Simulacrum Part III

This story was written for the Chiaroscuro Writing Extravaganza - Simulacrum event. It is a sequel to Simulacrum Part II by Kwanatla. As always, enjoy!



Simulacrum - Part III



  Nadia looked around in the house. On the first floor, there was a kitchen, dining room, living room, and bathroom. She went up the stairs and saw two bedrooms and another bathroom. Her mother indicated which bedroom Nadia should use. Nadia took her luggage, put it in the room, and looked around.

  A bed stood in one corner, and there were some drawers nearby. In another part of the room, there was a desk and a chair. One wall had a window, and Nadia decided to look through it to see if there was anything of interest to see.

  The window was at the front of the house, overlooking the street that the taxi had stopped on. Although she had not noticed it before, the other side of the street had a park, and she could watch what was going on there. There was a pond with a path going around it, and benches stood at intervals along the path.

  Nadia saw some ducks swimming in the pond, and she saw a young man jogging along the path. A couple also went by, walking a pair of dogs. A man sat on one of the benches, reading a newspaper and glancing up occasionally to look at the houses on the other side of the street.

  As Nadia watched, she noticed something unusual about the man with the newspaper. Sometimes, after looking up at the houses, he would look down, take out a pencil, and start writing something down on a page of the newspaper.

  Soon Ms. Stephanov called Nadia to come eat. As the two of them ate, Nadia again tried asking about what was going on, but to no avail. She still could not find out why this whole situation began in the first place. She finished her meal and went back to her room.

  Nadia spent some time reading a book that had been packed, and then it was time for her to go to bed. She did this rather reluctantly, knowing the possibility of another nightmare. When she was finally in bed, sleep took a long time in coming, but finally it came.

  Nadia woke up. Looking out the window, she saw that it was already morning. Glad that she had not had any nightmares the previous night, she went downstairs and ate breakfast. After that, she went again to her room. When she got there, she happened to look out the window.

  The man on the bench was there again, this time with today's newspaper. He glanced up from reading to look at the houses, and Nadia got the odd feeling that he was looking straight at the house she was in. He looked down and wrote something on the newspaper. Nadia began to wonder if the man was watching her and her mother for some reason, or if it was just coincidence.

  Then Nadia saw a mail delivery truck drive along the street, stopping at every mailbox to put letters into it. She heard her mother calling her. "Nadia, go check the mail."

  Nadia went down the stairs, opened the front door, and went outside. She noticed again how hot it was. She found a few envelopes in the mailbox and brought them inside.

  When she brought them inside, her mother looked at them. "This one is for you," she said, holding out one of the letters. Nadia took it, opened it, and read what was inside.



Dear Nadia,

  I'm sorry about the confusion you probably are feeling. There have been some complications, but I hope to see you soon.

                          Love,

                          Dad

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Thanks for reading!