Calendar Girl Ch. 01

After some time, the young woman forced herself to stand. She should've been freezing but she still felt warm. Gritting her teeth, she at least counted that as a blessing. Slowly, tentatively, she made her way out of the forest. She had an idea of where she was and it was confirmed when she saw the little sign for the local park. Ten blocks away from her house. Two miles away from the club.

Had anyone seen her? Had she somehow known where to go last night? Even as she was? Tears and more threatened to come but she forced herself forward. Slowly. Thankful that it was the morning after Christmas, the young woman made her away to her home. Moving from house to house, watching for cars and open windows, she was surprised at how easy it was to avoid people.

Only when she reached her house did she realize she didn't have her keys. Or her cellphone. Or her purse. The panic was quickly settled when she remembered that she'd hidden a key the last time she'd gotten trashed with her friends. At their Halloween party, she'd forgotten everything at her friend's house and had to wait outside until Kelly realized she'd left her things.

Trish found the small rock in the back yard, lifted it and took the key from underneath. She wasted no time getting inside.

The young woman sobbed in the shower until the water ran cold. And, even then, cried harder when she realized she could barely feel how cold it was. How changed she was now. She roused herself when someone knocked on her door. Sniffling, she got out and wrapped herself in a towel. The face at the door was vaguely recognizable. She opened the door as far as the security chain would allow.

"Miss, I'm sorry," the man told her. He was young and clean shaven and earnest. "You forgot your cellphone in my car last night. I'm so sorry to have bothered you."

The man pushed the cellphone through the opening and turned to leave.

"Oh my god, thank you!" Trish yelled. "I'm... I'm sorry, I'm only wearing a towel or I'd open the door. I... should... oh, I'm really really sorry, I know how it sounds but I don't have my wallet. I can't pay you for this."

"Oh, no," the man said, waving his hands. "You don't need to pay me. I just hope you're okay. If you want, you could just leave a good review when you have a moment? With the driving service?"

"Absolutely! Thank you so much! You have no idea how happy I am." Tears rolled down the young woman's cheeks. She closed the door and collapsed, hugging her phone to her chest.

After a moment, she looked over to see she'd kicked her shopping bag from the other night. The calendar had fallen out and lay open on December, 2015. A large reindeer wearing a bright red and green Christmas sweater was the image above the month. Trish stared at it, slowly blinking her eyes. December 25th was outlined in a shaky, red circle. The young woman glanced at the date and then back up at the reindeer. She reached forward, pulling the calendar into her lap.

In the corner of the square for December 25th was a black circle. Below the square was a computer printed note: "Full Moon".

It all clicked for her. It felt ridiculous but, staring at the photo and the circled date with the note compared to what she could remember, nothing else made sense. It was impossible but she couldn't deny what had happened.

With a shaky hand, she turned the page to see a fluffy sheep wearing a funny hat above the calendar for January. January 24th was circled this time. A little description was printed in the bottom of the image: "January marks the end of the year of the Wooden Sheep!"

Trish's eyes slid off of the page and she stared into the distance, thinking of nothing. She knew she'd have to figure everything out soon but, for now, she just sat. And stared. Her hand idly rubbed her lower stomach, thumb playing over a single, white hair below her belly button.