Once, up on a mountain, Lucy had lost her sense of direction. She’d come across a lady—only to discover that she’d been a witch in disguise. She’d trapped Lucy inside her home and had made her forget the moments she’d struggled in the wilderness.
But that had happened two years ago. It was December, and Lucy neared the end of her first semester at college. She sat in her dorm and studied for her finals.
Her roommate, Claire, burst inside. Her face turned red and she sucked in her breathed.
“Claire, are you all right?” asked Lucy.
“My grandma got lost in the dessert.”
Lucy lowered her jaw. “No way.”
“I… I could lose her, just like I lost my father in a motorcycle accident,” said Claire. “Can you help me find her?”
Lucy said nothing. Arizona had a lot of dessert. So Lucy and Claire could get lost.
“Please, Lucy.”
“Okay, yes.” Lucy stood up.
The two walked out of the dorm and away from the campus.
“Claire, do you know where your grandma is?” Lucy asked.
“W-well… I suppose…” Claire paused. “Wait a minute, didn’t you get lost in the wilderness two years ago?”
“Yes, but some witch wiped my memories and told me that she made me forget all that.”
Claire bent her eyebrows and tilted her head. “We’re eighteen. You sound like you’re five saying that.”
“Oh, shut up,” Lucy said. “I wouldn’t lie about that.”
“Lucy, stop it! We don’t have a lot of time!”
“But why do we have to find your grandma? Isn’t there a—”
“I can help,” said a woman.
Lucy and Claire stopped. The woman resembled the witch from two years ago. She had pale-blonde waves falling past her shoulders and wore dark lipstick.
“You… you’re not that woman I met in the mountains, are you?” asked Lucy.
“No,” the lady said.
“You look a lot like her,” said Lucy.
“Perhaps, I’m just a doppelgänger,” the woman said. “Anyway, my name is Miss. Christie.”
Claire turned to Lucy and said, “Lucy, I don’t think we should trust her.”
“I can help save your granny tonight,” Miss. Christie said.
“Are you sure?” asked Claire.
“Positive,” said Miss. Christie.
Miss. Christie texted on her phone.
“Lucy, we need to go.” Claire grabbed Lucy’s arm.
Lucy turned to Miss. Christie. Miss. Christie held her palm up. Light glowed inside it. Lucy gasped. “Miss. Christie, you lied to us.”
Miss. Christie glared at Lucy.
“You’re not Miss. Christie. You’re Miss. Blackburn, the same person who wiped my memories.”
“Lucy, how could you!” Miss. Blackburn held her hand up. “I wiped your memories once. I can do it again.”
Lucy and Claire screamed.
“Leave them alone!” an old woman grasped Miss. Blackburn’s shoulders and knocked her down.
“Grandma?” Claire asked.
“Take that, and that.” The elder lady hit Miss. Blackburn with her purse.
A bunch of cops nearby grabbed Miss. Blackburn and arrested her.
“Grandma.” Claire hugged the old lady. “I thought I’d never see you again. Are you okay?”
“Of course, Claire. What made you think I was—”
“I got a text saying that you were lost in the dessert.”
“Oh no, I wasn’t.”
The two let go of each other.
“What are you doing here?” asked Claire.
“I was going to visit you,” the grandma said.
“Where’s mom?” Claire asked.
“She’s coming,” the grandmother said.
Lucy introduced herself to Claire’s grandma. The three went back to the campus.
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