Rain drizzled from the darkened evening sky, as a lone man and his dog walked through the park. He grumbled quietly to himself while the large black lab sniffed about, tugging on his leash. The disgruntled man tugged at the collar of his raincoat tighter, mumbling.

"'Benji needs a walk' she says. 'A little rain hurt no one' she says. Why doesn't she walk the dog them? Meanwhile, I'm missing my show for this. Bah!"

The lab barked, looking at his owner who grumbled more, "I'm in no mood to chase squirrels right now, Ben. Do your business and let's get out of this miserable weather. It's wet enough to drown a fish!"

He glanced at the sky overhead momentarily, hoping to see a clear up, listening to the low rumble of thunder. Quite suddenly, Ben's hair stood on end, as did his master's, as static electricity took hold of them. The dog growled, then whimpered. The man shook his head; "It's nothing, Ben. Let's go home."

Suddenly lightening sizzled through the air and a bolt hit a near by hill. The man nearly jumped out of his skin as the dog yelped, tugging to run away. His heart racing, the man took a haggard breath, trying to calm his frazzled nerves and terrified dog. "Heel, Ben! It's all right, it's over. I think now would be a very good time to go indoors."

Quite by surprise the dog instead started sniffing in the direction of the hill, and then began barking in frenzy, tugging hard, dragging his surprised owner to the hill.

"What's gotten into you, Ben?!" But before he could say more, Ben broke loose, dragging the leash behind him. The man rushed after him, calling after him. He suddenly stopped short, his face paling at what he saw.

Ben was sniffing at a prostrate girl, lying face down on the grass, her dark hair spread about her, shimmering with rainwater, as did her clothes.

"Great Jehoshephat!" was all the man could say as he knelt beside the girl, checking her pulse. It was there, if not barely. Wordlessly, he grabbed his cell phone, Good dog," he muttered absently to Ben as he dialed.

"Hello, 911? I've got an emergency! I'm in the park, near the bridge. There's a girl here. I think she's been struck by lightening!"

* * *

Lights flashed by overhead, roll of metal wheels, a rush of urgent voices.

"She's in shock…No sign of burns…possible dehydration…monitor her pulse…I'm getting a rapid one…Nurse! Get the emergency room ready!…Did he leave his name?…possible head injury…"

The movement stopped after banging through a set of doors and a light shone brightly overhead. Again the buzz of voices, "2 cc's of…heart rate growing…I need those thermal blankets, stat… brain waves growing erratic…possibly in her late teens…the police found something…missing nearly six years…poor girl…get those reporters out of the halls!…Doctor, her eyes!"

Groggily her eyes opened slightly. Everything was blurry, nothing staying focused. She was vaguely aware of the whirl of people around her and had trouble focusing on any one thing. One face loomed before her and squinted. Vaguely she could make out a woman's face but it merged with another, unearthly pale face that smiled gently then it was blurred again. The woman was trying to talk to her, "You're all right…remember anything…can you hear…"

"W-here…" her dry throat croaked and she coughed, feeling something warm ooze from her mouth.

"She's coughing blood…3 cc's! Get me an oxygen mask, stat!" A plastic thing was shoved over her face and she could feel clean air rush into her lungs, as she grew drowsy again.

"We have another…head injury…possible dehydration…struck by lightening…Damn! What the hell's on going on? …found near park…could be mid to late twenties…no missing case for this one…"

Slowly, without knowing why, she turned her weary her head in the direction of the new sound of a wheeling bed as it was brought in near by. Shadows scurried about the bed, as she looked on, unable to really see who lay on the bed. All she could tell was it seemed to be a man.

"Better call her family…no known relatives…seems to be a John Doe…no record at all…doctor, he's going into neural shock…10 cc's…we're losing him! …Clear!" A large thump sounded, "She going under…"

Slowly her eyelids closed, as she became oblivious to everything.

* * *

She remembered waking, seeing faces she did not recognize: a man, tears of happiness in his eyes, a woman smiling, a young boy, perhaps 7 or 8, a look of excitement and wonder on his face. The man kept saying a name she did not know and the woman seemed to burst with happy laughter. Groggily she just looked on, unknowing or uncomprehending. Soon, she fell asleep again, feeling for some reason a deep sense of loss.

* * *

Weeks later, she was released, told to check back from time to time, and so on. As she got ready in her room, she could hear the man and woman talking with the doctor; "She doesn't know us. She won't say anything and the look in her eyes seems haunted."

"Give her time. This has probably been a traumatic time for her. She's been missing for six years and who know what's happened in that time. The fact that she doesn't seem much older then eighteen though is rather alarming. She should, in fact be around twenty-one, but her body shows signs of only aging three years. It's most peculiar. Perhaps…"

"No, doctor," the man said firmly, "I will not subject my daughter to any tests. She's not a lab rat. What happened to her, we may never know. But she's coming home with us now. We'll show nothing has changed."

"No, I'm afraid that'll be impossible," the doctor said sadly, "Something has changed and she is knows it though she says nothing. She may never be the same girl you have known. Have her see this psychiatrist. She'll be able to help and maybe, in time, she'll speak again." Tenderly he spoke, "Be careful around her. This amnesia is strange and it will make everything that may have been familiar at one time seem frightening. Don't add any pressure to her healing. Time will eventually heal whatever pain she has suffered."

Later, the small family joyfully led her through a throng of reporters, camera's and flashing bulbs.

"How does it feel to be back? Can you tell us where you've been? How is it you don't aged?" The questions kept rolling at her as the man pushed through, holding his arm around her protectively, "We're glad she's back. We'd just like to go home, please. Excuse me."

Eventually they got to a green car and quickly got in, even as camera's flashed outside. She held her arms about her protectively, shivering. Somehow, the car got through the throng and they made their way down the streets.

Not long after, they reached a large beige colored house. After parking, she slowly got out of the car, holding the jacket she'd been given tightly about her. A large white hairy dog barked from the garage. The boy ran laughing to the dog, releasing him. It loped to her, jumping up on her. Frightened by it, she drew away quickly. The dog seemed confused but the boy was already calling him away. There seemed to be a sad twinge in the man's eyes as he put an arm about her, leading her to the house, followed by the woman. Once inside, she was brought up a set of stairs to a small room filled with wonder. There were stuffed animals and toys on shelves, a dressing table filled with pictures on the mirror, posters on the walls, and a cozy bed stood just near the door. A brightly wrapped present lay on the bed.

"We thought a homecoming present would be nice," the woman spoke, "I've kept the room the way you always liked it." There seemed to be a choked sound in those words, tears brimming in her eyes as she hugged the girl. The man came and hugged them both. Surrounded even by this love, she was still confused and a strange deep sorrow, a loss still filled her, even as the man spoke.

"Welcome home, Sarah."

* * *

There! That should appease the hungry crowd. I swear, I think some are howling for my blood ^^; I know I've been slow but I do have a job that keeps me 80% busy and hopefully a life that does as well. Hehe, do enjoy yourselves though. I've been reading a lot and right now I'm re-reading the Belgariad and the other books by David Eddings. I'm on book 5 since I started last month. Yep, I'm a speeding reader and I'd probably be done more if I had more time or if I wasn't so involved with a game I just wrapped now. I've been playing Septerra Core for the last month and a half and I finally finished it. My sister got me hooked. Oh well, I'm blabbing again. Cha!

*~SFS~*