Excerpt of short story by AnonymousAnonymous

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Here you go, people. If you can come up
with a good title, PM me.

The young couple, dressed in what is considered “typical” of what is expected of Portlanders to wear walk into the café when they see a beautiful dark-haired woman sitting at an outdoor table talking on a cell phone. The dark-haired woman is covering her mouth with the back of her free hand, so no one can tell what she is talking about and to whom she is speaking to. The couple, the man in glasses and curly brown hair & his woman who has blonde hair and a slender, fit figure, watch the woman finish her call. The woman covers her mouth, up to her nose with her jacket, so she can order her drink. The couple watches as the barista leans over and the woman whispers into his ear. The couple, as there is no one in line, step closer to the barista and order their own drinks. They place their arms around each other, kiss, and find an outdoor table close to the dark-haired woman. The couple kisses again and the blonde approaches the woman, before whispering in her man’s ear.

“Excuse me?” says she. Let’s call her Beth.

The woman does not respond. Beth hears mumbling from the woman.

“Jessie?” says Beth. “It’s me. It’s Beth. You know, from our days in high school?”

Beth beckons her boyfriend over.

“Jessie? Do you remember Andrew?” says Beth.

They hear more mumbling.

“Let me try.” says Andrew. “Hey Jessie.”

Jessie gives Andrew a cold, distant look and produces a small knife from her purse.
She points it at Andrew’s face.

“WHOAH! What the hell, Jessie? We’re your friends, I mean, we used to be friends. We were um…supportive of each other and needed one another when we needed it. Where did you get that knife, Jessie?” says Andrew.

Jessie downs her coffee, tosses her coffee cup in the recycling, and walks away. Before she walks away, she pushes Andrew over onto the sidewalk, then Beth.

I liked the opening paragraph, although I thought it was unclear who was who in the second: is beth the women with the knife or jessie? I understand now but it wasn't apperant at first.

Um...thanks?

What Beth and Andrew are trying solve is
a series of crimes of which the prime
suspect is a girl who looks like Jessie.

Here is another excerpt.

As they sit to eat their meal, Andrew looks at Beth as Beth slumps over her meal.

“Beth?” says Andrew.


I find myself lying down in a field, face-up. There are four men and two women standing over me. The field is small, hilly, and with many trees. I can see a two-story brick building behind me.

The oldest of the men, a black bald man wearing glasses speaks: “Are you OK, Jessie?”

Holy crap, sir! Did you just call me Jessie?

A small group of students who I can see from a distance watch anxiously.

Another man, short with red hair & a beard, helps me up.

“Thank you.” I hear myself say in a raspy voice. But the voice coming out of my mouth is not mine.

I manage to stay standing for a while, as the scene cuts to what appears to be a nurse’s office. The nurse, who looks like my neighbor, checks me, I mean Jessie over and sends me on my way. I catch my reflection in a mirror as I walk by the school library.

Holy s**t! I am Jessie! But how?
The Jessie I see is not the Jessie me & Andrew encountered in the café.
This Jessie has long blonde hair, a thin, nimble physique, and is wearing a purple blouse with a matching long skirt, giving her an air of purity and gracefulness. As Jessie, I find an adjacent bench and sit. Andrew approaches me and I hear myself as Jessie speak again: “Andrew, what happened to me?”

Beth, after finding herself on the couch, shoves the list she wrote in Andrew’s face.
Andrew reads the list and gives it back to Beth.

“We need to find Kyle. You remember Kyle?” says Andrew.
Beth gives only a weak nod.