When I try to remember something that happened long ago, the memory is sort of hazy. It isn't that it's difficult to see what happened, but it feels like I'm watching a movie produced in the year 2000 with crappy visuals.

I can see everything and everyone involved but I can't see them properly. Of course, I can't see myself either so it feels like I'm reading a novel written in the first person.

In Selene and Edith's case, it was an entirely different thing. It wasn't hazy or blurry. It was like they were watching a movie but rather than being behind a screen, they were actually with the actors on set.

Selene and Edith were standing on soft grass in what appeared to be a park with pretty pink and purple flowers and a couple of trees which housed several small birds. They could smell the sweet scent of grass and flowers. It felt so real.

"Where are we? Do you have any idea?" Edith asked Selene. The sudden outburst of bright colours caused her to squint her eyes in disgust.

"A garden close to my old house. I remember this used to be my favorite place in the world." Selene felt nostalgic.

She looked around the place she'd grown up. She could see other parents with their kids or just solitary adults walking their little dogs.

"I can't see myself or my mom. Where are we?" Selene said after looking around for a while.

"I'm not sure. But since the necklace brought us here, you'd be somewhere around. Hallo! Who's that coming out of that pond?" Edith pointed to a small pond where what appeared to be a little girl was drawing water from.

The little girl had fluffy brown hair which had been combed and trimmed into a neat afro. On closer inspection, Selene and Edith could see the purple band on her hair with several white pins seemed to be the only thing holding back the unruly hair.

The little girl was wearing a beautiful purple and white sleeveless sundress with dainty black shoes and clean cotton white socks.

She appeared to have been filling a small plastic jug with the pond water. When she was done, she covered it carefully. She turned around revealing her pretty face to Edith and Selene.

"Oh my gawd! Is that you? You're so pretty." Edith said gasping. She wasn't big on appearance but it was difficult for her to understand how the pretty little girl was Selene.

Selene couldn't believe she had been that pretty when she was younger. None of the pictures she'd seen had done her justice.

"I believe it is. I can remember that dress was my favorite. Are my eyes really that big? How is it even possible for my hair to look that good?" Selene blinked in shock.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's follow Young Selene. You were so fancy when you were younger." Edith said.

Indeed, Young Selene was fancy. She didn't run around like all the other kids at the park. She walked like she was a queen on her way to meet some emissaries. Her big brown eyes gave her an image of innocence(though those eyes had a hint of mischief).

"Will she see us? Or rather will I see me?" Selene wondered if the sentence was grammatically correct.

"No. We're just spectators. It isn't like a time machine. We're watching a memory." Edith said.

They followed Young Selene who was walking carefully so she wouldn't spill any of the water in the jug. She didn't walk for too long before she got her destination.

"Is that supposed to be a tea party? You've never struck me as a fancy girly girl." Edith sounded even more surprised.

"Well...I'm not the same person I was over ten years ago." Selene shrugged.

Young Selene stopped in front of an orderly arrangement of three dolls and two teddy bears. They were arranged in a circle on several paper napkins leaving a large towel for young Selene to sit at the end of the circle.

There were small doll sized tables with tiny pink teacups in front of each doll and a small napkin beside it(this probably served as a plate).

The whole thing was done in such an organized fashion that it was evident Young Selene had put a lot of effort into her pretend tea party.

"More tea, Duchess?" Young Selene asked a blonde doll in what she thought sounded like a posh voice.

Without waiting for an answer(which wouldn't have come), she poured some of the pond water into the tea cup in front of the doll.

Young Selene took her seat at the end of the circle. She also had a tea cup in front of her which thankfully was empty. She lifted the cup sticking out her pinkie with her small back completely straight.

"What was that, Mr Cuddles?" Young Selene asked the pink and white teddy bear opposite her.

She pretended to listen to the teddy bear speak for a few seconds before she replied hauntingly.

"Penelope won't be joining us today. I'm afraid we aren't on speaking terms right now." Young Selene rolled her beautiful brown eyes.

Edith wrinkled her nose and looked at Selene who was nothing like her younger self. Older Selene seemed amused by the young version of herself.

"Who is Penelope? Another doll?" Edith asked.

"Oh no. She was my best friend back then. I never spoke to her after my mother died." Older Selene replied.

They had to stop talking so they could hear Young Selene's pretty voice.

"Oh, Penelope was upset because Dylan asked me to share a biscuit with him. Quite silly and childish if you ask me. But I guess I can't blame her. She thinks he's the bees-knees with his fancy clothes. Lots of girls think so actually. They all say he has a cute butt." Young Selene snorted.

Edith snorted even louder.
"Cute. Butt?" She couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey! That was a big deal back then!" Older Selene flushed while she tried to hold back her own laughter.

Young Selene tossed her head proudly. She pretended to sip her own tea before returning it to the saucer.

"No, Ms Pebbles. I do not think Dylan is cute. He bores me with his silly voice. Not only was the biscuit soggy with his spit and sweat, he couldn't even make intelligent conversation. Can you believe he can't even spell 'irate'? How disappointing." Young Selene pouted.

Her small mouth made her look adorable. She blew some air on her teacup like there was hot tea in it.

"He isn't cute if you ask me. He has such boring eyes. Now if he had golden eyes, perhaps I might be remotely interested. Mom's eyes have golden flecks in it. I think she has the most beautiful eyes, don't you?" She said to her dolls.

They must have all agreed because Young Selene beamed happily at them. She didn't seem to find it weird that all her friends were dolls rather than kids her age.

"I don't like Penelope. I'm sure the only reason she's friends with me is because the boys in class always invite me for their birthday parties. She's a leech, that Penelope. I doubt if anyone even likes me. They only like me because of what they think they can gain from me. You know what they say? The love is so fake but the hate is so real." Young Selene said resentfully.

It was the first time they heard her voice crack a little. Despite how much she tried to pretend like it didn't bother her, she still seemed a little bothered.

Edith and Older Selene felt a pang of pity for the little girl who didn't seem to have any friends.

"Who cares though? I still have you guys. And I have mom. She's the only friend I need and she wouldn't use me to get invited to birthday parties." Young Selene smiled ruefully.

She clapped her hands like she wanted to shake off the bad vibes she felt. She smiled at her dolls. She had such a beautiful and captivating smile.

"You know, you kind of look like your old self when you smile in a certain way. I saw you smile at Laurence once. You looked like a different person." Edith commented.

Older Selene didn't know about that. She didn't even know she had a certain way she smiled.

"It's time for the appetizers." Young Selene said sweetly.

The most shocking thing happened next. Little pebbles which were all piled up in the center suddenly began to rise slowly. They arranged themselves neatly on the paper napkins next to the small tea cups.

"Selene Feather! I saw that!" An irritated voice said.

The two Selenes and Edith turned in the direction of the angry voice. Younger Selene's face flushed in embarrassment.

The angry voice seemed to be coming from a beautiful middle aged lady. The woman was dressed neatly in blue jeans and a black cotton blouse.

"Mom." Older Selene's eyes suddenly filled with tears. She'd never thought she'd ever see her mother again.

Tabitha Feather didn't even look like a mother. She looked a bit like her sister, Tianna but she was no where as elegant. She was more laid back since motherhood had made her softer.

"Saw what, mother?" Younger Selene asked in an innocent voice laced with extra honey and sweetness.

Tabitha Feather folded her arms across her chest with a no-nonsense expression on her face. She didn't buy her little girl's innocent expression one bit. Her brown eyes had golden flecks in it but they were nowhere near as golden as Benjamin's eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about! I saw you use your powers on those rocks." Tabitha hissed in a low voice.

Edith looked at Older Selene who wore an expression of sorrow and confusion.

"How old do you think you are?" Edith asked suddenly.

"About seven. Why?" Older Selene couldn't take her eyes off from her mother.

"You were able to use Telekinesis when you were seven?! Do you know what that means?" Edith's eyes were huge.

"Well....I did read that most Telepathers can't perform Telekinesis for over a hundred years." Older Selene shrugged.

"It's the toughest form of Telepathy. Controlling inanimate objects is completely different. No wonder you feel pain whenever you try to force your memories! I doubt any of the Telepathers we've met so far can lift the spell the 8 year old version of you cast on your mind." Edith looked at Selene with newfound respect.

Older Selene looked at her younger self getting reprimanded by her mother. Her younger version had a sulky expression on her face which surprisingly didn't make her look ugly.

Suddenly, the scene changed. Younger Selene, her many dolls and Tabitha Feather disappeared.

"What's going on?" Older Selene asked Edith.

"We've seen all we need to. I asked the necklace to show us what we needed, remember? It's going to show us something else now." Edith said.

She hadn't even finished speaking when the scene changed to a house's backyard. It was bit bare but the shrubs were well groomed.

Young Selene suddenly ran out of the house holding a novel which had obviously been read many times.

"The Story of Tracy Beaker. I was so obsessed with Jacqueline Wilson and her books when I was younger. I bet I read that book like eight million times." Older Selene sighed.

Young Selene sat on the chair in backyard, looking like the perfect image of a princess. She kept her eyes on the battered book for a few minutes.

Older Selene and Edith were beginning to think nothing would happen until a fat rat ran past Young Selene.

The little girl didn't even look up from her book but it seemed like she stopped the rat in his tracks.

The fat rat stood on its hind legs and walked backwards to where Young Selene sat.

"That was impolite. You could have hit me, you know." Young Selene glared at the rat who whimpered in fear.

She lifted the rat into the air and dropped it many times. The rat never hit the floor but it was obvious Young Selene was enjoying torturing the poor thing.

She dropped the rat finally. The poor thing tried to scamper away from the demonic child but Young Selene still wasn't done with it.

She allowed the rat reach the end of the backyard then dragged it back.

"I can smell your fear. Do you really think I'd hurt you?" Young Selene asked the rat.

"Selene Feather! What do you think you're doing?" A sharp voice snapped.

They had both been too busy watching Young Selene torture the rat that they didn't notice Tabitha Feather had crept up behind the little girl.

Young Selene froze. The poor rat ran off

"I'm waiting for an answer, young lady!" Tabitha snapped.

"It was just a bit of harmless fun. I was still going to let it go." Young Selene said sulkily.

"When? How long were you going to torture the thing? Five minutes? Ten? An hour?" Tabitha's face was stern and angry.

"I wasn't going to really hurt it. I didn't hurt it. Honest!" Young Selene protested.

"Indeed? Why did you attack that rat?" Tabitha asked her daughter.

"For fun?" Young Selene's brows furrowed.

"No. You did it because you could. You attacked it because you knew it was defenseless and wouldn't be able to do anything to you. Do you know what you are, Selene? Do you know what that makes you?" Tabitha asked grimly.

"No." Young Selene said in a small voice.

"It makes you a mean, selfish bully. Yes, you are a bully. What you did to that animal is despicable and disgusting. I'm very disappointed in you." Tabitha said coldly.

"I'm sorry." Young Selene said with her lower lip quivering.

"I don't think you understand the gravity of what you just did. I've watched you for weeks. Ever since your powers became stronger you've abused it by taking advantage of weaker creatures. You're becoming a tyrant and a power obsessed little girl. Would you like it if you were tossed around the way you tossed around that rat? Answer me!" Tabitha snapped.

"No." Young Selene's eyes filled with tears.

"Yet you didn't think it was wrong? It didn't occur to you that what you were doing to that creature was awful?" Tabitha asked.

"I just thought it was fun. I didn't mean to be spiteful." Young Selene sobbed.

Tabitha knelt so her eyes were level to her daughter's. Young Selene looked genuinely remorseful.

"Selene, when people are blessed powers just like you and I, it isn't so we can have fun and do as we please." Tabitha said in a firm but gentle voice.

"It isn't?" Young Selene asked.

"It isn't. I wouldn't talk to you like this if I didn't think what you were doing was wrong. You're not spiteful by nature but you can be cruel and insensitive. You have a lot of beautiful traits but you have many terrible ones as well. Look at me." Tabitha said.

Young Selene wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She looked at her mother, feeling mesmerized. It was obvious the little girl adored her mother.

"If you cannot use your powers of Telepathy to help those in need or to make the world around you a better place, then you do not deserve to have powers at all. You aren't blessed so you can oppress others. The world is already filled with so much darkness. Don't contribute to it." Tabitha said.

"I'm sorry, mommy. I won't do it again." Young Selene sobbed.

"I certainly hope not. You want me to be proud of you? Then be kind and not spiteful. You hear me?" Tabitha asked.

"Yes, mommy."

"Good girl. No TV or magic for a week. I'm letting you off lightly because I can tell you're genuinely sorry for what you did." Tabitha ruffled her daughter's hair.

She led the sorrowful little girl back indoors.

"I was awful." Selene shivered.

But the worst was yet to come.

The scene changed again. It didn't take long for Selene to realize they were inside her old house.

Young Selene was sitting in front of the large mirror in her mother's room. Tabitha Feather tried tame her daughter's wild hair.

"Keep still." She sighed.

"Sorrryyy. I'm just so excited! It's my birthday! We're going to watch a movie and have dinner." Young Selene giggled.

Tabitha smiled at her daughter, looking preoccupied and worried.

"I'm a bit uneasy about this, sweetie. Can't we just stay indoors instead? I'll bake you a lovely red velvet cake." She said.

Young Selene swerved. Her expression was filled with horror and shock.

"But mooooommmm! You promised! You said if I didn't use magic wrongfully for six months and if I did all my homework you'd let me watch the movie. You said so." Young Selene pouted.

"Yes, honey. I know I said so. I'm just not so comfortable, you see. I keep getting the feeling that we're being watched." Tabitha said tiredly.

She did look worried.

"Pooh! It's just one of those things. We'll be gone and back before you know it. Please mom. Pleeeeeaseeee." Young Selene said.

Tabitha Feather sighed sadly.
"I hope so. Alright, we'll go. But at the first sight of trouble, we're coming back home. You hear me?" She asked.

Young Selene squealed happily.

Edith turned to Older Selene to ask a question when she saw her friend's eyes filled with horror.

"What's wrong?" Edith asked.

"This is the day my mother died."

#M.M.💀🖤