Alicia Gonzale: A Short Story: Alicia Gonzales '

I shot up in bed, still feeling the rapid thundering in my chest. My neck was drenched in sweat. I felt chills down my spine as it instantly cooled. I looked around my room – empty, dark, and quiet. I felt relieved, yet overwhelmed with sadness. This dream occurs more and more often as I get older. It starts off in a child’s bedroom in a small apartment. I can smell the smoke and see myself as a child. I am crying and screaming for “Mommy!” There was no fire in the room, but I could see dark air coming through the crack of the door. She, the child version of me, is scared and cannot see anything but darkness. “There’s a fire!” She screams. “Somebody help me!” A lamp falls over from the nightstand and begins to light up in flames. It covers

Their daughter is twenty-five years-old. She was a Finance and Economics major at the University of Barcelona, and is currently a Project Manager at a very prestigious law firm. The reason why I am telling you this is because you both look exactly alike.

I did some research. You both have the same birthdate and were adopted. I am not sure where you were born, but Alicia Gonzales (cc’d to this e-mail) was born in London, England.

I hope that you two will be able to connect and communicate. Alicia is very interested in talking to you.

Best,

Amelia Taylor

It seemed somewhat legitimate. However, I ignored the e-mail due to the vast amount of messages I have been receiving lately. I continued on with my life. I finished my work day, went to the gym, went home, and fell asleep while eating dinner on the couch. I woke up in the middle of the night – confused. I dreamt that I hugged my childhood self. This time, she spoke to me. She called me “Sis.” I wanted to ignore that e-mail, but it got to me. I reached over the couch and grabbed my laptop. I began the response to Amelia’s e-mail.

SUBJECT: RE: URGENT: PLEASE READ KELLY PARKER

MESSAGE:

Hi Amelia,

I apologize if this seems too blunt, but can you provide me with images of Alicia? I am curious to know how similar we

Nerves, I guess. I just had this gut feeling that it wasn’t going to be a perfect meeting. Her flight would arrive at 10:00 AM at Logan Airport. I told her I would pick her up. I arrived at 9:00 AM and waited for her at the arrival section. We had a few hours to talk and get to know each other before our press conference. With the upcoming novel, my agent decided it would be best to promote the book by documenting and showcasing the first time we meet. I saw her, as I lost my train of thought. “KELLY!” She screamed and ran to me. We hugged… and eventually cried. It was nice. It felt right – like home. After we cried and got ourselves together, we headed to Boston Common. We walked around and talked about her flight, our childhood, and more experiences. We both were extremely excited for this book, but also afraid of losing our personal privacy. However, Alicia understood that it was one of my dreams to publish a novel one day and it was our story to tell. Hours had passed and 3:00 PM was approaching. We headed to the Copley area, where the press conference was being held at the Boston Public Library. Alicia and I would both present novel, alongside Amelia. Reporters and others in the audience would be able to ask