In which Bill reads some of the stuff about his enrichment class and where his sleep is interupted.
Who Was I
By: Annette MacGregor
My hand was on the door knob when I felt it turning in my hand.
I panicked and tried to turn to run away...

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Part 18   Tuesday evening (7-Nov-06)

"Hi Becky, I got a pile of info from the School Board."

"Is there much about your class and such?"

"A bit, I've not gone over it in great detail as yet, but I also got lucky on a contact!"

"Really?

"Yes, the Superintendent's assistant's mom was my third grade teacher! Not only that, she still lives around here and is willing to talk to me!"

"That's great Bill! Maybe we'll finally find something! Anything else? If not, I've gotta hit the hay early, I've got an important presentation tomorrow."

"That's all Becky. I'm just a bit excited about this! I think I'll go read a few pages before coming to bed, if you don't mind?"

"No, go ahead Bill."

# - # - # - # - #

I wonder, should I read through this stuff from the earliest forward, go backward, or jump around. Let's look at that enrichment course! That's different anyway. Okay. Hmmm. Let's Google this guy's name, it's different enough that maybe there's something there. Guess not. That just means there's nothing recent. Oh well, it was a thought. Syllabus.

[Author’s note: The following is what Bill read:]

Studies have shown that underachieving students tend to perform better when receiving instruction in very small groups and when encouraged by their peers. As we've identified one individual who meets the criteria for intelligence and lack of achievement he is a good candidate for form of training. As he has two very close friends the three would make an outstanding study team, and as such, I'm willing to spend time with them twice a week to help the individual, and his teammates, achieve the maximum they can. As the methods of this training require that all of the very close friends participate, I must insist that all three sets of parents agree for this class to go forward. This course of study will likely extend across several years. It is expected that improvements in their coursework should be observable within three months of the beginning of this course of training. This improvement should continue until the subjects have reached their maximum potential. A side effect of the training will be that the subjects shall get to know each other better than they currently do, and work better as a team. These training techniques have been used successfully at several other schools in other districts.

Wow, that's some description. But, the more I look, the more I wonder. He really doesn't say what he's going to do, just the expected outcome. Interesting. But, my parents signed off on it as did the other two sets of parents apparently. Perhaps there was more given verbally. Apparently some of his claims were not all smoke. I wonder if we can find out more about him and his training techniques.

I wonder what Ruth's up to. I see she's still got her computer logged in.

 >Hey kiddo. What's up?

 >Not a whole lot dad. Just this thing they call studying.

 >LOL - Got a name for you to look up, if you get a chance some time.

 >Oh? Who's this?

 >Some sort of shrink back when I was a kid. I've got a few pieces of paper written by him, but can't find anything on Google.

 >Okay, I can check with my prof and maybe some of the old journal indexes. What's his name?

 >It's Ulrich Pfister. And apparently he's a Doctor of some sort.

 >Okay dad. Not sure when I'll be able to check on it, but I'll let you know what I find out, when I do.

 >Thanks. I'll let you get back to your work and I think the old man will hit the hay.

 >Night dad.

Well, I hope she finds something, but I really should get some sleep.

# - # - # - # - #

Mom was asleep, and I was supposed to be reading, but I remembered the dress in the other room from a previous trip! So, I took the secret passage out the back of my bedroom to the downstairs utility room. When I got there, I carefully listened to the door before sneaking it open. So far there was nobody around. As I headed for the stairs, I tried to remember where the creaky steps were so I could get by without making too much noise.

I got up the stairs and eased open the door. I sure was glad granny kept all of the doors well taken care of. No creaks there. Then, I eased the door shut before giving a sigh of relief. It'd be better now, with the door shut. You could never hear anything through the walls in this house, and I'd only heard things when I got up next to the doors, so I figured I was pretty safe and walked more normally up the short steps into the room proper.

I only hoped the dress was still there. I opened the wardrobe to look. And gave a sigh of relief! There was MY dress! I quickly shucked my sneakers, socks, shorts and t-shirt, and took out the dress. I so loved the bright pink velvet bodice and the light pink puffy sleeves. I picked up the dress, and lifted it over my head to let it slide down my body. I poked my arms through the sleeves, and reached around back for the zipper. Yes, it still fits! Now are there any shoes I can fit. I looked around the bottom of the wardrobe, and there were a couple pair. I grabbed a pair that seemed to match the pale pink of the lower gown. I was a bit nervous at the height though. Maybe with the height I'd not trip over the bottom of the gown. I got them on, but was kinda wobbly - they felt really funny on my feet. Like my toes were getting squished. And I kept feeling like I was going to fall down. I walked over toward the other door clonking along. So far I'd not tripped. I wanted to see myself in the big mirror in the next room.

My hand was on the door knob when I felt it turning in my hand. I panicked and tried to turn to run away, and my shoes caught in the bottom of the dress and I went down. I curled up in a ball with my hear pounding. The door opened slowly, and then I heard. "Why who is this young lady? Is that you Leslie?"

I peeked out to see Aunt Rachel standing there. She didn't look angry so I said "Hi Aunt Rachel. I fell down."

"So I see. Well young lady, you really should get up, but why don't you take off those shoes first and be careful to not hurt the dress."

I looked around a bit sheepishly wondering why I wasn't being yelled at.

"Come on now young lady. Let's get up." She reached down with her hand. "There you go. Now, where did you put your other cloths?" she said as she looked around. "Oh, that’s very good. I’m glad you folded them so nicely." Well, if you reach down on each side of the dress, you can pick it up a bit so it doesn't drag on the ground. Let's go next door, so you can see yourself in the mirror."

I followed along, not really sure where things were heading. I'd been so sure I'd get into trouble for what I was doing, and here was grandpa's sister being so nice to me. It was so confusing. "Now Leslie come and stand here, in front of the mirror. Let me show you something you probably didn't know about the mirror." She reached out, and slide something aside and there was a handle there, she pulled it out, and there was another mirror! Like how neat is that. "Now, if you carefully walk over here, I'll show you how to open the other one."

"There's another? Why three mirrors?"

"Yes there is, and once we get it out you'll be able to see why. If you push this piece of the woodwork away from the mirror, you'll see the other handle. Well grab it and give it a little pull. It'll be hard at first, and then should come out easily." She paused as I did this. "Okay slow now. Watch the mirror. When you see the mirror all the way out, look for where the wood frame changes color. There, see that?" She asked and I nodded. "You can move the mirror back and forth a bit now. Now, come and stand here." She indicated a spot and when I was there, she adjusted both of the mirrors a little. "Okay now turn to the left and right and look at all three mirrors."

"Oh wow, I can see my back! That's neato Aunt Rachel!"

"Yes it is isn't it? There are a lot of interesting things hidden here and there throughout the house. Your grandpa and grandma had a lot of fun thinking of them and working with their carpenter to put them in. I think I know them all but I'm not sure. As to what you can see. That was the intention. Sometimes a lady needs to be able to see her back to make sure everything is just right. Like, if she's wearing a bonnet, the ribbons need to fall down the middle of her back." She stepped back, and motioned for me to turn around slowly. Well, that gown would need to be hemmed if you were going to wear it to a party. Even with those shoes you picked out, which by the way were the ones that went with the dress, it would have been needed."

I stood there, not sure what I should do or say.

"Don't look at me like that Leslie. I'm certainly not going to hurt you! These old gowns haven't been worn in at least 15 years... Since your aunts grew up. But, if you want to wear that, we'll need to take care of a few things. Did you leave your unders on?" At my nod, she continued. "Well, you probably need a few other things to make that dress really comfortable. Let's see if there's anything in the other room. There just might be." she said as her voice trailed off. She turned and strode off to the room I'd been in before. I guessed I'd better follow her, so I picked up the bottom of the gown like she'd told me and followed her. By the time I got there she somehow had pulled what looked like a drawer out of the wall. "I thought she might have left something here." I looked at her wondering who and what she was talking about. "One of your cousins used to wear that dress too, when she was small enough. I thought she might have left a few unders and here we are. If you'll take off the gown, you can put some of these on, while I tack up the hem on the gown so you don't trip over it." She waited for me to get out of the gown. "Go ahead. I've seen you and most of your cousins in a lot less than what you'll still have on, I assure you." I was nervous, and turned away, but I was kinda proud that I could get to the zipper and get out without having to ask for help. I'd gotten myself into places I couldn't get out of before. Comes from not planning ahead I guess. Well I handed her the gown and she handed me a pile of clothing. I guess she'd gotten it out of the drawer while I was getting the gown off. "Put those on, and come see me in the other room." She took the gown, and went back next door.

I looked at the pile, not knowing what it all was for. Well, one piece I could guess. I'd seen my mom in a bra once, and figured this thing must be one. So I looked at it, and figured out how to get it on with a few miss moves along the way. These looked like long socks. I could handle socks! I wonder what this dress like thing was for. It had little straps of its own. Maybe it was a nightgown. Though I couldn't figure out why she’d want me to wear one. But I wiggled into it. I got my head through one of the straps by accident once and had to work it off and then realized it must be backwards ‘cause it felt kinda funny, like when you get your unders on backwards. When I pulled my arms back in through the straps and squirmed my way around and put them back through, it felt better, and I noticed a little bow like thing that was in the middle. Well, that's the stack. Now to go see what Aunt Rachel was going to do next. This slippery thing sure felt soft against my skin! I wonder what it's called. I walked into the room, and said "I think I got it all Aunt Rachel."

She looked up from where she seemed to be doing something to the dress. "Okay, I've tacked the hem up just a bit. If you're going to be wearing it much, we'll have to do a better job." I looked at her in surprise at this. "Well come on young lady. Let's see how it goes. Raise your hands." So, I did, and she lifted the gown over my head. It was so much easier with someone to help! She even pulled up the zipper. Okay, now walk over to the mirrors and take a look."

"It's not much difference Aunt Rachel?"

:"No, not now, but if you wore that dress for a few hours you'd notice the difference." She beckoned me over and then handed me these slipper like shoes. "Try these on Leslie, I think they'll fit and you'll find them easier to walk in."

I slipped them on. They were sorta like my moccasins but were sorta white rather than brown. I walked around on them and they seemed okay to me. When I looked back at Aunt Rachel, she was holding a hat. It had a really wide brim, and pink ribbons that matched my dress. I rushed over to her hoping she'd let me wear it too.

"Slow down dear. The hem really isn't in that strongly, if you catch it, you'll probably rip the dress. Now, let's see how this looks." She put the hat on my head off to one side a bit and then arranged the ribbons down my back. They sorta tickled hitting my shoulders. "Now dear don't fidget so. Go ahead now and walk over to the mirrors and take a look."

I carefully walked over not wanting to hurt anything. I really couldn't wait to see how I looked. "Ooooh I love it." I said twirling around to see myself from all sides.

"Yes, I think you look very nice my dear. Come along now." She held her hand out, and I went to her. I figured that she was going to make me get undressed now. I took her hand, and she turned. Not toward the other room like I'd expected, but out toward the hall.

"Noooo" I screamed

# - # - # - # - #

I sat up suddenly wondering what had happened, and then realized it had just been a dream, and I hadn't actually screamed. Talk about vivid. Could all of that been really true? It's not like most dreams I'd had so full of details and they were all still there. I looked over and luckily Becky was still asleep. I got up, and grabbed my dream diary. I figured I'd best get as much detail down as I could while it was still fresh, but somehow I didn't think I'd be forgetting that dream any time soon!

After I wrote down my recollections, I sat on the sofa thinking about the dream. Was much of it real? It really was Aunt Rachel in the dream. I knew that. And, the dress was the one I'd vaguely remembered before. But, the rest of that, I wondered how much was really true. Wait, I remember that Aunt Rachel used to refer to my sister, could I have been the sister she was referring to? No, that just wasn't possible was it? I looked down at myself, trying to picture myself as a kid in a dress and it just didn't work.

What a strange dream. It merges pieces from reality like a real one does, and other bits I don't recall. The problem is that most of it is verifiable. Do I want to verify it? Wow. I can't see how this was triggered by my session Monday. I wasn't even with the same side of the family in that. And I was older here.

Well, best try to get back to sleep. Such a strange dream. I wonder what it all means.

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To Be Continued… Sounds like a strange class and what about that dream. Did it reflect something that really happened? Was it something that his mind made up, perhaps triggered by some other event, even something on TV? Should he let himself get sidetracked finding out, or should he keep moving forward to find out what happened to his memories?
 
Author’s Note: Thanks for all of your comments! They really help me, and encourage me to keep going on this story.