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Chapter One: Eloise’s Perspective

It was the first time in years. It had been years since Harley, no, Eloise was my name, had had that dream.

I had started to refer to myself as Eloise after my parents had taken me to see Dr. Vains. He had told me to refer to myself as my birth name. I knew I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. I assumed it was better if I listened to him so people would stop trying to fix me. Even if they assumed I was already ‘fixed’ at least I could be who I really was.

I started to feed into it though. It started to get easier to introduce myself as Eloise or even to think as if I were her. I was forced to put the others away and live as only her. I thought I could pretend it was all fake in front of everyone else but it didn’t work. It was hard for me to see them being pushed away. Not just because I was told I was crazy that they even existed but because they knew me better than anyone. They weren’t what Dr. Vains called them. Not different personalities of Eloise, no, we were all different people yet we shared a body.

Eloise, not ‘I’, was the closest to Harley. Harley was her best friend and was the last to be pushed away. She always stuck up for Eloise. She made sure she was never hurt. She held all her pain. Eloise was giggly, always. Her worries belonged to Harley and it left Eloise giggly and happy yet almost empty.

Jess knew Harley in a different way. He was funny and intellectual. They had that part in common. But to explain all five of us would put me where I started. People would call me the same thing they always did.

I wasn’t crazy though. It was really. It all was. They were real. I say they, referring to my dreams, not the five of us. I knew it, Eloise knew it, and we all knew it. They were real.

I am not Eloise. That is simply who I am presumed to be. Eloise was chosen to be the person in the body. I am known as Eloise. I guess I am her. That is only because the others were pushed away.

The dreams were the only place I could see them. We knew each other so well. My parents called it night terror only because I would wake up screaming. We didn’t want to come back together. We wanted to be separate. We loved each other at the same time as we hated each other.

I assumed I would be called a freak and people would rush off when I was near. Perhaps they would point fingers like in all the films played in front of me. I wasn’t a part of a movie though but I was a part of a story. It may not have been my story, and I may not even play an important part. My story may have never been told but I was a part of one. We all were and we all knew it to be true.

But when I identified myself as my birth name, I started to forget. I stopped having the dreams and I stopped seeing them. I started to be Eloise and only Eloise, while the others were kept inside me.

Last night, that all changed. Eloise is twenty-nine and for years, she was identifying herself as only a fifth of who her body contained. Last night, for the first time in years, I had the dream. I saw them standing in front of me and I smiled.

When I closed my eyes, I was free. I am Eloise. I am Eloise and only Eloise, and I was free.

“I haven't seen you, in forever,” I said with mere tears in my eyes as I stared at Harley.

“I know, but you're here now,” Harly smiled with sweet simplicity.

“I love the chat and all, but if you haven't realized, there’s only three of us,” Jess, and his lashing green eyes, had my attention.

"Well, where are the others?" I laughed with nervousness.

"We don't know," Harley put her hand on my shoulder, "But we need to figure out where we are first."

"Huh, figure out where we are before we go rushing off with know idea where we are going," I didn't find Jess' sarcasm funny, "What a genius you are Harley."

"Jess, please," Harley snapped with rage.

I was first shocked on how fast she went from understanding to angry but then I remembered that she was always like that with Jess. They never seemed to like each other even though they knew eachother the best. They were constantly working together. When I was about five years old, I was at a preschool and this one kid came to me and told me I was crazy. Harley smiled with a condescending sort of respect.

"I am not crazy," Harley said. Then before she said anything else, Jess took over, "If I am crazy then you must be stupid because I know what I am talking about and you know simply nothing. If that makes me crazy then you are the-"

"Stupidest person I know," Harly cut in.

Even though they didn't like eachother, they agreed on all the same things and were both constantly trying to get a word in.

"So, where are we?" I looked around.

There were tall trees with purple leaves. The trunk was a redish color and was thick with texture. The sky was it's normal blue and it held the shining yellow sun like it always did. It was cool, though, a soft breese. The air smelled like rain and taisted like salt. I looked at the ground and found my bare feet. I felt the wet, greenish, stringy, grass. I smiled and look at Jess and Harley.

"I know where we are."