charlie-Delta? What did conscious mean? Whatever it was, I didn’t think it was good.
{}{}{}{}
“What’s happening?”
“She’s unstable!”
Voices were yelling everywhere. The lights were flickering, and dimming every moment. I was scared and confused. I didn’t know what was happening around me. Tears rolled down my face as I curled up, confused.
The people in coats, doctors as they had told me, ran around like crazy people. I don’t know if it was my fault or not. It probably was. They said that experiments could go wrong.
“Charlie-Delta,” the man with the gray hair called out to me. “Calm down!” He turned around from where he was standing, and approached me, holding the biggest needle I had ever seen in my life.
I shut my eyes tight and screamed, lashing out around me.
The whole room shook, and even with my eyes closed, I felt I had gone blind. The brightness that surrounded me was brighter than anything I had ever seen, and the heat that erupted from nowhere felt as if it would make me melt.
I stood up, and for the first time in my life, as I could remember it, broke out the glass crib of my own will. Opening my eyes slowly, the light had died down but flames rose high and the room filled with smoke. The doctors were running around still, this time, gathering papers and computer discs and important folders.
I turned and ran. Stopping to look back, the whole building was on fire. Too scared to do anything about it, I ran away.
{}{}{}{}
What is wrong with me?
Their eyes followed me, as I limped through their streets. The explosion had left me weak, injured, in need of help. They simply stared at me, standing back, as far away as possible. I didn’t understand what was wrong, because I had survived the incident.
The wires and tubes trailed after me as I made my way through. A few needles were still in place, in my wrist, in the sides of my head. I was used to them now, after many months, and couldn’t see what was so different about them. Didn’t lots of people get tested on?
That’s what they told me. They told me that it was perfectly normal, that everybody at some point in their life went through what I went through. They told me it was just my turn, and that others would get theirs, and others already had.
So why were they staring?
“Mummy, look at her,” a little boy cried, pointing his finger at me. I didn’t stop my pace. “She’s hurt!”
“Don’t look at her!” his mother shrieked. “Don’t go near her! She’s dangerous! She’s part of their experiment.”
I turned and looked at the small boy. His mother had her head turned away, trying to avoid my eye contact. I took a step towards the small boy, my bare feet dragging along the tar of the road. The boy stepped off the curb, one small step towards me, nervous.
I liked the striped shirt he wore. I had never seen one like it before. They always wore long white coats, and dark pants, and nothing else. His hair was lighter than any of the people’s hair I had seen in the place.
I liked his eyes the best. They were bright, chocolate brown, and they sparkled. They looked shiny and watery. I stared at them for a long time.
“You’re not wearing any clothes,” the boy told me, pointing. He was only a little bit taller than me.
“I don’t have any,” I answered, a bit embarrassed.
“Your hair is missing,” he told me, pointing to the part of my head where the needles were. “And you have pins in your head.”
“They’re needles,” I replied. “They told me they would make me stronger. That’s what they are for.”
The boy nodded.
His mother turned around and shrieked, seeing him so close to me. “Jimmy!” she screeched. She ran over and grabbed him in one arm, lifting him up. Pointing at me, she looked angry. “You.” She couldn’t seem to make her words come out properly; she kept on stopping and starting. “You, monster, you! Go! Get away from my son! Get away from me! You filthy creature, you!”
I stared up at her, confused. Was she calling me a monster? I didn’t think that was good.
“Go on! Get! Or… Or… Or I’ll call the police!” she continued screaming.
I looked at the boy. He looked worried. He moved his mouth, and I heard him whisper. “Run. The police will take you away. Run!”
I turned around, and running, left the boy and the screaming woman.
{}{}{}{}
The man known as Oak slammed his fist down on the desk. “I can’t believe this!” he cried, his face smoky and covered in ashes. “Who knows what could happen now? The whole damned country is at risk! What on earth will the bloody League say?”
“I think you’re overreacting,” the woman with the thick glasses said quietly, looking over at Oak from her seat in the corner.
Oak sank into his leather office chair, exhausted and defeated. “Ivy, dear Ivy, who knows what the League will think of this business. But if the four that are the league now, are still the league once Charlie-Delta matures, you and I will have to hide ourselves.”
Ivy sighed. “Oak, it will not be like that.” She pushed her sliding glasses up her nose. “For starters, we both know that that boy of yours, Ash, will easily defeat the league and knock out the current champion. Lance and Agatha are old and weary now; they are no threat to us. The youngest of the league is Lorelei, and for goodness sakes, that woman is almost twice my age. We do not have a young league on our hands to deal with. By the time this problem arises, we will not be dealing with the same people, but with a bunch of children who will listen to everything and anything we tell them, simply because we happen to be Professors.”
Oak laughed weakly at the thought. “True, how true,” he grinned. “But Ash is not stupid, he may not know much, but once he gets his nose into something, then he gets himself too far in. I would hate to hurt that boy.”
“You won’t have to,” Ivy replied. “After all, nobody is going to remember what has happened. By the time something flares up, you and I can just convince everybody that it’s a psychic pokemon phenomenon, or something along those lines. And what if nothing even flares up? Who knows? That could’ve been all that Charlie-Delta had in her?”
“The question is not what if something DOESN’T happen but what if something DOES,” Oak re-enforced. “We need to be prepared in case something does happen, not incase nothing does.”
“And so how do you propose we prepare for this, Mister Oak?” Ivy asked him, raising an eyebrow.
“We need to get after Charlie-Delta, obviously.” Oak sighed. “And it’s not going to be easy. With the majority of files destroyed, we have no idea of the capabilities she has. Because of this, we need to know what her capabilities are, and how to terminate them if anything arises.”
“By terminate do you mean…”
“It’s either that, or the league after us. And I don’t know which you would prefer, but if it’s the League then you can go and ‘fess up now.”
{}{}{}{}
I walked along, not looking back. Over the hills, over the streams, around towns and not through them. From what had happened in the last town, I had this vague idea that people would be scared of me, even though I didn’t think anything was wrong with me.
I followed the water. It was cool, and when I was thirsty I could drink it. And if it wasn’t too deep, I could put my feet in it when they were hot and tired. If it was too deep, I could fall in, so I had to be very careful. I didn’t know if I could swim or not, but I didn’t want to fall in.
The trees were nice and tall and dark green. I liked the way the tops of the trees moved backwards and then forwards. They looked like they would fall over. It was scary, watching them, but exciting. One minute they would be falling, straight for you, and it would look as if you would be squashed by a giant tree, and then the next minute, they would swing back in the other direction. I could stay and watch the trees all day.
My legs were sore and tired. I don’t know how long I had been walking for, but it had been a long while. I couldn’t see the city, or any cities or towns, or houses or people. I felt safer when there were no people around, staring at me, yelling at me, saying I was a monster and saying that I would be taken away by the police. I didn’t want to be taken away.
I sat down on the grass next to the water. I was tired. I sat close enough to dip my naked toes into the cool stream, but not too close. I really didn’t want to fall in.
My body was naked. I still had the needles in my arm and the things in my forehead. Should I take them out or should I leave them in?
The doctor had said to leave them in. They were helping me, they were going to make me stronger. I wanted to be stronger. The fire scared me. I thought I might die in that fire. It was so hot, and I was so little. If I was bigger and stronger, I wouldn’t have had to be scared of the fire.
I lay down on my back, and watched the trees. They were falling, falling, falling, and then off they went! Over to the other side! I giggled as I watched the dizzy trees, swaying. Watching the trees, my tiredness took over me, and I fell asleep happily.
{}{}{}{}
“Why are you naked, little girl?”
I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but the sound of this person’s voice woke me up. I opened my eyes, and forgot where I was for a moment. Then I remembered. The stream, the trees, away from people. I didn’t know who had said those words, so I turned around to see, and stared at the little creature in front of me, speechless.
“What are you?” I finally asked, trying to sound like a grown up.
“I’m Ricochet,” the creature answered. “I’m a Caterpie. What are you?”
I stared at the little Caterpie in front of me. I had never seen something like this. It was small, and green, and if you closed your eyes a little bit, it looked like it was hiding in the grass. It had a small thing sticking up on its head, and two big round eyes that stared at me.
“What are you?” Ricochet repeated.
“I don’t know,” I answered, forgetting all about sounding grown up. I had no idea what I was. “I think I’m a little girl, but I don’t know.”
“What happened to all your clothes?” Ricochet asked, his eyes looking softer somehow.
“I don’t remember,” I replied, trying to think. I didn’t even realize I was talking. “I don’t remember what happened to them. I woke up, and I was in a box and I had no clothes and…”
“Is that where you got the wires and needles from?” Ricochet questioned, pointing with the thing on his head to my arm.
I nodded.
“I think you need some clothes,” Ricochet announced. “You’ll freeze, being out here. Don’t you have parents? Or a home?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”
Ricochet sighed. “We’ll get you some clothes. I guess you’ll be staying out here for a while then, is that right?” I shrugged my shoulders again. “Do you have a name, girl? You know I’m Ricochet, right?”
I nodded.
“Do you have a name?” Ricochet asked.
“I don’t remember.”
“Did they call you anything at the place where you lost your clothes?” Ricochet asked.
I frowned, trying to remember. “They called me Charlie.”
~fin~
But; yeah... I guess I don't know what I was doing or am doing with this fic, so bear with me! I'll repost the chapters while I work on the next one. Ummmmm yeah. Anything else I should write? I don't know. Here's part one.
Part One
“What’s going on?” My eyes felt heavy, and it was hard to see in the darkness. My head throbbed as though I had been hit with something. Adjusting to the lack of light, I could make out various shadows moving around me. Trying to see what they were, I sat up.
Suddenly, lights flooded the area. Not expecting this, I was temporarily blind. Adjusting again, many different people with long white coats walked around me. Some held clipboards; others had their hands in the pockets. One woman wore thick glasses. They kept walking. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear any sound.
Come to think of it, I felt kind of funny. I tried to stand up, but I bumped my head hard on an invisible force. Reaching out, I felt the glass walls surrounding me, little holes in certain areas, probably to let air in. This was the first time I had began to feel scared.
Looking down at me, I discovered that the clothes I last remember being in had disappeared. Where had my pajamas gone? My favorite pajamas with the bunnies and bears weren’t there, and mum told me that clothes just don’t disappear.
I began to panic, and put my hands on my cheeks. Someone had stuck needles with tubes in my wrists, held by what looked a lot like sticky tape. The tubes were put through the glass box that I was in, and connected to different hanging bags that had different colored water in them.
Something was in my head too. I could just feel it now. I raised my hand and ran my fingers along part of my skull, and gasped as I found part of my hair missing. What was going on? There were things that felt like round band-aids, but they had wires coming out of them, and there were little tiny things that were sharp and stuck in there as well. I think they were needles.
I didn’t like being boxed up in a glass box. I didn’t know where I was, or who these people were around me. I was cold and frightened, and I felt alone. Angry, I hit the side of the box, thinking I could break it. The glass shook, and my hand stung. I nursed my hand close to my chest.
“She is making movements,” one of the people in the long coats said. The ones with the clipboards scribbled down notes, and one went over to a computer.
“Her reaction levels are high,” he called from behind the computer screen. “Attack levels are rising steadily, though not high enough to escape just as yet. Heart rate is faster than usual, but should be fine.”
“That’s good,” another one said, walking in the room. All of the people in coats turned to look at this man. He was tall, and the hair on his head was silvery gray, and wore the same clothes as everybody else.
“Oak. She has awakened,” the woman with the glasses told him.
He nodded. “Good, good,” he replied. “How long?”
“About five minutes,” the one with the clipboard answered.
What was going on? Who were they talking about?
The new man walked over to me, and bent down to be at my eye level. “Hello,” he said, in a baby voice. “Did you have a nice sleep?”
I opened my mouth to say something back, but too many questions were running through my mind. I couldn’t decide which to ask, so my mouth remained open, yet silent.
“Levels are down, everything is stable,” the person from the computer called.
“What’s the matter?” the man continued to ask, his voice becoming incredibly babyish.
“I’m not a baby,” I snapped, frowning.
“Increased heart rate, slightly.”
The man nodded again. He seemed to nod a lot. “Do you know what’s going on then?” he asked, this time normally. “Do you know where you are?”
I shook my head.
“Do you know what you are?” he asked.
What kind of question was that?
“Well then,” he said, straightening up, and facing the others, who had been furiously scribbling on their clipboards. “We will have to take the Charlie-Delta to the next level of testing, now that she is conscious.”
What was a Charlie-Delta? What did conscious mean? Whatever it was, I didn’t think it was good.
{}{}{}{}
“What’s happening?”
“She’s unstable!”
Voices were yelling everywhere. The lights were flickering, and dimming every moment. I was scared and confused. I didn’t know what was happening around me. Tears rolled down my face as I curled up, confused.
The people in coats, doctors as they had told me, ran around like crazy people. I don’t know if it was my fault or not. It probably was. They said that experiments could go wrong.
“Charlie-Delta,” the man with the gray hair called out to me. “Calm down!” He turned around from where he was standing, and approached me, holding the biggest needle I had ever seen in my life.
I shut my eyes tight and screamed, lashing out around me.
The whole room shook, and even with my eyes closed, I felt I had gone blind. The brightness that surrounded me was brighter than anything I had ever seen, and the heat that erupted from nowhere felt as if it would make me melt.
I stood up, and for the first time in my life, as I could remember it, broke out the glass crib of my own will. Opening my eyes slowly, the light had died down but flames rose high and the room filled with smoke. The doctors were running around still, this time, gathering papers and computer discs and important folders.
I turned and ran. Stopping to look back, the whole building was on fire. Too scared to do anything about it, I ran away.
{}{}{}{}
What is wrong with me?
Their eyes followed me, as I limped through their streets. The explosion had left me weak, injured, in need of help. They simply stared at me, standing back, as far away as possible. I didn’t understand what was wrong, because I had survived the incident.
The wires and tubes trailed after me as I made my way through. A few needles were still in place, in my wrist, in the sides of my head. I was used to them now, after many months, and couldn’t see what was so different about them. Didn’t lots of people get tested on?
That’s what they told me. They told me that it was perfectly normal, that everybody at some point in their life went through what I went through. They told me it was just my turn, and that others would get theirs, and others already had.
So why were they staring?
“Mummy, look at her,” a little boy cried, pointing his finger at me. I didn’t stop my pace. “She’s hurt!”
“Don’t look at her!” his mother shrieked. “Don’t go near her! She’s dangerous! She’s part of their experiment.”
I turned and looked at the small boy. His mother had her head turned away, trying to avoid my eye contact. I took a step towards the small boy, my bare feet dragging along the tar of the road. The boy stepped off the curb, one small step towards me, nervous.
I liked the striped shirt he wore. I had never seen one like it before. They always wore long white coats, and dark pants, and nothing else. His hair was lighter than any of the people’s hair I had seen in the place.
I liked his eyes the best. They were bright, chocolate brown, and they sparkled. They looked shiny and watery. I stared at them for a long time.
“You’re not wearing any clothes,” the boy told me, pointing. He was only a little bit taller than me.
“I don’t have any,” I answered, a bit embarrassed.
“Your hair is missing,” he told me, pointing to the part of my head where the needles were. “And you have pins in your head.”
“They’re needles,” I replied. “They told me they would make me stronger. That’s what they are for.”
The boy nodded.
His mother turned around and shrieked, seeing him so close to me. “Jimmy!” she screeched. She ran over and grabbed him in one arm, lifting him up. Pointing at me, she looked angry. “You.” She couldn’t seem to make her words come out properly; she kept on stopping and starting. “You, monster, you! Go! Get away from my son! Get away from me! You filthy creature, you!”
I stared up at her, confused. Was she calling me a monster? I didn’t think that was good.
“Go on! Get! Or… Or… Or I’ll call the police!” she continued screaming.
I looked at the boy. He looked worried. He moved his mouth, and I heard him whisper. “Run. The police will take you away. Run!”
I turned around, and running, left the boy and the screaming woman.
{}{}{}{}
The man known as Oak slammed his fist down on the desk. “I can’t believe this!” he cried, his face smoky and covered in ashes. “Who knows what could happen now? The whole damned country is at risk! What on earth will the bloody League say?”
“I think you’re overreacting,” the woman with the thick glasses said quietly, looking over at Oak from her seat in the corner.
Oak sank into his leather office chair, exhausted and defeated. “Ivy, dear Ivy, who knows what the League will think of this business. But if the four that are the league now, are still the league once Charlie-Delta matures, you and I will have to hide ourselves.”
Ivy sighed. “Oak, it will not be like that.” She pushed her sliding glasses up her nose. “For starters, we both know that that boy of yours, Ash, will easily defeat the league and knock out the current champion. Lance and Agatha are old and weary now; they are no threat to us. The youngest of the league is Lorelei, and for goodness sakes, that woman is almost twice my age. We do not have a young league on our hands to deal with. By the time this problem arises, we will not be dealing with the same people, but with a bunch of children who will listen to everything and anything we tell them, simply because we happen to be Professors.”
Oak laughed weakly at the thought. “True, how true,” he grinned. “But Ash is not stupid, he may not know much, but once he gets his nose into something, then he gets himself too far in. I would hate to hurt that boy.”
“You won’t have to,” Ivy replied. “After all, nobody is going to remember what has happened. By the time something flares up, you and I can just convince everybody that it’s a psychic pokemon phenomenon, or something along those lines. And what if nothing even flares up? Who knows? That could’ve been all that Charlie-Delta had in her?”
“The question is not what if something DOESN’T happen but what if something DOES,” Oak re-enforced. “We need to be prepared in case something does happen, not incase nothing does.”
“And so how do you propose we prepare for this, Mister Oak?” Ivy asked him, raising an eyebrow.
“We need to get after Charlie-Delta, obviously.” Oak sighed. “And it’s not going to be easy. With the majority of files destroyed, we have no idea of the capabilities she has. Because of this, we need to know what her capabilities are, and how to terminate them if anything arises.”
“By terminate do you mean…”
“It’s either that, or the league after us. And I don’t know which you would prefer, but if it’s the League then you can go and ‘fess up now.”
{}{}{}{}
I walked along, not looking back. Over the hills, over the streams, around towns and not through them. From what had happened in the last town, I had this vague idea that people would be scared of me, even though I didn’t think anything was wrong with me.
I followed the water. It was cool, and when I was thirsty I could drink it. And if it wasn’t too deep, I could put my feet in it when they were hot and tired. If it was too deep, I could fall in, so I had to be very careful. I didn’t know if I could swim or not, but I didn’t want to fall in.
The trees were nice and tall and dark green. I liked the way the tops of the trees moved backwards and then forwards. They looked like they would fall over. It was scary, watching them, but exciting. One minute they would be falling, straight for you, and it would look as if you would be squashed by a giant tree, and then the next minute, they would swing back in the other direction. I could stay and watch the trees all day.
My legs were sore and tired. I don’t know how long I had been walking for, but it had been a long while. I couldn’t see the city, or any cities or towns, or houses or people. I felt safer when there were no people around, staring at me, yelling at me, saying I was a monster and saying that I would be taken away by the police. I didn’t want to be taken away.
I sat down on the grass next to the water. I was tired. I sat close enough to dip my naked toes into the cool stream, but not too close. I really didn’t want to fall in.
My body was naked. I still had the needles in my arm and the things in my forehead. Should I take them out or should I leave them in?
The doctor had said to leave them in. They were helping me, they were going to make me stronger. I wanted to be stronger. The fire scared me. I thought I might die in that fire. It was so hot, and I was so little. If I was bigger and stronger, I wouldn’t have had to be scared of the fire.
I lay down on my back, and watched the trees. They were falling, falling, falling, and then off they went! Over to the other side! I giggled as I watched the dizzy trees, swaying. Watching the trees, my tiredness took over me, and I fell asleep happily.
{}{}{}{}
“Why are you naked, little girl?”
I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but the sound of this person’s voice woke me up. I opened my eyes, and forgot where I was for a moment. Then I remembered. The stream, the trees, away from people. I didn’t know who had said those words, so I turned around to see, and stared at the little creature in front of me, speechless.
“What are you?” I finally asked, trying to sound like a grown up.
“I’m Ricochet,” the creature answered. “I’m a Caterpie. What are you?”
I stared at the little Caterpie in front of me. I had never seen something like this. It was small, and green, and if you closed your eyes a little bit, it looked like it was hiding in the grass. It had a small thing sticking up on its head, and two big round eyes that stared at me.
“What are you?” Ricochet repeated.
“I don’t know,” I answered, forgetting all about sounding grown up. I had no idea what I was. “I think I’m a little girl, but I don’t know.”
“What happened to all your clothes?” Ricochet asked, his eyes looking softer somehow.
“I don’t remember,” I replied, trying to think. I didn’t even realize I was talking. “I don’t remember what happened to them. I woke up, and I was in a box and I had no clothes and…”
“Is that where you got the wires and needles from?” Ricochet questioned, pointing with the thing on his head to my arm.
I nodded.
“I think you need some clothes,” Ricochet announced. “You’ll freeze, being out here. Don’t you have parents? Or a home?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”
Ricochet sighed. “We’ll get you some clothes. I guess you’ll be staying out here for a while then, is that right?” I shrugged my shoulders again. “Do you have a name, girl? You know I’m Ricochet, right?”
I nodded.
“Do you have a name?” Ricochet asked.
“I don’t remember.”
“Did they call you anything at the place where you lost your clothes?” Ricochet asked.
I frowned, trying to remember. “They called me Charlie.”
~fin~